Ramadan

Just in case you didn't know:

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic Calendar. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which Muslims refrain from eating and drinking all manner of badness. Fasting is intended to teach Muslims about patience, humility, and spirituality. It is a time for Muslims to fast for the sake of Allah and to offer more prayer than usual. During Ramadan, Muslims ask forgiveness for past sins, pray for guidance and help in refraining from everyday evils, and try to purify themselves through self-restraint and good deeds.

Ok, now that you know what Ramadan is let me tell you a little bit about being an American non-Muslim living in a Muslim country during the month of Ramadan. I chose to try the fasting... not eating until 7:30pm was difficult. More difficult was not drinking anything. I had the choice to get up at 5am and eat breakfast but that was a particularly crazy idea... I preferred to sleep. All in all I fasted for 15 of the 30ish days. Just so you know, when it is Ramadan you are hungry, Gambian's are hungry and everyone is angry.

One day I went to the market and I wondered around in a daze of hunger trying to purchase juice. I was trying to talk to a women and it took me like 5 minutes to understand that the women was telling me the juice was 3 dalais. You should not try and shop on an empty stomach. Gelly rides were worse. Normally gelly rides are uncomfortable but bearable, when you haven't eaten they are pretty much hell on earth. Imagine, if you will, being crammed into a large-ish van with 20 other people, everyone is hungry and thirsty and at least mildly peeved about something and then add to that, me. I am half perched on the bench (cause there is never enough room) screaming in my head "could everyone just shut up, and could someone get some freakin water." So after this travel/market debacle I decided it would be best for my sanity and the safety of others if I refrained from travel on days in which I was fasting.

I spent a majority of my fasting days in village, this meant that I hung around my compound and for the most part did nothing. At first I was like "hey I should get some work done" until I realized no one else was doing any work either. I mean things still functioned but at a minimal level. So I read, napped and hung out with my family and village friends. The question of the month was "Kaddy, are you fasting today?" and when the answer was yes they went crazy. Gambian's really like it when you try any aspect of their culture, they love it when you wear African dress, when you cook African food, when you participate in ceremonies and when you observe Muslim customs.

The best part of Ramadan was the days of feasting that took place when the moon was spotted and the new lunar month began and Ramadan was over. They call this holiday Koriteh (have no idea how to spell this). On the first day I had three breakfasts; coos with sour milk, a savory rice dish called nankatango, and peanut-rice porridge with sour milk... all so tasty. I was so full. We followed that up with three lunches; benichien (fried rice), domada (spicy peanut sauce) and choo (spicy onion sauce). I can't even remember dinner, I'm pretty sure I never got around to eating it because I was so stuffed from all the other food. And then the next day we did it all over again.

On holidays like Koriteh all the people in the village (who can afford it) buy really nice clothes and show it off. The men and children show theirs off when the go to the mosque to pray in the morning, the women and children dress up in their finest at night and parade around the village showing off their fancy outfits and visiting with their friends. Children come around asking adults for salibo, which is an offering such as candy, money or a prayer. I gave out candy and my mom gave out dalasi. I too took part in this clothes buying extravaganza and got my own fancy complet made with choop (hand dyed fabric) and embroidery. It was expensive but I wanted to look good because in a way I represent my family and I want to show the village that I am well taken care of. Below is a picture of me rockin my fancy digs.

Me and My sister YaBinta, rocking Gambian high fashion.

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.

Trip up country

Day 1:

4:30am I am up and ready to go to Basse. I am going with Sarah and I will be painting fish on her walls making them resemble a fish tank. I'm up and waiting for Sarah and I'm wondering if the time has changed because I haven't seen her yet this morning. Oh well, this means I have computer time. 5:00am, still no Sarah but now the car is here to pick us up. Must go search for Sarah. She was sleeping in another room so I go in an attempt to wake her up. I call "Sarah" and then hear a loud thunk... Sarah fell out of bed, the top bunk. She comes out of the room disoriented and says that she hurt her arm. I ask if she thinks it is broken and she says "yeah." Ok, so now I call our medical people and wake them up to come look at her arm and I also send the car away. Won't be going today.

