howdy all,

my time in the gambia is finally coming to an end. i will be back in texas at 10pm on monday, nov 16. i look forward to catching up with everyone back home. but know that i will miss my friends and people i have come to consider my family here. it's a bitter sweet time. but i am looking forward to eating american foods, speaking english, being inconspicuous, not sweating all the time, driving a car, listening to new american music, seeing new movies in a theater, and many many other things.

see yall soon soon!

my fence was blown over by the wind. so i fixed it.

this is how sweaty i was after working on it for twenty minutes

this is one of my host sisters. her daughter was named after

me. she is getting SO big! she can even run now.

another child that was named after me. this is how

women carry their children around. it's actually extremely

practical. they can do all their work and still keep an eye

on their child.

my friend seedy. we worked on lots of projects together

over the last two years: rabbits, chickens, sheep

fattening, cereal banking, ducks.

this is the family i ate dinner with every night. words cannot describe how attatched i am to these folks.

cracking peanuts

this girl put peanuts all over her face. they were trying to get as many on their faces as possible. when you don't have a lot of toys, you play with hat you have.

typically how i spent my afternoons. hanging out with the family in the shade.

this is the family i ate lunch with. i spend a lot of time hanging out with these guys.

this is mo lamin. he's working on learning how to walk.

this is manjang. he is in charge of the livestock camp that i lived it. we worked a lot together. he has a lot of ideas on how development work can benefit his fellow gambians.

this is maam, my host brothers wife. therefor she is my wife.

hanging up the laundry on the grass fence to dry.

the herdsmen at the camp. they tie the cows up at night and then herd them throughout the day.

using a straight razor to give a hair cut.

a traditional fula hat. old men usually wear these.

my friend fatou was making me traditional fula anklets. women wear these for their wedding.

whenever i was away from site, my friend fatou took care of my dog. she said she was dixie's mom.

the women of my family. these are amazing hard working folks. they were always welcoming and very giving.

this is my favorite way to roast peanuts. they take an entire bush, dry it in the sun. they set it on fire. it cooks the peanuts in the shells. so good!

auntie cooking lunch.

check out the obama shirts.

my host mom and sister.

one of my host dad's wives (he's got 3). she's telling me i am not good because i am not helping her work. it's a joke.

taking beans out of pods.

another one of my dad's wives. she's sorting through beans.

my host brother's wife. she's taking the corn off the cob. then they will try it out and take it to the mill to be ground up.

ladies coming back from working hard in the rice fields.

eating a little pre-dinner snack.

getting hair extensions put in for the big prayer day at the end of ramadan.

dressed up in nice clothes for the end of ramadan.

mam finished braiding my hair and wanted a picture.

this kid is yelling my name: tida! kids yell my name a lot. they think it's fun. i do not.

VIDEOS:

howdy all. the rains are in full force here, so everything is beautiful and green again. allowing for animals (both domestic and wild) to increase in number. i've seen two snakes this season. one of which i almost ran over on my bike... yikes!

things are winding down work-wise and so i am just trying to enjoy these last couple of months in my village. here are a few fun pics and videos.

my friend tobo resting while i pound.

outskirts of the weekly market

saidou milking the cows. they allow the milk to sour and eat it with coos.

pounding coos

nene roasting peanuts

mahamadou is in charge of guarding the corn. he scared away a monkey, but not before it took a bite out of this ear of corn.

traditional fula bride.

the girl on the right is adjusting her skirt.

my friend fatou. gambians don't like to smile in pictures.

please note the cell phone. just like america, isn't it??

my duck had babies

tobo washing dishes. check out how she rinses the bottom of the bowl by throwing water in the air.

auntie washing clothes. most women just use their hands. i have only seen one person using a wash board. there was a wedding, so these girls are pounding millet in preparation for all the guests that will be coming over for the party. nene preparing roasting peanuts to eat. cas grinding coffee at my house.

