I wrote this on Feb 3rd while I was still in The Gambia!

Riding in the passenger seat of a tricked out red Toyota Celica – complete with tinted windows, sound system and a DVD player. This isn’t Hollywood – it’s Banjul, The Gambia and an interesting insight into how technology and western culture are consistently shaping the developing world. Chances are, when you mention Africa to the average American, their memories are flooded by pictures the media have saturated the public with – poverty, AIDS, warfare, corruption etc. These factors obviously still have a firm grip on many parts of the continent, but recently I’ve been noticing more and more how my own perceptions of Africa are changing, especially being stationed in the city.

Of the 85 or 90 Peace Corps Volunteers currently in the country, only around six or seven are placed in the greater ‘Kombo’ area. Of course being placed in the city, we get a few more luxuries – electricity, running water etc, much to the behest of volunteers stationed up-country who are still living in mud-huts, taking bucket baths and pumping their own water. This also sometimes leads to pinches of jealously and the general sentiment that Kombo-volunteers aren’t “real” volunteers or aren’t getting the “real” Peace Corps experience. It’s a general attitude throughout the ‘Corps that the more you sacrifice the more you give to your community and service. I myself was under this impression before embarking on my cross continental experience, though that mentality has significantly changed.

In the end your Peace Corps service is what you make of it. The administrators aren’t going to continually check up on you to make sure you’re doing your job. So it’s not really a huge surprise that some people here aren’t doing much in terms of actual development work. Indeed, many come up to the city and stay, party and generally take a break from the rigors of village life more than they should, sometimes weeks at a time.

City volunteers are almost always at site and therefore almost always working. Speaking for myself, between teaching at the school, helping my Arab friends at their shop, and individual tutoring on Sundays I’m putting in well over 40 hours a week with no days off while some volunteers do nothing but read books all day out in the village. Though I digress, the point I’m trying to get across is that it is incredibly important that the city and more developed parts of the country also benefit from Peace Corps Volunteers. The students based in the city have more opportunities and resources to further their education and if we can somehow be apart of that (and even further it) we have a chance to influence the future rulers of this country and thus a chance to bring about legitimate change.

So while it may be surprising to see students here with Ipods, camera phones and laptop computers (believe it or not), in retrospect it shouldn’t be of great surprise that an economically poor country has embraced many facets of new technology that will eventually create more jobs here and greatly develop its infrastructure. Not to mention the prevalence of internet cafes and satellite TV dishes (in almost every single compound in and around the city) Gambians seem to be grasping a better understanding of the outside the world and how things are done differently.

I guess that’s why I enjoy teaching about computers and technology in general, even though it is incredibly arduous at times. So when I go home and I tell people that I’ve been volunteering in Africa, and they immediately think of me saving orphans in the middle of a drought ridden desert with nearby lions and giraffes, I’ll still take solace in fact that in the end I did my job. My goal was to be more selfless and to generally *help* – in whatever environment Peace Corps chose to send me to. I never wanted my service to be something to brag about later or so I could feel better about myself as a person. I’m not doing this to get into grad school, as a resume booster, or to bolster a career in international development, I just wanted to help people for a part of my life.

So I now I don’t think twice about my contributions to The Gambia, simply because I’m enjoying a few extra luxuries that most volunteers don’t get. I’ve already noticed a few students of mine who had no virtually no knowledge of computers prior and are now legimately looking towards computer studies in college and maybe even a career in that field. It’s been very rewarding to help them discover something about themselves – a skill they could harness, something they never knew about themselves.

Random Musings:

“That man – he’s like a mind reader. You can’t learn those things in school – you’re just born with it.” - One of my favorite teachers at our school, talking about Dr. Phil. A lot of compounds here have satellite dishes that get feeds from Middle-Eastern tv stations. One of those broadcasts tv shows like Oprah and Dr. Phil.

“I never knew Americans could act, I thought only Mexicans were good actors.” - A student of mine after having just watched some American soap operas – previously, GRTS (The only Gambian tv station –that is only on at night) used to broadcast a Mexican soap opera called “Esmerelda” that is dubbed in English. Gambians LOVE that show.

So it had been quite a while since I had a chance to make it out the village to see my former host family in Sare Samba, so I finally decided to make the long journey after a few weeks of neglecting it. I love going out there, some of my best times during my service have come from my visits and seeing the non-stop jubilation from my family and friends there, it’s just the journey to out there that makes everything so troublesome. So after an early-morning run last Friday, I went out to the Boondung car park in Serekunda where all the cars leave to go up country. As I have mentioned in previous blogs – securing transport is never an easy task. Cars leave when they fill up with passengers and seemingly at random times throughout the day. I found two cars going up – a traditional ‘Gelly-Gelly’ (like a beat up van, only bigger) and an actual bus, probably imported from some European country like Holland or Germany. I chose the bus, although it may take longer, it seemed to be much more comfortable. Then it was the waiting game; waiting for the passengers to gradually come so we could finally leave. Three hours later – we embarked on our long journey.

Interesting side note: At the garage there was quite a commotion going on. I couldn’t really make out what was going on – All I could see was a woman and her children crying. Someone finally told me that her husband had taken her to the garage, gave her money for transport and had no intention of ever seeing her or his children again, sort of like a Gambian divorce if you will. So the elders were trying to decide whether she should in fact leave or if they should bring her back to her husband. One thing with arguments and commotion in Gambia – everybody has an opinion and is quick to contribute which kind of makes for a mess. Anyway, I think they ended up taking her back but I’m not quite sure.

So six long hours of bumpy road hell and we arrive in Kaiaf, the village I would get off at before walking to Sare Samba. I arrived around 5:30pm, just in time to start my long walk. Getting there after dark would be quite dismal – plenty of snakes and hyenas in the bush and only the light of my cell phone to lead me

Kaiaf is a small village and a little annoying because you get toubab’d constantly. Also many shouts of “Hello, what is your name?” They don’t really know what they’re saying either. Anyway, as I arrive in Sare Samba I’m again greeted with adoring shouts of “Yusupha!!!!” while an army of small children run up to me with excitement. It’s a pretty great feeling. Everyone is just so excited that you’ve come to visit. My host family in particular were especially thrilled, with my host mother (Haddy) clapping her hands and running towards me. Gambians don’t give hugs (never) in case you’re wondering, so I’m greeted with plenty of handshakes. It’s also a great chance to use my Wolof language skills as only the children and a few select adults speak English.

It’s a very surreal feeling going back to the village, maybe I’ve mentioned that before. I guess it’s because I’ll always think of our initial training period when we first arrived in the country. Everything was so wonderfully new, and your emotions and feelings are so incredibly intense, it’s the kind of thing that will stick with you forever.

Not much has changed there. The kids are getting bigger and much more capable of holding of conversation in English now. But as far as the actual village goes, the lone new development was that a phone line had been brought into one of the compounds meaning people could make calls now. Food remains terribly sparse; no bread, no eggs, no fruit or vegetables of any sort. Just “cous” or as I lovingly refer to as “cat litter.” It’s simply awful. I couldn’t be any more clear on this point. They do throw a couple small fish on top of it now, which does help, although the fish has so many bones in it that it makes it almost not worth the trouble.

So I spent the next day greeting everyone and generally hanging out with the family. The kids there worship you and will eagerly follow you wherever you go. I ended up brining a soccer ball (donated from my friends in Canada) and a couple of bags that Ousman and Oumie could use to carry their school books in. These were all huge hits, particualry the soccer ball as you could imagine. Soccer (football) is life out there and one of the only forms of recreation available. I had casually mentioned that my cell phone had been stolen a few months back, so my host father decided to make me a ‘ju-ju’ to put inside my mobile. ‘Ju-Ju’’s here a mix of Islam and traditional African beliefs. Basically he wrote a passage from the Qu’ran (in Arabic) on a piece of paper and told me to put it in my phone.

Sunday came a bit too late. I was only there for a day or so, but I felt like I had already lost five pounds. Going to the village is a lot like going camping. You have a lot of fun, get really dirty and generally want to come home early. So I hopped on a horse driven cart that me take me and a few others to the nearby village/town of Soma. It’s about a 1.5 hour ride through some very remote villages. The kind of villages that rarely see a white person (“toubab!” “toubab!”)

So I get to Soma and find about a hundred people waiting to go back to Banjul – all these people and no van. We wait about an hour. More people come, but still no van. This raises a big dilemma. You see, when or if, that is, this van ever shows up these people will mob it so violenty that someone is bound to get seriously injured. Worse yet, a car may not even show up and I could be stranded there without much money. Option B was to take a car to the river – cross it – and head to Farefenni (pretty much the second biggest city in the Gambia) and try to find a car there. I’d never been there before and had no idea how it would be or where to go. My friend who is posted there didn’t answer my repeated text messages. Still, I chose Option B. I got to the river and found a ton of people waiting for the ferry to take them across. But then this small, wooden boat comes along to take people across. Not a good sign when the driver is bailing water from out of it. But I’m a volunteer so I can rough. It pulls up and around 8 people are willing to take the chance. The other Gambians just look at us like we’re crazy. But it was smooth sailing to the other end of the river. When we got back on land a few of us took a taxi to go to Farefenni, but not before being stopped by some soldiers. Another Gambian approached us in civilian clothes and started asking for identification. Anyway he tried to shake some cash out of myself and an Arab riding in the taxi (he didn’t get anything). I made friends with the Arab along the way (we spoke Wolof to each other, as he couldn’t speak English, nor I Arabic.) We found the garage just fine with plenty of cars waiting to go Barra (and eventually Banjul). The road on the north bank of the country is *MUCH* better. In fact a Kuwati company is currently putting down new asphalt. This makes things go much quicker – though it’s still pretty dusty. So we get to Barra and have to cross the river again. This takes around an hour or so, before arriving in Banjul where I take 3 different taxis to get home. Back to chicken, showers and school – Yeah, it was only a weekend, but it felt much, much longer.

As far as work goes, the amazing teacher who I had all lined up to take my place ended up taking out the week school started – a huge disappointment. He cited resentment from other teachers who claimed he only got the job because he was related to the Principal of the school, despite being way over qualified for the position. I spoke with the administration and we decided to look for another teacher for the position. Hopefully we’ll be able to find him in the next few weeks or so. I really want to have a chance to work with this new teacher so that the program will be in good hands when I leave. Peace Corps should be helping people help themselves – not free labor those who want it.

So in the meantime I’m stuck teaching again. I guess it’s not all bad, I do enjoy helping the students. I’ve also noticed my anger level has decreased significantly – I’m thanking the weather and constant electricity. What a HUGE difference that makes.

It’s hard not to close every new blog entry with the fact how close I am getting to the end of my service. Time is really flying by now. In a mere 5 more months or so, I’ll be back home. I’m starting to appreciate this experience more every day, especially now that the end is in site. Yeah… amazing.

Every Winter thousands of European tourists come to the Gambia to sloth around the beach, walk around with very little clothing (in a Muslim country no less), and generally sustain Senegambia – the area of Kombo (city district) where all the major hotels and restaurants are. It’s sometimes difficult to see the draw of The Gambia as a tourist destination. It’s not like Kenya or South Africa, where they have some amazing wildlife reserves. Generally, there isn’t much to do here. The beaches are great and sparsely populated, but there aren’t any waves for surfing or anything like that. I’m finding that The Gambia is simply an ‘easy’ place, aside from the constant hassle of the ‘bumsters’ and some petty theft, there really aren’t too many problems that tourist face. Gambia, after all, is a very small place.

One thing you have to appreciate though is the weather. It’s simply gorgeous out right now. Although you see Gambians bundled up at night, for everyone else its shorts and t-shirts weather. The weather seems to play such an integral part of the general morale of volunteers. Compare it to this past summer for instance during the rainy season when it was incredibly hot and humid, where even sleeping proves a challenge. Everything seems to go so much easier when you aren’t constantly sweating from doing nothing. What’s more is that the electricity has been much more stable here in the city. Now, even the smaller towns in the interior of the country have periodic electricity access, whereas before they had zero. The only “downside” of having good electricity now (if there *must* be one, that is) is that all the area mosques have power for their morning loudspeakers. I wake up a 6am everyday to the call to prayer. It only lasts a few minutes though. Sometimes I can hear up to 10+ different voices shouting/singing at the same time.

Christmas in the Gambia is a little awkward. It seems very ‘forced’ in a way. Obviously if you’re away from home and away from your family it will always feel different, but here it’s just like any other holiday or day we got off. Although there is a Christian minority here in the city, the vast majority of Gambians are Muslim and therefore don’t celebrate Christmas (though it is a national holiday out of respect for all religions.) I was walking through one of the Lebanese supermarkets and they had Christmas music playing on the loudspeakers. It was a very strange feeling.

Christmas day was very pleasant. My buddy Ernie is currently staying with me as he is working with an orphanage in town. We decided to go all out and buy all the food we normally can’t afford. For breakfast we bought some frozen waffles from the Indian supermarket, which was really good. Lunch was shrimps from the local market – very good. Best of all though were the bbq-chicken pizzas we made for dinner. VERY good. One of the supermarkets just started stocking yeast, so we picked some up and made our own pizza dough, cooked up some chicken and used some BBQ-sauce my friend had brought back from America. Turned out much better than expected!

