I actually typed this May 6th, but didn't have internet. I'll hopefully post again soon so you can have a more current update on my adventures...
Six months in country!!! Wow it doesn’t feel like I’ve been here that long, but there you go. The first two weeks of April I took my first trip down to the Banjul area, for In-service Training and then all volunteer conference. Three months up country and I needed a sweater for the ‘cold’ nights in Banjul (I would guess low 60s) and I was a little taken aback by a display of kids tricycles, something not really for sale up country.
After training I spent almost two weeks at site. It was nice to be back with my family, and mangoes are ripe now, so the heat doesn’t seem as bad. However after two busy weeks in kombo I felt a bit lazy sitting with my family on the bantaba. I was able to help with the polio vaccination treks around the Kantora district, which let me visit some new towns around and meet some new people. One compound gave me a bag of peanuts after we vaccinated their under 5 children and chatted a bit in Pulaar. Then at the lumo (weekly market) in Fatoto I ran into one of the older girls from the compound who gave me a big friendly greeting!! It’s always encouraging to be recognized and greeted by name around the area.
Fatoto also hosted a wrestling competition this past Monday and Tuesday. Wrestling is a more traditional sport in the Gambia, more so than football at least, which is the most popular. They fenced off a huge area of one field, strung a line of carnival style lights, attached it to a generator and charged D25 for admission. The event was planned to start at 9pm. It didn’t actually get started until about 10:30pm and when I left at 1:30a I was informed it would go until about 3a but I was catching a gele to Basse at 6:30a so I had to get a bit of sleep.
The wrestling was amazing to see. Spectators were either seated in chairs (kids on the ground) or standing behind the chairs all along the fenced area. There were typically two matches going at the same time. There didn’t seem to be a referee, the two men competing decided when to start, take a break if they wanted to move under the lights better, and who ultimately won. They wore brightly colored mini skirt like wraps of colored tassels, which seem to be the traditional outfit, with modern spandex shorts and leggings underneath. Some fancier skirt/wraps had bells that jingled on the fringe.
Overall I’m really enjoying life in the Gam, though I do miss all of you, and love getting little updates either via mom, the limited time I have to facebook ‘research’, and best of all when you send letters!!! Work is sporadic, like for example last week I was just sitting with my family for several days enjoying their company and working with the kids on their homework. This week I went to the Forestry and Education offices to work on coordinating an annual tree nursery competition among the schools that PCTG helps support, I’m going back tonight to join the Kantora Bee Keepers Association with harvesting and building a new honey processing house for them, and I’m hopefully building another mud stove for Susana, and maybe getting some of the other women in town to come learn how to make one for themselves!!
Love to you all!!
Julia
Friday, May 28, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Yay for the Interwebs!
Hello all!!
It's been awhile, sorry. We just put internet into the transit house up in Basse so now I have a little bit more access to the rest of the world. I'm also trying to post some photos right now, so hopefully that will work and you will at least get to see some of what my life is like here!
We swore-in as real volunteers in January and then heading off to our different parts of the country. I the furthest east volunteer in country, and I love it! My town is amazing and my host family is even better. I might still be in the 'honeymoon' stage as they call it, but my goal is for that to last for two years!
Family: I have a youngish host dad and his wife live in the compound, along with his mom, sister (and sometimes her new husband), 19 yr old brother, and 17 yr old brother (in the loose sense). Samba (my 'dad/bro') has three kids and his sister Ami also has three living in the compound.
Story about family: Susana, whose name is actually Fanta but no one calls her that, came out for dinner one night wearing some very sassy skinny jeans and a tight white tee. Very different from her typical wrap skirt. She asked if I liked the jeans and I said of course yes! they're great. Then she announced 'Samba doesn't like it when I wear these' mind you Samba was sitting about 2m from me.
After dinner, Susana asked if I wanted to talk a walk over to her family's compound. I agreed and went inside to get a wrap for my hair (i like to wear it when I'm out around town.) We headed out of the compound me in my long skirt and head wrap, Susana in her skinny jeans, tight white tee, and saucy american style hair do. It was great!! As we walked through town Susana got WAY more attention that me... a first I think.
