Sunday was the best day. I got up early to head to the market with Anna, Stephanie, and Haley. We had planned a party for that evening to say thank you to all of our friends at the lodge and to spend a fun night together before we left. We went with Anna to buy all of the ingredients for dinner. Unfortunately that included fish from the fish market. I almost made it out of The Gambia without having to go there, but I was one day short. It was awful!
That afternoon we hung out with Anna and learned how to cook some of her specialties, including cous cous pancakes! I can't wait to try them out at home. Haley and I decided to give our little goodies to the 3 girls from next door- Anna, Ndey, and Juwana. They were so excited! It was wonderful to see how such simple toys like stickers and silly bands could brighten their day so much.
Jambos organized a relay race type of game for us that included carrying water on our heads. We had so much fun competing with each other and goofing off together!
The lodge staff and pretty much all of our best friends in The Gambia, got together and decided to have dresses/shirts made for all of us to wear at the party. It was so sweet! They had them all made out of the same fabric and even had them made for them as well, so that night we were all decked out. We were constantly amazed at how loved they always made us feel. The party was perfect. We took tons of pictures, hugged each other to death, cried a little too much, and laughed the night away. I couldn't think of a better way to spend our last night together!
Monday was our last day but we didn't leave until 1:50 Tuesday morning, so thankfully we had the entire day to spend saying goodbye. We headed over to the Sowe compound to give them gifts to say thank you for letting us cook with them everyday for 6 weeks. They were so sweet- they draped us in Gambian flags! It was awesome! Many of us had been saying we wished we could buy one while there but couldn't find one, so it was so exciting that they had made us 2 each! They all wanted our contact information and to take pictures together before we left. It was extremely hard to say goodbye and leave such a welcoming family that has done so much for us.
That evening was rough. I have never felt so bittersweet about going home before. I hung out at Anna's house pretty much the whole night and said my goodbyes to my 3 favorite little ones- Anna, Ndey, and Juwana. Jambos told me that the whole gang wanted to go to the airport with us to say goodbye. We figured that wouldn't happen since we only had one car and there wasn't room. Little did we know they had arranged cars and we ended up having a 4 car entourage follow us to the airport. It was unbelievably humbling to feel so loved and missed. Saying goodbye was a thousand times harder than I had prepared myself for and I was a mess.
Going into the trip I don't think I realized how long 7 weeks really is: long enough to form a family. To me, it felt like I was leaving behind people I had made lifelong bonds with. I can't bear the thought of never seeing them again. I had no idea I would become so attached to a little hardly known country on the western coast of Africa, but it will forever hold a huge piece of my heart. What a beautiful life this is to travel halfway across the world and be embraced and loved by so many.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Our last weekend
So yes I've been gone for almost a week, but I wanted to get a chance to tie up all the loose ends and talk about our last couple of days in The Gambia since they were so special.
On Saturday we went to Makasutu Culture Forest, a nature reserve just outside Brikama. Anna used to work there so she went with us to show us the ropes. On the way there, we got stuck in the mud! We knew it was bound to happen with all of the puddles we had been driving through the whole time we were there, but it was funny all the same. With the help of some neighboring boys, we got the car out and took an alternate route. Makasutu was gorgeous! The name actually means "holy forest" and the entire place was absolutely beautiful. We set out on a short hike to the edge of the Gambia River, where we were supposed to take a canoe out. Unfortunately, the water was too low and we didn't get a chance to go, but we were secretly okay with that since it was miserably hot. We continued our hike and came to a hut where a "fortune teller" lives. The man predicted long ago that Makasutu would become an attraction for people all over the world, and because he was right, the owner let him stay. It was interesting to hear a little bit of history about his family and one of our group members even got her palm read!
About 10 minutes further into our hike we got to the lodging part of the park. Our tourist book described the rooms as some of the most "luxurious rooms in The Gambia". There were about 6 floating houses that slept 2 and they were impressive! The park also had what they called "jungle houses" which were small 2 story houses for 2 that were very luxurious! I swore that if I ever go back to The Gambia that I will stay one night there!
When we got back to the front of the park we were greeting with lots of baboons. We enjoyed watching them interact and getting lots of pictures of them! After we had enough baboon watching, we were served a plethora of traditional Gambian foods and were entertained by some Gambian women who danced under the Baobab tree for us. We got to join in at the end and had so much fun attempting to dance along with them.