The warm weather has made me discover how much I appreciate the beaches here. I don’t swim (jellyfish) and you can’t surf or boogie-board or anything, but its just nice to have a place to get away from and here the waves crash down. Lately I’ve been running on the beach in mornings, right around sunrise. There are very few people around during that time, and it’s very peaceful and surreal.

So school is finished and thank god. I couldn’t handle the cheating any more; it got to be beyond pathetic for some of them and completely insulting to me as a teacher. I caught over 25 students during this past final exam and I would assume that’s around 1/3 of them who actually do cheat. Anyway, this next term should see me taking a more behind-the-scenes approach which will suite me just fine. I’ll be helping Hassan get settled among other things.

I’ve spent much of this holiday season helping Ahmed, my Mauritanian friend, in his shop. It’s great to help out in another aspect besides education – in this case business. I get to leave behind many of the frustrations about teaching. Ahmed is also a great guy and I always have my breakfast/lunches taken care of when I work there – a nice plus.

Today marks the biggest holiday of the year – Tobaski, a Muslim holiday celebrating the new year. It’s a very big deal here, and days before you can witness the hustle and bustle around as many people prepare to travel and buy gifts etc. The tradition is for each family to buy a ram and subsequently slaughter it when Tobaski comes. Families who are wealthier buy multiple rams. The streets are pretty bare, except for some scattered children dressed in their best khaftans and other African dress.

Because Tobaski feel on New Years Eve, many volunteers chose not to come down to the city, instead spending the day with their host families, unlike last year.

Another year has past. I will remember 2006 as being the most challenging year of my life, for sure, though with a treasure-trove of memories I will never forget for the rest of my life. It’s been an incredible experience and as I approach the end (less than 6 more months now!) I’m able to put things into perspective a little more. I’ve also gained a new appreciation and respect for myself and my ability to stick it out for as long as I have. I’m going to certainly try and appreciate the rest of my service, I know in no time I’ll be back home doing the things I used to do and this will all be a memory.

Christmas has indeed come early in The Gabmia, for me that means that the weather has finally started cooling off. No longer am I totally drenched in sweat after the days work, or trying to keep my sanity through more sleepless nights, praying for the fan to come on. After many months of waiting, it's cooled off considerably, meaning that the 'cold' season is approaching. Not like the cold that you and I are used to back home - and I'm figuring that I will maybe once use a windbreaker through March, you do see Gambians, however, bundled up like it's January in North Dakota or something. Pretty strange. The only down part? Taking showers. The room-temperature water wasn't bad at all when its hot out but now it feels REALLY cold, especially right after waking up.

So here's another update of sorts. I've been working quite a bit lately with my Arab friend, Ahmed, who owns a very large wholesale fabric shop in downtown Banjul. While it may look somewhat meager, Ahmed routinely travels to China, France and India for business, and is planning on opening a shop in China as well, so for Gambian standards - he's very well off. Basically, I'm helping him create a database for all his transactions/expenses/payments etc. He and his staff had previously just written things down in a book, which is far less efficient. We're also trying to see where exactly he's losing money and where he's making money and where they're is room for improvement. So far the process has been slow, but we are making headway.

The school semester continues to limp along, and sometimes it seems as though the students content to drag their feet through the whole process. I am definitely not teaching next year, that could not be more concrete in my mind. I had just had enough - managing 60 to 70 students for 30 minutes at a time - I'm pretty much through, I've done all I can with them. I reminded the Principal of this and he understood. But the good news (there is good news!) is that they officially hired my friend/techinician Hassan, who is brilliant when it comes to computers and is perhaps most importantly - Gambian! - so hopefully he will be better attuned to manage the cultural obstacles that continually got in my way. But I'm very excited for that. I'm still planning to work with the school and help Hassan get on his feet, though I'm not sure at what capacity.

Another batch of volunteers has C.O.S.'d (Close of Service) and another group of trainees are about to swear-in as volunteers. That means my group in 2nd in line to come home (out of 6 total groups!). It's pretty exciting - the end is certainly coming quickly. Another 6 months or so and it's back life as I once knew it.

So Thanksgiving was a pretty good time here in Gambia. One of the volunteers here organized a big dinner for volunteers and friends - that featured an actual turkey (not canned), vegetables, stuffing and pie etc. It was great to see everybody. It's strange, because you'd figure that since the Gambia is so small I would see these people all the time - not so. Some of the volunteers in my group, for example, I haven't seen in over 6 months. The best part of the dinner, however, was the raffle prize I won - $15 usd to a local supermarket. That goes a long ways here - and is roughly 1/9th of my monthly salary.

Some Gambian news - recently something like 5 Lebanese people and 2 Nigerians kidnapped a Chinese business man and demanded a 5 million euro ransom for his return. The Lebanese make up a fairly large minority here, at least in the city, and are well known as the major business owners being pretty well off financially. Anyway, they caught all the guys and days later sentenced them to 19 years each in prison. Gambian justice system - they don't mess around.

Lastly - here are some excerpts from an article about corruption in Africa - published recently in the Washington Times - really interesting and definitely some food for thought:

//

"Look, here is what is below ground in the African continent: 90 percent of the world's cobalt; 90 percent of its platinum; 50 percent of its gold; 98 percent of its chromium; 64 percent of its manganese, one-third of its uranium. Africa is rich in diamonds. And get this: Africa has more oil reserves than all of North America.

The African Union's own estimate, according to Peter Goodspeed of the Toronto National Post, loses $148 billion a year to corruption. While Prime Minister Tony Blair wants to increase aid to Africa by an extra $25 billion a year, British taxpayers are unaware of the grand larceny being committed by crooked African leaders.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission of Nigeria last year said that a series of Nigerian military dictators had squandered -- hold your hat -- $500 billion, a sum equivalent to all Western aid to Africa in the past four decades. In Kenya, $4 billion disappeared during the presidency of Daniel Arap Moi's 24 years in power.

Said Tunde Obadina, economics editor of Africa Today magazine:

"The failure of democracy and economic development in Africa are due to a large part to the scramble for wealth by predator elites who have dominated African politics since independence.... Africa's tragedy is not that its nations are poor. That is a condition that is a product of history. The tragedy is that it lacks ruling classes that are committed to overcoming the state of poverty."

"The international banks, the western businessmen who bribe to get the contract, those who are in cahoots with all the millionaires, they are all up to their eyeballs in what is taking place. When it comes to moral standing, everybody belongs in the gutter together."

Africa SSH is poor, its people starving, its children malnourished and unschooled -- but there's cash on the barrelhead for guns and bullets, for civil wars, tribal-ethnic wars, territorial wars. Is it possible, as a Nigerian newspaper editor once wrote, that Africa was better off under colonialism?

Someday one hopes Africa will come into its own. But when?"""

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Many of you probably remember me talking about the whole ‘jungle-justice’ aspect of The Gambia – when the Gambians themselves take revenge into their own hands or feet or knives etc. It’s abundant here. Ask anyone, and they’ll tell you horrific stories of a thief in their neighborhood who was caught. Sometimes the angry mob will beat him to death or drive a nail through the top of his head. Others recall stories of the group putting a tire over the culprit, dousing him with gasoline and sparking a match.

I never saw it with my own eyes though, until I walked out my front door and looked down the street at angry group of people shouting. I looked closer and was pretty shocked to see a guy (the thief) tied to fairly large tree with a thick metal chain, that appeared to be tied quite tightly, cutting into his stomach. He was bleeding and there were cuts all over his face. For whatever reason (I don’t want to know) his pants were off. At that point I think the beatings had slowed down a bit, though a few people were still taking swipes at him. To top things off – he was crying. I asked a few of the laughing witnesses what he had stolen. Turns out it was 5 bags of charcoal (around $15 or $20 US).

That whole scene was a little hard to stomach. It was even stranger when the thief turned and stared me at me during the whole ruckus. I felt bad for him. But even the most ignorant person who’s thinking about committing any sort of crime here has to realize the consequences for doing so – especially since that behavior is so prevalent in Gambian (and really, West African) society.

I asked some of my students what they thought about the whole situation and “jungle-justice” in general.

“Good!” one of them mentioned, “He should die! We don’t want those people in our society!”

That was more or less the consensus of the group. I brought up the question of forgiveness and when and how it should be administered in such situations.

“Yes Mr. Touray, but you see the Qu’ran says….”

You kind of see where that’s headed.

Still it’s surprising that petty theft remains rampant throughout the Gambia. That brings me to my next story:

On Tuesday one of my own students stole my cell phone while I was teaching class. I had left it on my desk, where another teacher happened to be sitting – thinking wrongly that it would be safe – Nothing’s safe! The class had around 65 students in it, so I lost track of where everyone was while I was giving instruction, and the rest is history. It marks the third thing that’s been taken from me (by my own students, no less) along with my watch (which I did get back) and a memory card for my digital camera.

I was pretty heated after it happened. That, coupled with all the other frustrations of holidays, disinterested students etc really started to get it me. I expect it (thefts) from the unemployed Rasta-types sitting and drinking attayah at the local car parks, but it really gets to me when my own students (the very people I’m directly helping!) steal from me. I told the principal I wasn’t sure if I was coming back next term (sort of a half truth) and that I may consider other options in and out of the Gambia for volunteering/employment. He said he was sorry it happened and would try to do everything he could, but in somewhat typical Gambian fashion, replied “This is Africa, and you were warned about this sort of stuff during your training.”

That sort of apathy really gets to me, as it seems to be a common mentality among many Gambians. I’ve tried to convey to my students that this and any other sort of behavior (corruption, lack of accountability etc) should never be considered the norm for this country or any other country for that matter. Anytime you say “this is how it is” you really lower your expectations of how your society should be run. I’m not trying to turn a blind eye to Africa’s problems – they’re there and easily seen. I’m more concerned about what sort of action is being taken to correct this behavior. Like the old adage –“Don’t complain about something if you’re not doing anything to change it” or at least make any difference whatsoever. That sort of proactive mentality is by no means an easy proposition given the current state of The Gambia, but I believe it needs to start somewhere and at some point in time, if we’re going to make any progress in development.

Anyway – back to school/work issues. Each year, Grade 12 students take a final exit exam on 9 subjects. The results from this past year were released and they were pretty horrendous. More than half of the students failed every single subject. They only need a 40% to pass. Only 25 students passed every single subject. One of those – Yusupha, a terrific kid and good friend of mine, recently started the Peace Corps-initiated Computer Science major at the University of The Gambia. Great news for him.

The holidays never end here. Yesterday was a random Christian holiday (I don’t even know what it was). Tomorrow, the President is throwing a party at our school to celebrate his re-election to office. A ‘party’ here means food and drink (cooked rice and probably a soft drink for each student) and unfortunately no classes. Monday is also a holiday – so the students can rest from their party!! Hah! I can’t make this stuff up….

I’d love to stay positive, but it’s frustrating. My classes that meet on Fridays have yet to meet once this entire term. Other classes have gotten lost in the mix and have yet to show up as well.

It’s frustrating for two main reasons – 1.) The students’ education is suffering greatly and 2.) My own effectiveness as a volunteer. I always want to feel that I’m being used to my potential at whatever I’m doing.

Yet we march on…

Well on a positive note – Yeah, it might not seem like it from my blog entries but good things do happen here J Aside from the work aspect of things here – I really enjoy my friendships and the relationships I’ve made with the Gambians themselves. I probably don’t give that enough credit than I do, but it’s something I truly treasure – I will always have a place in my heart for them. Although Gambia frustrates me on a daily basis (the random electricity/unwanted attention) I do take solace in the fact that I have made some wonderful friends here. And the cultural interactions have been pretty much priceless.

This is, in my opinion, proof positive that things can change here. My good friend Muhammed Jallow who owns the “shack” of a restaurant which I eat at most nights – has really made me a believer.

Momodou started his business a year ago with a single table – making omlettes etc, for random people on the street. It’s not an easy job. You stand out in the sun all day making food for sometimes very impatient people. Still, he was determined to become successful and had a naturally hard working spirit. It probably helped that I was eating their every night too. (haha). I would always give him little business advice – like “you should this…” or “this would get you more customers.”

Fast forward and a year later he is still in the same place – with a much larger table, covered enclosure (an actual shack), he runs a generator at night which is connected to a fan to keep himself and his customers cool and even has a mini-tv hooked up to a car battery – those soccer games are a huge draw. Momodou cannot read or write, and only has an intermediate knowledge of English but he persevered. He’s an all around great guy – my right hand man if I need anything. Its been incredibly inspiring to watch.

Random story to end this entry:

Two nights ago I was walking down a dark road in Fajara when three Gambian guys rapidly approached me and started saying “look, look!” I figured they were trying to sell me drugs. But when I looked down one of them was carrying an empty cassette tape with a baby snake inside. Yeah! Tiny little thing, green in color – no idea which kind, but probably one that would get big.

“…You like??”

I told them no thanks!

Ramadan is a strange time to be in the Gambia. For those of you who aren't familiar with Ramadan - it's the Muslim holy month where everyone fasts (no food/water from sun up to sun down.) That's not an easy thing to do - especially given the weather here and how much you sweat all day. I have a tremendous amount of respect for those who do it (most everybody here), but have no interest to try it myself. I say it's a strange time because you feel really weird eating in front of people. I try and be discreet about it, but given my schedule I can't delve into seclusion every time I get hungry. Usually when people notice I'm eating they approach me with a bewildered look on their face and ask, "You're not fasting?"

