Funny Stories

Tummy Rub

I went to a near by village to visit my friend Katie, we decided to then go back to my village and we needed a ride. We flagged down a car to hitch a ride to my village which as not far away. I decide to take the front seat while Katie opts for the back. Believe it or not Gambia has seat belt laws, so I begin to fasten the seat belt. At this point the driver recognizes me. "kaddy it is Lamin, do you remember me? Let me help you with the belt." So he leans over in a slightly inappropriate manner and tries to assist me. Katies is in the back laughing and saying "If he does a boob graze the ride is free." Well it wasn't exactly a boob graze... instead he patted my stomach and told me I had a big stomach. I begin to laugh and Katie has no idea what just happened, when we exit the car I tell her and we both decide that was the weirdest episode to take place in car in a while.

Note: Generally speaking Gambian men will not touch anything on a woman but her hands (unless he is in a relationship with her). It is also not a bad thing here to be told you are fat, have big stomach, or big butt... it is a mark of honor to be big it means you are well taken care of and your family can afford food.

Marrying a Mauritanian

I walked to the market in Serakunda looking for fabric because I wanted to get a skirt made. Usually I shop in Brikama but today I was closer to Serakunda (which is a HUGE market) and decided I would give it a try. I went to 10+ fabric stores looking for the right fabric for my skirt. Finally when I was exhausted an a little lost I stumbled into one more. There were three men in the shop and I bargained and haggled to get the price down to one I would be willing to pay. Of course this is after I spent 15 minutes greeting and chatting with them to establish a relationship. I choose not to lie so I tell them I am not married (not always a smart idea when dealing with Gambians) so they proceeded to propose to me. Funny enough I jokingly accepted the proposal but stipulated that if we were to be married I would need a very good price on the fabric. The conversation went something like this.

shopkeeper: " But I love you. You should marry me. You need Mauritanian husband"

me: "Ok, I will marry you but if I am your wife I will need fabric and since you are my husband you should buy it for me"

Sk: "Ok, how about I give you good price? 30 Dalasis a meter"

Me: "Ok, that is good price"

Sk: "You will marry me now?"

Me: "Yes, you can be my first husband, but I will take three more. If a Muslim man can marry 4 wives I will marry 4 men."

Sk: "NO, I will be the only husband."

Me: "we'll see"

This went on for a while but in the end I walked away with cheap fabric, new friends and a full tummy because I was also invited to take lunch with them and I thought "what the heck"

Note: sometimes if you take the time to chat with some Gambians you will find that in the end you had a wonderful, if not weird experience.

Sunjo Baa

I was walking to the bitik (village shop) the other day because I needed phone credit and I had a funny exchange with a young girl.

girl: "Toubob!" (White person)

me: "Mang ke toubobo. n too mu Kaddy" (My name is not toubob, my name is Kaddy)

girl: "Kaddy, sunjo baa." (Kaddy big boobs)

me: "Tonya" (true)

What else was I supposed to say... Gambians enjoy stating the obvious but I had never had a person refer to be a Kaddy big boobs before... I guess I have to take what I can get... anything is better than being called toubob.

Gambian Living

This is how my cat chooses to spend the day, most days. When it rains he freaks out and sits on top of my bookshelf until it has stopped only coming down if he thinks he might get fed. I have made him very lazy.

Children playing dress-up, is there anything sweeter?

This is me and some buddies at a going away party of Ellie our amazing trainer and Mike our fabulous PCVL. The part was really fun.

I made fish cakes and was selling them outside my friends compound, while holding a baby and getting my hair braided. It was fun and fish cakes are yummy!

This is Lala pretending to be me. I really don't think she has ever seen me on the phone, still a really cute picture.

My cat sleeping, I can't imagine how sleeping in the pose is at all comfortable but he seems to think it is. I think I will call it dead cat pose.

RAINY SEASON!!!!!

The rain has come and I love it.... well most of it. I love listening to it pounding on the corrugate, I love the thunder and lightning and it is so much cooler that you can move and not be sticky. However all is not perfect with the rainy season, I HATE the mosquitoes that have posted up residence in my village, I strongly dislike all the other bugs that have made their presence know in my life and I really don't appreciate sliding and slipping all over the place when I walk down the road due to the mud. With all good comes some bad and whether I love it or hate it, it is only fleeting and will be gone in a few months.

Children really enjoyed the first rain, in fact many danced and played and washed themselves in it. However, the novelty soon wore off and it is rare to see them in the rain now.

The only exception I have to the bug hate is this little fellow... it is so cute (not a word I would usually associate with a bug). They are tiny and so bright and look like they are made out of the softest velvet, I just wanna pet them. I will refrain from petting because this is Africa and the likelihood that it is poisonous seems high, especially since it's so cute.