I have about 2 months left here and I have a blast. I was so very lucky to have been placed with such a phenomenal family. I have grown to love this family as if I were born into it. The kids and older siblings have grown to like me. We have a good relationship. Everyday they tell me they will cry when I leave. I know I will do the same. My host mothers at first were really hard on me, but now are very proud of me and tell me so. My host father is amazing, has been from the beginning. He is progressive, reasonable, considerate, and of good morale standing. The respect I have for him is hard to express. I hope to grow up and be like him. I have learned so many things from him. He has been a hell of a counterpart and a damn good host. We have achieved a lot together.
The projects I have completed have been very successful. We are moving forward constantly. My field I paid for and fenced is looking great! My trees look good, are healthy, my fence is solid , my host father will reap the benefits in the future. He is going to be rich someday! My duck project is going strong. The whole family helps with the work. That project may be a future money-maker. My HIV/AIDS football tournament was an incredible success. Probably the best project I have worked on so far in my young life. I have to credit where credit is do, I could have not done it without the help of three other volunteers that were involved every step of the way. We did an amazing job and depend on who you talk to...didn't receive the credit we deserve. It is hard to believe that 10 months before we had are first kick-off, it all started with me and another volunteer talking about a simple football tournament over a few too many beers, in a shady bar, in a shady African town, during the hottest part of the day.
The thing that goes through my head is how incredibly lucky I am to end up here at this point in my life. I don't know much about the whole God thing, but I do feel blessed. I am 26 soon to be 27 years young and have received a wealth of knowledge that I feel only something like this can offer. Speaking, joking, and giving advice in a local language is an experience that in itself is wonderful. For your village to embrace you and not treat you like some stranger anymore is a great thing. The sad part is that this is happening now and I have to leave. But it is my time to go. I had planned to stay another year at one point, do to many things including Peace Corps politics, I have decided to come home and start over again. I am not going to fool you, I am scared as shit. I feel like I have forgotten everything. It may be funny watching me readjust.
There are so many things that this service has shown me and giving me. When I came here I had such low self-esteem. I didn't love myself of respect myself. I wasn't proud of anything I had done in the past. I felt inferior to everyone I spoke to and somewhat meaningless in the large scheme of things. Now I can say that I do not feel this way anymore at all. I have had a lot of time to think here and it has helped me come to terms with my life and who I am and I am proud of that. Another thing this service has giving me is a sense of connection with people that I have never had before. The friends I have made here are friends I hope to keep for the rest of my life. I have built a bond with so many volunteers here and it has been wonderful. I feel we all have grown together through this experience...what a bond that makes! I have learned that anyone can learn a language(well almost anyone.) I sure hell thought I couldn't, but I can get around pretty damn well with broken local language. I always thought I was pretty independent before this, if I wasn't before, I know I am now. I have learned here to laugh at myself and things around me. Laughing is good for your health and I need that after smoking for so long. I don't know what my life will offer me, but eventually I will stumble upon something. I am excited about it and will enter it with an open mind. I look forward to seeing whats next. Whatever it is I feel like I am prepared for it.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Work
Hello everyone,
Its been a while since I have written anything on here, sorry about that I have been really busy lately.
First, I would like to say that our football tournament is finished now and was a great success. For 2 months every weekend we were travelling around the North Bank and watching great football as well as decimating messages about HIV/AIDS. We finished everything about 3 weeks ago. This project was what I expected to get from Peace Corps. 7 teams, over 100 players and coaches, 10 different speakers talking to the youth at halftime of every game in local language about everything HIV/AIDS. The message was well received and we had two radio programs to discuss it and promote it. This project was one the best things I have ever did and will always remember it. One memory that will stay with me was at the final. The game was over and the trophy was giving out (seconds later the winning team broke it!) and myself, our organizers that helped us, as well as the other 3 volunteers that worked with me on this project. It was dark on the field and our DJ was playing music. We started dancing and screaming and hugging each other all of us on the field dancing into the night. It was really memorable.