I just went to my close of service (COS) conference this week. It was at the sheraton, which is amazing. I took full advantage of the air conditioned room and all you could eat breakfast buffet, which included three types of real cheese, bacon and sausage. It may not sound that excited to those of you living across the atlantic, but to those of us in this developing nation, it's a pretty big deal and we made sure to consume as much of these protein rich foods as possible.I am still working out the details of coming back home, but hope to be in america in time to eat turkey and canned cranberries, while watching the aggies beat the hell outta t.u. on thanksgiving day. when i find out more info, i will be sure to let yall know. also, please don't send anymore packages or letters to me here because i may not get them before I leave. thanks i haven't been taking too many pictures lately, but i have several videos. hope you enjoy these.here comes the rain flash flood... good thing this is a flat country troubles in travel

african fence repair hungry season animal feeding frenzy cleaning the roof cleaning the ground before the rains. disclaimer: to those of you who actually speak mandinka, i would like to appologize for my poor sentence structureand lack of ability to communicate in this particular tongue. weeding my back yard push start

interesting article in new york times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/21/world/africa/21gambia.html?_r=2&scp=2&sq=gambia&st=cse

do not comment on this article on my blog. thanks

A TYPICAL DAY:

It's hot. I rode my bike to the weekly market this morning, about 20km. by noon it was too hot to ride my biek back so I decided to take a gele-gele (van). I walk my bike to the carpark, haggle over how much I will pay for getting my bike tied to the tope of the vehicle along side the sheep and bags of rice. after negotiations are finished, we seal the deal witha a fist pound. not a cultural normal custom, but thanks to rap videos has become and ever more popular action.

I climb into what used to be some sort of delivery van, bossibly a bread truck. It is only half full which means at least another half hour of waiting. I now regret not bringing my book. I find an open seat and chat in a local language before the crazy man comes and starts asking me for money. He is always here and always askes me for mooney. I never give it to him, but I know next time I see him, he will ask again.

I am thirst, but have run out of water in my nalgene bottle. So I catch the eye of the ten year old girl with a tray of bananas balanced on her head. I hiss at her and motion for her to come to me. Through the open window, I give her a dalasi coin (about 5 cents) and tell her to bring me a bag of cold water. She leaves and returns 30 seconds later with luke warm water in a clear plasic sandwich bag tied at the open end. I tear a hole in the corner of the bag with my teeth and drink the liter of water as fast as humanly possible. when i'm finished drinking, I throuw the empty bag out the window on the ground next to the other empty bags, old papers, and disgarded cans.

As more people climb into the vehicle, it gets hotter and hotter. It's now 1:30pm and probably 115*F. Finally the car is full, but the driver isn't here. He returns after a few minutes and starts the van with one turn of the key. I am impressed because we often have to do a push start. We still do not move however because the front passanger is having issues putting his seat belt on. Recently a seatbelt law is being enforced at all of the police check points. Ok, it's unstuck and we are off!

Less than half an hour later I am at my house. Because it is too hot to do anything else, I lay on my bench and read a book. I've changed into boxer shorts and am taking refuge in the coolness of my house. It's only 95*F inside. Even the breeze that cuts through the windows is warm.

After awhile I become drowsy and put the book down to take a nap. After dozing a little, I am awoken by a tickling sensation on my leg. Flies. I make a mental note that it is time to shave because the flies are tickling the hairs on my legs. Despite the screens on the windows and doors, five or so flies have managed to get in. I try to ignor them, but it is impossible. I look at my dog, the flies are not disturbing her. I shake them off and try to sleep again. but they return. I swat at them with my book killing one. I feel satisfied that the other flies get the message and will leave me alone now. They however do not. Again after dozing off, I am rudely awoken by the tickling on my legs. I feel like a crazy woman. I sit up frantically waving my arms in the general direction of the flies and mumble at them, explaining how annoying they are and that they should leave me alone. I lay back down. Two seconds after I shut my eyes, the alarm on my watch chimes. It is time for me to go meet my friend. I will not get a nap today.

PICTURE TIME:

this goat was sick, so we had to kill it before it

died so that we could still eat it. turns out it had

pneumonia. yes, we ate it anyway.

this is my friend seedy. he is doing a poultry project

with exotic (european) broilers. his over all goal is to

have layers.

different poultry farmers

men building a poultry house out of "local materials"typical style is a mud brick house with grass roof.

when i brought the camera over to take her picture

auntie made sure to go put her flip flops on. safety first!

nene chopping fire wood. and yes the child standing next to her is perfectly safe.

chickens:

bunnies:

firewood chopping video

goat slaughtering video:WARNING: some people may find animal slaughteringdisturbing

here are some links to articles about interesting stuff happening in the gambia. these events are not happening in my region. i am perfectly safe, so don't worry about me or my friends. please don't comment about these articles on my blog. thanks