- No I'm not fasting, I'm not a Muslim.

- But why not? You should be a Muslim - it's nice.

- Thanks I appreciate it, but I'm not going to be a Muslim.

- Mr. Touray, I will pray to Allah so that you will be a Muslim…

I've given up on having any conversations that involve my own religious beliefs here - at least with Gambians themselves. There's only one way those discussions end - with them praying for me to be a Muslim and telling me about my impending doom if I don't. No thanks!

After fasting for nearly a month, you can imagine that it starts to wear on people. Students are tired, not motivated and a little bit cranky for the most part. It's not great in terms of teaching either. It will be drawing to a close, however, next Monday for 'Koriteh' - probably the 2nd biggest holiday here in the Gambia. Koriteh marks the end of Ramadan, where everyone has a big feast, buys a bunch of new clothes and other gifts and thousands of small children take to the streets to ask "Ana suma salibo?" (Where is my salibo? - which basically means 'present' or treat. Kind of like Halloween in America.)

The effect this has on school is a little tragic. We basically take a whole week off from classes, it's too bad. Wrap this around your head:

- We started classes this past Monday. Today, hardly anyone came to school and no one will tomorrow, because, well - Koriteh is on Monday and we have much to prepare for during that time.

- Each class I teach gets 30 minutes of computer time a week. That's next to nothing. Keep in mind that these classes are usually 50 to 60 students each. In the past, the most learning was done during the 'open lab' - the time in which there were no classes going on at the lab so we would invite students to come and practice. Administration cut that off today - because too many students were skipping their other classes in order to practice their computer skills, which I can understand - to a point.

Many times those students come in to the computer lab and say that their math teacher or science teacher never showed up to teach - so they want to come and practice in the lab. That is a problem that plagues Gambian schools. Sometimes teachers just don't show up for whatever reason. It's entirely commonplace, even at a top-level school like Gambia High. Some factors are the very poor salary they are given. Hardly any Gambians want to become teachers, so the majority of teachers in the country (including Gambia High) are from Sierra Leone, Ghana or Nigeria.

Back to my point:

So, the most productive part (individual instruction during open lab hours) of my, well, service has been cut off by the administration for reasons both good and bad. It's really sad though, either way, because that's where the most progress was made. We only have roughly 20 to 25 working computers at a time, so every student has to share a computer, how can you possibly be expected to learn much given those circumstances? Furthermore, can I justify all my personal sacrifices for a measly two hours of teaching per class/term?! I guess the only solution is to try and find ways around it. I already come in Saturdays to help out more, so we might have to utilize that time more.

All of this means that in early-December I'm going to have to give an exam based on roughly 2 to 2.5 hours of *TOTAL* class instruction! And this is the most productive term of the school year. For classes with 50 and 60 students a piece, it's incredibly difficult to get information across to them, especially while keeping things organized etc in a 30 minute block of time.

Sorry, I'm not a miracle worker, just a honest volunteer trying to help out and keep my sanity at the same time. It's rough - and the school system in general is largely to blame.

It's not all bad though. In fact, there is a bright light at the end of the tunnel. The technician we've been working with on and off for the past year - Hassan - A great kid with a tremendous knowledge of computers much, much more than myself - he'd be a great IT guy even in America - has recently been hired by administration, part time to help out with the computer program. I'd been pushing this idea for quite some time. I really didn't want the school to become dependant on Peace Corps or any outside help for that matter. I'm here to help people help themselves - not for free labor or to do someone else's job for them.

My current counterpart is the main computer teacher in the school. She is a nice woman, who does know how to teach and knows a little bit about computers, but lacks the motivation to develop a successful program. She often doesn't show up to class or do any extra work to help out. Hassan, on the other hand, would be perfect for running this program and could take it to new heights.

I was often worried that if I left the school, the program would quickly revert to its hibernation but that looks like it won't be the case now.

In other news, I killed a whopping 36 cockroaches in my place. Apparently they had gathered underneath my sink while I was a away. I bought a bottle of BOP (similar to RAID) and used almost all of it to clear things out.

Sometimes when I'm in class I'll think I'm being to hard on certain kids - for example, sending them out of the classroom for playing Solitaire while I'm trying to lecture, or for bringing movies in to the lab etc. Then a Gambian teacher will come in and say something that totally erases any doubts I may have entertained.

This is an actual quote from a teacher to a student:

"If you don't get off of that computer right now I am going to kick you in the head!!"

And who could forget -

"Boy I'm going to slap you for looking at me that way…"

The heat hasn't let up either. Still incredibly humid. I'm pretty much soaked in sweat by the end of the day. We've had a few passing storms roll by - usually at night. They certainly pack a punch. Loud downpours and winds like you would never believe.

Otherwise things are fine. It's been a difficult adjustment being back though, that's for sure. It is great, however, to see all my Gambian friends. I really appreciate them, for sure!

On that note…

*- That's the new promotion for one of the local cell phone carriers - Africell.

Our computer lab, that is. Today I came to school, again met by many smiling and excited students, opened the computer lab, and started turning everything on as we normally do. I started hearing a few crackling noises which struck me as a bit unusual, but then again it is The Gambia so everything is unusual in some sort of way.

Before I know it the students are yelling “Mr. Touray!” and I turn around to see one of the computers on fire, with a great deal of smoke coming out of it. Some students started to panic like the place was going to blow up and ran away from it as fast as they could (kind of funny in a way, but I guess you had to have been there). We quickly turned everything off, but as we were doing so we noticed smoke coming from the ceiling lights as well.

The administration called an electrician who promptly came down and assessed the situation. Apparently some part had failed (I did major in English – but electrician terminology was included in our curriculum). So basically some important part that regulates the flow of electricity into the lab from the power company had failed, and we all know how reliable the power company can be (see past entries of failed electronic devices). Anyway, so the computers and lights and everything plugged into the walls were getting waay too much electricity. It was a costly fix, but the school did pay for it. I just hope other computers weren’t damaged too much.

In some other GOOD news – several things that were lost have been found/located. About three months ago, I lent a student, who was practicing in the computer lab, my watch. Soon after, a large group of students came in and one of them ended up stealing it. I admittedly gave up home pretty quickly that I would ever see it again. I told the administration and class teachers about it, but they were slow to respond and didn’t take any immediate action. Slowly but surely small things started happening and one teacher took on the task of recovering it. Today I found out that he had not only found the student, but had gotten the watch back! (after a good three months!).

Strangely, soon after that, I reached into my back pocket of a pair of pants I hadn’t worn in quite some time and found CFA10,000. About $20 US in Senegalese currency. WAAY back in February when I had traveled to Senegal and Mauritania with some friends. While crossing the border between Mauritania and Senegal I had misplaced a 10,000 CFA note which I presumed to have been stolen. Eight months later it’s in my hand. Pretty cool.

Something else I’ve noticed – my Wolof seems to have gotten stronger after coming back from America. Not sure why, but it seems like I’m recognizing words and speaking much more quickly than before. It’s cool to see how much I’ve adapted into this culture and that I know my way around a place that is so completely different than what I’m used to.

It's a very strange feeling visting your home - the place where you live, just not at the moment. I spent so many nights, baking in the sweltering heat and humidity here, wishing I was in my own bed in an air conditioned room with plenty of good food stocked in the refridgerator. I've endured it all - roaches crawling on me while in bed, people constantly trying to rip me off, the bad food... the bad food.

So you can imagine my great excitement as I landed at LAX and my brother rolls up in BMW to pick me up. Not a vehicle that is barely running, with no seatbelts and a driver who seems to be aiming at anything moving in the street.

That pretty much started my cultural immersion back home. Some people have a hard time adjusting to the differences of two opposite cultures. I didn't find that to be my experience. Instead, it was more like changing gears. I had my life back home and my life here in Africa.

Things would only get better after landing as we made our way to every restaurant I had been dreaming about, including some wonderful sushi with 14 friends on my first night back. It couldn't get any better. It was like having a huge burden lifted off my shoulders. I could go anywhere and speak American english and get around just fine. I didn't have people constantly coming up to me and asking me for things (like trying to help them go to America).

It was like a cold cup of water after running a marathon. No better feeling.

That's not to say everything is perfect in America. I mean, alot of things were so similar before I left (LA traffic for example), and working a few 8 hour days for my Dad's company reminded me that when I get back I will have to work. But through all of that, I didn't seem to mind it at all. Sitting in a comfortable car in LA traffic is alot better than navigating the roads here. Getting up early for work also seems much easier when you're not waking up in a pool of sweat and brushing off roaches.

So all in all, it was wonderful. I got to see almost of all my friends, my family and do many things that were impossible to do back in The Gambia (play water polo, for example).

And as you might have expected - it was really tough to get back on that plane. It didn't help that my trip back was incredibly long - with 12 hour-layovers in New York City and Casablanca. When my flight got back into Dakar, it all came back to me - starting with the heat. I had gotten so used to the cool breezes of pre-Autumn in America, that the 90 degrees (with 90 percent humidity) hit me, hard. Walk right outside the airport in Dakar and immediately get surrounded by people who want me to take their taxi, exchange money, in other words - basically scam me anyway they can. Such is life in Africa, I suppose.

I kept thinking to myself, why on earth did I come back? Wasn't I just telling people horror stories about this kind of stuff? I didn't help that I didn't have enough local currency to stay in the 'cheap' hotel nearby (but they were nice enough to let me crash on their hammock outside for free), but the mosqitoes were so bad I didn't sleep at all.

Africa continued to "welcome me back" at the Dakar car garage. I've mentioned before that car garages are in my opinion the worst parts of Africa. It's basically a sea of uneducated people trying to make money. It's not all their fault - some people have horrible diseases and are begging for money, others could have never affoarded to go to school in the first place etc. But empathy doesn't seem to make the journey less difficult. One teenaged kid carried my bag about 100 feet and demanded I pay him (I should have known better, I walked right into that one.) I gave him a US Quarter, which would be fine compensation - but no money changers exchange coins so in a way it was kind of mean - but come on, he carried a bag like 20 yards! Give me a break. Eclipsed by this gem, was the shouting match that ensued between myself and another invidiual who was trying to overcharge me for bags. It's tough to keep your cool in a culture that almost promotes confrontation on a daily basis. I mean, I guess I am really adapting to the culture if I can seemlessly go from tranquil, peaceful America to the bunkers of negotiating hell.

But I did make it back to The Gambia, and it is nice to be back. All of my friends greeted me warmly, and were eager to hear about my time back home. Some of them demanded to know where their 'yobal' was (basically translates to 'travelling gift'). With the help of some generous friends in America, I was able to provide them with candy bars, drink mixes, postcards, toothbrushes, pictures and a few lucky people with soccer balls. They have been very grateful for all the gifts - they thank you and so do I.

Coming back to school reminded me why I'm still here. My students anxtiously came up to me and greeted me with smiles and "Mr. Touray!" They're the reason I endure all these hardships, and to see them learning and progressing does make it worthwhile (..most of the time :) They're all very eager to start learning more.

The only downers were that the computer lab basically stayed shut the whole time I was gone, leading me to believe the computer program is going to do the same after I leave. I'm starting to take steps to prevent that from happening. The other is that the roaches have found their way into my place. I thought I had them under control but apparently they crept in while I was away. Very unfortunate, indeed.

School hasn't started either! They're still completing registration and whatnot, which means this term is only going to last about 7 weeks of real learning, a big disappointment. On the other hand - computer classes are now mandatory for Grades 10 & 11, so that is a major plus.

Anyway thanks to all of you reading this for the support. It is much appreciated. I'll try and update it more for you guys and give you some more insights (especially positive ones!) about The Gambia and Africa!

Well I’m about a day and a half away from starting the long journey back home! Back to hot showers, good food and great friends & family. It’s been a really long time coming, a lot of struggles and challenges, bad times and plenty of good times. A lot has happened since I left American soil and I’ve definitely seen a lot of things and had plenty of experiences I never thought I would have and ones that some people couldn’t possibly imagine. Although it’s not the end of my service, I will be returning to finish what I’ve started (as hard as it may be), I guess I’ve started to appreciate the little things more and more. It’s easy to look at your service as a prison sentence – that you’re away from all the comforts of back home – especially when you’re laying awake at 4am in the sweltering heat. But all that aside, this place has become a home of sorts. I am have certainly been imbedded in the community. Most times I forget I’m in Africa, everything just seems sort of normal. But the relationships I’ve made here have certainly been the most fulfilling part of my Peace Corps service.

But enough reflecting for now – These last couple weeks have been mainly preparatory for the big trip – with two international soccer matches in between. I was able to attend The Gambia’s match against Morocco (we won 2-0) and against Cape Verde (also won 2-0). It’s a surreal feeling sitting in a stadium full of Gambians. I mean it’s obvious enough that I stand out because of my skin color, but the level of interest and crowd participation during the matches are like nothing I’ve ever seen. Everyone in constantly shouting, cheering, singing or blowing whistles. Living and dying with every pass, kick and shot. Although the national stadium is relatively small (only holds around 8,000 or so – I’d guess) the decibel level is quite high. You would think you were watching with 60,000. A great experience nonetheless. Each game was carefully monitored by armed soldiers and policemen who know that soccer matches in Africa have a notorious reputation for getting out of hand. Ours didn’t – this time. Gambia’s arch-rival Senegal is coming to play next month, for what should be a huge match. Reason being, the last time these two teams played (in Dakar, Senegal) Senegalese fans started throwing rocks at the Gambian players and fans in the stadium. Gambians themselves responded by destroying Senegalese-owned shops in town and beating random Senegalese people. This will be the first time the two teams have met since that encounter. I’m sad I’m miss it.