So I have about 5 months left in my service. It came and went really quick. I have had such an incredible experience here, but it is looking like I will travel and then come back home when I am done. I was thinking for awhile that I would like to extend here for one more year, but I think that the time is right to get a job and start my professional life. I think for future traveling plans I will use this blog. Just change the name of it.
Other than that, everything is going well and my projects are going very well.
Its been a while since I have written anything on here, sorry about that I have been really busy lately.
First, I would like to say that our football tournament is finished now and was a great success. For 2 months every weekend we were travelling around the North Bank and watching great football as well as decimating messages about HIV/AIDS. We finished everything about 3 weeks ago. This project was what I expected to get from Peace Corps. 7 teams, over 100 players and coaches, 10 different speakers talking to the youth at halftime of every game in local language about everything HIV/AIDS. The message was well received and we had two radio programs to discuss it and promote it. This project was one the best things I have ever did and will always remember it. One memory that will stay with me was at the final. The game was over and the trophy was giving out (seconds later the winning team broke it!) and myself, our organizers that helped us, as well as the other 3 volunteers that worked with me on this project. It was dark on the field and our DJ was playing music. We started dancing and screaming and hugging each other all of us on the field dancing into the night. It was really memorable.
So I have about 5 months left in my service. It came and went really quick. I have had such an incredible experience here, but it is looking like I will travel and then come back home when I am done. I was thinking for awhile that I would like to extend here for one more year, but I think that the time is right to get a job and start my professional life. I think for future traveling plans I will use this blog. Just change the name of it.
Other than that, everything is going well and my projects are going very well.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
March and So On
It’s been sometime since I last posted. Some things have happened recently that are quite incredible. Firstly, our North Bank football project has received full funding from an entity of the US Government. This entities focus is on HIV/AIDS awareness. We are receiving more than we expected for this project. This money will be used to host the games and at halftime of each game we will have speakers discuss issues in The Gambia. We also want to have a large training of trainers meeting before the tournament starts, as well as a second TOT with the players alone.
Currently, we are searching for a sponsor for the kits, shoes, balls, trophy, and cash prizes. This will become much easier now that we have funds for everything else. I think future sponsors we speak to will take us seriously. Until recently, the discussions with hopeful sponsors have been filled with a lot of “if’s.” I will inform you of more information, when I know something, as of now, this is it.
Secondly, my duck project has gotten of the ground in big way. It started about three weeks ago, when one of our ducks laid 13 ducklings. My host father and were stoked about this, little did we know that was only the start of it, next day another duck; 12 ducklings, two days later another duck; 15 ducklings, A couple days later, another duck; 10 ducklings. Currently, I am being invaded…surrounded by ducklings. The ducks have covered everything outside my hut into a minefield of shit. These cute little creatures are causing havoc with control. I cannot wait until there are hundreds of these little heathens roaming the perimeter of our compound consuming all they can. Don’t get me wrong, ducks are awesome! This is just a new experience for me to witness.
Thirdly, my host family awhile back installed solar panels on their house. It is really crazy to think that I came here to get away from it all and now have a light bulb in my grass hut. I couldn’t say no to the light bulb because I fell that it is there house and should have the right to add a light bulb to the hut if they want. I am not complaining to much it’s nice to be able to read book at night, without a headlamp, but I miss reading by candle light sometimes. Perhaps, you’re asking yourself where this money came from. The answer to that is watermelons. My host father planted 4 hectares of watermelon very late in the season. When the watermelon was ready, no one else had any. He made bank of it and bought solar panels. I thought he was finished after the solar setup. After about two weeks a man came and installed a satellite dish in our compound. I saw several kids watch TV for the first time that night, which was really incredible.