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/03/18/gambia.amnesty.witchcraft/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7949173.stm

howdy everyone.

i hope the first day of spring is providing you with colder weather than i am experiencing. the cool season has definately passed and the unrelenting heat has taken its place. the best part about the hot season is that it is too hot at mid-day to do much, so i get to relax in the afternoons. i hang out with my family and friends, read a book, or just take a nap in the hammock (if i'm not bothered too much by the heat, sweat, and flies). i am now sleeping outside at night b/c it is significantly cooler that the inside of my house. it is still getting quite chilly in the early morning. i woke yesterday at 4am b/c i was so cold. the thermometer on my clock told me it was 60 degrees F. i had to go inside and get my fleese blanket; and then i got snuggly and warm.

my friends and i had a st patricks day party at my house. it was really fun. we decorated the house in green clovers and a "happy st pats" sign sent from home. we cooked chicken on the grill, had powdered mashed potatoes with butter, and canned green beans and we cooked some cakes in a dutch oven... it was some of the best food i've had in a while. we listened to irish and american music on our ipods and enjoyed good conversation. we also bought ice blocks (which i rarely ever buy) and enjoyed chilled beer. the only thing that was missing was the green food coloring! over all it was a great time.

some folks have expressed interest in visiting me in the gambia. i welcome anyone who wants to come. this summer would probably be the best option, but i am very flexible. i would recomend a stay of 10-14 days. the plane ticket is kind of expensive ($1000-$1750 roundtrip), but staying in gambia is really cheap... especially if you are hanging out with me :-) it will be less than $20/day - this includes transport, food, lodging, souveneirs, etc. check out buying a plane ticket online, several airlines (delta, south african air, brussels air, royal air moroc) regularly fly into dakar, senegal and i could meet you there. so if you are interested just send me an email and i can give you more details.

hey everyone. i don't have much time to write, so i'll just put a few pictures and videos up.

WAIST is a softball tournament in Dakar, Senegal.

PCVs and ex-pats come from all over west africa to

play. it was a fun time.

my name sake... isn't she cute!

cleaning fish for lunch

relaxing

this girl is about to go pound millet which

she and her family will eat for dinner for

dinner.

hello friends and family and anyone else looking at this blog. merry christmas and happy 2009. sorry it's been so long since i've updated. for those of yall who didn't know, i was able to come home for Christmas; it was great getting to visit everyone and trying to eat as much as i could. i'm sorry to those of you who i didn't get a chance to come visit. but no worries, i'll be back in a year and we can catch up over a latte then.

today i'm posting pictures of my morocco/spain trip, mail run (i got tour the entire country for a week while taking mail to all of the PCVs in Gambia), and some good stuff from village.

Vacation: Spain and Morocco

spain has good food: olives, cheese, bread, and wine. DONUTS and COFFEE!!!! enjoying lunch with my travel buddies. spanish people apparently love pork. that stuff was everywhere! CHEESE! ellie and i were excited.ps - though it may look like it, am not stealing cheese, i was putting the camera case back in my bag. my best attempt at looking like a trendy spanish person.

traditional tent we slept in while in the desert.

yeah, i know it was really touristy of us to do...

but i still liked it, so there!

two thugs ready for our ride in the benz.

this is a grande taxi four people in the back seat,

two plus the driver in front.

me on a camel.

scarves for sale. i thought it was quite arty.

the nutral color of the earth with all of the

bright colors of the fabric.

enjoying the sunrise in the desert. the sunset

was pretty awesome too.

shopping for handmade moroccan carpets. the

building was just as beautiful as the rugs.

these were in my opinion the most beautiful

pattern for rugs in morocco. i wanted to get

one but apperently other people like them too

b/c rugs of this style are super expensive.

typical place selling pottery; plates, bowls, etc.

someone told me that this is the third largest mosque in the world. i am not sure if that is true but it was HUGE and really beautiful.

I like to call this one "meat and sneaks". pleasethat you can get your tennis shoes right next to where you buy your raw cow parts.

hiking in a gorge. it was really fun, except that i was still feeling a little under the weather, thanks to the food poisoning i had the day before.

some women of a nomadic tribe.

if all roads lead to one what happens if there are no roads? apparently it doesn't matter, you just drive 50mph anyway.

in the sahara desert. it was cold.

having a one on one with my camel.

near the coast. please not the boats are primary colors (my favorite!)

coastal town in morocco. lovin the blue everything.

nice little sunset over the atlantic.

