February

I have been busy lately, and I have been packing my camera around a little more.  First my brother and I spend a morning pruning some of our families’ orange trees as some of the limbs were dead and not producing fruit.  By pruning them next year the new growth will produce fruit.   

PaKonte working

We had an audience, and by their faces you might thing something bad was happening but it was fine.

The onlookers

Later the same day I was in my garden and one of the small kids ran back and yelled “Forday Forday Drumoo” which is a giant bush rat, so I followed them to the side yard where my brother had caught it. 

Lion Vs. Drumoo

 It wasn’t happy about being caught and Lion was also trying to get his share of it.

 

The final hour

He ended up killing it and giving it to my two younger brothers to skin and prepare.  They just boiled it with jimbo, onion and some salt.  I went to the bush for the day and when I got back in the evening they had ate it all and nothing was left for me. 

Skinning is a family activity

I got my new Bee Suit a few weeks back and have gone beekeeping in it three times since I have gotten it.  It is amazing!! It fits me perfect and I can move and bend without getting stung.  I can even swing a machete and cut brush in it without it tearing or getting stung.

Yes, I brought a Hickory to Africa

Yayah and Edee

There are a couple wild hives in the bush just outside my village and so my friend Yayah and my brother Edee decided to check them out.  Edee found one of them so he wanted to go and get some honey.  It is still soon after the rainy season and swarming period so the bees haven’t been real productive.  I told him that there might not be much honey but we could go and see. 

Beehive

The first hive was in an oil palm tree that had fallen into a cashew tree.  They climbed the cashew tree and smoked the hive some to get them to move off of the comb to see if there was any honey.  There wasn’t enough honey to harvest it so we all decided to wait a few more months and see if they would work a little harder and make us some honey.  

Yayah and Edee in the Cashew tree

The next hive was on my father’s land where he grows rice on part of it and the other part he leaves as a forest.  The hive is one of the largest I have ever seen.  It is hanging in a large Senegalese Rosewood tree.  Both Yayah and Edee climbed the tree and smoked it but this hive also didn’t have enough honey to harvest.  I cleared around under it and we called it a night.   

The large hive in the Rosewood

Friday night after my beekeeping and a nice cold bucket bath I went into my family’s house.  When I went in they were eating fresh bananas so I joined them and chatted and ate fresh bananas.  My mother split a banana and gave a piece to one of my brothers but the piece she gave was the one that my youngest brother Salifuu wanted and so he through a small tantrum that he does sometimes.  I had my camera showing my father the beekeeping pictures so I snapped a quick picture of him. When I showed everyone they all laughed except him. 

The Happy Camper

385 days like a weeklong dream

I have been here a while, as I sit here relaxing having just finished making and consuming my now world famous gut bomb skillet; it made me stop and think about the last year and where I came from to where I am now and what I have accomplished.  I came into Peace Corps with low expectations I told everyone that if I can make one person’s life a little easier than I have succeeded.  I accomplished my goal early on in my service.  I figure everything else I do is just a bonus.   Some people here don’t want your help or they will stop and listen or see what you are doing and continue to do things the same way as their grandparents and parents did things because that’s the only way they know how.  I don’t know if it is fear, lack of critical thinking or just plain “I don’t want to listen to this white stranger.”  Either way its fine with me, I believe and know I can’t change the whole country and fix all the problems that are in this country but if I can continue to improve a few people’s lives and make it easier than I am happy. 

I remember after that long 30 some odd hour flight from Chicago to Banjul via Brussels finally arriving at the airport and being so excited and then walking off the airplane and wondering why the engine exhaust was being funneled so close to where we were walking out of the airplane but then I realized quickly this is the glorious  weather of West Africa.  I remember telling people that work for Peace Corps here in The Gambia that “I’ll never be cold here,” well, over the past month or so I have either wore pants, long sleeve shirts or hoody sweatshirt with socks either in the morning or at night nearly every day.  I can’t believe it, it’s in the 70’s and I’m cold.  Just today I wore a local scarf around my head walking to a meeting we had, I wore it all day.  I told a friend I was with “I can’t believe I am wearing a scarf in Africa.” I don’t know how hot it was but right now at 8pm it’s in the 90’s and I don’t feel hot.  It is amazing how your body becomes acclimated to your surroundings. 

