My new Gambian home

I have just returned from four days visiting my site and village that I will be spending the next two years at.  The village is small but I like it and I am excited about being a member of the village.  They have a large community forest and garden.  The garden is amazing, you walk through a forest and it opens up to a picture out of Jurassic Park; Rolling green hills with large trees and exotic birds flying around.  When I first saw it I stopped and reminded myself that I am not dreaming. I am in Africa; this is something that I have found myself doing repeatedly since I have stepped off of the plane.  

What I will be calling home for the next two days has two large rooms.  The backyard is brand new, which means the pit latrine is brand new which means no bad smell or flies.  There is enough room to do a lot of planting and growing of random plants and trees.  I also have a three foot tall banana tree.  The only down side of my new house is the brand new corrugated tin metal that they use to fence in the bathroom/showering area, It will be hot come the rainy season.

I will be in “town,” for the next ten days.  I use the term “town” loosely; it really means I will be around a computer during this time so I should be able to respond to e-mails promptly.  I also am keeping my fingers crossed that I can get some pictures up.  

Monthly Update

I haven’t been at a computer for a while and it might be a few months before I can get to another one.  I have been busy trying to learn a foreign language in 10weeks.  The last few weeks have flown by.  Today I was sitting with my host mothers and they were telling how they didn’t want me to leave to my permanent site.  I have really grown to like my host family and will miss them a lot come Sunday when I move out.  I am excited because I am going to a village that has never had any volunteers from Peace Corps.

            Today I got my first outfit back from the tailor.  It is a blue and white checkered shirt, which he copied one of my pearl snap shirts after, along with dark blue dress pants.  He did a phenomenal job on it, my mother would be proud.

            I wish I had more time to talk about everything I have seen and experience here.  Most of the stories are literally unbelievable.  I have already seen baboons, monkeys and two differently survey crews working, this was all in the same day.

update

Quick update

I have moved into my training village.  My host family speaks Mandinka and that is also, what I am learning.  The language learning is going slow but I am picking it up It isn’t a mud hut technically like I thought because they add cement to the mud when making the blocks.  There is no electricity and I shower using a coffee cup and bucket.  The food is good rice, fish, and vegetables with a  sauce of sorts.

TSA didn’t actually steal anything, I searched a little harder and found them so a sigh of relief there. 

Update

Things are going good.  We have classes on language, culture and religion from 8-8 daily up at 7 for breakfast and in bed about 10ish.  We are staying at an eco tourism lodge, they have power from 6-8am and 7-11pm.  We stay there half the time and come into the city which, is an hr drive to the Peace Corps headquarters for some of the classes.  My roommates are good one is from port WA the other is from AZ. I am the only one from OR out of the 30. 

The computers are slow so pictures will be coming later.

Chicago - The Final Frontier...

I made it to Chicago on Monday night with no problems.  There is some GREAT pizza here.  My first day of orientation was today, and I'm getting more and more excited. 

The final to-do list: 1) eat more pizza before I leave, 2) get a yellow fever shot, 3) hop on a shuttle, 4) hop on a plane. 

This will be my last post for a while, but keep that snail mail comin!

So you can start practicing your Gambian for your visit - here are some common phrases

English	Mandika	Wolof
Thank you	Abaraka	Jerejef
Hello	Asalamu Alikum	A Salamu Alikum
How are you?	Heraba / I be di?	Na Nga Def?
Good Morning	Hera Laata	Jamangen Fanaan
Good Evening	I Wuraara	Jamangen Enddu
Goodbye	Fo Waati Koteng	Ci Jamma
Today	Bee	Tey
Tonight	Bii Suutoo	Ci Gudi Gii
How Much	Jelu?	Nyaatala?
What is your name?	I Ton Ndii?	Na Ka Nga Tudda?

All Packed Up

My sister and I spent the day packing up my bags.  I am checking a large backpack and a large duffle each weighing between 40-50lbs.  I then will carry on a smaller duffle that weighs about 20lbs along with a small backpack.  All together it weighs a little over 100lbs. 

Not bad for a two year camping trip, I figured I would worry about walking anywhere when I have too…

My First Package

I mailed myself some books today and it cost around $13 for an envelope like this and it comes with insurance, just save your receipt and customs form. 

It has to weight under 4lbs and you have to fill out a small customs form (CN22) when you describe the contents (1) be vague like books or school supplies.  This is so the contents won’t get stolen. 



Here are a few more hints about mailing letters and packages

• It can take a month for them to reach me.
• Lost letters and packages are not unheard of.
• Number your letters, it will let me know if I've missed one.
• Packages may be subject to intense heat, small mammals and theft.
• Padded envelopes will cost less than boxes.
• Send postcards in envelopes, as they tend to get lost or stolen.