Sarah did indeed break her arm, actually she landed on her elbow and is now flying to D.C. to get surgery to repair the damage. Bad start to the day.

Day 2:

I still decide to go up country so I tag along with Danielle and we head out to her site which is about 7-9 hours away based on the transportation. I take my first ferry ride and then we head down the North Bank road headed for Wassu. Our Gelly will take us to Ferafeni where we will catch another going the rest of the way. Ferafeni is known for their chicken sandwiches... I don't eat meat but I get one with out chicken so it consisted of noddles, onion, tomato, lettuce and mustard. Seriously one of the most tasty things I have ever eaten here.

We caught a Gelly that would take us all the way to Danielle's village but when it reaches Wassu the driver decides he does not feel like going the last 3K to the village and is stopping. We need a ride. We walk over to the customs office and see Sam. Sam is the Gambian boyfriend of one of the volunteers and he offers to take us to the village. YEAH!!!!!

Everything in Danielle's house is covered in a thick layer of dust because she has been gone for a month but we can't do anything about it today so we take bucket baths, eat dinner and then head to bed.

Day 3:

We decide that today would be a good time to clean Danielle's house. It was dirty work but it did look better when we were done. We also had a great time singing along to Dreamgirls while using a Hanna Montana microphone. Her family was laughing at us but we were pretty silly.

Even though we cleaned the house there was still a weird smell... what could it be?

Day 4:

Danielle and I travel to Mc Carthy island to meet up with Alison for lunch. It was really enjoyable, so enjoyable in fact that we end up spending all day sitting under a tree chatting. At about 5pm we head out. I am now headed to Alison's site stay with her for two days. We get to the ferry at the other side of the island and get on. 2 hours later we are still sitting on the ferry and it is going nowhere and it is getting dark. We hop a small boat across and just miss the Gelly headed to her village. Now we have to walk about 3k out to the road, as it keeps getting darker. All the Gellys that pass are full and we are stuck walking. As we near the end of the road someone calls out "Kaddy Jatu" which is my name and I wonder who knows me up here. Eventually we make it out to the police check point on the main road and sit and wait and pray that a car will come by. One does. the one that screamed out my name. It was Sam again. So we hop in and thank our lucky stars that we have gotten a ride. We were not in the clear yet because half way to Alison's village the car stops and we have to get out and push it. Luckily it starts back up and we make it to the village. Sam is my hero!

Time for a bath and bed!

Day 5:

Brikama Ba lumo is today and we head out after breakfast to check out the lumo (a lumo is a weekly market). It's hot today but we have fun at the lumo buying food and fabric. We take lunch with the customs officers and it is delicious. This is pretty much a whole day affair and then we head back to the village via gelly. The boys (Luke and Etienne) catch up with us and we make an amazing dinner of cabbage salad with lime vinaigrette and smoked salmon alfredo pasta. So yummy!

Day 6:

Back to Mc Carthy island for the CRR meeting. I get a chance to hang with a whole bunch of up country people. It was a good day. I go back to Danielle's village and spend the night. Apparently the bad smell in her house was coming form a monitor lizard that had died some time ago in her ceiling. The family fished it out but the smell still lingers.

Day 7:

Wassu lumo and home. The lumo was great, only problem is that like no one speaks English or Mandinka. It was still fun. At about 1pm I got on a Gelly for home. Not the most comfortable ride. I was squished with my knees pressed into the seat in front of me while my head is at an odd angel because I am too tall for this ride. I'm 5'3'' how do tall people travel? Eventually I get to Barra and cross on the ferry which was really enjoyable because it was sunset and breezy. I reached the transit house just after dark and all I wanted was a shower to remove the layer of sweat and dirt from my body.

Clean again, now time for sleep.

Life in pictures.

Me and all of my Western Region peeps rockin' our asobee (matching cloth).

This little boy sat with me through the whole performance at TURAD.