Overall, things are looking up in my compound.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Mali and Everything After
OK, Mali was incredible. I went with 4 other volunteers. We were there for 2 weeks. Mali is a beautiful country. The travel there took some time though. 50 hours on a bus! When we arrived we were stunned to see hills! Coming from a country were the highest point is 160 feet. Mali's landscape is what you would expect for a county in the Sahel. Mostly dirt, bushes, and mostly Acacia species. So to make a long story short we first traveled to Bamako the capital of Mali. Bamako is in a way a nice city. Some skyscrapers and bridges. More motorbikes than I have ever seen. Bamako has about 1.5 million people residing in the city. It may be the dirtiest city have seen. But it is known for the best music scene in West Africa, if not all of Africa. We went to one show is was really cool. Dancers, Kora players, drumming, and guitar.
Our second stop after Bamako for one night was a drive to Mopti and Sevare. In Sevare we caught up with our guide Hassimi. Hassimi is a big guy, but one of the must jovial guys I have meet. Many of the people in The Gambia are similar to him, by always showing their happiness through their conversation and attitude. Hassimi let us stay at his compound before heading out to Dogon country. That night myself and the other guys had a few beers at a local bar. It was really nice, good food, company, and of course the beer. In Mali, they carry 5 different types of beer. For you all this is not a big deal, but after drinking only one type of beer in The Gambia for a year, you are very excited about options.
The next morning went were in Dogon rather quickly. We would travel around Dogon for next 3 days. We visited many villages, which I have pictures of on facebook. Dogon is one amazing place. Villages built on cliffs and hills. Incredible rock formations and people that fought to keep there animist beliefs until recently (about 500 years ago.) Most are now Muslims. We did visit one animist village at the end of our trip. It was interesting. Most of the villages we went to are now built below the escarpment. The older villages we visited were still built off the escarpment. After Dogon, we traveled back to Bamako again for 3 days, which I talked about above and then home.
Since being back at site some work has occurred. My fence for my range land management project has been completed. So currently, about 4 hectacres is fenced with 3 lines of barbwire. Since completion, we have hired one man to guard the property because currently the Cashew trees are fruiting and the Indian Jujubes. Also, sheep and goats attempt to enter the garden as well.
Also, my compound just got electricity. I know have a light in my hut, my backyard, and front yard. My host father purchased solar panels from selling watermelons he grew on an acre of land! I don't know how I feel about it. I feel that it is taking away from my experience here. I feel that I did not have an option, because it's his house I am living in and his materials he purchased. It is weird to be living in the middle of nowhere and look up and see that there is a reading light above your head. Its weird to not have to purchase shit batteries for your lamp and radio all the time. I guess the times are changing here little by little (Ndanka Ndanka in Wolof.) So you can imagine that I was equally surprised when a man arrived to install a Satellite dish for my host fathers home. I found it so interesting to watch TV again after many months maybe even a year. I found that I have lost almost all interest in the Television. I would much rather read. The joy my family and half the village children had when the first splotchy images appeared on the screen was priceless.
In about two weeks I shall have about 6 baby turkeys in my compound. Currently, our duck project is going strong. About 6 or 7 ducks are sitting on eggs. This is good news, because if all the ducklings live we may be looking at 70 ducks or so. I currently have about 22 females and 2 males. I can't think of much else to say now but that I am healthy and feeling good. I want to thank everyone for the birthday wishes, they really made my day.
Later.
Our second stop after Bamako for one night was a drive to Mopti and Sevare. In Sevare we caught up with our guide Hassimi. Hassimi is a big guy, but one of the must jovial guys I have meet. Many of the people in The Gambia are similar to him, by always showing their happiness through their conversation and attitude. Hassimi let us stay at his compound before heading out to Dogon country. That night myself and the other guys had a few beers at a local bar. It was really nice, good food, company, and of course the beer. In Mali, they carry 5 different types of beer. For you all this is not a big deal, but after drinking only one type of beer in The Gambia for a year, you are very excited about options.