Otherwise not a whole lot new to report. School and teaching has been very slow with most students gone for whatever reason. The weather has been a steady stream of rain, humidity and more rain. I’m pretty sick of it. In three months though it will be absolutely beautiful.

I’ve also begun to help out my Mauritanian friend who owns a very successful business in downtown Banjul. It’s neat to help out in a different sort of way, as just opposed to teaching in a school. I help him with English skills and various computer things etc. He being of Arab decent, we also have some great talks regarding Islam, Africa and terrorism etc. He recently made me a custom, tailor-made traditional Mauritanian khaftan – which looks pretty cool. Another student also gave me a Gambian-khaftan (worn by most muslims, particularly on Fridays here). I’m building quite the collection of local attire.

It always seems that once things start to go well for you here, you have a odd feeling, almost like a sixth sense, that the Gambian/Third World universe is going to even the score- something bad will happen in return. You're never allowed to get comfortable or set in your ways because inevitably things change and usually, in my case, for the worse.

The weather hasn't been aiding the situation either. It's been extremely hot, very humid, and lately it's been raining quite a bit. I really don't mind the rain so much except that everything floods, including (and perhaps most irritatingly) the streets aren't paved - which tend to flood. So walking back to my place sometimes means wading through 6" of mud or so.

I've said it before, and it bears repeating: The Gambia is where electronics come to die. Because of the irregularity of the electricity (combined with varying voltage input/outputs) many electronic devices aren't really equiped to handle it and in turn stop working all together. My brother sent me his old laptop about 2 months ago - which I really enjoyed having. I was able to do alot of my work on that computer and bring it home with me. It made marking exams and whatnot much easier. But one day when I plugged it into the wall at school I heard a 'pop' sound and noticed my power supply was toasted. What's worse is that there is no where in the country to get a replacement - in the whole country.

To add insult to injury, our much beloved generator also stopped working for who knows what reason. We're trying to get it fixed, hopefully it will work. The power supply from the national power company is getting progressively worse as well. That's one of the most frustrating things about being here. I was telling my friend today, I'd just love to have a conversation with these executives at the power company, so that I could try and understand the logic behind what they're doing. Because I live on the same power grid as the US Embassy and some of the biggest supermarkets etc in the country, you'd think we'd be one of the areas to receive electricity the most. Not the case. I understand the country is in an economic crisis, but it seems that this neighborhood and its tenents would be the ones who would pay their bills on time and in turn help the company grow and expand its operation. But why some smaller neighborhoods get more consistent power is beyond me. I also don't understand why they don't publish a schedule for this... it would help people out so much - they would know when their business could be taken care and get it done. I guess this is 'missing link' between first world mentality and third world mentality that envelopes the whole nation. It's just a different way of thinking, and incredibly frustrating to us.

Not much going on in the school front - Just tutoring a few students each day now that classes have stopped for the summer. Our internet cafe is now open and operating and income is slowly beginging to generate. The most popular purchase have been printouts (D3 a page) of the students' favorite soccer players.

Speaking of soccer, tomorrow I will be attending a big soccer match. It's Gambia vs. Morocco and it's a qualifier for the African championship. It's a very big deal here. The last round featured the Gambia pummeling Sierra Leone, and in return everyone took to the streets in celebration. But this I'll actually be at the stadium - it should be a unique experience to say the least.

Counting the days... It seems like the closer I get to my 'vacation' back home, the further away it seems, especially with this string of frustrating days.

In other news, for whatever reason (perhaps politically motivated?) The Gambian government has been much reserved in giving us our visas. We came to the country with a one year visa from the government (which is supposed to be renewed after the alloted time). But they've started issuing '2 month' only visas which continually have to be updated and for 100 volunteers in the country - all with different visas - that can be quite the chore. If I didn't mention it already, The Gambia was one of the few African countries to get denied for debt relief, with reasons being human rights violations, journalism censorship etc. The election is also coming up next month, and security has been stepped up considerably.

Well I figured it was about time for a little update of sorts.

Remember everything I said about looking forward to the rainy season? Scratch that. Day after day of scorching heat and even worse humidity has me longing for the days of the "dry" season. Constantly sweating all day gets old real fast. No matter what you are doing - be it teaching at school, sleeping, checking your email, eating dinner - even the most menial of tasks are done while sweating.

So after passing the year mark earlier this month you start to realize that the time really is going by quickly. Soon enough I'm sure, we'll be making plans to go back home and start living life the way we used to. It was sort of a strange occasion.

We welcomed the new education trainees who were all eager to meet us and asked the same set of questions we had asked a year earlier. It's a nice feeling on one hand, to know I've put away a year of my life dedicated towards helping others (well, mostly anyway.) On one hand though, I look back and a lot of it turns into a weird mush of memories. Endless challenges and struggles (constantly wondering when the power will come on….thoughts of severely beating whoever works at the national power company… waiting in the hot sun for hours for a vehicle to take me to school….roaches….roaches….), along with unparalleled and amazing cultural experiences (my awesome friends, amazing host family) marked what was without question the most difficult year of my life. In America, it seems when you reflect back on any year you have a varying different set of ups and downs, good experiences, significant highlights etc. Things here seem to kind of run together. A lot of days are the same, especially when you consider how little the climate changes and you are severely limited in your opportunities to do different things here. For example, I can't go catch a baseball game with friends during a weekend, or go skiing or take a trip or anything like that. Really there isn't a whole lot to do, and our meager income limits things even more. Especially in terms of food.

But after a year I'm proud to say I've accomplished a great deal at my school. I've also learned how to temper my expectations. I realize I'm not going to leave this place changed, in terms of development, but I will have made a difference in some student's lives and that's good enough for me. I've learned a few things regarding international development - mainly it takes time - much more than we're used to, especially back home. In America we really value time - we set deadlines, expect things to be done by a certain point and on the whole are very punctual. Say what you will, but I like it that way. I enjoy knowing when stores will be open etc. The other thing is - all the changes have to come from within. At least most of them. Pump all the money in the world into a developing country and it won't change a thing. Take The Gambia for instance, and the massive generators that were donated from Europe that were supposed to help stabilize the electricity. I'm still sweating at home, waiting for it to come on - so I haven't noticed any change.

Anyway, to review the last month or so - I moved into a new apartment and a have a roommate. My lease was up at my last place and Peace Corps said it was too expensive to renew, so I ended up taking a place that an old education volunteer had. It's nice for the most part - much bigger and more comfortable than my old place. It's located in a relatively nice part of town, and is mere minutes away from the Peace Corps office. It's got two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a 'sitting' room if you will. My roommate is Ernie, my best friend here in The Gambia who is down here in the city doing work for the summer. It's a nice setup for us.

The first thing we did upon moving in is a split the cost of a small generator. As of right now, we get about 12 to 14 hours of electricity on any given day - but it is totally random. No rhyme or reason to it whatsoever. Very frustrating. So maybe it isn't the most 'Peace Corps' thing to do by buying a generator, but when you're sweating at night so badly that you can't fall asleep - I'll take being the stereotypical "American" and enjoy a small amount of material pleasures any day of the week - especially after enduring so much this past year. So our small generator holds 4 liters of gas (gas costs around $1 per liter here) and can power two fans and a tv for about 6 hours or so. Usually if the power is off, we turn it on, go to sleep and have the night watchman come and switch it off. So far it's working out really well.

School finally wrapped up for the year. It culminated with me writing the grades of roughly 600 students by hand - each in an individual report book. On the whole, class attendance this past term was up - still not where we'd like it to be, but an improvement nonetheless. Probably what has been most rewarding are the 10 or so students in the 'computer club' who are always waiting for me to come and open the computer lab and are always anxious to learn more about computers. These kids went from knowing virtually nothing about computers to checking their e-mail at internet cafes - when I'm not around. Pretty cool. And I'm excited for them to continue learning, I want to see them succeed - these are some great kids.

And finally, wrapping up this update with the best news of all - I'm going home to visit! I can't wait, I'm really so excited. I'll be gone for a solid month, from Sept 7th - Oct 6th. I'll be dividing my time between Boise and Los Angeles and I can't to see everyone and eat a lot of good food. I'm sure it's going to be an interesting change, after being away for so long and experiencing so much. It's also going to be quite the trip to get there. I'm going to be flying out of Dakar, Senegal - a good 5 or 6 hour drive north of us, spending the night at a friend's place (hopefully - hotels there are expensive) then fly from Dakar to Casablanca, Morocco to New York to Los Angeles to Boise. A lot of time on planes, but after experiencing the public transportation on this country - a welcomed encounter!

Well-lit street lights placed akwardly close to one another adourn Kariaba Ave (the main "strip" through the Gambia, also commonly called "Pipeline"). It's all part of the government's bid to spruce up the country for the now in-progress African Union Summit.

It's sort of like when you're a kid and your grandparents are coming to visit. Your parents frantically run around to make the house look nice and pressure you in to cleaning your room, all to impress some people who will be there for a few days, max. Enter "Clean The Nation Day."

"Clean The Nation Day" commonly called "Set Settal" here, is normally done on the last Saturday of every month - but that often changes and you usually don't find out about it until the night before - nobody knows when it will officially be, but when it happens you'll know. From 9am to 1pm on that day, no cars are allowed to drive on the streets and no businesses are allowed to open, while everyone goes out and "cleans." The whole thing is a bit frustrating - especially since they hold it on Saturdays - imagine that in the US - think of all the money they'd lose! The small Christian community would be up in arms if they held it on Sundays, so that's where it stands. My friend Ed offered a viable solution to the annoyance - "Why don't they just invest in some trash cans?" Exactly...

Along with the street lights, the government has been spending millions of dalasis putting in street lights and painting the lines on the roads and other cosmetic things to welcome a slew of international guests. In addition to the heads of state from every African country, Iran's President Ahmadinejad, Venezuela's President Chavez and the VP of Palestine will be crashing the party. Huge banners have been placed around the country, welcoming them. Giant photos of current Gambian President, Alagi Yaya Jammeh and most recently Libya's Gadafi have been placed in various locations.

And, like most happenings here in The Gambia - it's yet another reason for - you guessed it - holidays! Friday and Monday have been called off as public holidays, meaning the exam I scheduled for Monday has gotten the axe. Apparently both the Senegalese and Libyan Presidents will be coming to the country via land, and with that comes additional security measures etc. Yesterday, as I was taking a van to school, the President's convoy was to pass by. Normally when this happens they pull all the cars to sides of the road and everyone gets out and watches and a barrage of heavily armed vehicles (as in, many soliders with automatic weapons perched atop trucks) escort two brand-new hummers screaming by. I don't know why but it felt like a very "African" moment.

Speaking of the President, a week and a half ago I was teaching class when all of a sudden students started getting up and leaving. When I asked why they mentioned that the President was coming to the intersection nearby - And that usually money for the students. Jammeh has a reputation for handing out lump sums of money to various people, villages, etc. This time was no different. Hundreds of students each got 500 Dalasis (around US$20 each) - which is alot over here.

We are certainly starting to wind down in terms of school. I had planned to give my last exam on Monday but I'll have to adapt and find another way to make that work. We're also making preparations to open an internet cafe at school, in an effort to raise money for the computer lab and the school in general. I've got a good batch of students who are interested in helping with the logistics of the cafe. Additionally we are trying to set up some summer courses for the students here.

I am also slated to switch apartments in about two weeks, which is probably a good thing given my current roach problem. I think it has definitely moved into the realm of "problem." As the rainy season approached (the time when the bugs come out to play) I started seeing more and more of them, mainly confined to my bathroom. However, more recently they moved up towards (and sometimes on-) my bed. It's pretty gross. Twice this past week I've felt something strange crawling up my leg and sure enough it's a roach. I've tried the spray, and keep my place reasonably clean and to no avail. I'm now a firm believer that roaches will indeed survive a nuclear blast. They are so resiliant.

My good friend Ernie will be moving in with me. My new place is pretty nice and is bigger than my current place. It has two small bedrooms, a bathroom, mini-kitchen and a "living" room if thats what you want to call it. We already have big plans to try and access more power - Apparently the lady who owns the compound runs a generator. Our first task is to try and get her to power our apartment as well. Nights without electricity mean no-sleep and convered in sweat. It's horrible. But we're optimistic we can turn our place into something really cool.

Well before I get into my adventures of this past weekend, I wanted to share with you all a pretty incredible story.

Last August, I ended up losing my much-coveted Padres hat – one I had bought at a game with my brother prior to leaving for Africa. Anyway, it’s unmistakable in appearance – navy blue with a large ‘P’ on the front. So, somewhere during training in August, between traveling between villages and cities etc, I managed to lose it. I looked everywhere for it – asked my host family, employees of local shops etc, even Peace Corps staff all to no avail. I pretty much figured it was lost.

Fast forward to this past week. I’m walking to school and I see a kid (turns out he was a former student of Gambia High School) walking towards the school – WEARING MY HAT! I couldn’t believe it. I was pretty dumbfounded at the time. I went up to him and explained to him that it was my hat and went into detail about where I got it etc. He mentioned that his friend who owns a second-hand shop in Serrekunda gave it to him. We called his friend who said he got it from yet another person in Soma. Turns out that thankfully the guy was understanding and let me have the hat back. In retrospect, he could have refused and been upset about it, but he wasn’t. For his courtesy I gave him a few dalasi.