Saturday night a few of us went to Senegambia to have one more night of pizza at our favorite restaurant. We danced along with the live music, people watched, and had great food! We sat on the beach for a couple of hours afterwards and just enjoyed hanging out with each other. I think we all started to realize how soon our trip was going to be over and wanted to spend as much time with each other as we could.
On Saturday we went to Makasutu Culture Forest, a nature reserve just outside Brikama. Anna used to work there so she went with us to show us the ropes. On the way there, we got stuck in the mud! We knew it was bound to happen with all of the puddles we had been driving through the whole time we were there, but it was funny all the same. With the help of some neighboring boys, we got the car out and took an alternate route. Makasutu was gorgeous! The name actually means "holy forest" and the entire place was absolutely beautiful. We set out on a short hike to the edge of the Gambia River, where we were supposed to take a canoe out. Unfortunately, the water was too low and we didn't get a chance to go, but we were secretly okay with that since it was miserably hot. We continued our hike and came to a hut where a "fortune teller" lives. The man predicted long ago that Makasutu would become an attraction for people all over the world, and because he was right, the owner let him stay. It was interesting to hear a little bit of history about his family and one of our group members even got her palm read!
About 10 minutes further into our hike we got to the lodging part of the park. Our tourist book described the rooms as some of the most "luxurious rooms in The Gambia". There were about 6 floating houses that slept 2 and they were impressive! The park also had what they called "jungle houses" which were small 2 story houses for 2 that were very luxurious! I swore that if I ever go back to The Gambia that I will stay one night there!
When we got back to the front of the park we were greeting with lots of baboons. We enjoyed watching them interact and getting lots of pictures of them! After we had enough baboon watching, we were served a plethora of traditional Gambian foods and were entertained by some Gambian women who danced under the Baobab tree for us. We got to join in at the end and had so much fun attempting to dance along with them.
Saturday night a few of us went to Senegambia to have one more night of pizza at our favorite restaurant. We danced along with the live music, people watched, and had great food! We sat on the beach for a couple of hours afterwards and just enjoyed hanging out with each other. I think we all started to realize how soon our trip was going to be over and wanted to spend as much time with each other as we could.
Friday, August 5, 2011
A 3 day trip in an ambulance
Tuesday morning we started the second leg of our travel week plans. Ebrima is a close friend of ours who works with the health center and has done so much for us. It's his family that we cooked with everyday. He got transferred to work at the Regional Store (pharmaceutical supplier) in Mansa Konko so he wanted to take us for a short trip there and to the surrounding areas. We woke up super early on Tuesday, because our ride was supposed to be there at 6am. Well apparently that was GMT (gambia maybe time) and I have decided that GMT doesn't exist. I think GMT just means late. They didn't show up until 8:30. Needless to say, we were all a little ticked that we missed 2 more hours of sleep. Anyways, we loaded up with 11 people in the back of an ambulance and headed to Banjul. We had to take a ferry ride over the Gambia River in Banjul to Barra. When we got there, we toured Fort Bullen. Fort Bullen is the only fort ever built for anti-slavery purposes. The British built the fort to combat ships from entering the mouth of the Gambia River to capture and transport Gambians as slaves. It was very interesting to hear a little bit about the history of Gambia and the slave trade.
We made a few stops on the way, but eventually made it to Albreda, where there is a museum about the Gambian slave trade. We spent a little bit of time touring it and then took a boat over to James Island. Interestingly enough, the island's name was recently changed to Kunta Kinteh Island by Michael Jackson's brother. Strange right? Anyways, the island was used as a fort to keep captured slaves while they were waiting to be shipped to the Americas. I loved getting to see all of the various historical sites throughout Gambia.
To end the day we visited some salt fields. Basically it was this really soggy muddy area by the water where salt has collected. It was awesome! You could literally stomp on the ground and see salt chunks come out of the ground. Unfortunately it was super muddy, but it was interesting to hear how the salt accumulated there and how it is collected.
When we finally got to Mansa Konko, the lights were out (go figure) and the place we intended to stay didn't have a working generator. Clearly this was a problem because it's way to hot in Gambia to sleep without a fan all night. After scarfing down dinner in candlelight (we hadn't eaten all day), we searched for a new place to stay. The lodge wasn't exactly clean by anyone's standards, and 2 of the 3 rooms didn't have running water, but we managed.