The next morning went were in Dogon rather quickly. We would travel around Dogon for next 3 days. We visited many villages, which I have pictures of on facebook. Dogon is one amazing place. Villages built on cliffs and hills. Incredible rock formations and people that fought to keep there animist beliefs until recently (about 500 years ago.) Most are now Muslims. We did visit one animist village at the end of our trip. It was interesting. Most of the villages we went to are now built below the escarpment. The older villages we visited were still built off the escarpment. After Dogon, we traveled back to Bamako again for 3 days, which I talked about above and then home.
Since being back at site some work has occurred. My fence for my range land management project has been completed. So currently, about 4 hectacres is fenced with 3 lines of barbwire. Since completion, we have hired one man to guard the property because currently the Cashew trees are fruiting and the Indian Jujubes. Also, sheep and goats attempt to enter the garden as well.
Also, my compound just got electricity. I know have a light in my hut, my backyard, and front yard. My host father purchased solar panels from selling watermelons he grew on an acre of land! I don't know how I feel about it. I feel that it is taking away from my experience here. I feel that I did not have an option, because it's his house I am living in and his materials he purchased. It is weird to be living in the middle of nowhere and look up and see that there is a reading light above your head. Its weird to not have to purchase shit batteries for your lamp and radio all the time. I guess the times are changing here little by little (Ndanka Ndanka in Wolof.) So you can imagine that I was equally surprised when a man arrived to install a Satellite dish for my host fathers home. I found it so interesting to watch TV again after many months maybe even a year. I found that I have lost almost all interest in the Television. I would much rather read. The joy my family and half the village children had when the first splotchy images appeared on the screen was priceless.
In about two weeks I shall have about 6 baby turkeys in my compound. Currently, our duck project is going strong. About 6 or 7 ducks are sitting on eggs. This is good news, because if all the ducklings live we may be looking at 70 ducks or so. I currently have about 22 females and 2 males. I can't think of much else to say now but that I am healthy and feeling good. I want to thank everyone for the birthday wishes, they really made my day.
Later.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Before Mali
So I think this will be my last post before the year is out. Tomorrow I am off to Mali. I will be there for two weeks. I am returning on the 22nd. Next, we have Christmas and New Year's and a birthday. I will be very busy with all of this. So I thought that for the people who read this I would talk about completing my first year of service in PC. So when I first arrived to The Gambia I didn't know what to expect; I still don't. I am able to kind of speak my language. The people here are incredible. Some of the kindest human beings out there. I was placed with a great host family. My projects are slowly coming together. I made a lot of good friends here over this year. The PC experience is what I have always been looking for, it feels like one large family. Life is good. I have read lot since being in The Gambia and here are the books I have read:
1. No One Gets Out of Here Alive - Danny Sugarman and Jerry Hopkins
2. All The Strange Hours - Loren Eiesley
3. Blood River - Tim Butcher
4. Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris
5. In Dubious Battle - John Steinbech
6. In Patagonia - Bruce Chatwin
7. A Burnt-Out Case - Graham Greene
8. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid - Bill Bryson
9. About a Boy - Nick Hornby
10. The Great Escape - Kati Marton
11. The Wizard of the Nile - Matthew Greene
12. Welcome to Hell - Colin Martin
13. The Road - Cormac McCarthy
14. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim - David Sedaris