Back in The Gambia

good roads are hard to find.

i'm assuming this guy learned that you can't drive a small car through a lake.

this used to be a road. now it's a ditch.

hard at work. please note matching american flag outfits. our shrits have chickens on them. we got more compliments on our clothes that day!

we found a trash can in the market. only one other person had used it.

my gambian name is matida, but i go by tida. sounds like tina, but with a "d" instead of n.

its pretty common for people to have someone named after them. i was named after someone. and this little girl was named after me. the name also runs in her dad's family. here is one way to cross the river that i choose not to try. i'll stick with the big ferries. these arefishing boats that are being used as passangerboats b/c it was one of the busiest travel days of the year. everyone likes to be home for theholidays.

On mail run, we played a little game to keep ourselves amused. we gave the PCV a blank piece of paper and told them to write something on it, anything they wanted. then we took pictures with them.

also, mandy and i dress in matching clothes everyday.

overall typical: gele overloaded on top with back door open (while moving) and a woman in nice clothes walking through muddy streets.

my host mom

VIDEOS

happy thanksgiving to all! sorry i have not updated my blog for a long time... a lot has happened since i last posted anything. have had some trouble with the computers/internet the last two times i tried to post something. i don't have a lot of time today, but i plan to put up some new pics and videos in a couple weeks when i come back down to Kombo for some meetings.

sorry for such a note, but i hope you are all well.

one day while looking at how much memory i had left on my camera, i accidently deleted 2 months worth pictures & videos, over 300. i was very very sad about it because i had so many great pics. the beginning of the rains, plowing & planting, cute kids, etc. but i can't get them back. so here is what i have....

ready to transplant rice

how most things are carried by women. sometimes they carry stuff that is over 75lbs.

ladies in the rice field. they are transplanting rice from the nursery to the swampy rice patty.

ladies chatting with each other in the rice fields. lots of gossip can be exchange.

they are ready to transplant!

leveling the mud in the rice patty. this is so they can transplant and to make sure all the plants get a good amount of water. rice plants LOVE water.

lunch time! this food bowl can feed up to eight people. everyone eats with their right hand, if a spoon is available it can be used.

some members of the fula tribe still practice traditional scaring and tattooing. if you look at this woman's bottom lip and chin it is a dark green color. the gums are also tattooed.

the woman in the green is my good friend fatou. she cooks my dinner. i went to the rice fields with her and after lunch she wanted me to take a picture of her with the chicken bone in her mouth. i thought it was funny so i did. she has typical traditional fula scaring on her cheek bones. lunch is yummy!

This is a gele-gele on the ferry that i typically cross. check out how high the load is on top of that van! there is ALWAYS room for something else.

beautiful day!

its so beautiful now that everything is green again. four months ago this place looked like a waste land.

cattle run free during the day and are tied up at night. during the rainy season they are often herded so that they won't eat anyone's crops. but after harvest, they are allowed to roam where they please. this often includes the road, where they have the right-of-way.

in rice field, a storm was coming in behind me.

resting under a shade tree after walking the 2km to the rice field.

my friend seedii. he is the one learning about rabbits. we needed some rice hay to feed the rabbits, so we used the donkey cart to carry about 10 big rice bags full the 2km back to the rabbit building.donkey and horse carts are a very common method of travel. it's not too fast, but nice if you have a long way to go or something heavy to carry. donkeys and horses are also used for plowing fields.

my friend fatou eating before heading off to the rice fields. women often go out around 10am-noon and return around 5pm. right now b/c of ramadan, they aren't eating or drinking when the sun is out. my friend auntie sweeping her yard with a local broom.

baboon seen in the wood lot near my house. they often jump the fence of my garden and steal my egg plants, corn, squashes, and okra. very annoying

this is my ram. i purchased him for relatively cheap and hope to sell him for a higher price during the muslim celebration of tabaski (spell check??). the profit will be used to buy more rabbit food. i named him "domida," which is a meal that sometimes contains meat. kind of like naming a pig "pork chop."

little beach bar we like to hang out it when i come to the capital. mandy lives about 35km from me. we go to monthly "poultry association" meetings. it is kind of cool to have matching clothes made. we thought this fabric was quite appropriate for the poultry association. when we arrived at the meeting one woman was upset that we did not tell her we were getting matching clothes b/c she wanted to be in on the "asoobii" (matching outfits).