Over the last year I have had highs and lows, been so sick that I wanted to come home and been so hot trying to sleep wondering how people sleep in the heat.  On the other side I have had some wonderful moments.  I feel like have been adopted into a second family.  I have a couple teenage sisters that are surprisingly a lot like teenage girls in America and sometimes I just stop and laugh at the eerie similarities.  I have a couple small toddlers that every time I get off the bush taxi at my house they scream “Forday naata, Forday naata,” which translates to Forday is here Forday is here.   As they are running towards me with their arms out and then come crashing into my legs and try and carry whatever bag or box I am carrying, even if it is 50lbs. 

Overall, I am happy here I have finally settled in and loving it. 

West African International Softball Tournament

 

I just got back from almost a week in Dakar, Senegal.  About 30 of the Gambian volunteers went to the West African International Softball Tournament (WAIST).  There were 20 teams in the social league.  There were local Senegalese teams, local high school teams, Senegal Peace Corps teams, a team with Cape Verde, Guinea Peace Corps volunteers and then two teams from The Gambia.   

The week started off the night before we left with a friend of mine in my village braiding my hair into cornrows.  I went to here with the design and she did a great job.  She also braided my sideburns.   It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, the worse was the pain lasting for an hour and a half. 



Binta braiding my hair



Side view of my sideburn cornrows



It took us about nine hours to get from The Gambia to Dakar.  The first two days was pool play and the winner of each of the four pools would go onto the semifinals. 

Pitching

batting

The second day was tied the team we were playing with and they end with three wins and a tie.  We still had one game left to play and we had to win.  That would give us the same record and the tie breaker would be the run difference of how many runs we won by.  The magic number was 2 we had to beat our last opponent by two runs to advance on to the semifinals.  We did it we ended up winning 18-8. 

Monday rolls around and we play our first game against a team of Japanese players that are working for some organization in Dakar.  We fell behind them early in the game and slowly were scratching our way back and at the bottom of the 7^th we were down 7-11 and we started being more patient at the plate and we ended up getting a couple key hits and a couple key walks and we won 13-11.

Trophy presentation



The team and crew



Me, John and Seth

The final was our team against a local Senegalese team.  I didn’t pitch very well, I was thinking too much and started walking people.  It seemed when those people got on base the next Batter would hit a homerun or the ball would find a hole and land in it.  We ended up losing 13-7.  We got a real nice second place trophy.

Me and the trophy girl

As you can see my outfit was one of intimidation, as a pitcher I took a note from “Kenny Powers” and Charlie sheen’s character Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn from Major League.  Most games I just got laughs and stares as I would walk back along the highway to our hotel.





Before games and after games we had lots of free time to walk around and see the sights of Dakar.  We went to a mall, a grocery store, and the beach.   We ate fajitas and just enjoyed ourselves because this was a vacation after all.

Walking to the beach

Chicken Fajita

Downtown Dakar market

  



Traffic leaving Dakar



African Christmas 2011

Christmas… wow

This will be the first time in my life I will celebrate Christmas away from my family.  Spiritually they are with me, for the last couple days they have all been in my thoughts.  I celebrated Christmas Friday afternoon.  Peace Corps brought my mail which included four packages, 3 letters, and one singing vibrating shaking booty elf card.  I had a friend come visit for a couple days so we made pumpkin pie spiced French toast, JELLO chocolate pudding with ice I had bought and then topped it off with apple pie flavored gum courtesy of my sister.   It was great my sister sent a box of Christmas presents that were wrapped so I naturally needed a tree to put them under.  So I ran out to my garden and brought in a small Macadamia nut tree I am growing and it was a nice addition. 

Me, My christmas tree and my Big brother

 I also was sent a picture of my brother and I from before I left.  I figure someone from my family needed to experience Christmas in Africa.  My friend Yahya also was there to watch and learn about what Christmas is.  



Yahay and I around my Christmas tree. 
(I am wearing a shirt my sister sent me to let her know I got it)

At times I had to stop and just take a breath because opening presents and reading letter starts to bring memories and thoughts of home and the people that are there.  It’s tough but in the end I was very happy and tired of my first Christmas in Africa.  

Christmas is not easy here in The Gambia, it can wear you out

My goat would personally like to send a huge thank you to her godmother (my sister) for sending her a beautiful pink collar.  It was a few inches too tall but, nothing a fire heated nail couldn’t fix and some nice tie straps couldn’t make a nice addition.