The next day we were pleased that we only waited an hour for Ebrima instead of 2 and a half. We first visited a Fula village in the area. There are lots of tribes in Gambia, but 3 main ones: Mandinka, Wolof, and Fula. We stay in a primarily Mandinka area and have become accustomed to the language, customs, and traditions of this tribe. It was really interesting to see the way a Fula community differs and to learn a little bit about their culture. Next, we drove to the Senegal/Gambia border and took a picture in two places at once-straddling the the border! Finally, we drove to our lodge for the night called Tendaba. It was located directly on the edge of the river and had a gorgeous view! Our rooms had a porch that sat right next to the water. We spent the evening relaxing after several busy days and enjoyed a night off.
We got up early on Thursday and headed out. We drove 2 hours back to the Brikama area and went to a nature reserve called Abuko. The hiking was beautiful, but unbelievably hot. One of our group members is fasting since it's Ramadan and I felt so bad for her that she couldn't drink any water! It was awful! We hiked to the animal orphanage where they house lots of monkeys and baboons, along with hyenas. The hyenas were really cool! I've never seen them before and I was amazed at how ugly they are!
We were all so happy to be back in Brikama last night! We spent the evening hiding out from the rain and catching up with all of the lodge guys. It's so good to be back to my Gambian home and I'm looking forward to spending the last few days here with our little family.
Today we are going to our last futbol game and we're getting to watch all of our friends play. Their lower division team is playing in a qualifying game and we haven't gotten to see them play yet so we are extremely excited! Wishing good luck to New Town!
Tonight we are breaking fast with an American family so we are excited for a taste of home! Tomorrow we will head to a nature reserve to do some hiking and hopefully see some animals. I'm looking forward to Sunday, because we are throwing a party for the lodge to say thank you and to spend time together.
I'll be back to Texas in 4 days!!
Love you and miss you-
Morgan
We made a few stops on the way, but eventually made it to Albreda, where there is a museum about the Gambian slave trade. We spent a little bit of time touring it and then took a boat over to James Island. Interestingly enough, the island's name was recently changed to Kunta Kinteh Island by Michael Jackson's brother. Strange right? Anyways, the island was used as a fort to keep captured slaves while they were waiting to be shipped to the Americas. I loved getting to see all of the various historical sites throughout Gambia.
To end the day we visited some salt fields. Basically it was this really soggy muddy area by the water where salt has collected. It was awesome! You could literally stomp on the ground and see salt chunks come out of the ground. Unfortunately it was super muddy, but it was interesting to hear how the salt accumulated there and how it is collected.
When we finally got to Mansa Konko, the lights were out (go figure) and the place we intended to stay didn't have a working generator. Clearly this was a problem because it's way to hot in Gambia to sleep without a fan all night. After scarfing down dinner in candlelight (we hadn't eaten all day), we searched for a new place to stay. The lodge wasn't exactly clean by anyone's standards, and 2 of the 3 rooms didn't have running water, but we managed.
The next day we were pleased that we only waited an hour for Ebrima instead of 2 and a half. We first visited a Fula village in the area. There are lots of tribes in Gambia, but 3 main ones: Mandinka, Wolof, and Fula. We stay in a primarily Mandinka area and have become accustomed to the language, customs, and traditions of this tribe. It was really interesting to see the way a Fula community differs and to learn a little bit about their culture. Next, we drove to the Senegal/Gambia border and took a picture in two places at once-straddling the the border! Finally, we drove to our lodge for the night called Tendaba. It was located directly on the edge of the river and had a gorgeous view! Our rooms had a porch that sat right next to the water. We spent the evening relaxing after several busy days and enjoyed a night off.
We got up early on Thursday and headed out. We drove 2 hours back to the Brikama area and went to a nature reserve called Abuko. The hiking was beautiful, but unbelievably hot. One of our group members is fasting since it's Ramadan and I felt so bad for her that she couldn't drink any water! It was awful! We hiked to the animal orphanage where they house lots of monkeys and baboons, along with hyenas. The hyenas were really cool! I've never seen them before and I was amazed at how ugly they are!
We were all so happy to be back in Brikama last night! We spent the evening hiding out from the rain and catching up with all of the lodge guys. It's so good to be back to my Gambian home and I'm looking forward to spending the last few days here with our little family.
Today we are going to our last futbol game and we're getting to watch all of our friends play. Their lower division team is playing in a qualifying game and we haven't gotten to see them play yet so we are extremely excited! Wishing good luck to New Town!
Tonight we are breaking fast with an American family so we are excited for a taste of home! Tomorrow we will head to a nature reserve to do some hiking and hopefully see some animals. I'm looking forward to Sunday, because we are throwing a party for the lodge to say thank you and to spend time together.