pizza for the birthday celebration. so so so tasty! i can only go to western style restaurants in the capital area. my first time having real cheese or pork product (peperoni) in over three months.

kareoke in the capital. "summer lovin' had me a blast...."

my up country birthday cake. a few friends surprised me with a swiss roll a couple days before my bday.

on my front porch, cleaining my water filter. the water tower that the water is stored in is old and rusty. that is why the filter is so dirty. but the water is crystal clear and safe to drink once its filtered. the hottest day i have ever lived through. this is the day the camilians died. a typical day of me hanging out with the family next door. (one of my three host families) this is a concoran. they traditionally use leaves and tree bark to dress up, but some have recently started using old rice sacks for the costume. getting my hair braided. painful, but worth it; they usually last for longer than a week. Everyone in my village loves when i braid my hair, but it is too painful too get done often. i met up with a couple of other PC friends to do some work in one of their host father's garden. which we had to walk about 1.5km on a bush trail to get to. this was on our way back from the bush. typical field preperation.

some traditional dress. i have never seen this actually

worn. but we were waiting for the president to drive

by. and so they dressed up.

nice scenic view, while i was walking to a friends house.

fetching water. please note my forearm. this is

not easy work!

milk, straight from the cow. seriously, they

milked the cow and then brought us the milk.

it's like 10 minutes old.... so fresh so tasty!

all over west africa, people are using urine as

fertilizer. so this is my pee catcher.

old phone booth. check out the dead

vine covering the phone.

first actual rain in eight months. so EXCITING!

gettin my hairs did.

this is a concoran. they come out to

scare away bad spirits. they dance and

carry around machettes.

mexican food... kind of. but it was so so so good!

this is the man i am teaching about rabbits. wewere trying to make rabbit feed on this day. it didn't work. but i learned a lot in the process.

this is heat rash. it itches. basically your sweat doesn't come out or your pores and irritates yourskin. a lot of my PC friends living in my area havethis. it isn't really painful, just annoying.

healthy breakfast. it was so yummy!

making ataya (green tea). i habitually don't drink it, but Gambians LOVE it!

sharing taco bell sauce sent in a care pkg with my friend brian. he lives about 7km from me.

this is how i brush my teeth every day. it's like a perpetual camping trip.

reading via candle light in my friend mark's hut.

it got up to about 140F.this is the day that birds, bats, and camilians fell out of trees dead b/c it was so hot. the elders of the village were saying they had never seen this before. think about globalwarming...

here is a link to a video i think you should watch. please do not comment on this video on my blog. thanks http://youtube.com/watch?v=jqFW124WYGc

a few more videos for your entertainment. they aren't high quality, but i figured you would enjoy regardless.

st patricks day pig

gambian dancing - alicia style

river travel

my neighbor pounding rice

st pattie's day bush pig

the river gambia, about 2km from my house

propper squatting technique

my best impression of a tourist

julbrew party, my two closests neighbors from my training group

neighbor kids

me and neighbor kid

playing games with neighbor kids

lots of cash; don't worry none of it was mine

a favorite outfit, purchased in country

shirt: 50 cents

pants: $3

swearing in, all the lovely ladies in my batch

public transport. this baby is NICE! and it only

took us 6 hours to go 250 km.

honey, straight from the hive

neem trees are invasive

front page news: PC is not CIA

... also on front page:

"hippo attacts rice field"

my nice clothes

dancing on st pats day. apparently there was a

female circumscission that happened the day before

and so these ladies were around to play drums for us

typical scenery

my dog dixie, she's cute

enjoying a day at the beach. beautiful weather!

fixin to go steal honey from some bees

healthy breakfast of soda and bread in front of

typical bitik (aka corner store)

building rabbit cages

did you know cashew seeds come with fruit

attached?? it's pretty good, but dries your mouth

out really bad

Hello all! Yesterday makes three months that I have been at by site. Things are progressing well. My rabbit project is still expanding rapidly; turns out rabbits will breed like rabbits. My garden is also still alive. It is now requiring a lot of water because the sun is becoming more and more intense. There is new FAO project in my area dealing with guinea foul that I am going to start getting involved with. I’m also hoping to get involved with the forestry department near my house and possibly start helping out at a few schools in my area. So I’ve got plenty to keep me occupied for a while.

