Trek

Next week (starting on Sunday) I will be headed out for about a week to go on observation trek with the college. What this means is that a couple of us teachers from the college get assigned a region in Gambia to go and observe students that are doing their field training. I have gone a couple of day observations, but am a little apprehensive about doing it for a whole week. The good thing is that we don't have to take public transport, but we might be crammed in a pickup truck. I am planning to arm myself with lots to read, the ipod (though I wish it wasn't so big!) and the camera, if Andy doesn't need it, and hopefully snacks :). There is another week long trek in the third term, so I hope this one goes well so I won't dread going on that one!
Haven't talked to the family in a little bit, don't really know everyone's reactions on the hair,. here I feel that the because of the traditional roles of men and women, they react as if I am taking something from the men in shaving my head. But our family and the people in the compound have been good, they joke with us about Andy and I having the same haircut, but I joke right back with them. (People here traditionally pick on each other, and it doesn't bother people, they will say things like, oh you are very fat today (this is a good thing), or you can't speak Mandinka, or you have a big nose,.. and this is all supposed to be taken as truth and you should not get upset about it. People here don't ever really show their hair that much, because they usually have it up in wraps! So I tease them and say things like, oh well, you must be completely bald under that wrap, thats why you wear it!
Anyhow, not much else to say here, except that I'm glad it's Friday, though the weeks go by so fast! and tomorrow I will hopefully get to relax a little before leaving.
In an hour or so I am heading to the nursery school to do a lesson planning training with the teachers, it is going to be very informal, and relaxed I hope. The topic isn't exactly what I would pick to do with them now personally, but I really wanted it to be something that they picked themselves, so they would be motivated, and lesson planning is what they picked. And I think if left up to me, there would be so many things I would want to do with them that it would be hard for me to decide! So, wish me luck on that, and a good trek up country, and I will hear from you all when I get back!

So, we are back from Dakar, got back after a long day of traveling on Tuesday evening. On Wednesday I had a full day of teaching, and in the middle of that night, I woke up feeling sick. I threw up, and felt sick all Thursday. I have no idea what it was, but I was feeling pretty good this morning, and it was a good thing too, because I had three classes to teach today. I made it through those alright, and plan to write this blog, then head home, and relax. About Dakar: Well, on Thursday Andy and I went into town to the peace corps hostel, and stayed the night, so we could catch then earliest ferry across to the north bank in Banjul first thing on Friday. We got to the ferry at about 6:45 or so, and then rode the ferry across,. after that we went to the border, exited Gambia, and officially entered Senegal, then we had to walk to the car park and since it was about 14 of us traveling together then, we filled up a whole gelley van, and there we sat for 6 hours or so, in the stiffling heat, smashed four across on the seats, until we got to the Dakar, where we were lucky to have our driver drop us off at the exact place we were meeting everyone, instead of the carpark. As soon as you get to the Senegal border, there are some definant changes in the environment, like... the police there actually have enough money to have guns, good uniforms; there are trash cans, and the road to senegal, was paved pretty well for the most part. Our driver only stopped once during the whole trip, and I was lucky to run out and use a family's pit latrine before we had to go again, I also was very stupid and accidentally left my water bottle in my big backpack,which was, of course, put on the top of the van where I couldn't get to it. We passed through places that we very dry,... water beds, that were dried up and where people had collected salt, which was in great mounds; we passed a town that is notorious for being a trash hole, the town is a dump place for all the surrounding areas trash, and since they burn it, and it is everywhere, it smelled horrible; and we passed whole baobab tree forests. Once we got to Dakar (it was like a traffic madhouse, and the city is large) we got dropped at a place that is like an American club, where Americans working in Dakar go to do American things, like play softball, go swimming in a pool, drink beer, play fusball, volleyball, eat American food like hamburgers, fries, etc. We hung out there had some food (Andy wolfed down a hamburger in about .5 seconds!) These hamburgers, like a lot of versions you find here, have the added bonus of having fries in the actual sandwhich, so you don't really need to even order fries, and it was delicious. We met our host that we would be staying with, and after a while at the club, went to his apartment. His apartment was downtown, and it was sooooo nice. It's funny, because I kept catching myself doing things like, marveling at the shiny tile on the floor. And the bed! Ah! Well, I actually think I got restful sleep, because I didn't' have a board stuck in my back and hip. We took nice hot showers, ate ice cream, beef stroganoff (I never used to like that stuff, but it was good!) and in the morning had breakfasts like cream of wheat with milk and he even shared with us some good wine! It was a virtual fantasyland! On Saturday we got ready to play some softball, we were both on the social team for the Gambia, and needless to say, the main objective of our games was not to be too serious, we generally had a good time, though many players aim, I think, was to be as drunk as they could and still be able to play. We lost all of our games, except one, where we tied the other worst team on the circuit. But I seriously had a good time, and hit a lot of good runs. After the games we did things like headed back to the club, watched other games, played sand volleyball, swam in the pool (though it was actually a bit chilly in Dakar!) ate tasty food at area restaurants, and snacked on the good stuff at the club. It kind of reminded me of military picnic days, our host even ( a puertorican ex marine) reminded me of my dad! While we were in Dakar, we had time to go visit a place called Goree Island. It is a place where slaves where taken. It was a really neat place, it had winding alleyways with cobblestones paths, bougainvillea trailing everywhere, old period buildings you could explore, and more touristy stuff like, open air cafes, places to stay, a place to hang out on the beach, and shops and lots of local art, that was really interesting. I actually ended up buying a necklace made out of large sea glass beads. It is a nice color of green, and actually pretty heavy on my neck! But I like it. There was also a good lookout point from a cliff area, and you could see Dakar across the water very well. Once we were done exploring the island, Andy and the 3 friends we were with got back on the ferry boat, and were sitting around for about 35 minutes, before one of the other girls and I decided to go ahead and do something we had been planning to do later in the day.... Something we had planned for about a month before we would meet in Dakar.... On the back of the boat, with Andy and our other friends help, this girl and I shaved our heads! We had planned to do it on top of a hotel that had rooftop bar and pool looking out over Dakar, but got tired of sitting around waiting for the ferry to go back, and since we had brought the shavers and scissors with us, we just did it on the back of the boat, lookin over the water, watching our hair fall into the emerald water... needless to say, the boat started going, but we had just enough time to finish the haircuts before we got back. We actually did it with some something like a beard trimmer, so it is definantly not perfect, but, hey, it's Africa! I actually thought it would feel a lot different, and that I would be immensely aware of the fact that I no longer had any real hair to speak of, but I don't even really think about it at all, until I have to do something that was part of my routine, like, put my hair up to work out, or take out whatever my hair was in to take a bath, or fixing my hair after I take off my helmet. Only then do I remember that I don't have any stray hairs to adjust, and I don't need to make sure I have hair things with my wherever I go. Andy says he likes it, but I know it is a little weird for him, people say I look pretty good, it is kinda weird, because my hair looks lighter and more slivery gray blond than I thought. I thought that it would be darker underneath it all, like the color of my eyebrows. This friend that I planned to do it with asked me if I wanted to do it in Dakar when we would see each other, because at the beginning of our service here, I thought I might do it, but then things just went on, I would think about it, and when she asked me if I would do it with her, I readily agreed. We decided that it was the only real time teachers could do it, and it would grow back, and we would finally know what it would be like. It is also freeing in many ways,.. in the physical sense, because of the heat, sweat, etc., but also in that as a girl you are always trying to find ways to adjust your appearance to be something more of the norm, like if you have a long face, you are supposed to have shorter hair, or if your face is thin, you should try to get your hair to have volume, or if your forehead is large you need to have bangs.... But if you are a guy, most guys have short hair where their face is just how it is, their face, whether they have big ears, a long face, etc. they don't seem to worry about it as much. It is kind of a relief to say, ok, this is what I look like, this is my face! Anyhow enough of that, I am going to try to get Andy to post a picture of me soon with the new "hairdo" :) Hope you are all well, don't forget we still need to hear from you! :)