15. Post Office - Charles Bukowski
16. I'm a Stranger Here Myself - Bill Bryson
17. The Zanzibar Chest - Adian Hartley
18. Heart of Darkness - Joesph Conrad
19. A People's History of the United States - Howard Zinn
20. Breakfast of Champions - Kurt Vonnegut
21. Naked - David Sedaris
22. The Prophet - Kahlil Gibran
23. Posioned Wells - Nicholas Shaxson
24. Dubliners - James Joyce
25. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
26. A Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time - Mark Haddon
27. Don't Go There - Peter Greenberg
28. A Continent for the Taking - Howard W. French
29. The Back Country - Gary Synder
30. The Motorcycle Diaries - Ernesto 'Che' Guevara
31. Fargo Rock City - Chuck Klosterman
32. The Rum Diary - Hunter S. Thompson
33. Blue Latitudes - Tony Horwitz
34. Sex, Drugs, and Coco Puffs - Chuck Klosterman
35. The Orchard Keeper - Cormac McCarthy
36. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzergearld
37. The Subterreans - Jack Kerouac
38. Gulliver's Travels - Johnathan Swift
39. Ishmael - Daniel Quinn
40. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thompson
41. The Mystic Masseur - V. S. Naipaul
42. The Night Country - Loren Eiesley
43. The Power and the Glory - Graham Greene
44. Visions of Gerard - Jack Kerouac
45. Blue Clay People - William Powers
46. The Worst Hard Time - Timothy Egan
47. Child of God - Cormac McCarthy
48. No Longer at Ease - Chinua Achebe
49. A Discourse by Three Drunkards on the Government - Nakae Chomin
50. Islam, A Mosaic, Not a Monolith - Vartan Gregorian
51. Maggie Cassidy - Jack Kerouac
52. The English Patient - Michael Ondaatje
53. Sweet Thursday - John Steinbech
54. The First Man - Albert Camus
55. The Beat Motel - Barry Miles
56. The Book of Honor - Ted Gup
57. What We Say Goes - Noam Chomsky
58. First They Killed My Father - Loung Ung
59. A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
60. Man's Search for Meaning - Viktor E. Frankl
61. Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
62. Shadow of the Sun - Ryszard Kapuscinski
63. A Bend in the River - V. S. Naipaul
64. The Immense Journey - Loren Eiesely
65. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
66. Catch-22 - Joesph Heller
67. The Master and Margarita - Mikhail Bulgav
68. The Memory of Old Jack - Wendell Berry
69. Songs of the Doomed - Hunter S. Thompson
70. A Sand County Almanac - Aldo Leopold
71. Dark Star Safari - Paul Theroux
72. Dream Story - Arthur Schnitzler
73. Captain's Courageous - Rudyard Kipling
74. Round Ireland with a Fridge - Tony Hawks
75. Half the Sky - Nicholas D. Kristoff and Sheryl WuDunn
76. White Nights - Fyodor Destoyevsky
77. Reading Lolita in Tehran - Azar Nafisi
78. The Glass Castle - Jeanette Walls
79. The Communist Manifesto - Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
80. The Call of the Wild - Jack London
So yeah, I read a lot of this year. I want to make a New Year's Res. I hope to write more and to write better blogs. Until Next Year! Much Love to All.
1. No One Gets Out of Here Alive - Danny Sugarman and Jerry Hopkins
2. All The Strange Hours - Loren Eiesley
3. Blood River - Tim Butcher
4. Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris
5. In Dubious Battle - John Steinbech
6. In Patagonia - Bruce Chatwin
7. A Burnt-Out Case - Graham Greene
8. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid - Bill Bryson
9. About a Boy - Nick Hornby
10. The Great Escape - Kati Marton
11. The Wizard of the Nile - Matthew Greene
12. Welcome to Hell - Colin Martin
13. The Road - Cormac McCarthy
14. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim - David Sedaris
15. Post Office - Charles Bukowski
16. I'm a Stranger Here Myself - Bill Bryson
17. The Zanzibar Chest - Adian Hartley
18. Heart of Darkness - Joesph Conrad
19. A People's History of the United States - Howard Zinn
20. Breakfast of Champions - Kurt Vonnegut
21. Naked - David Sedaris
22. The Prophet - Kahlil Gibran
23. Posioned Wells - Nicholas Shaxson
24. Dubliners - James Joyce
25. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
