This week was a three day weekend and we packed it full! Friday was Gambia's Revolution Day, which is a celebration of when the current president took over and basically overthrew a more corrupt government. This country loves their president! He has been in office for 17 years now. We took part in the celebration by loading in the ambulance (our usual transportation) and heading to the capital Banjul. We were surprised to see everyone in green! Apparently we didn't get the memo that the president's political party is represented by green and none of us had it on- oops. After quite a bit of waiting, we finally got a glimpse of the president. He rode by in a stretch hummer truck limo- very extravagant. The security was ridiculous! There were men with machine guns in the back of the truck and snipers on the roof! I was afraid just to reach in my bag! After the president drove by, he stood at a podium under this giant pavilion where most of the spectators of the parade were sitting. We were ready to escape the heat so we decided to head out. Ebrima had this grand idea that the shortest way to get to the car was to just jump in the middle of the parade and walk with them to where our car was. He is too funny! So we jumped in behind a marching group of kids from a local school. I'm sure everyone was wondering what the heck we were doing there! We were even on TV. Ana said they saw us cracking up and everyone watching started yelling about how they knew us! It was quite the entertainment of the day.
Saturday we headed back to Sanyang for another beach weekend. We had originally thought we were going to go to Senegambia, but after hearing of the abundance of jellyfish and bumsters (men that steal your stuff in plain sight), we decided Sanyang was the better option. We had another great beach day playing in the water, basket tossing each other, and even had some giant seaweed fights! It was a blast. Ana brought chicken and cooked grilled chicken sandwiches on the beach for us. It was perfect. We even joined in on a local party and did some dancing while waiting on our driver. We have been so lucky that the weather has cooperated every beach weekend. I couldn't have asked for better memories at Sanyang.
Sunday we spent the day relaxing at the lodge and sleeping in-our favorite pastime besides Canasta. We headed to Serekunda in the afternoon to celebrate Maimouna's wedding. The entire maternity ward had dresses made out of the same fabric, so to join in we took scraps of the fabric and added them to our outfits. It was so cute! The wedding was gorgeous. The women are all so glamorous! I was surprised at how similar it was to a traditional outdoor wedding reception in the states. We had dinner and sat outside waiting for the bride and groom to arrive from the mosque. The bride spends the day at the salon, while the groom and the elder men go to the mosque and get the wedding approved and blessed. Lamin (the groom) picked up Maimouna from the salon and they made a grand entrance. Chad and I were very disappointed that for some reason the Ford Explorer they showed up in had a longhorn sticker on it! What the heck?!?! They greeted everyone and took lots lots lots of pictures. Maimouna looked gorgeous! The only downside of the wedding are the attendance of griots- one of my top 3 least favorite things about Gambia. I was more prepared to ignore them this time and Haley had a great time video taping our responses to these annoying begging women. After Maimouna had greeted everyone, we were moved to a different compound just down the street. They had cultural music playing and everyone enjoyed dancing and observing. The biggest event of the night is when they arrive again, Maimouna in a new dress. They have a cake set up and a leather couch where the bride and groom sit and cut the cake. Overall the wedding was tons of fun and a great way to celebrate and special friendship we have all made with her.
This week I will wrap up our hospital time with RCH (peds) and Hands on Care again. Friday we are having a small going away party with the hospital staff to show them how much we appreciate all they have done for us. As time is ticking away and I get excited to head home, I can't help but think about all of the relationships we have made here and how sad it will make me to say goodbye.
Looking forward to seeing my American family and friends very soon!
-Isa
Do i need to fedex you an Aggie sticker!!
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