Anyway, so 10 months later I got my hat back!! Still in good condition too. I was pretty happy about that.

But back to last weekend. So a few different volunteers in my group were celebrating their 28th birthdays (yes I feel young) and they had planned to meet up in a town called Soma – which is about halfway up country. Everyone has been to Soma before – we went there a bunch during training. I would say most volunteers don’t really like it. There is a nice little market and an abundance of street food available, but for the most part it’s dirty and you tend to get hassled quite a bit.

Since Soma isn’t too far away from my old training village (Sare Samba), I decided to go back and visit my host family, whom I hadn’t seen since January.

I woke a little late on Friday, and got to the car park around noon to find that there were no vans going to Soma. That’s the thing about transportation here – There is no rhyme or reason to it at all. If there is a vehicle going, it fills up and it goes. There are no set times for when each vehicle leaves. If there are too few vehicles leaving, you can pretty much bank on pushing and shoving if you want to get a seat.

So after about 45 minutes of waiting patiently, a “gelly-gelly” (as they are locally referred to) arrives. I manage to get a seat, somewhere wedged between 5 people in a row (around 25 total, in a very cramped setting.) You can’t possibly get comfortable, and barely have any room to move at all. The harsh conditions of the road only seem to wear on your patience. All in all, it’s about a 5 to 6 hour drive (I would have to drop at a village called Kaiaf) that is if things go correctly. One hour in and we get a flat tire. Two hours in and its time for prayer – The whole gelly empties at some random village and everyone crowds into the mosque. After that, we’re back on what can only loosely be described as a “road.”

So finally the torture fest ends and I drop at Kaiaf – A large Mandinka village – the closest village located on the main road to Sare Samba. At this point it’s around 5:30pm, and I’ve got about 2 hours left of light. I hadn’t been able to get in touch my family and I wasn’t completely sure how to walk there (it’s about an hour walk through the bush). I digged up as much Wolof as I could though it proved to be a little tough as mostly Mandinka in spoken in Kaiaf and very few people speak English aside from the children who are in school. I found a few people to show me the way and off I was. Pretty soon the villages disappear and it’s just me – alone in the African bush with about an hours worth of sunlight. Not too smart, especially considering I didn’t bring a flashlight and I was in an area with a very real chance of encountering a cobra or a green mamba or something equally scary.

Soon I make it to the next closest village – Medina, a bigger Wolof village that is mere minutes from Sare Samba. When a white man approaches a somewhat remote African village, you are bound to attract attention. “Tubab” and “White Man Give Me Money” and “Hello What Is Your Name?” are the usual annoyances of choice. As I wade through the throngs of small children, I finally make it to Sare Samba.

Sare Samba is really a jewel of desert, so to speak. As I’m approaching the village, some children take notice of me. It takes them a moment or two, before they finally recognize me and yell out “Yusupha!!” And coming running over to me. Pretty soon I have a small army of 20 children greeting me and walking with me as I enter the village. Note: None of them asking me for anything thing – Just happy that I came to visit them!! Doesn’t get any better than that.

As I start to approach the ‘Touray’ compound where my host family lives, my host mother, Haddy, spots me and begins to start clapping and running over towards me, again saying “Yusupha.” It pretty much felt like a heroes welcome. Everyone coming to greet me and say hello. Special kudos to my younger host brother, Ousman, 11, who really looks up to me. He was thrilled when he saw me. He says he wants to come stay with me in the city for the rest of my time in Peace Corps.

As the night dies down, I spent the majority of the night speaking to my family (in slow, probably butchered Wolof) with a little help from the translating of Ousman himself. I later brought out the camera that is always an instant hit among the children. Every time that flash went off they would go crazy – cheering and clapping and of course afterwards, everyone scurries to go see the picture on the back of the camera.

Everyone has been doing very well in Sare Samba. It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly a year since I first came there. On a disappointing note, the people of the village (and most villages throughout the Gambia for that matter) make a living farming groundnuts. Their crops from last summer were consequently picked up by the company in charge, yet nearly all the farmers (in The Gambia) has yet to receive their wages. It is a colossal mismanagement that is greatly affecting the economic status of the largely poor farmers that comprise Gambia’s interior.

As much as I love seeing my host family and catching up with all the little kids, I can’t stay long. The environment there, in particular, is pretty harsh. I woke up to a nice bowl of coos – a horrific reminder of just how bad the food is up-country (and it’s baaad).

Saturday comes and I am scheduled to meet my friends in Soma, so I hop on my family’s horse cart and we make the two hour journey through the backside of The Gambia – going through various villages – some of them Wolof, some Mandinka and some Fula. Along the way Ousman stops to pick up some red berries from a random farm and gives some to me. I try them – bizarre. Like nothing I’d ever tasted before. I don’t even know how to describe it. But I didn’t have any hallucinations so it must not have been too bad.

I arrive in Soma to meet some friends already there. We have some lunch before deciding to catch one of the World Cup Games – England vs. Paraguay. Soma does not have electricity, but there are a fair number of businesses that have generators for power. Of which, many are “Video Clubs” which are basically little shacks that have a TV in it that broadcast big soccer games and sometimes movies. You pay to get in and usually the cost isn’t too steep. There was a pretty big crowd for this game and the overwhelming majority of them were supporting England, which meant myself and the other volunteers decided to support Paraguay – clapping and cheering every time they did something well. But they lost anyway.

So later that night there is a pretty decent size group of us (12-15 or so) and we head over to a volunteers compound that lives about 45 minutes walk away, where we have dinner and converse about how each persons experience is going. Later we move to the “lodge” where we would be staying for the night. The lodge wasn’t bad in all – nice rooms with albeit dirty bathrooms, but otherwise not too bad. It was nice to catch up with some volunteers who I hadn’t seen in a while.

The lodge owner turned on a generator for us, so we had some light, but later shut it off around 1am. After that we tried to go to sleep but it was impossible. The heat inside the rooms was unbearable and only matched by the incessant mosquitoes who were laying open siege to every exposed body part. By 3am my friend Ernie and I decided we had had enough. So we packed up our things and began walking towards Soma – a 45-minute walk at 3:30am in the morning with all of our packs on. There was quite a bit of moonlight out which made it easier. You’d think you wouldn’t get hassled at 3:30 in the morning right? Wrong. Still we had people approach us asking where we are going etc. We don’t listen to any of them and sometimes have to tell them somewhat harshly to leave us alone.

We make it Soma at 4:45, dirty and extremely tired. We manage to find a vehicle heading back to Banjul, but we are the first ones there. Surprisingly enough, the vehicle manages to fill up by 6am and we took off. The bumpy roads make it impossible to sleep on the journey and later your joints feel very sore from all the jostling around. Luckily we made good time and got back to my apartment by 11:45 where we proceeded to sleep for about 4 hours.

Quite the adventure, but I’m going to stick to the city life for a while.

This evening I received some pretty tragic news – That one of my students had suddenly passed away. This came as a complete and utter shock.

Alieu was a bright, talented and genuine person and was also our school’s Head Boy (similar to the Student Body President back in America.)

When I first came to teach at Gambia Senior Secondary School, he was one of the most welcoming students I had come in contact with. I had chatted with him on many occasions and even began giving him computer lessons last Fall.

Later I found out that he lived literally right across the street from me and I would run into him on numerous occasions as I went and got food at the bittick (small shop) that was located directly next to his compound. He had invited me to come to his compound and meet his family.

I will always remember him as being a loving, caring and giving person. Just a few weeks ago he invited me to attend a soccer game as he saw I had no one else to go with.

I say his passing was a total surprise to me because I had no idea that he was sick. I just saw him a few days ago, as I was passing by on the street and he mentioned how he was excited to go back to the computer lab and learn more about computers after he finished his exams.

I will never forget passing through the halls and hearing him call out my (Gambian) name – “Good morning, Mr. Touray!” - always greeting me with a smile and a handshake.

Alieu, my friend, you are dearly missed…

To anyone who has sent me something in mail: If I've never sent you a thank-you note or at least acknowledged that I received it - It means I haven't gotten it yet. The only reason I mention this is because I recently received something that was sent back in mid-December! So that gives you an idea of how the postal system works around here. It seems a few letters are permanently "lost" but to my knowledge I have yet to lose a package.

Let's start off with school: It seems that all of my huffing and puffing, criticizing and "motivating" have finally paid off; This week I gave out the first quiz of the third term (last quarter of the school year.) The lackluster attendance seen throughout the previous two terms was quite discouraging - on many different levels. So it was a pleasant surprise to see so many students pack the computer lab to take this quiz. The turnaround has been unbelievable. Whereas before, maybe 20 to 30 students out of a class of 70 would show up and take the tests, now 50 to 60 are coming. And, for the most part, their scores have been pretty solid, though there are still a good chunk of whom are lingering around the "what's a computer?" level - we'll work on that. But it's exciting - they are learning - "slowly, slowly" as they say here in The Gambia.

I do have to confess that having the extra students around hasn't been a total blessing; Classroom management of 50-60 students is never easy, especially when you're trying to give an exam and given the fact that you're...well...."different" to them. Gambian students (and teachers and many other people in various working fields) have little respect when it comes to time - specifically, starting things on time. Students are constantly 20 to 30 minutes late, sometimes even hours. Asking them where they've been usually yields few legitimate excuses. They'll come in and say "Mr. Touray I want to take the quiz" right when I'm giving the whole class Question #5 of the current quiz. It's incredibly frustrating.

Cheating also remains rampant - particularly among the girls. I continually warn and threaten them before every graded assignment but somehow not even that manages to deter them for copying each other's work. On Tuesday I caught two boys blatantly copying each other's answers. I proceeded to take their papers, report them to the Principal who will then call their parents over for a "meeting." There is also a very real possibility they could be beaten - if not by other teachers, then by their parents themselves. In a separate incident, a girl came late to class and proceeded to start writing down answers to questions she had not yet heard. I immediately called her out in front of the class and sent her packing. It's never easy taking on tough role - but I'm getting the hang of it. As teachers we have a responsibility to instill some values into this children - Many of whom will run this country someday - a country already rife with corruption. That being said, as I told my Dad last week - my career in teaching is officially over when I get back to the States. I have an infinite amount of respect for teachers, and have certainly found it be a rewarding experience, but I don't think I have the energy and patience to make it in the long term.

Here's something that may give you an idea of how the economic development of this country is progressing (or should that be - regressing): Today, as I was walking home from the gym, a met a Gambian who has been living in Dallas for the past 18 years. Shortly after attending high school in the country, he moved to the States and went to college and started a life out there. Anyway, this was his first time back in country since he'd moved. I began asking him questions to compare how things were back then with the present situation - particularly when it came to issues of electricity, road conditions etc. Astonishingly, he said that the electricity was BETTER (much more consistent - though blackouts still occurred) in 1988!! Unreal! Especially for what plays such an integral part of economic development in any country - it really is quite a necessity for any business to run effectively. The majority of upscale business' rely heavily on generators - which often break down, have problems - coupled with rising gas prices. Let's hope things get better from here on out "enshallah" (god-willing.)

One thing that has been particularly rewarding about my experience here are the unique friends I've managed to make here. Three friends (whom all happen to be physically disabled) in particular, have had a significant impact in the way that I see the Gambian people in general -

Momodou - I met Momodou in an unusual way. Momodou is confined to a wheelchair, but is incredibly active and is quite the athlete. He races (wheelchair) and plays basketball. One day I was out for a run and he happend to be racing down the side of the road (at a pretty fast pace). I ran up to him and we kept pace with each other for a good two miles. It was pretty cool - a kind of speakeasy thing - we didn't really say anything at the time, but now I see him all the time in the supermarket parking lot - helping direct the cars into their appropriate spaces, usually with the other beggars, though he never asks me for money. We'll always compare workout stories or recent athletic triumphs.

Aljumma - Aljumma suffers from what I think is polio - I don't know enough about diseases or anything like that to make an accurate assumption, but his legs are pretty much shriveled up and useless and he 'walks' using his hands alone, using sandals to protect his hands. Aljumma normally begs in Westfield - taking small contributions from various travelers (many of whom give liberally and often.) Anyway, Aljumma is a Pulaar (tribe) and from Guinea. When I first met him I tried my basic greetings in Pulaar before switching over to Wolof. Aljumma ALWAYS seems to be smiling about something. Maybe its the fact I'm some strange white guy speaking local languages and taking the time to sit down and talk with him once in a while, but regardless it's neat to see. It's hard enough living in The Gambia - just imagine how tough it would be being disabled in The Gambia - a country which lacks many of the support facilities available in States.

Alhagie - I met Alhagie by chance - also in Westfield. Alhagie is blind, and usually spends his time near the car park - reciting various verses from the Qu'ran in Arabic, to attract a few Dalasi here and there. Alhagie, like many Gambians, went nuts with excitement when he found out I could speak Wolof. Because his surname is "Ceesay" and mine is "Touray" (the two families have a long standing joking relationship - claiming the other "eats too much.") he became a good friend and a nice source of cultural interaction. Last week he invited me to GOVI - (Gambian Organization for the Visually Impaired) - a training school that helps blind people learn Braille, and other skills. It was neat to see. I spoke with many of his friends there (all blind) - who got a huge kick that a "tubab" that come to visit and talk with them.