I'll be back to Texas in 4 days!!
Love you and miss you-
Morgan
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Banjul in a day...or 2
Saturday afternoon we headed to the capital to spend the first part of our vacation week. We stayed just a few blocks down from a highlight of the city- Arch 22. It's the big cement arch over the road that has lit up letters that spell out "Happy Birthday Mr. President". Again, they love their president. We spent the first evening getting harassed in the market and making a few purchases just to get out alive. The craft markets are always a danger zone but somehow we always find ourselves there. Saturday night we relaxed and enjoyed our one air conditioned room. One thing I hate about Banjul- the mosquitoes are horrific! They are enormous and outnumber us! Its ridiculous!
Sunday morning we got up early and headed to Tanji to do the one thing I have been looking forward to since we got on the plane to The Gambia- camel rides! It was awesome!! My camel's name was Chencha and she was wonderful. We spent 30 minutes on what seemed like a roller coaster ride and we laughed the whole way. They took us down to the beach and we got some great pictures. I loved it!!
Afterwards, we left for Kachikally, a famous crocodile pool. They had a small museum at the beginning with memorabilia from all of the different tribes in The Gambia. They had musical instruments, traditional celebratory clothing, jujus, and a war history museum. I really enjoyed getting to read about the traditions behind some of the things we have been seeing and hearing about throughout the trip. After a short hike, we made it to the pool. We learned that they feed the crocodiles fish, so we were a little disappointed to know they aren't really wild animals, but it was still cool to be that close to them. The pool is relatively small and there are about 80 crocodiles living in it!
We spent Monday on the Gambia River. We had arranged a boat cruise that showed us the environment on the river. It was so nice! Unfortunately it rained most of the day, but the scenary was really pretty. The best part was the food! They had us set up with brandy in our coffee, homemade garlic bread, mimosas, a buffet lunch, and cookies for dessert. We were in heaven! We stopped for a short while so we could swim in the river. I chose to fish instead and caught a couple catfish. I guess that was the Texan in me...
It seemed like we couldn't wait to get back to Brikama on Monday night. Brikama is like our home here and it surprised me that I missed it so much over the few days we were gone. It's making me really dread having to say goodbye to this place and all of the people here. I can't believe the time has gone by so fast and everything is ending!
I'll try to blog about the second part of vacation week tomorrow!
Love you and miss you all-
Morgan
Sunday morning we got up early and headed to Tanji to do the one thing I have been looking forward to since we got on the plane to The Gambia- camel rides! It was awesome!! My camel's name was Chencha and she was wonderful. We spent 30 minutes on what seemed like a roller coaster ride and we laughed the whole way. They took us down to the beach and we got some great pictures. I loved it!!
Afterwards, we left for Kachikally, a famous crocodile pool. They had a small museum at the beginning with memorabilia from all of the different tribes in The Gambia. They had musical instruments, traditional celebratory clothing, jujus, and a war history museum. I really enjoyed getting to read about the traditions behind some of the things we have been seeing and hearing about throughout the trip. After a short hike, we made it to the pool. We learned that they feed the crocodiles fish, so we were a little disappointed to know they aren't really wild animals, but it was still cool to be that close to them. The pool is relatively small and there are about 80 crocodiles living in it!
We spent Monday on the Gambia River. We had arranged a boat cruise that showed us the environment on the river. It was so nice! Unfortunately it rained most of the day, but the scenary was really pretty. The best part was the food! They had us set up with brandy in our coffee, homemade garlic bread, mimosas, a buffet lunch, and cookies for dessert. We were in heaven! We stopped for a short while so we could swim in the river. I chose to fish instead and caught a couple catfish. I guess that was the Texan in me...
It seemed like we couldn't wait to get back to Brikama on Monday night. Brikama is like our home here and it surprised me that I missed it so much over the few days we were gone. It's making me really dread having to say goodbye to this place and all of the people here. I can't believe the time has gone by so fast and everything is ending!
I'll try to blog about the second part of vacation week tomorrow!