Work(ish): I've started a girls football (soccer) club at the high school in my town, mostly because the girls came and requested one. After the first meeting it had become a football, volleyball, basketball club. To think 5 yrs ago i was calling my brother to ask the rules of basketball and now I'm coaching a team!
Two weeks ago I went on trek with the forestry department of the gambia and another pc volunteer, to survey the land of the gambia and how communities use their natural resources. It was very similar to working with US gov in that it took a long time and there were way more people than necessary. I did make some good contacts with new forestry people, and will be able to work with them in the future. Hopefully with helping communities set up community forests and helping them manage their resources.
Women’s gardens are the big thing to work with in the ENRM sector, and there are several around. All need wells and fencing of some sort, but for now I’m just trying to help water, exchange seeds, and give pointers that I learned 2 months ago in training. This does however get me good access to vegetables, which are delicious.
Visitors: Please come!! It’s getting hotter now and the rains won’t come until June, but then it is supposedly very green, but difficult to get around on the roads. After the rains end in August and September it’s muggy but still green and apparently feels hotter than now. Then it starts to get cool. So the prime time to visit is beginning of Oct through Feb. I have nothing on my schedule yet, so let me know!!!
I miss and love you all and think of your often! Send me letters, it only takes about two months for mail to travel, but I love hearing about christmas in Feb!
It's been awhile, sorry. We just put internet into the transit house up in Basse so now I have a little bit more access to the rest of the world. I'm also trying to post some photos right now, so hopefully that will work and you will at least get to see some of what my life is like here!
We swore-in as real volunteers in January and then heading off to our different parts of the country. I the furthest east volunteer in country, and I love it! My town is amazing and my host family is even better. I might still be in the 'honeymoon' stage as they call it, but my goal is for that to last for two years!
Family: I have a youngish host dad and his wife live in the compound, along with his mom, sister (and sometimes her new husband), 19 yr old brother, and 17 yr old brother (in the loose sense). Samba (my 'dad/bro') has three kids and his sister Ami also has three living in the compound.
Story about family: Susana, whose name is actually Fanta but no one calls her that, came out for dinner one night wearing some very sassy skinny jeans and a tight white tee. Very different from her typical wrap skirt. She asked if I liked the jeans and I said of course yes! they're great. Then she announced 'Samba doesn't like it when I wear these' mind you Samba was sitting about 2m from me.
After dinner, Susana asked if I wanted to talk a walk over to her family's compound. I agreed and went inside to get a wrap for my hair (i like to wear it when I'm out around town.) We headed out of the compound me in my long skirt and head wrap, Susana in her skinny jeans, tight white tee, and saucy american style hair do. It was great!! As we walked through town Susana got WAY more attention that me... a first I think.
Work(ish): I've started a girls football (soccer) club at the high school in my town, mostly because the girls came and requested one. After the first meeting it had become a football, volleyball, basketball club. To think 5 yrs ago i was calling my brother to ask the rules of basketball and now I'm coaching a team!
Two weeks ago I went on trek with the forestry department of the gambia and another pc volunteer, to survey the land of the gambia and how communities use their natural resources. It was very similar to working with US gov in that it took a long time and there were way more people than necessary. I did make some good contacts with new forestry people, and will be able to work with them in the future. Hopefully with helping communities set up community forests and helping them manage their resources.
Women’s gardens are the big thing to work with in the ENRM sector, and there are several around. All need wells and fencing of some sort, but for now I’m just trying to help water, exchange seeds, and give pointers that I learned 2 months ago in training. This does however get me good access to vegetables, which are delicious.
Visitors: Please come!! It’s getting hotter now and the rains won’t come until June, but then it is supposedly very green, but difficult to get around on the roads. After the rains end in August and September it’s muggy but still green and apparently feels hotter than now. Then it starts to get cool. So the prime time to visit is beginning of Oct through Feb. I have nothing on my schedule yet, so let me know!!!
I miss and love you all and think of your often! Send me letters, it only takes about two months for mail to travel, but I love hearing about christmas in Feb!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Training
Back in Kombo area now and back to having internet, electricity, and running water. Oh the luxuries of life. Since the last post I've been mostly in Jiroff my training village. It was wonderful!! We had a naming ceremony and received gambian names (mine was Adama Jowe), participated in the slaughtering and then cooking of a ram for Tobaski, and learned language culture and common practices for the country. It was our opportunity to make mistakes but still have support from staff.
