The weather has been changing. The humidity is still high, but now there is no relief from the heat sent in the form of rain storms..yesterday I asked Fatou M. if rainy season was over, and the sad thing is, she said yes! :( But I try to console myself by remembering all the good things I am going to cook in the solar cooker in the dry season. But I guess the real reason I am more sad about the change this year is that the end of the rainy season means end of mangoes, and if we are lucky we will get some more before we move back to the states, but you never know next years rainy season might be late, and this years could possibly be our last. We are also at the turning point in our service where we can say, "this is our last _____(insert month) in the Gambia" And that is just sad. Andy says he keeps having dreams that he leaves without saying goodbye to MoLamin.
We are beginning the moving process already. It is always on my mind now. It is going to be a difficult year, it will be like living two seperate lives, and towards the end of our stay here, it will be like I will already have a foot in America and one foot all the way across the ocean in Gambia. I will start making lists of things to do before we leave here, job/accomodation deadlines in America, things to sell, give away here, etc. It will kind of be like the "Gambian me" is writing her will, "I want my radio to go to Jalika, my jewlery to Fatou B....."
Fasting has been a whirlwind of emptying our stomachs, stuffing ourselves, sleeping at random intervals. When fasting stops we will have to remember to listen to our bodies signals again, because right now we are getting pretty used to ignoring them.. eating when we are so full already, not eating when our stomachs are shrinking during the day, etc. This is going to be one of my accomplishments here do to it the whole time, when last year I only did it for a week. I think that on the first day when I can eat during the day, I might forget. When I remember I will be so excited, "Hey! I can eat now if I want to! Isn't that great!?" We will both being working back into our routines our respective workout routines, and that will be nice, because vacationing (eating pretty good food) and then fasting all without exercising has made my body feel so... so yucky!
The primary, secondary, schools have started but the college still has not,.. we are looking at possibly the 6/7 th of next month,.. making for the shortest term ever. But I am trying to look into other options rather than teaching a class again. We shall see I can convince the people that matter.
The library at home is going great! Thanks for those who have sent books, we are building real book culture here! :)
Well, signing off for now...