Love you and miss you all-
Morgan
The first of many lasts
Well Friday was our last day at work at the health center and it was a pretty great way to end it! I spent most of the morning taking pictures and saying all my goodbyes to friends in the various units. It felt like the last day of high school or something- we were all exchanging emails and facebook names and taking pictures together. Later in the afternoon we all ventured over to maternity since we were closest with the midwives in that unit. All summer I have been saying I wanted to see twins born and Stephanie has been wanting to see a breech vaginal birth. Well Friday we got 2 in 1. It was AWESOME. The first baby was breeched so she came out butt first. Every time I see a birth I'm totally amazed, but this one was even more incredible. In the US a breeched baby is immediately taken out in a c-section, but here they are vaginally delivered, so it was something I will most likely never get to see again. I felt so bad for the mother! She looked like she was in an incredible amount of pain. After quite a long while of pushing, the baby was finally born but wasn't breathing. It seemed like we all stopped breathing along with her. We resuscitated her for about 20 minutes and she finally started breathing! It was so exciting! We couldn't put her on oxygen until the current came on about 15 minutes later, but as soon as she was put on that she started improving a lot more. We were all smitten with these babies! The second one was head first, thankfully, and came out a lot easier. Although, she was having difficulty breathing as well. They shared the oxygen back and forth and both continued to improve as time went on. The family was overjoyed since they didn't even know they were having twins and both of their previous babies had passed away. It was such a wonderful way to end our time in the hospital. We were thrilled to be a part of something so special and I will definitely never forget it!
When the work day was finished, we had put together a little party to say thank you to all of the health center employees. It was so much fun! We had lots of music and dancing! Even the Cuban doctors brought out some Cuban music and showed us up with their moves. We all jammed out to some tu-pac as well. Towards the end of the party, they brought us all together and had prepared a couple short speeches for us. It totally caught me off guard and I was a mess. They had someone from each department talk about how much they appreciated our coming and how much we had affected them. It was such a great feeling to know they enjoyed us being there just as much as we did. It's hard to put into words the type of relationships I have formed with these people and every time we have to say goodbye to someone else, it seems even harder.
We kicked off vacation week by heading to Senegambia again to see what Duplex had to offer on a Friday night. This time Haley and I brought our own whiskey! The club was so much fun! They a lot more American music and we had a blast!
I know I'm so behind on blogging but I promise to write about the beginning of vacation week soon!
Morgan
When the work day was finished, we had put together a little party to say thank you to all of the health center employees. It was so much fun! We had lots of music and dancing! Even the Cuban doctors brought out some Cuban music and showed us up with their moves. We all jammed out to some tu-pac as well. Towards the end of the party, they brought us all together and had prepared a couple short speeches for us. It totally caught me off guard and I was a mess. They had someone from each department talk about how much they appreciated our coming and how much we had affected them. It was such a great feeling to know they enjoyed us being there just as much as we did. It's hard to put into words the type of relationships I have formed with these people and every time we have to say goodbye to someone else, it seems even harder.
We kicked off vacation week by heading to Senegambia again to see what Duplex had to offer on a Friday night. This time Haley and I brought our own whiskey! The club was so much fun! They a lot more American music and we had a blast!
I know I'm so behind on blogging but I promise to write about the beginning of vacation week soon!
Morgan
Thursday, July 28, 2011
NaNA and PACKAGES!
*Disclaimer* If you are totally bored with Nutrition, you probably shouldn't read this.
Chad, a fellow Aggie in my group, and I went to the National Nutritional Agency office today. I was really excited to see how professionals view the Nutritional status of Gambians and what areas were major concerns. When we first arrived we were sent to the Director of Program's office. Alieu gave us a general overview of the history of the organization and what exactly they do. He talked about the breastfeeding policies in the Gambia and how women are sensitized to this information. Over 60% of all births in The Gambia are at home with the help of a TBA, or traditional birth attendant. Because these women at not at a clinic where information on the importance of breastfeeding cannot be relayed, NaNA has teams of 8 that go out in the community to talk to TBAs about the policies they support. I think this is awesome! I can't believe that the number of births we see at the health center is only representative of 40% of the births occurring in the area. There are so many babies here! He also talked about the 3 major micronutrients that are of concern in The Gambia. Iron is a concern for citizens of all ages. The normal hemoglobin count for patients in the US is about 12. In contrast, a good value for a patient here is anything above 8. The iron in their diets is so low due to the amount of fish they eat, instead of meat. Iodine is also a major concern, which is rarely mentioned as one in the US. The salt produced in the area isn't normally iodized, so UNICEF has funded mobile salt iodizing plants which will iodize local salt production for free. The last nutrient of concern is a deficiency in Vitamin A which is the leading cause of childhood blindness in the world. Eye abnormalities and blindness are very common in The Gambia because of the prevalence of these deficiencies as well as the prevalence of syphilis is pregnant mothers.