It's really easy to write off Gambians and The Gambia in general - particularly when you're constantly being approached and hassled on a daily basis. But these guys have certainly given me a unique perspective on the matter.

Classes have finally come into full swing, after many, many weeks of stagnation. Although we tried everything we could to get more students to come to computer classes, most students still aren't coming, though a few new faces have started to trickle in. All in all it's alright - I'm less concerned at this point about getting more people to come to class, instead focusing on teaching those are coming.

I now have a good core group of students coming in who are dedicated and excited to learn. Usually everyday they'll be in the lab, any free chance they may get. We've started showing them how to edit text on Microsoft Word, like changing the font size and changing the color etc. They're excited about that, so it's pretty cool to see. I think I've garnered their respect as well, as many see me now as a legitmate teacher who's willing to see them succeed provided they put in the necessary effort.

My real plan is to groom these students to take over the fledging computer club at the school. The Science Club, for instance, is really popular among students, and even host several events, take field trips, do alot of practical, hands-on things, and perhaps most importantly raise awareness within the school.

Which brings to my plans for the summer; School will wrap up around the end of June, which is also when the African Union Summit is going to be taking place here in The Gambia - that's right - all the leaders of Africa will be here, in this tiny little country for a week's worth of conferences. Literaly every single hotel room in the country is booked. PC was pretty adament about not having anyone come during that time because lack of accomidation and the thorough onslaught of security checkpoints sure to come.

I'm trying to set-up an internet cafe at the school. We've got the computers and the space, and even the internet. It's just a matter of organizing things and setting them up. Ideally, my plan is to coordinate the computer club to effectively run the cafe themselves (with my supervision). This would be a great way to generate money for the school, the club and the lab at the same time gaining them valuable and practiclar business experience. My hope is to raise enough money from this to purchase a generator for the computer lab. In the Fall, we'd rarely have a day without electricity, but now it's at least 2 or 3 days a week where we don't have it.

This past Wednesday, we opened the lab to another electricity-less day, and after giving a lesson around the parts of the computer, about 10-15 kids and myself sat down and had a really good cultural exchange. Indeed, they had many questions about America. Keep in mind some of these kis are the first in their families - generations, if you will - to become literate! Some American families have been literate for over 200 years, while some of these kids are the first in their family's history to read and write. Pretty amazing if you think about it. Some of the more interesting topics:

- They believe(d) (like most people in The Gambia) that America is in Europe.

- Most thought highly of Osama Bin Laden, mainly for challenging America, though they didn't support him killing and thought he was a bad muslim.

- They were really interested in things like term limits for politicians, minimum wage, fair treament by employers etc.

- The conept of vending machines was a huge hit among them.

- Owls in The Gambia are widely believed to be witches and evil spirits etc. Most people throw rocks at them etc. Nearly all of these students (keep in mind some of the more educated in The Gambia), claimed to have seen with their own eyes- Owls that have put on lipstick, put on glasses, had earrings etc. Even one graduating senior, whom I regard as the smartest kid in the school, confirmed a similar personal experience. Pretty wild. They aren't as adament as some about traditional beliefs either - but that was one thing they were sure of.

- Everyone was pretty suprised that you aren't allowed to beat children, or your wife in America - even if they do something wrong

- You wouldn't believe the popularity of Celine Dion, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Arnold Swaraschenger, Jackie Chan have here in The Gambia.

One boy commenting on the popular film 'Home Alone': "How can that boy do that? There is no way that boy can do all those things! They must have trained him for many years!"

Towards the end, one kid said, "Mr. Touray, I don't understand these "drugs." I know people can sell them and smoke them, and it can make problems, but why do they do that?"

In seperate news I've also begun tutoring a 7th grader in english who is the son of a taxi driver - a friend of mine. News gets around fast, and now my friend Jallow (who cooks me dinner at the "shack" I eat at everynight) wants me to help him learn how to read. Jallow is probably around 22 years old or so and never went to school, but he's done pretty well for himself, all things considered. It's been pretty cool to see. I started coming to what was then his "table" he had setup, where he'd prepare and cook food for customers. I would always encourage him to expand it, try new things etc and he's done so accordingly. I'll have to get some pictures, but he's built a full enclosure with a roof now (so instead of a table, it's a shack). He's also put cement on the floor, bought a radio and put up posters on the walls. I keep telling him to do more cool stuff - He's bought an old, beat up (but running) air conditioner as he's trying to secure a power feed in the near future. Pretty soon I'll have him set up buy a fridge, selling cokes, put in a tv etc. I mean, hey, if I'm going to eat there every night I might as well be comfortable! But it has paid off for him too - business is growing, so it's a win-win situation.

Things are pretty good for the most part. I do really miss alot of things back home like good food, water polo, good friends etc, but otherwise it's pretty good. I really cannot wait for a probable trip back home this sumnmer. Details on that will be forthcoming.

Last comment of the day: A Nigerian friend of mine is trying desperately to get me to attend his church. The name of it? "Winner's Chapel". Does that mean other churches are for... "losers"?

So this is more or less a typical day in The Gambia, spent living and working in the city. I wrote it down mainly so I could reflect and compare to my life in the future, it's somewhat detailed but you might find it interesting.

I usually wake up around 7am to the sounds of two really obknoxious generators. One powers a nearby office and the other the compound I'm staying it. Annoying as it is - I wouldn't trade it for a second, simply for the fact that it gives us power at night and allows you to sleep with a fan. I'm really going to miss that in three months when I'm forced to switch apartments. Without power in The Gambia, sleeping becomes a real challenge. With the intense heat and humidity alot of times you'll find yourself laying down in a pool of sweat for hours before falling asleep.

After throwing on some workout clothes and eating some peanut butter and crackers, my friend Ed usually will knock around 7:30 as we both prepare to go lift weights. Lifting has temporarily filled the void of water polo, something I've missed terribly since being away.

It's a short 5 minute run to the gym for Ed and I. Coming out of my apartment, we run into Sainey - a guard/laborer for the compound - to make sure no one comes in the middle of the night and starts stealing stuff or worse. It's an upscale compound for the Gambia, and the owner usually ties up the door late at night just be sure.

Walking out from apartment, we go down a dirt road that leads to the main street - Kairaba (also called "Pipeline" locally). On the left side of the dirt road are a bunch of 20-something boys who occasionally wash cars in between selling drugs. Scribbled in spray paint on the wall is "Handsome Car Wash". I'm always greeted as I walk by - "Hey Yus!" (Yusupha Touray - my gambian name). I usually throw in some random greetings in Wolof and that seems to keep them happy. Alot of times I will walk past and they'll be brewing "attaya" (sweet mint tea) and they'll invite to come and join them ("Yus, ki nan attaya"). But I always say no, I never really liked the stuff.

As we make our way to the gym, you get a sense of a real African morning. Hundreds of kids wearing uniforms making their way to school, trucks with 20+ people on the back going to work, women carrying loads of things to sell at the market on their heads etc. We're usually the first ones at the gym. It's pretty small for the most part, and quite rustic for that matter with big holes on the floor but many of the machines are pretty modern. I've really enjoyed lifting since being here - I'm not exactly ripped yet, but I've made some pretty nice gains. Moreover it's nice to have something positive to focus my time on. It's also been a great way to meet people.

Alieu Faal is one the trainers there and also one of my good friends here in The Gambia. It's Alieu's dying dream to become a United States Marine and to serve in the Infantry. Not only is he in tremendous shape, his unending devotion to his dream is quite inspiring to say the least. I've put him through the ringer in terms of "what if" questions but the guy is as focused as anybody I've ever met. His current plans are to join the British Army (a little easier for Gambians since Gambia is a former British Colony). I've also gotten to know quite a few others at the gym. Aside from a former English rugby player, Ed and I are usually the only white people in attendance, though we have gained alot of respect from everyone else since we've been going for so long now.

After heading back to the gym, I head back to my place, shower and get ready for school. That involves going out to the main road and hailing a taxi to Westfield. Luckily, some of the taxis here in the Gambia have set routes and set prices, meaning you avoid the endless hassle of negiating fares with drivers. After around 5 minutes or so, I usually find one. Taxis hold 4 people and are almost always full, meaning much of the time you have to squeeze in the backseat next to a 'larger' Gambian women who is carrying a daily supply of freshly caught fish - not pleasant but could be worse. It's a short ride to Westfield - only around 8 minutes or so.

Then it's onto the infamous Westfield. It's known as one of the more "dangerous" parts of town, although it's not really - just alot of schemers, pick-pockets (See last entry), drug dealers etc like to hang out there. It's also a main "hub" of transportation with cars stopping and going to various parts of the Gambia. Once you arrive, you usually have several people come up to and say "Hello my friend, where are you going Brikama? Come join this car..." I kind of have to schew them away.

While in Westfield I stock up on food supplies for breakfast/lunch. Because I'm not a huge fan of African food (yeah a bad PCV, I know) I end up buying 6 hard-boiled eggs at the bittick - a little shop on the corner. Afterwards, I walk over to the fruit sellers - most of whom are foreigners from Guinea and are Fula (tribe). First I get oranges from the same group of boys every time. I try my basic greetings in Fula (in addition to Wolof, I can greet people in Fula, Mandinka, Jola and Manjago - a HUGE ice breaker if you know someone's tribe). They're nice boys - and big soccer fans as well. I usually start telling them how horrible Guinea is at soccer (in reality they're pretty good), just to start egging them on, it's kind of like a morning tradition.

Afterwards, I head across the street and try to find a van going to Banjul, somedays are easier than others. Sometimes you quickly find a van, while others you have to wait a solid hour and have to cram your way in. After driving about 10 minutes or so, and crossing the military-guarded bridge going into Banjul, I will tell the driver to drop me at Gambia High School - in Wolof. This is usually where the laughs and general shock of the other passengers comes in. You can speak Wolof!!! It never gets old.

Walking in to school, you can't help but notice the hundreds of kids just waiting around. I don't know why they aren't in class, but they're always there. Those students who recognize me or are in one of my classes will usually greet me, "Mr. Touray! How is the morning?" The ones who don't know me (it is a big school) usually just stare at me as I walk by and eventually make my way up to the computer lab.

We have a pretty nice lab, thanks to the President/Dictator of The Gambia, Yaya Jammeh who donated a bunch of nice computers. Although lately, the electricity coming in has been very poor and is continually getting worse, although its supposed to get better before the African Union meets here in June.

After teaching a few classes, answering a barrage of questions ("Mr Touray, how do I make a capital letter? How do I underline?") and fixing the daily supply of problems (Kids putting passwords on the computers - they don't even know what they're doing, they just start clicking on everything). At around 5pm or so, I've usually had enough and make my way back home.

Dinner is spent at a place I lovingly refer to as "The Shack" - a place where, literally 'everyone knows my name'. "The Shack" is really a small, shanty, 1 man operation - run by my good friend Muhammed Jallow. Located right off the main road and next to a car park, and across from one of the biggest Mosques in the country, I only have to come within 20 meters before someone will recognize me and shout "Touray!" The 20+ regulars there have come to know me quite well and usually chat with me whenever I arrive. It's a good time for me to practice my Wolof too. And because I come here almost every single night, people have started recognizing me all over the city. I'll get into a taxi and someone will say, "Ahh Mr. Touray, Nanga Def?" and I will conintue to talk with them in Wolof even though I have no idea who they are or where I met them. This happens countless times.

So what's cooking? For dinner, I usually have Jallow make me some chicken - kind of like spam, it's in a can, although it's not mystery meet - He'll fry that up and serve it over some plain spaghetti for 35 Dalasis - or about $1.25, of which I'll enjoy usually around the time the evening prayer comes blaring over the loudspeakers ("Allahu Akbar...") It's a good price and fills you up pretty well. If I don't eat that I usually end up going with more hard-boiled eggs.

Afterwards I'll usually walk down to the office - check my e-mail, head back to my apartment and relax, play some guitar, listen to music before waking it up and doing it all over again.

Well it finally happend, and quite frankly, it was probably just a matter of time - I got pickpocketed. Oh yes, getting onto the vans here can result in a heavy pushing/shoving match to try and secure a spot (which also happens to be a daily occurance for my commute to Banjul every morning). Anyway, yesterday happend to a particularly rough day - It reminded me of old days playing football as a kid or even the most challening wrestling matches in water polo. A few people were getting into fights just to get in this van. Ordinarily, I stay away and just wait it out till the crowds die down, before trying to get on, but as it happens I had alot of work to get done at school and didn't feel like waiting an hour in the hot African sun before an empty van finally showed up. Anyway, I grabbed my things, took my chances and shoved a few people smaller than myself aside (the weightlifting is really paying off) and finally made my way onto the van, when I immediately noticed my cell phone was missing. Since this is a daily occurance, I'm usually quite keen of my surroundings and take great care to secure my belongings, but because this was such a rough entry, I didn't even feel the guys hand in my pocket.

I immediately told the driver to stop and informed the passengers of the situation. To their credit, Gambians are not very tolerant of crime and will often take matters into their own hands if they happen to spot the culprit (then proceeding to beat the guy mercilessly). However, that would not be the case. In any event, one of the passengers asked me for my number and then proceeded to call my phone (a very kind gesture). It started ringing and someone actually picked up the phone too - It was evident that it wasn't anyone in the van at the time, and soon after they hung up the phone - It was too late.