Puppet show about the dangers of adultery.

Don't sleep with her!

Me in village, I have decided that the tiko is fantastic for covering up bad hair days.

Found this guy hanging out behind my book shelf, I thought it was a mouse at first.

Glad it was a lizard, they are way less destructive.

This preying mantis was chilling in my backyard for like a week,

it is totally cool and I got it while it was eating a bee.

What's new?

Ok, so it's has been about a month and life is progressing here. Here are a few of things that have been going on.

Work:

I have started "working" at the hospital... really I just go and hang out there for a few hours each day. I have no medical skills so right now there is very little for me to do there. When malaria season starts I think I will be doing a lot of health talks at the hospital while people are being treated or are waiting to be treated for malaria. I realize this is not prevention but it a way to reach a group of people who are having malaria problems. Before rainy season/malaria season I would like to bed net dipping and such for some prevention. No one wants malaria. I have also attended the monthly Reproductive Child Health (RCH) clinic and weighed babies. It was a great opportunity to observe the condition of children in my region, for the most part they are pretty healthy but many of them have not seen the hungry season yet so that may change in a few months. I would like to include some information about weening foods during RCH clinic but it's difficult because it is total chaos. 200+ women and their infants. The last clinic I went to there was even a brawl between two women over line jumping issues.

I'm also really excited because I am now on a visual aids committee that will be working on putting together and developing visual resources and aids for the Health sector here. This means information on mural painting, puppet making, banners, games and a tons more other stuff. I will probably also be updating the current mural manual here as well as doing several murals of my own. This is super exciting to me.

Training:

I have spent the last two weeks in training. It has been exhausting and educational. I am glad it's done but I got a lot from it. One of the best parts was visiting an NGO in Gunjur called TURAD that does a lot of work in health issues that effect the Gambia by using a variety of methods such as dramas, singing, dancing, aprons that have women reproductive organs painted on them to help with discussion on the topic and games such as snakes and ladders with health messages. They also did a puppet show about the dangers of adultery (it was hilarious). TURAD was really inspiring for me and I have a feeling I will be visiting them soon to get more information about their visual aids. Training also gave us all an opportunity to talk about our experiences during our first three months in village. It was good to find out that several of us were facing similar challenges such as finding appropriate and meaningful work, choosing the right counter part, etc.

We also got to spend one blissful day at the Sheraton working on peer counseling, which translates into talking, relaxing and enjoying the pool and beach. What a way to spend a day.

Village Life:

Village life continues along at an easy pace, not much has happened. The biggest thing that happened is that I have now moved to the communal food bowl and I now eat with the women in my compound instead of by myself in my compound. I really enjoy eating with the women because I eat less because I am not forcing myself to eat all the food they give me and I also have more options. There are three women who cook in my compound and they all make good food and want me to eat with them so each day I get to decide what I want and who I want to eat with. And now that my family knows that I don't like palm oil they conference everyday to make sure that at least one of the three is making something with out palm oil. My family is awesome.

Steven, the other volunteer in my village and now I am the only volunteer left in my village. I miss having Steven around, he was great fun and full of village information. Now it's just me. Malong my neighbor who was Steven's best friend in village misses him a lot and I told him I would do what I could to get him a new male volunteer friend, this will be difficult because in the whole of Western Region there are only two. Oh well, guess he will just have to be ok with me.

What's next?

Tomorrow I am heading up country to Basse. I am super excited but I may melt. It is so much hotter up there (the good thing is that I get to come home to my village when I'm done which is quite a bit cooler). I am going to Basse to help my friend Sarah turn her hut into a fish bowl... we are doing an aquarium themed mural in her hut. I am super excited to paint. I will also be heading to my friend Luke and Alison's site to visit with them. We will be making neem cream to keep away the nasty mosquito's. Should be tons of fun and I will get to go to the Brikama Ba lumo which will be crazy. The Brikama Ba lumo is like the biggest weekly market in the Gambia and is suposed to be pretty amazing.