Rain! Rain?

This morning at about 6 or so,.. still dark outside, I heard what sounded like rumbling of thunder. I said out loud "what was that?" and Andy woke up and said, it was probably a truck unloading wood at the wood yard. But I heard it again a few more times before I saw lighting flash through the window out of the corner of my eye. Soon, as I lay there awake, I heard the slow pitter patter of rain on the corrigate... and it slowly built.... and then................................................... I fell back asleep! Ahhh. It was nice :) Even when I woke up there were still heavy clouds hanging around. But no more rain. It was very nice and cool afterwards too.
Oh, and I forgot to put up that I successfully made yeast bread in the solar cooker. We made two loaves and it was soooo delicious! I want to do it again. Thanks to Andy's dad for the recipe.

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!

Some favorite snacks

I thought I would give a run down of some of our favorite snacks here in the Gambia.
The first and foremost on my list is what is called chokkory or cherre. It is basically sour milk and couscous with some sugar. But the best thing about it here in Brikama is that I can go to the foil station and get a frozen cup of this wonderful goodness. You cannot imagine anything better to have on a hot dry day here. I find every excuse to have one, one the way home or to the market, on the way back from a long hot bike ride, walking around with our friends... it doesn't matter the reason! I've even taken to putting a small metal spoon in a ziplock that I put in the bag I take to the market, because the plastic ones they give you just don't cut it! It is the most refreshing thing most likely because it is frozen :) a little creamy (but still enought to be refreshingly iceey), and slightly sweet (not overpowering). Yeah for chokkory! (by the way, I have no idea how to spell it!)
The second on the list and now in no particular order of favorites is fresh french bread.
How many of you (I want to see hands!) can walk less than a hundred yards to grab some loafs of fresh (often still warm) french bread? Well, we can! 2 dalasi for a half, 4 for a whole.It is lovely. and the best thing is that here in more of a "city" our bread does not have bugs in it very often! Believe me this is a great thing to be happy about, because you get that little extra needed protein in the bread made in the more rural villages.
My favorite traveling snack is the bagged local roasted peanuts. If you are traveling, it is the best thing to pick up a bag of roasted , slightly salted peanuts, in all varieties (covering on, shell on, salted, roasted, not roasted, etc.) Bite off the tip of the bag and chow down. And the best thing is you can get a bag for a dalasi or bigger bag for 5. Grab that, run after the gelley, hop on and your set.
While on the subject of peanuts. We will probably never go back to buying skippy, jif, etc.. Because here you can go down to the market, (there is a whole area here where people have grinders set up to grind the peanuts people bring in from the villages) I have my specific peanut butter guy. He is my favorite because the peanut butter is so thick and has a great roasted taste. Andy's favorite breakfast, or snack is the local peanut butter, with honey from the beekeepers, a banana on that great french bread.
And the last thing (though I'm sure there will be more later!) on my list today is the icees. Our host mom makes some great ones. They usually use fruit juices, like caba, (a small tangy orange on the inside fruit), wanjo (dried hibiscus leaves with tons of sugar in the juice made from them), baobab (the monkey fruit) icees too. There are more, but those are my favorite. They are little frozen bags of juice icees, you can get for a dalasi, and is a great refreshing treat. These along with a lot of the other things are available along the street, and in the car parks.
Well, hope your hungry now! Later.