My goat with new collar in the goat house

My family all laughed and then stopped once they actually saw what I was doing and just stared in disbelief in that the goat has a pink collar.  In The Gambia usually wire, old fabric and paint mars an animal of who ones it.  I wanted to bring a little American culture to The Gambia.

My goat with the new collar

Thank you everyone who sent me a package or a letter or a padded envelope it was all a great addition to my Christmas. 

Peace Corps Parade Gambian Style

I am in the big city for a few days.  On Monday we had a big parade to celebrate Peace Corps 50^th year anniversary.  All 90+ volunteers and Peace Corps staff marched down one of the main paved streets in the city.  We were arranged by regions, I am in the western region.  We made a banner and marched with our flags.  We were led by The Gambian police marching band.

 Marching down a 3^rd world street with sub par drivers is a little nerve racking but we made it without any major problems

Tobaski

So Tobaski is a Muslim holiday where families are suppose to kill a ram if they have the money to buy one.  Then there are three days of eating and eating some more.  My host uncle has the money so we got a nice ram.  The ram had to be washed before hand to make sure it was clean.

Posing with a clean ram

After that they killed it and then we started to butcher it.  Butchering in The Gambia is a little different than in America.  Here we use somewhat sharp knives that have been sharpened on a concrete block and machetes.  It seems to get the job done.



The fine art of Gambian butchering



My friend Ben sent me some great bicycling magazines.  One day when my little brother came in and saw that I was reading one he wanted to read one or actually look at the pictures.  He flips through them pretty quickly but he is always talking to himself and giggling at them so they must be good. 



My brother Yaya, a big ROAD fan

I also received some crayons in another care package from another friend.  My three younger siblings come in every couple days in the morning for art and cookies.  They get a piece of paper and one crayon at a time to draw.  They laugh and giggle and seem to enjoy it. 

Howa, Salifoow and Yaya

Peace Corps 50th Anniversary Celebration

Last night was the 50^th year celebration of Peace Corps world wide and 45 year anniversary of Peace Corps in The Gambia.  The Festivities where held at the village of Kanili.  This is the village of the president.  The day started off with all of the Peace Corps volunteers, Staff and United States Embassy staff; nearly 200 people caravanned in land cruisers and two large tour buses all the way to the village. 

The Parade grounds

Once we arrived we were treated to an amazing lunch of Goat, Lamb, Beef and bbq chicken along with amazing salads and fresh fruit. After lunch we walked over to the parade grounds where the event would take place.  As we waited they had a live band and music playing. 



The President and the Ambassador to his right



About 7:30pm The President, His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh made a entrance by driving his own range rover into the parade grounds and then continued to shake all of the Peace Corps volunteers, staff and embassy’s hands.  Then there were speeches by five volunteers in five of the local languages along with speeches of Peace Corps counterparts, US Ambassador to The Gambia and the Peace Corps Director.  The Keynote speaker was the President himself which gave a great speech thanking us along with thanking our parents back in America for both making sacrifices to come here and help his country.

The President giving his keynote address

After the speech the President gave all of the woman volunteers custom tailored outfits.  After they received their outfits the men also received custom tailored outfits.  I was one of the lucky ones and was third in line to choose my outfit.  When I walked up to the president he said I could have a small outfit or a large outfit that was exactly like his.  It didn’t take me anytime to decide that I wanted one just like his.  Once I shook his hand and thanked him and examined it closer and it was actually a outfit that had been tailored for the president himself just in a different color. 

Weighing my options

A few of us decided to try them on and see how they looked.  They look amazing; they looked so good that three of us actually got our pictures taken with the president in them.  I don’t have that picture now but I PROMISE I will get it up as soon as I receive it.  

Showing off our new outfits

By then it was almost one in the morning.  We all walked back over to the lodge for dinner which was the best dinner I have ever eaten at one in the morning.  We then heard from The Gambian police band which featured a bagpipe, and watched a video that one of our volunteers had made about Peace Corps service in The Gambia.  Once dinner was finished it was about 2:30 in the morning.  About half the volunteers stayed spend the night in Kanili and the other half came back to stay the night at the Peace Corps Transit house.

Overall the celebration was great and something that I will remember for a long time.



A little proof I was their thanks to the jumbotron