Although I wasn't terribly distraught about the situation at the time, I didn't hold back in terms of expressing my feelings about what had happend to the rest of the patrons in the van, explaining to them who I had come here as a volunteer to help and having this happen. To my suprise as well, Gambians are very sympathic towards such occurances. Everyone I've told expressed regret about the situation. One of my students said he had lost 5 cell phones over the course of a few years, another student 3.

One thing that did aggrivate me about the whole situation is that some people basically conveyed a sense of, "Wow that's too bad... Well, you're white though, you can just buy another one, you have the money..." On the contrary, as it is I am barely scraping by on the Peace Corps salary every month and on several occasions have had to dip into my own savings back home. And it's not as though I am spending lavishly or anything, or eating like a king for that matter. Simple daily occurances like taking taxis to and from work, getting your clothes washed, eating half-way decent food etc. - it all adds up.

An interesting example of this happend last week while I was volunteering at FAWE-GAM (Forum for African Women Educationlists - Gambia) - I usually head over there once a week to help them out with any computers issues they might have. Anyway I happend to be gloating about all the protein powder I had just received in the mail to my boss, who herself had attended college in America. "Why don't you just get your protein from real food?" she asked. "Because I can't affoard it - It's too expensive on current salary.." And she throughouly understood. Unless I want to eat plain rice everyday (like many of the volunteers upcountry do) I am going to end up spending my own money at some point. It probably doesn't help either that I eat more than most other volunteers, given my vigorous training and working out regemin. But I suppose at the very least it will make me substantially more grateful when I do get back to the United States, walk into a grocery store and not being able to affoard things like apples and cereal.

As I mentioned in my previous post, the 2nd term for school is officially over and done with and now comes the tedious task of entering the grades (all done by hand) for each of my 600 Grade 10 students. About midway through entering these grades (the large majority of them 0% due to failure to attend) we had a big staff meeting for all the teachers. I wasn't planning on making an annoucement at the time but I figured if I wanted anything positive to come of this term (in terms of structure and how I'd like things to change in the future) I'd had better say something.

So I stood up, introduced myself to those who didn't know me, and pretty much gave them a lecture. I explained to them that the school was incredibly fortunate to have one of the best computer labs in the country, yet 80% of the students enrolled had yet to attend. I told them that this was unacceptable in my mind, and that these students were wasting a terrific opportunity for growth. I also exclaimed (more for motivation than anything else) that if students at Gambia Senior Secondary School aren't serious about learning computers than I might as well go and find another school to teach at. Afterwards everyone clapped, and an ensuing debate followed among several teachers and a decision was made to put computers into the regular time table which should mean that more students will be informed and that attendance should grow substantially. "Should" being the key element of that sentence. It remains to be seen, but I am hopelessly optimistic.

In other news, the newest batch of Peace Corps Volunteers here (Health volunteers) are going to be sworn in on Thursday, meaning that two groups of volunteers will have been sworn in after us, officially making my group no longer the newbies. It's strange to see an ever-revolving group of faces - some on their way out, others just arriving in country. But in any event, I have officially been in country for over 9 months - an incredible amount of time to spend in such a challenging environment.

So it has certainly been an interesting last couple of weeks here in The Gambia.

The first point of interest is of an event that transpired last week where an attempted, foiled Coup D'Tat to overthrow the government was "in it's advanced stages but later aborted" according to the Gambian government. Apparently a high ranking official in the Gambian Army coordinated and recruited many members to try and carry out a coup. For those of you who don't know - President Yaya Jammeh has been in power since 1994, where he himself took power in a coup. The President happend to be in Mauritania when the incident occurred, but once he found out he rushed back to the Gambia along with some militants from Mauritania for back-up. All in all some 14 people have been arrested but the so called "master-mind" remains still at large, though many people think he is hiding in Casamance.

Things are mostly the same - there is a definite increase in military in the capital (Banjul) where I work, they are alot more particular about things and check cars and taxis alot more as well, but otherwise it's business as usual. There is a definite sense of electricity in the air though. The Gambian government forced the 14 people they arrested (some of whom are in the army and others who are in what is the Gambian equivalent to the CIA) and made them confess their crimes on the Gambia's national tv.

How does this relate to Peace Corps? Well there is going to be a Presidential election in September/October and it should be heated. There are quite a few people who don't like Jammeh, and according to our Safety and Security advisor who spoke with us this afternoon, attempts to assasinate him, and further coup attempts are definite possbilities. But you never know. Gambia has been known to be an extremely peaceful country while many of its west African neighbors were at war. But it certainly remains to be seen. We are going to be on a low-level alert pretty soon.

Otherwise things are great. Many volunteers are in town for a weeks worth of inservice training. That being said, a bunch of us have been going down to the beach to play football (yes, American football!) It's been some of the best times I've had in Gambia so far - soo much fun. You definitely get a lot of looks on the beach - playing a game nobody understands, but wow what fun. We've even challenged another group to play in a game on Friday - it's going to be the Education volunteers versus the Agro-Forestry volunteers. We're gonna smoke em...

School just ended our second term. In 3 months worth of school I officially gave 3 lessons and 2 quizes. Please hold your applause. It's not much at all - and thats what incredibly frustrating. But its not from a lack of attendance on my part - I show up everyday ready to teach with lesson plans in hand. But the increasing amount of holidays/school functions and general student laziness does not favor me at all. Oh well. You do what you can!

Its starting to heat up majorly. The high's are getting into the upper 90's!

Well I'm officially back in the swing of things here in The Gambia and the post-vacation gloss has certainly worn off (if there is such a thing).

So back to school.

The other day the electricity went out in school, which was a suprisingly great thing. It allowed me to get a chance to sit down and just talk to my students (all in Grade 10) from topics ranging from politics (and The Gambia's president/dictator Yaya Jammeh) to religion and of course, America. My students love to start off every question about the United States by formulating real-life examples - saying things like (notice the Gambian English as well) "Mr. Touray, for example, if I am to go to America, and I want to go for prayer in the street, these Americans... they will beat me?" And of course, like all conversations here involving religion, it ends with them trying to convert me. Good times. But it was nice to hear there opinions on things like The Gambia's problems etc. For instance - why they thought we didn't have electricity at that moment. Especially since these kids will be running the country in the future.

In housing news, we've officially ran out of water. Apparantly there is some sort of problem with the city's water supply and our access has been temporarily cut. What also sucks is that there is no nearby well or community tap like you'd find in other villages and compounds, meaning the landlady has to go and send someone to fetch water to nearest one and bring it back. I found out this morning after I had just come back from a run and they told me their reserves were out too. They basically poured water from water bottles into a bucket so I could take a bucket-bath.

Nothing really new or exciting on the agenda - just same old school as usual. The kids have been better at showing up lately, but it's nowhere near the numbers that came out for the first term, and still a good chunk (75%+ have yet to show up - meaning I have to fail them.)

I asked one of the technical maintence guys who works on our computers how the other school's programs were going. He said that I've got way more patience than the other teachers. How true.

Much of my day is spent telling kids to stop clicking the mouse randomly and doing all these other maddening things like changing the passwords on the computers (they have no idea how to do it!) and telling other kids to stop checking their e-mail and stop playing solitaire (again, they don't even know how to play the game!). Needless to say some days I'm more patient than others. If kids are driving me nuts usually I just tell them to leave on the spot. If other teachers noice this behavior, they get a tounge-lashing and sometimes get their ears pulled as well.

It's also starting to heat up here. We're approaching the dreaded 'hot season' where everything is very dry and will be extremely hot in the not so distant future. Then around May or June will go back into the rainy season where I get to experience more of those incredible storms at night.

So whenever my good buddy Ernie is in town we usually play a game that involves sneaking up on the other person, coming from behind and reaching for their pocket. Consequently watching the other person completely freak out and nearly have a heart attack each ime. I've gotten him really good - especially at the 'dangerous' places like Westfield and coming off the ferry in Banjul.

Anyway, so the other day I'm coming back from a rough day at school. Getting into public transportation vehicles can sometimes mean pushing and shoving to get try and make it on the spot, since spaces and cars a very limited. As it happend, myself and some high school students (though not from my school, but a nearby school) all crammed up to try and get into this big van. Amidst the pushing and shoving I think I feel someone going for my wallet in front pocket. Usually I am keenly aware of my surroundings at all times. So I manage to make my way into the van and sit down and I check my pocket for my wallet.... nothing - It was gone!

Since we hadn't left yet I quickly went up to the driver and told him that someone on this van has my wallet to not leave untill I get it back. A nearby Gambian standing there starts shouting at the students to give my wallet back. Suddenly, one student picks up my wallet from the ground and gives it to me (everything intact).

I was a little confused about what happend so I asked my good Gambian friends. They said this happens alot - that whoever took it purposely dropped it on the ground so to avoid getting caught. They also mentioned if they were to get caught (especially in an enclosure like a van) the kid could easily have been beaten to death on the spot (Jungle Justice as they call it here).

I made it back alive – amazing after the taxis and public transportation we took!

Here’s the rundown of how everything went:

Started off by getting up really early in the morning, took 2 taxis out to Banjul then crossed the ferry (Banjul is an island) to the north bank of Gambia. While we were on the ferry we met a couple of guys who had private vehicles who were driving to Dakar, so we negotiated for a while with them before finally agreeing on a price. This worked out really well – we save a lot of hassles and we got there faster.

Right when you enter Senegal (and it doesn’t take long) you immediately noticed that Senegal’s infrastructure is leaps and bounds beyond The Gambia’s. The roads are nicer, there is electricity, and the small shops have computers! Pretty crazy to say the least. Anyway, we make our way to Dakar – around 5 or 6 hours. We were supposed to meet at the American Club – a little place where all the ex-pats and Embassy staff etc. all hang out. It took our driver forever to find the place, but it gave us a chance to see a little bit of Dakar – a huge city in comparison to the Gambia – in fact, there is no comparison. Dakar has highways, big buildings, restaurants etc.

So we finally arrive at the American Club – it’s nice. It has a little bar and restaurant and a pool (25meters long! – bigger than any pool in Gambia!). We got a chance to meet to our home stays and a ton of other Peace Corps Volunteers from other countries. My home stay happened to with a US Army Colonel and his family – He’s working in Dakar, helping to train Senegalese soldiers and work with their security forces etc. His place was an absolute palace. The bathrooms (4 of them) were bigger than my room here. We actually got to sleep on a mattress as well – as opposed to the pieces of foam we have here.

So on to the softball. As the “coach” I decided to go ahead and put in our ‘non-competitive’ players in on Saturday and needless to say we got killed, going 0-3. Sunday was different though, I had to lay down the law so to speak and put the starters in so we actually had a shot to win. Our team wasn’t bad over all. Since it was double elimination, after we lost twice – we would be officially out of the tournament. Our first game was against some Peace Corps Volunteers from Eastern Senegal, they put up a fight but we ended up winning 7-6. Next, we played a team of Senegalese players (Africans) who learned the game within the last couple of years. Surprisingly, they were really good – extremely fast on the base running especially and they had a few players who could hit. What was really annoying is that they wouldn’t swing at anything unless it was a perfect strike, which went we ended up walking in half their runs (walking… in softball!), so they beat us pretty bad. Next up we played ‘Team Asia’ – which was made up of Japanese/Korean businessmen/Embassy officials – they were probably the coolest team we played – all really nice guys, very respectful and generally just a lot of fun. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that we crushed them 13-2! After that we played a group of French International School students, and beat them 7-4. Our last game was against the eventual champions – some Peace Corps Volunteers from Mauritania – we lost 4-3! So close, but it was a lot of fun, I ended up playing really well too which was nice. Some volunteers were angry/annoyed at their lack of playing time, but with 20 people and only 10 spots – you can’t play everybody. Some people even refused to play certain positions – it was ridiculous, never again will I be a ‘coach’.

So the Dakar nightlife was also in full affect throughout the weekend. The softball tournament also played host to several parties/social events that they sponsored and put on. The first night we ended up going to a pretty classy bar/restaurant. Afterwards we went out for SUSHI! I couldn’t believe it – I was actually having sushi after 8 months without. It was at this Korean place in Downtown Dakar, it was a buffet style with seaweed salad, potstickers, miso soup, and actual sushi. It was expensive $20 (which is more than I spend in 5 days in Gambia) but it was so worth it. After that we went out to a real ice cream place – just like Baskin Robbins – it was incredibly good and really cheap too. We also ended up going to a party at the US Marine’s residence in Dakar. The Marines through a party – mainly as a fund raiser for them. Their place was nice – just like a frat house really.

Of course it’s still Africa so that means Senegal had it fair share of frustrations – starting with the taxi drivers. Not only are all the fairs really expensive, you have to haggle them to death plus they don’t know where they’re going half the time. You’ll tell them where you want to go, they’ll say ok, you negociate a price and get in, and they get lost. It was really frustrating – we lost friends night after night. I was also the one in charge of negotiating everything because I was one of the few people who can speak Wolof – (the main tribal language of Senegal) albeit in a vastly limited degree, but I guess it managed to get the job done.