Along with time in the village we had sessions at a touristy camp near by, Camp Tendaba. It is a beautiful spot on the river, and though the food was not good, we did have some more modern facilities. We've learned about everything from clay stoves and bee keeping, to brief history lessons of the country and how to involve women in community meetings.
Some highlights:
Learning how to ride a bike in the sand: The first day we took our bikes out for a tour, our families came to see us off. I waved goodbye, hopped on my bike, and rode about 10m before hitting a patch of deep sand. In slow motion my bike stopped dead and I rolled off the side onto the ground. All of my teenage host brothers were on the porch and burst out laughing, one even jumped off the porch he was laughing so hard. I gathered myself, brushed off the sand, did a little bow, and walked my bike through the deep sand to the more compact stuff.
Tobaski: Along with the traditional ram slaughter and feasting, our town had a football (soccer) game against a neighboring village and a 'disco' in the school, which didn't start until midnight. When Joanna and I finally headed home with her siblings at 3a my 14yr old sister was still dancing!
Jangjangbureh: In our training session there are two groups ENRM (environment and natural resource management) and HCD (health and community development). For most things we are together, but for 4 days we had a trip to visit current volunteer sites and other places around the gambia that are implementing interesting technology and ideas with environment. We stayed at a camp here where monkeys are everywhere. You had to defend your plate at breakfast to keep them from stealing your food. They were adorable!
Now we're back in the kombo area staying at the transit house and doing a few last sessions before swearing in and becoming real volunteers!!
I miss everyone back home, and I'm so happy to be getting your e-mails, letters, and packages!! I'm posting photos right now, so hopefully those will be up, and i'll put a link here.
Along with time in the village we had sessions at a touristy camp near by, Camp Tendaba. It is a beautiful spot on the river, and though the food was not good, we did have some more modern facilities. We've learned about everything from clay stoves and bee keeping, to brief history lessons of the country and how to involve women in community meetings.
Some highlights:
Learning how to ride a bike in the sand: The first day we took our bikes out for a tour, our families came to see us off. I waved goodbye, hopped on my bike, and rode about 10m before hitting a patch of deep sand. In slow motion my bike stopped dead and I rolled off the side onto the ground. All of my teenage host brothers were on the porch and burst out laughing, one even jumped off the porch he was laughing so hard. I gathered myself, brushed off the sand, did a little bow, and walked my bike through the deep sand to the more compact stuff.
Tobaski: Along with the traditional ram slaughter and feasting, our town had a football (soccer) game against a neighboring village and a 'disco' in the school, which didn't start until midnight. When Joanna and I finally headed home with her siblings at 3a my 14yr old sister was still dancing!
Jangjangbureh: In our training session there are two groups ENRM (environment and natural resource management) and HCD (health and community development). For most things we are together, but for 4 days we had a trip to visit current volunteer sites and other places around the gambia that are implementing interesting technology and ideas with environment. We stayed at a camp here where monkeys are everywhere. You had to defend your plate at breakfast to keep them from stealing your food. They were adorable!
Now we're back in the kombo area staying at the transit house and doing a few last sessions before swearing in and becoming real volunteers!!
I miss everyone back home, and I'm so happy to be getting your e-mails, letters, and packages!! I'm posting photos right now, so hopefully those will be up, and i'll put a link here.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Dande Lenol!
Yesterday we found out our language assignments. While this doesn't really tell us anything about where we'll be for the next two years, it does help for the next two months.
I'll be in a small village (Jiroff, check google maps it's there!!) with two other PCTs Katy and Joanna, about 1km from another village of 6 PCTs (peace corps trainees). We are learning Pulaar, the language of the Fula (or Foola) ethnic groups. While it's not the most popular language in the Gambia (that's Mandinka), it is one of the more common languages in this part of Africa. I'm stoked!!
The past couple of days we've also had training on safety & security (how to avoid unwanted attention), health (take malaria pills and how to deal with diarrhea), and today we had some intro to gardening in the Gambia. We all will be creating our own garden plot in our training villages between now and Jan, so we'll see how that goes.