Here’s a couple short stories about my happenings over the last month~

The garden of evil- the monkeys have been coming into my garden and stealing my sweet potatoes. So I decided to tie my dog in the garden to keep them away. This was a great idea until my dog had puppies and she decided to move them all into my house. So now the monkeys are back.

Water is in short supply right now because it hasn’t rained since October. The bees have decided to get water from my tap in the garden. They also decided they didn’t like me working in the garden. So I’ve been stung twice in two weeks.

Road hazards- the other day I decided to ride to a town 10km away to try and use the internet (which was a waste of time, b/c it didn’t work well. I got one email out in an hour) on my way I came across a pack of baboons. If you didn’t know, baboons are really big and scary. So I just kept riding towards them and they got out of the road and disappeared into the bush. It kind of makes you realize there are probably a lot of critters in the bush near by, but you can’t see them b/c they blend in so well.

I went to a weekly market. The market was really crowded and busy and I ran into some PCVs (peace corps volunteers) that I knew. I crossed the street in front of a van (which are called a gele-geles here). An other PCV followed me, walking her bike across with her. Once we reached the other side, she stopped to talk to someone she recognized. the gele-gele then ran over the back tire of her bike. no one was hurt and the bike was repaired, but now i know how close a driver is willing to get.

gele-gele rides- geles are 15 passanger vans that hold at least 28 people. this does not include babies on laps or young men hanging onto the outside or sitting on top of the van. you can put anything you want on top of a gele, as long as you are willing to pay the price. i've see couches to goats, from tires to huge jugs, bicycles to huge buckets filled with fish; everything is game. there is no air conditioner in them, and people don't like the wind and dirt blowing into the gele, so the windows are typically closed (partially cracked open if your lucky). anti-persperant is not a common thing for folks to use and it is well over 100 degrees already. the roads around me aren't too bad, but there are still a lot of pot holes and no shocks on the gele. i rode about 50km and it took about 3 hours. This includes all the stops along the way from imigration and security check points (about 5) and all the times we picked up or dropped folks off (about 20). when i got to my destination i got out of the car and it felt like someone had poored a bucket of water down my back b/c i was sweating so much.

well that's all i've got for now. missin ya'll as usual.

I've been in the Gambia for over four months now, the time sure is flying by. In my short time living in a developing nation, I've observed things i never before took the time to notice:

-I understand the cycles of the moon.

-i know where the stars are suppose to be in the sky when i sit down for dinner

-i use less than 10 gallons of water a day; this includes drinking, bathing, cooking, and doing dishes (on laundry day i use 15)

-i can tell you within about 10 minutes of when the sun will rise and when it will set

of course there are many more, but i can't think of them right now....so more to come at a later date.I have realized that I haven't told ya'll much about things here. It's amazing how fast human beings can adapt to their surroundings.

-When I wake up freezing in the morning, i look at my thermometer it reads “78*F”

-a fifteen passanger van should hold at LEAST 28 people. Not to mention there should be at least one goat or sheep tied to the top of the luggage rack. And forget about seatbelts, they don't exist. Also waiting for transport should take at least half an hour if not two hours.

-i have a fence around my yard, it's made of grass and sticks

-i have a dog, her name is dixie, (beacause of linguistic differences, most of my friends here say 'discie'). Dixie sits when commanded and this is a considered an amazing thing b/c training a dog is unheard of. So i just let her run around where she wants and it is totally socially acceptable.

-i'm not at all worried when i see a six year old carrying a machete

-i can only send one email in an hour if i want to use the internet. (i have a friend updating my blog for me b/c i cannot get the page to load)

-eating a sandwich wouldn't be as good if it didn't come wrapped in an old Dutch newspaper or covered in MSG. (one day, i had a sandwich wrapped in a target add...it was the highlight of my week)

-a greeting should take a minimum of 5 minutes (not an exaggeration)

-i constantly chase sheep, goats, and chickens from my porchonly one last thing before i go, i'm sure many of you are interested in contacting me. So here is my info:Alicia Macmanus, PCV

US Peace Corps

PO Box 582

Banjul, The Gambia

West Africamy cell number: 734-5225, the country code is 220it's free for me to receive calls, but really expensive to make them, so if you wanna call me, just get a calling card specific to west africa, i don't know where to get them, but i have been told they are available.And if you want to send me a package here are some things i would always love to get (any one or combo of these would be more than appreciated): starbucks coffee, gatorade mix, protein bars, beef jerkey, reading materials (books, magazines, newspaper clipping, sunday comics), chocolate (go to walmart on the february 15th and buy a bunch of on sale m&m's and such).Ok, time on the internet is up. Hope all is well in the US of A!