26. A Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time - Mark Haddon
27. Don't Go There - Peter Greenberg
28. A Continent for the Taking - Howard W. French
29. The Back Country - Gary Synder
30. The Motorcycle Diaries - Ernesto 'Che' Guevara
31. Fargo Rock City - Chuck Klosterman
32. The Rum Diary - Hunter S. Thompson
33. Blue Latitudes - Tony Horwitz
34. Sex, Drugs, and Coco Puffs - Chuck Klosterman
35. The Orchard Keeper - Cormac McCarthy
36. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzergearld
37. The Subterreans - Jack Kerouac
38. Gulliver's Travels - Johnathan Swift
39. Ishmael - Daniel Quinn
40. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thompson
41. The Mystic Masseur - V. S. Naipaul
42. The Night Country - Loren Eiesley
43. The Power and the Glory - Graham Greene
44. Visions of Gerard - Jack Kerouac
45. Blue Clay People - William Powers
46. The Worst Hard Time - Timothy Egan
47. Child of God - Cormac McCarthy
48. No Longer at Ease - Chinua Achebe
49. A Discourse by Three Drunkards on the Government - Nakae Chomin
50. Islam, A Mosaic, Not a Monolith - Vartan Gregorian
51. Maggie Cassidy - Jack Kerouac
52. The English Patient - Michael Ondaatje
53. Sweet Thursday - John Steinbech
54. The First Man - Albert Camus
55. The Beat Motel - Barry Miles
56. The Book of Honor - Ted Gup
57. What We Say Goes - Noam Chomsky
58. First They Killed My Father - Loung Ung
59. A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
60. Man's Search for Meaning - Viktor E. Frankl
61. Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
62. Shadow of the Sun - Ryszard Kapuscinski
63. A Bend in the River - V. S. Naipaul
64. The Immense Journey - Loren Eiesely
65. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
66. Catch-22 - Joesph Heller
67. The Master and Margarita - Mikhail Bulgav
68. The Memory of Old Jack - Wendell Berry
69. Songs of the Doomed - Hunter S. Thompson
70. A Sand County Almanac - Aldo Leopold
71. Dark Star Safari - Paul Theroux
72. Dream Story - Arthur Schnitzler
73. Captain's Courageous - Rudyard Kipling
74. Round Ireland with a Fridge - Tony Hawks
75. Half the Sky - Nicholas D. Kristoff and Sheryl WuDunn
76. White Nights - Fyodor Destoyevsky
77. Reading Lolita in Tehran - Azar Nafisi
78. The Glass Castle - Jeanette Walls
79. The Communist Manifesto - Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
80. The Call of the Wild - Jack London
So yeah, I read a lot of this year. I want to make a New Year's Res. I hope to write more and to write better blogs. Until Next Year! Much Love to All.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
The Tournament
Sorry for the time in between my posts. This is my second attempt tonight at putting this up. The first didn’t go through, which is a bunch of BS!!!!! So I have been very busy lately working on one of the biggest things I have put together in my life! With the help of 3 awesome volunteers in my region (North Bank Region)-(NBR) we are working on an amazing project. We are currently working on a North Bank soccer tournament with positive deviance messages at halftime of all the games. So far we are kicking so much ass with this. The tournament will consist of 13 games in 2 groups with a semi-final and final taking place in the largest city in our region Farafenni. The messages that will be addressed will be HIV/AIDS, Environmental Issues (not selected yet), Food Security, and one topic to be chosen by The Department of Youth Affairs and Sports in the NBR. So far we have built a great relationship with The Youth Affairs people, which recently sent in the budget 2 days before the deadline we requested (not a Gambian norm). As of now we have been running with this for several months without any bumps along the way. The hardest obstacle is still to come…funding! Currently I am in the capital until Friday morning working on this stuff. Right now we want to have this thing ready in 20 days and running by January or February of next year. Also, hopefully before my service is finished we will have a national model up and running with Gambians running the show and Peace Corps stepping back.