We head up to the villages on Friday and will be there or Tendaba from now until January with limited internet access. Not to worry I bought lots of stamps and will send out some letters very soon!
Love to all!!
also, Dande Lenol (with some accents) means one voice in pulaar.
I'll be in a small village (Jiroff, check google maps it's there!!) with two other PCTs Katy and Joanna, about 1km from another village of 6 PCTs (peace corps trainees). We are learning Pulaar, the language of the Fula (or Foola) ethnic groups. While it's not the most popular language in the Gambia (that's Mandinka), it is one of the more common languages in this part of Africa. I'm stoked!!
The past couple of days we've also had training on safety & security (how to avoid unwanted attention), health (take malaria pills and how to deal with diarrhea), and today we had some intro to gardening in the Gambia. We all will be creating our own garden plot in our training villages between now and Jan, so we'll see how that goes.
We head up to the villages on Friday and will be there or Tendaba from now until January with limited internet access. Not to worry I bought lots of stamps and will send out some letters very soon!
Love to all!!
also, Dande Lenol (with some accents) means one voice in pulaar.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Beach Day
After two long days of 7am starts and classes all day at the training center, we got a little break!! Today we went to the beach and a reptile center.
The beach was BEAUTIFUL!! Not too many tourists yet, and we got in a good game of ultimate frisbee. We didn't even see many bumsters trolling for european women. (I could explain what bumsters are, but I think wikapedia does a pretty good job)
The reptile center was set up to help inform gambians that they don't need to kill on first sight every single snake they see. I'm not sure how well it's working as all of the gambians with us stayed a good distance away anytime a snake was brought out. Although by the end one did muster the courrage to touch the cobra that was being passed around. (When I find a picture of me with it I'll post it.)
Tomorrow we have interviews for our site locations. We discuss with our program leader where we think we want to be placed (combos-city area or futher up country), what language we are interested in making our focus (Mandinka, Wolof, or Pulaar), and the job we see ourself doing while here. We should find out by tuesday what language we need to learn and a list of three potential sites.
The beach was BEAUTIFUL!! Not too many tourists yet, and we got in a good game of ultimate frisbee. We didn't even see many bumsters trolling for european women. (I could explain what bumsters are, but I think wikapedia does a pretty good job)
The reptile center was set up to help inform gambians that they don't need to kill on first sight every single snake they see. I'm not sure how well it's working as all of the gambians with us stayed a good distance away anytime a snake was brought out. Although by the end one did muster the courrage to touch the cobra that was being passed around. (When I find a picture of me with it I'll post it.)
Tomorrow we have interviews for our site locations. We discuss with our program leader where we think we want to be placed (combos-city area or futher up country), what language we are interested in making our focus (Mandinka, Wolof, or Pulaar), and the job we see ourself doing while here. We should find out by tuesday what language we need to learn and a list of three potential sites.
Friday, November 6, 2009
28 hours 50 minutes later...
We made it!!!
We started a stop watch when the bus left our hotel and stopped it when we reached the training site. But we all made it, without too much trouble. It's hot and sticky here, supposedly it's going to break any day now and become the cooler season. I think the cool season might only exist in air condintioned rooms, which there are a few of (one is my bunk room.. yes!).
So far the wildlife I've seen includes several goats, a cat without a tail, some chickens, a really cute tiny puppy, and fruit bats!! They're hugh and all around the compound where we're staying. very cool. (for those of you who saw the background of my computer recently, that's a fruit bat.)
We got in last night and were met at the airport by several volunteers and PC staff. Today we started training with intros to the offices here, vaccinations, and our first language classes. We learned some basic greetings in Mandinka and Pulaar. Basically I learned how to say 'jam tan' (peace only) after every question.
I will hopefully have internet for the next week or so. I will try to update.
Love to all!!
We started a stop watch when the bus left our hotel and stopped it when we reached the training site. But we all made it, without too much trouble. It's hot and sticky here, supposedly it's going to break any day now and become the cooler season. I think the cool season might only exist in air condintioned rooms, which there are a few of (one is my bunk room.. yes!).
So far the wildlife I've seen includes several goats, a cat without a tail, some chickens, a really cute tiny puppy, and fruit bats!! They're hugh and all around the compound where we're staying. very cool. (for those of you who saw the background of my computer recently, that's a fruit bat.)