So after WAIST was finished, me, Ernie and Jennifer met up with some volunteers from Mauritania and traveled up with them. Before I go on:

A quick note about car parks (where the taxis all gather to take people to various destinations) = they’re the worst places in Africa – period. Really, its home to thieves, scammers, prostitutes, drug dealers – you name it. So to get anywhere of any kind of distance by land, you have to go to one of these parks. Once you arrive you are instantly pegged as a tourist (thanks white skin) and have everybody coming up to you and trying their hardest to get you in their car while you try and haggle with them in a language that really, you don’t know THAT well. Another thing – all numbers/prices are in French in Senegal/Mauritania meaning even if we’re speaking Wolof the guy will say French numbers (i.e. ‘duex mil’ for two thousand) – it screwed me up the whole trip.

Anyway, so we travel up with them to Rosso – in Northern Senegal. This place might as well be one giant car park. We get through the Senegal border and cross a very small river to Mauritania where we proceed to wait 1 hour for them to process our passports, despite the Mauritanian volunteer’s pleas in Arabic/French to hurry up. We also refuse to pay the ‘baggage tax’ – a total scam. At first they refused to let us through, before finally succumbing.

Once you get into Mauritania things change even more. The first thing you notice is the people – while Senegal is mainly black, the Islamic Republic of Mauritania has more Arab/Moor influence, although they have many blacks as well. You also notice that everything is more desert and there are a ton of camels around.

Like Senegal, the roads are really nice in Mauritania as well. Although we traveled up in what is really like a Honda Civic – only they put 4 people in the backseat which just plain sucked. It was the most uncomfortable ride I have ever had in my life. You couldn’t possibly get remotely comfortable; I thought my legs were going to go numb.

When we get to Nouakchott (the capital) – it really strikes you that it is indeed an ‘Islamic Republic’ – the city is neat, extremely quiet and very orderly. You don’t get hassled anywhere. Many of the streets are empty at night – there are no clubs, bars etc – in fact alcohol of any kind is illegal. The people were really nice for the most part. We crashed at a ‘roach’ motel – literally had roaches but it also had hot showers (FIRST TIME IN 8 MONTHS I HAD A HOT SHOWER!!!).

The markets in Nouakchott are my favorite markets in Africa – probably because of the lack of hassle, no scammers etc. It allows you to really enjoy the scene and take it all in without getting bugged all the time. Like in The Gambia for instance, you will have 5 people come up to you and start saying “Hello my friend, how are you? Which country are you from? Can I have your address in America?” So annoying.

After Nouakchott we made our way east to Atar – a regionally capital where we stayed with a Peace Corps Volunteer. It was nice – he had power and water. The bread in Mauritania in general was fantastic – fresh sweet bread, croissants etc – since it was a former French colony.

I was surprised how far my Wolof went in Mauritania. Usually it worked with the Senegalese living there, but some of the Arabs and Moors also spoke it too – I couldn’t believe it. Afterwards we went out to Chingetti – which is a town literally surrounded by the Sahara desert. It was definitely one of the coolest places I’ve ever been. When we got there we met ‘Seedy’ – a true Peace Corps success story. Seedy is a 19 year old Mauritanian kid living there – Peace Corps Volunteers taught him English over 6 years or so – he’s one of the only English speakers there and one of the coolest guys around. He did everything for us from making us dinner to arranging camel guides etc. Really cool.

So speaking of camels – We had ‘Camel Sandwiches’ in Atar – pretty good, and yes it does taste like chicken.

The camel ride it self was nice but tiring. Riding in a hard, wooden saddle for 6 hours in a day is not easy! But it was well worth it – we traveled out to an Oasis nearby and got my mind-blowing views.

After this our money and time started running out so we decided to head back home to The Gambia.

We ended up doing pretty well until we hit Rosso – the cesspool. Things went downhill from here. We traveled from Nouackchott to Rosso, barely making it in time before the border closed at 12pm. As we are going back to Senegal the border official (who spoke English very well) tries to get a bribe from us.

“The government’s stamp is free but my passport stamp is not free – what are you going to give me?”

I told him I’m not giving him anything and to give us our passports immediately (begrudgingly he does).

So then we get out, find a cab going to the place we were heading next (Kaolack, Senegal), negotiate a price and get ready to go. Here’s another reason why I have no interest in ever traveling by land in Africa again – the taxi drivers don’t leave until the whole car fills up (in this case 7 spots and only 3 of us). So we wait and wait and wait. 4 and half hours go by! Somewhere during this time I realize I’ve either misplaced 10,000 CFA or it was stolen somehow – I looked everywhere for it. That was more or less my money to get home. Luckily both Ernie and Jenn owed me money so they covered it. But at this point I’m seeing red, I was incredibly upset. Sick of waiting 4.5 hours for a cab to fill up, sick of having people come up to me and pester me for money etc. Finally we go up to the guy and demand our money back, saying that we’ll go to another city and try to catch another ride from there. He refuses to give us our money back so we go to the police. They talk to him and what do you know he quickly finds the people to fill the car. So we make it to Kaolack at 11pm and crash at a Peace Corps transit house there before making our way back to Gambia.

In short it was awesome but way to ambitious. We drove over 49 hours within 10 days to basically ride a camel and come home (crazy). I and Ernie vowed never to travel by land again – we’ll always fly from now on – its way more expensive but in the end will be well worth it.

It was nice to get back though, I have to admit. I like the routines and not having to argue prices etc.

So I get back to school and what do I find out? I didn’t miss anything because last week they didn’t go to school at all!!! Unbelievable. These holidays are horrible. So it turns out the King of Morocco came to visit so that entails all kids from the Gambia getting a week off.

Gave out my 2nd quiz today. I gave the kids 8 definitions to know – 4 weeks ago and finally give them the quiz today to which they did horribly. Most kids didn’t even know about the quiz (didn’t come to class), didn’t get the notes (they had 4 weeks to get it/copy them) and protested that they didn’t even know about the first quiz (7 weeks ago).

I am happy to get back into lifting and running now, so that’s a plus  And these cheap oranges they sell everywhere here keep me going… it’s the little things….

Pictures forthcoming….

PS – Last highlight.

When were in the desert, I had on these Mauritanian pants (they look like pirate pants, but they are so comfortable), a turbin and sunglasses – this French lady/tourist comes up to me and starts taking pictures of me and says ‘Thank you!’ – She thought I was a Mauritanian/Arab.

So after 7 and a half months of hard work, I’m officially taking my first “vacation.” OK, so it’s not exactly going to be a leisurely, relaxing one, but I’m really looking forward to it. On Friday, about 28 PCV’s from The Gambia are going to head up to Dakar, Senegal. We first take a ferry across to the north bank of the Gambia before taking taxis/vans up to Dakar – an actual big city, with buildings taller than 5 stories high, good food and lots of Americans (there are Peace Corps teams coming from Gambia, Senegal, Mali, Mauritania, Guinea, Benin) in addition to Embassy teams, Marines and other volunteers and local teams. We will actually be staying with Americans who work at the US Embassy there, so chances are it will be a really nice place.

Then it’s on to softball – We will be playing something like 5 or 6 games over the weekend. I’m really pumped for that – it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to compete in any sort of sporting event here, so this is going to be really refreshing. Our team should do ok – A couple of us have already started throwing the ball around here in Kombo and loosening up our arms before the big weekend. Since Senegal is a former French colony, there is supposed to be some pretty good food to be had – another huge plus, although they are selling hot dogs and refreshments at the games.

After 4 days or so in Dakar – we will be heading up to ‘R.I.M’ = Islamic Republic of Mauritania, to the north. The plan is to go back with the Mauritanian PCV’s who will be attending the softball tournament, since they know all the in’s and out’s of the country – it would sure be of great help to us. Mauritania is more Arab-influenced, similar to Morocco, so that will certainly be an interesting change in cultures. Once there, we’re planning on hitting a couple of Oasis before making our way out to the Sahara desert to ride camels and camp out. Additionally, there is one of the world’s largest trains (an iron-ore train) that makes its from the inland to the coast. You basically ride on top of the train (on top of the ore) as the train goes all night. You don’t pay anything – sort of like hitching a ride, but its commonly allowed. Yesterday, Ernie and Jennifer (the two going on to Mauritania with me after Senegal) went and got our visas for Mauritania (you have pay $45 dollars) which took about half the day.

I’m really looking forward to a nice little break. Teaching is going… well – going. The holidays + school structure here kill learning. Last week was the Islamic New Year and this week is “inter-house” or basically athletic competitions within the school which means no organized learning. In the 7 weeks we’ve had in this term – I’ve officially given 2 lessons and 1 quiz – the kids are just never here. There’s not a whole lot you can do about it either, it’s just the way the school is structured combined with their own cultural beliefs. Some kids will still show up though, so I will try to give them individual attention.

I probably won’t have internet access over my trip (definitely will not have cell phone access) but I will write when I get back and hopefully have some great pictures to share as well (coming back around Feb 28th/Mar 1st)

So the other day at school I busted a girl for cheating on a quiz. The way it works here, it that students are put into one class (like 10X or 10V) and you rotate from subject to subject with that class. Anyway I was giving a quiz to the 2 students who came of the 80 enrolled in 10X when two girls came into the classroom. I asked which class they were in - they said 10X, the class whose time slot was then - I said, "Great just in time to take the quiz..." Then they say, "Oh actually we're in 10V." I say, "Oh ok, then you should have taken the test yesterday, sit down and take do it now." To which they both rolled their eyes in obvious annoyance.

So the other two boys in 10X were sitting down taking the test - both very good students and surely would ace the easy quiz. One girl sits down right next to the boy the same desk where I'm sitting directly across from them. I'm watching her the whole time - not 3 feet away from her - as she is blantantly looking at the boy from 10X's quiz and copying his answers. So I told her to give her quiz and get out of the classroom and that I would be contacting the principal - to which they started to say, "We're actually in 10X" (lie).

So I went down and asked the principal about the school's policy on cheating. He said they call the parents and suspend the students - and this case was so exception. Today I came to school and a boy said I was needed in the office. Sure enough there was the girl and her mother - a really old woman in traditional, Islamic dress. One of the head teachers was there and wanted to make sure i was present and he proceeded to yell at the student (in wolof) and explain to the mother what happend. Apparently she's had alot of problems at the school. Anyway, she ends up failing my class and is getting suspended. In front of everyone, the teacher said he would physically beat her next time it happend and after that she would be expelled. FYI - Corporeal punishment is rampant in the gambia - but mainly in elementary schools and junior high. Some kids take a real beating - it's getting better but trying to change their ways on that is like telling them they shouldn't do something they've been doing for centuries - it's not going to happen overnight.

Coolest names of students in my class:

A girl with the first name "Ya Mama"

Many students with the last name "Fatty"

Boys with the first name "Dodou" (pronounced "doo-doo")

I recently found out one of my two brightest students (both excellent, well spoken, great kids who are desperately trying to get in college – they should go, they certainly deserve to) – one of them is from Somalia. He was actually there for the ‘Black Hawk Down’ incident and the US strikes on the ruling militias during that time before his family fled to Yemen and eventually made their way to The Gambia. He mentioned that his mom owned ¾ of the supermarkets in Mogadishu (Somalia’s capital) until looting and chaos decimated everything and they were forced to flee with very little. It’s always interesting to hear perspectives of people from all different African countries – there are plenty of immigrants and refugees from other countries living here in The Gambia, particularly from Sierra Leone.

So school is full swing now, and by that I mean that maybe ¼ of my students are actually showing up for class. It’s extremely frustrating – especially after convincing the administration to put computer grades on the students’ terminal marks, meaning that they actually count and will be recorded. I have no choice but to fail every student who doesn’t show up or misses a quiz. There is such a weak attitude towards learning computers at this school. These kids are some of the luckiest students in the country. Not only do they have a full functioning computer lab with electricity, they have a teacher who has flown half way across the world and given up everything to come and help them – and still they don’t come. Most high schools outside the capital have no access to electricity and therefore their computer labs (if they even have one) rarely ever get any use.

Those who actually do come are doing well for the most part. I’m really digging in and pulling out all the stops so to speak, in regards to making lessons exciting, pertinent and fun. I gave out my first quiz this week and I was met with great results for the most part. Still, some are just plain lost. For instance, it was a multiple choice format quiz, and on one particular question – “What is the first step you to take to turn on a computer?” I listed a ‘funny’ answer, or at least an answer that the students would know it certainly wouldn’t be the right choice. “Kicking It.” Seems pretty obvious right? Tell that to the growing number of students who have selected that answer…..

So my apartment is officially been downgraded to a Motel 4. It seems when the landlady goes so to the nice features like the generator which powers the compound at night. I usually only have running water about ¼ of the time too – which means I’m back to taking bucket baths.

Yesterday my landlady came up to me and asked why Peace Corps had not paid her. This seems to be a continuing problem as it happened at my last apartment as well and others (city volunteers) have experienced similar results. It’s embarrassing really – it’s certainly ruining the professional reputation of the Peace Corps here.

I’ve been stepping up my workouts quite a bit here. The days when I’m not lifting I’ve usually been running 7.5 miles in the mornings before school. It’s a great way to start the day and the weather has been exceptionally great – nice in the afternoons, and cool in the mornings, I’ve really enjoyed it.

In other news, a bunch of new developments and possibilities (back in the US) for this summer have begun to take shape, which is really exciting. I’m really weighing all my options and am going to see how things shape up in the coming months.