Other than that still waiting to work on projects October is ruthlessly hot no rain, insane humidity, and absolutely no cloud cover! So of course everyone just stays inside. I am trying to get my host father to help me the chicken coop, work on my main project that I discussed in the last post, and get a coop built for some duck and future guinea fowls. Also, the PCV before had a dog. The dog was there when I arrived. The dog was recently killed on the road. R.I.P. Ernest I dedicate this post to you. Otherwise, I am happy and doing well, the health is good and so is life. Oh, I and a few others are going to Mali in December for two weeks life is good.
P.S. All these Gambians kept saying that a wonderful Toubab like me needs a Gambian wife. At first I let it go. Well, recently I thought about and meet a girl that can cook…We are getting married soon! I am kidding…or am I?
Other than that still waiting to work on projects October is ruthlessly hot no rain, insane humidity, and absolutely no cloud cover! So of course everyone just stays inside. I am trying to get my host father to help me the chicken coop, work on my main project that I discussed in the last post, and get a coop built for some duck and future guinea fowls. Also, the PCV before had a dog. The dog was there when I arrived. The dog was recently killed on the road. R.I.P. Ernest I dedicate this post to you. Otherwise, I am happy and doing well, the health is good and so is life. Oh, I and a few others are going to Mali in December for two weeks life is good.
P.S. All these Gambians kept saying that a wonderful Toubab like me needs a Gambian wife. At first I let it go. Well, recently I thought about and meet a girl that can cook…We are getting married soon! I am kidding…or am I?
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
August Post
So it has been sometime since I have written here. Well, it has been raining and Ramadan is in full swing. My projects are going smoothly and I have been quite productive. I am looking forward to working on my main project as soon as the rains stop and Ramadan is over. The fencing has been purchased and the fence posts cut. Mustapha and I have planted cashew, Mango, and Bean inside the field and soon Gmelina as well. I purchased another 500 Gmelina trees to be added into the field behind all the fence posts. In perhaps 5 years or so they will be used as the fence posts and are great for timber as well as coppiciable. We have also transferred about 100 Siisal plants. Which, brings me to an interesting story about transferring them. Sissal is very similar to the Yucca plant in the states except for the stock growing from the center. (When Siisal germinate a stock grows from the center as well.) These plants are quite large. I am morphed by their size. They are gnarly plants and when the pierce your skin the start to burn and immediately switch to intense itching. It took 5 of us to yanking these guys out of the ground with a rope and a small bar for cutting the root. I was stabbed several times. Most memorable were one through the toenail and one in the nether region. One of my host brothers was shredded when he tried to give one plant a good kick for leverage. He slipped and ended up in the middle of that plant. It was a painful and bloody mess. My family and other villagers laughed because of the damage I was receiving and my foul language after each injury.
I recently saw my first Wild Dog or as the Gambians call them "fox." I have always heard them, but never seen one. When laying down at night you can them in the bush. They sound like a bunch of puppies crying; that's the only way to describe it. Well, I was heading back on the road right before dark recently, when two of them darted across the road. Big-eared and black with long tails and slender bodies. That was cool. I hope to see a Hyena soon as well. Of course I do not want to be alone when I see it.
So I am writing this from Kombo. I am going back to site tomorrow. Today I hope to have a meeting with some government dudes about another project myself and 3 other PCV's are working on I will explain later. Gotta go now peace.
I recently saw my first Wild Dog or as the Gambians call them "fox." I have always heard them, but never seen one. When laying down at night you can them in the bush. They sound like a bunch of puppies crying; that's the only way to describe it. Well, I was heading back on the road right before dark recently, when two of them darted across the road. Big-eared and black with long tails and slender bodies. That was cool. I hope to see a Hyena soon as well. Of course I do not want to be alone when I see it.
So I am writing this from Kombo. I am going back to site tomorrow. Today I hope to have a meeting with some government dudes about another project myself and 3 other PCV's are working on I will explain later. Gotta go now peace.
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