We got in last night and were met at the airport by several volunteers and PC staff. Today we started training with intros to the offices here, vaccinations, and our first language classes. We learned some basic greetings in Mandinka and Pulaar. Basically I learned how to say 'jam tan' (peace only) after every question.
I will hopefully have internet for the next week or so. I will try to update.
Love to all!!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Africa Bound
After some delay my departure date has finally arrived! And it’s a little surreal to think that on Thursday, November 5 I will be stepping off a plane into my new life and next adventure in The Gambia.
As many of you know, the trainee class to Mauritania was canceled and the volunteers were pulled from that country in mid August, which left me with 4 months wide open. I made the best of the delay though, visiting family and friends in 9 states and a district (Vermont, Michigan, Wisconsin, Colorado, California, Minnesota, New Mexico, Massachusetts, and New York), 2 countries (Costa Rica and U.S.A.), and 4 national parks/monuments (Rocky Mnt, White Sands, Carlsbad, and Guadalupe Mnt… thanks Margie!). I spent time with all of my nieces and nephews and couch/floor/bed surfed at each of my bros houses (congrats Ryan and Sara!). The love and support from all of you over the past few months, and years, provides me with the strength and desire to jump into the Gambia ready to learn and help.
Which is where I’m headed right now! Currently I’m on a train from VT to Philly where our training class has ‘staging’, basically a 24 hour meet-and-greet before we load on a plane Wednesday evening. Philly cheese steaks anyone? I certainly hope so!
Once in the Gambia, we spend a few days in Banjul, the capitol city, at the Gambia Pastoral Institute (GPI)… sounds nice. From then until the beginning of January I’ll be living with a family about 150k outside Banjul and training with a group of 3 to 4 volunteers. It’s called Community-based training (CBT). I’m still working on the Peace Corps lingo. I think they may have more acronyms than UW- Madison, though nothing so cleaver as SOAR or SOO. Hopefully during training (PST- Pre-Service Training) I’ll be close enough to the city to find access to the inter-webs and send out some updates!
For now I’m just soaking in the last of the fall colors and cool weather. Other than some packing dilemmas I’m feeling ready and excited. I mean who wouldn’t be overjoyed to go to a country with hippos, 32 different kinds of bats, and pangolins (super cute in and armadillo sort of way). I’m leaving my nomadic life behind and settling down in the Gambia.
As many of you know, the trainee class to Mauritania was canceled and the volunteers were pulled from that country in mid August, which left me with 4 months wide open. I made the best of the delay though, visiting family and friends in 9 states and a district (Vermont, Michigan, Wisconsin, Colorado, California, Minnesota, New Mexico, Massachusetts, and New York), 2 countries (Costa Rica and U.S.A.), and 4 national parks/monuments (Rocky Mnt, White Sands, Carlsbad, and Guadalupe Mnt… thanks Margie!). I spent time with all of my nieces and nephews and couch/floor/bed surfed at each of my bros houses (congrats Ryan and Sara!). The love and support from all of you over the past few months, and years, provides me with the strength and desire to jump into the Gambia ready to learn and help.
Which is where I’m headed right now! Currently I’m on a train from VT to Philly where our training class has ‘staging’, basically a 24 hour meet-and-greet before we load on a plane Wednesday evening. Philly cheese steaks anyone? I certainly hope so!
Once in the Gambia, we spend a few days in Banjul, the capitol city, at the Gambia Pastoral Institute (GPI)… sounds nice. From then until the beginning of January I’ll be living with a family about 150k outside Banjul and training with a group of 3 to 4 volunteers. It’s called Community-based training (CBT). I’m still working on the Peace Corps lingo. I think they may have more acronyms than UW- Madison, though nothing so cleaver as SOAR or SOO. Hopefully during training (PST- Pre-Service Training) I’ll be close enough to the city to find access to the inter-webs and send out some updates!
For now I’m just soaking in the last of the fall colors and cool weather. Other than some packing dilemmas I’m feeling ready and excited. I mean who wouldn’t be overjoyed to go to a country with hippos, 32 different kinds of bats, and pangolins (super cute in and armadillo sort of way). I’m leaving my nomadic life behind and settling down in the Gambia.
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