Last time I wrote a post I was in Senegal, it seems as if it
has been forever. A lot has change, many have come and gone but I am here only
(‘I am here only’ is a common wolof phrase).
I am slowly falling in love with my new home – The Gambia. But not only that, my new friends, the Gambian
people, my host family and all the positive energy. [Allow me to be a pessimist
for a minute: I have yet to begin actual work, start projects, teach classes &
etc. Getting things done, from what I hear, is the most frustrating part. I am
still in the honeymoon stage, where I am just hanging out, learning language
and getting to know people. But as I said from the very beginning, I am going
to take it one step at a time and do my best to enjoy every step I take.]
It is difficult to re-cap a months time but I will my best
to give you a little taste of my adventure: A 10 hour bus ride brought us from
Theis, Senegal to Kambo, The Gambia. We
arrived just in time to see our first sunset over the beautiful Gambia
beach. We then spent the next 4 days
getting to know the staff and learning the greater Banjul area. The next 2 weeks were spent at our training
villages. (Which is usually 2 months but with my group spent half the time in
Senegal and half the time in Gambia)
I lived with the Gaye family, whom I immediately connected
with. Speaking some English made a big
difference when I was trying to get to know my 7 brothers and sisters. In training village we spent about 7 hours of
the day with our language teacher because training villages in Gambia we eat
lunches together. It was a lot of hard
work and structured planned days but it paid off because our language skills
started to really improve.
After the first week of training village we embarked one of
the many The Gambia PC traditions – The Marathon March! It was an epic 13 mile (plus) hike through
salt flats were the mud was so deep you would sink down to your knees (for me
at least but waist for those that aren’t
6’4”). We trekked through
mangroves and had to swim a certain points because the water was high. The way I would describe the trek is what you
would see in a movie: A group adventure seeking Americans walking across picturesque
African scenery coming across small grass hut villages and little boys with machetes
and all. It was exhausting but a ton of
fun and a great bonding experience.
A few days later we all went on a field trip/tour of Gambia
to see medical facilities and projects other volunteers were working on. It was an eye opening experience in terms of
the health care system or lack there of.
That is probably why they only send the healthiest volunteers to The
Gambia. As scary as the whole task of
starting a successful project is, some of the volunteers are really doing a
great job. Taking the time to plan and
get to know the community really pays off.
Slowly, slowly things will happen and change.
Now I am sitting here at my permanent site on a 4 day site
visit. I have had the chance to get to know my family and visit with the
village chief and elders. My site has
never had a PCV but from this first visit they seem extremely excited to have
me. I have yet to mention this but on
several occasions I have done African dancing and it has been a hit! I guess I just naturally know how to dance to
the beat of an African drum. The women
go crazy, it’s not normal for men to dance in this culture, so they like it
when this crazy toubob (foreigner) gets up there and dances. I have already been to two different weddings
and had a dance off at each of them. One
of the weddings was at my site visit and for a moment I stole the show from the
bride. I danced my way into their hearts
(corny but so true, the next day everyone was talking about it).
Very soon I will swear in as an official volunteer. We have
a few days of celebration and then I officially move into my new home. Looking back it doesn’t seem like it is
moving slowly, slowly but more like quickly, quickly.
Jamaa Rek
PS As I sit here and write this post on a piece of paper, I
am watching my 7 y/o cousin chase my 3 y/o naked sister around the compound
after her shower. After a 20 min struggle she is just as dirty as she started.
