Turkey Day was spent with the Peace Corps types.

27 November - 1 December, 2008

Turkey Day was spent with the Peace Corps types. The PCVs all had to be in Kombo for a meeting on Friday, so there were around a hundred or so of these burlap sack wearing hoodwinks to share a meal with on Thanksgiving. The dinner was held at a really nice compound in Fajara where Rodney, a Peace Corps administrator lives. The food was decent, but definitely not home cooking. Julbrew donated beer for the event. The first drinks were free and 5 Delasis afterwards. There was also desert…I had brownies and pumpkin pie. Incredibly incredible. They ran out of plasticware by the time the St. Mary’s bunch got in the Turkey Day food line. Without petroleum based utensils in hand, we piled up food on our plates, and walked over to a nice spot on the lawn. Wait there is a lawn? In the Gambia? Oh irrigation. Yeah, so we ate our Thanksgiving dinner Gambia style, with our hands, on irrigated grass. It shouldn’t have been any other way.

After spending some time there, we left the dinner. Some went back to study and some of us went out. I was part of the group that went out to the Green Mamba with some Peace Corps, and not surprisingly we met the MRC there. It was not a particularly eventful night, other than recruiting some people for the next installment of the beach walk. Nothing like spending Thanksgiving first with the Peace Corps and then with a bunch of people from the UK. Not bad, but not the same.

This past weekend, Saturday to Monday, we renovated the Agi Awa Bah Nursery School in Bakau. We painted the walls inside and out, and painted a mural on the outside. We painted various shapes, and animals along the wall. There was a snake with the ABCs and an accompanying painting for each letter. The letter D stands for door, the Green Door. In honor of St. Mary’s College, the picture of the door had to be green (The Green Door is a bar close to campus that has become a part of St. Mary’s lore and tradition). Lots of work. We also put some psychedelic hand prints on the pillars around the entrance. We were accompanied by lots of the community in Bakau, and the news station Gambian Radio Television Services (GRTS) filmed some of it. It was good fun and I am very tired. Yahar, the owner of the school (as it is in her compound) had wonderful meals awaiting us on our breaks. It was some of the best food I’ve had in the Gambia. The painting and decoration really brightened up the neighborhood. I just hope the kids can still get to school tomorrow with their school looking so different.

UTG classes ended a week ago, although some of our classes have still been going on more or less. I had my final quiz of Environmental Management in the Gambia last Friday. This week I have a Wolof exam. It seems that most of my responsibilities are gone now, although I still have some papers to write for Mr. Femi’s class, African Leaders of the Modern Era and some work for my independent study.

Planned for this week:

• Tuesday: si suba (in the morning) going to the National Environmental Agency in Banjul to buy a map of the Gambia, Serrekunda market for fabric and photos; si becek (in the afternoon) to Sand Plover beach to relax.
• Wednesday: undecided/study for Wolof
• Thursday:undecided/Wolof Exam
• Friday: Rachel’s cousin’s wedding
• Saturday: Beach Walk
• Sunday: Beach Walk
• Monday: fishing on a commercial boat, inshallah.
• The rest of the week: Tobaski celebrations
• December 15: leaving for Senegal
•
I have 2 weeks left here, not nearly enough time, especially now that I don’t really have to show up for classes. I only have to get some work done sometime. I am not ready to leave yet, although I really look forward to seeing friends and family. I definitely want to come back here some day, and the sooner the better. If anyone is looking for a tour guide and you want to pay for my plane ticket, I’ll work for free.

Be ci kanam (Until the future)