After chatting with Alieu for a while we were fed lunch and then directed to a presentation over nutrition for people living with HIV/AIDS. I learned so much about the disease and its low prevalence in eastern and middle Africa. It's a common misconception that the AIDS epidemic is widespread across Africa. In actuality, sub-Saharan Africa is the major area where this disease is so common. There are 33 million people in the world living with AIDS and 22.5 million live in southern Africa. After covering the statistics of the disease, we talked about how it is crucial that an infected person have adequate nutrition. I learned so much about such an interesting topic. I didn't want to leave when it was time to go!
After dodging a near death head-on collision on the way home compliments of the fantastic driving skills of Gambians, the rain started in. A few of us were determined to get the post office today and decided to battle the rain, thinking it would probably quit soon anyways. Oh my goodness were we wrong. It poured and we definitely didn't have a rain coat. We laughed the entire way there. Thankfully the trek paid off because I got 2 packages! My parents sent a package of goodies and the English's and Reeder's sent one together. I am so blessed to have family that loves me so much! Thank you for being so thoughtful! Normal American junk food is way better than Gambian junk food any day! Thanks again for sending love half way around the world!
Tomorrow we are celebrating our last day of work with a little end of the day party to say thank you. Saturday we will start our travel week of crocodile pools, river cruises, camel riding, and lots lots more! Can't wait to write all about it!
Love you all so much-
Morgan
Chad, a fellow Aggie in my group, and I went to the National Nutritional Agency office today. I was really excited to see how professionals view the Nutritional status of Gambians and what areas were major concerns. When we first arrived we were sent to the Director of Program's office. Alieu gave us a general overview of the history of the organization and what exactly they do. He talked about the breastfeeding policies in the Gambia and how women are sensitized to this information. Over 60% of all births in The Gambia are at home with the help of a TBA, or traditional birth attendant. Because these women at not at a clinic where information on the importance of breastfeeding cannot be relayed, NaNA has teams of 8 that go out in the community to talk to TBAs about the policies they support. I think this is awesome! I can't believe that the number of births we see at the health center is only representative of 40% of the births occurring in the area. There are so many babies here! He also talked about the 3 major micronutrients that are of concern in The Gambia. Iron is a concern for citizens of all ages. The normal hemoglobin count for patients in the US is about 12. In contrast, a good value for a patient here is anything above 8. The iron in their diets is so low due to the amount of fish they eat, instead of meat. Iodine is also a major concern, which is rarely mentioned as one in the US. The salt produced in the area isn't normally iodized, so UNICEF has funded mobile salt iodizing plants which will iodize local salt production for free. The last nutrient of concern is a deficiency in Vitamin A which is the leading cause of childhood blindness in the world. Eye abnormalities and blindness are very common in The Gambia because of the prevalence of these deficiencies as well as the prevalence of syphilis is pregnant mothers.
After chatting with Alieu for a while we were fed lunch and then directed to a presentation over nutrition for people living with HIV/AIDS. I learned so much about the disease and its low prevalence in eastern and middle Africa. It's a common misconception that the AIDS epidemic is widespread across Africa. In actuality, sub-Saharan Africa is the major area where this disease is so common. There are 33 million people in the world living with AIDS and 22.5 million live in southern Africa. After covering the statistics of the disease, we talked about how it is crucial that an infected person have adequate nutrition. I learned so much about such an interesting topic. I didn't want to leave when it was time to go!
After dodging a near death head-on collision on the way home compliments of the fantastic driving skills of Gambians, the rain started in. A few of us were determined to get the post office today and decided to battle the rain, thinking it would probably quit soon anyways. Oh my goodness were we wrong. It poured and we definitely didn't have a rain coat. We laughed the entire way there. Thankfully the trek paid off because I got 2 packages! My parents sent a package of goodies and the English's and Reeder's sent one together. I am so blessed to have family that loves me so much! Thank you for being so thoughtful! Normal American junk food is way better than Gambian junk food any day! Thanks again for sending love half way around the world!
Tomorrow we are celebrating our last day of work with a little end of the day party to say thank you. Saturday we will start our travel week of crocodile pools, river cruises, camel riding, and lots lots more! Can't wait to write all about it!
Love you all so much-
Morgan
Monday, July 25, 2011
Parades, Beaches, and Gambian Weddings!
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
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
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