Hello Monday

Well, today is Monday, and I am just counting down the days until Thursday, because on Thursday, we are going to Dakar, Senegal. We have heard good things from other volunteers, and we are looking forward to it. So, in case you are trying to get ahold of us this coming weekend, that is where we will be, and will probably not be reachable by phone. But we will be sure to let people know when we get back.
This week I am busy with work, trying to plan ahead because I will be gone for a week, and the end of the school term will be upon us soon. I have a workshop I will be doing at the nursery school with the teachers at the end of the month, and I will be going on observation trek with the college for a week at the beginning of the next month, and I think I will be going all the way up to the furthest region to do observations. It foresee a lesson in patience on that for sure!
A few more snacks that I thought of the other day to add to my previous blog:
Along the streets there are a little wooden or corrigate shacks assembled, that you can get great sandwiches. Let me describe them,... first you take one heavy pot, put it on a gas burner, add enough oil to deep fry something, mix together: scrambled eggs, boiled potatoe, onion, mix together, add some msg cubes, and pour off into the oil to fry. Once sufficiently soaked with grease and cooked, add it to the middle of a loaf of french bread, slather with non-perishable mayonnaise, wrap in a old textbook page, and serve. Along with this delicious treat you automatically get a pairing of a tasty drink. Take a mug, fill about 1/4 full with sweetened condensed milk, add a teaspoon of ovaltine type mix, and fill the rest up with hot water from a thermos and mix. Yum! Thats a tasty breakfast.
A little less exciting, but comforting, because of its connection to training village, when we didn't have any other options for food besides what our host family cooked for us, and what was available at the tiny bitik shop are baobab biscuits. Which are simple biscuits very similiar to animal crackers, but Gambian quiality.
And lastly (for now!) is the classic, meat on a stick. If you head down to the market at night, there is a whole other world waiting for you in contrast to the day. And contributing to the transformation is the meat on a stick vendors about every 5 feet. They have open homemade grills where they will grill a small portion of meat on a stick that is seasoned with ... guess... msg cubes. They are very tasty, and they are so cheap!
Ok, well, I think that is sufficient for today. I need to go have a meeting with a college collegue, and then I will walk home, relax for a while, then head out to the market for something for dinner. (I've learned from the beginning to never really plan a meal until you get to the market, then as your crusing through, pick up what is there) Like the other day I was extremely surprised to come across a few small piles of fresh green string beans from one vendor, and then a few places down, a few small piles of fresh parsley,... It makes me wonder who else buys these things, becasue there are so little of it, I doubt they would know what to do with it! I bought a few bunches of the parsley, and since it's dry season, hung it up near the kitchen window, to dry. It dried so fast! I always have my eye out for things like that!