Howdy all! Life in Gambia is going well. Christmas and New Years have come and gone. I'm adjusting to my site pretty well. My boss gave me a dog named Dixie. She is about a year old and managed to go into heat the day I got her, so now there are puppies on the way. The rabbit program that was passed onto me from the previous volunteers is doing well. Out of three females, there have already been two litters born! I am hoping to have about 40 breeding stock by the end of 2008; I hope that is possible. I also have a pretty large garden in which I planted okra, lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, peppers, and sorrel (a flower used to make juice); I also plan on planting squash, cabbage, beans, Irish potatoes, and pumpkin. Hopefully I will have lots of veggies in a few months time.Language is coming along “slowly slowly” as they say here. But I am learning a little everyday. I have good days and bad days. Hopefully in time i will be fluent.Well, i better run, my time on the net is up.Love and miss you all!

Yesterday, at the US Ambassador’s house, I and twenty-three other agro-forestry trainees were officially sworn in as Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) of the Gambia. We had to raise our right hands and take an oath and everything! We celebrated by hanging out at the beach for most of the day and in the evening we had a party at the PCV hostel with current PCVs who came into town just for the occasion. We spent most of today shopping for items to take with us to our sites. I purchased staple food items, a trunk, a propane tank and cook top, and quite a few miscellaneous items. Let’s just say I managed to spend every last cent of my ‘move-in-allowance.’

Tomorrow I will move to my permanent site. We will leave at 8am, but I probably won’t arrive at home until after 5pm. I super excited to finally get settled in and not have to live out of suitcases and trunks. I am also looking forward to getting to know the member of my community, practicing language, and learning more about the Gambian way of life. In three months, we will have an In-service training (IST). By then, I hope I will be able to better understand how to implement the skills I will be taught because I better understand the situation and circumstances of my community and the people there.

Even though I have only been here for two and a half months, I feel like I have learned so much. I am being forced to think about things I used to have the luxury of ignoring. I am getting to interact with people (Gambian and American) that I would otherwise never have had the opportunity of meeting.

Well, I it's getting late and i have lot to do. I probably won't have access to the internet for a long while. But when I do, I will be sure to write an update.

hope everyone has a MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

i got a cell phone here. just email me to get the number or you can call my old cell phone number, the voice mail gives my parents phone number. call them to get my new number and tell you about calling cards; they call also tell you about mailing packages if you are interested. speaking of mailing stuff, i love getting letters, they are cheap for you and way exciting for me...no pressure :-)

Well, I've been in Africa for two months now. I like it here; things are different than what I was used to in the States, but I still like it. Right now I am still in the training portion of my service. There are 23 other agricultural-forestry (agfo) trainees; our group is really great.

For the last month and a half, I have been living with a host family. There were two other trainees in my village. The village is about 150km up country (away from the coast) and there are 36 compounds. A compound can hanve anywhere from 5 to 45 people in it, sometimes even more. Luckily mine only had six, including myself. Another trainee in my village (who happens to be a fellow Aggie - WHOOP! what are the odds?!?) had 23 people in her compound. The people of the village were very kind to us. And very patient when we experimented with language. They never ceased to laugh at us and our mistakes, which are typically quite comical. Language has been difficult, but the lightbulb has finally come on. As my Learning Coach said, "learning a language is like putting together a puzzle. it gets easier the more pieces you put down." I am learning Mandinka right now, but will soon start on a second language of Pullar (spoken by the Fula people). I am excited about the prospects of being at least conversational in both. I've decided the submersion technique of language learning is deffinately effective, I have to speak the local language in order to communicate. If i don't, then I just stay quiet all the time, and well, that just doesn't work for me :-)

We have also been learning aobut our job as an agfo volunteer. Basically we are trying to incorporate reforestation into farming practices. As many West African Nations, the Gambia is on it's way to becoming a desert. But (in theory) if we can educate and encourage others to be environmentally conscious, we can keep the gambia from the fate of places like Mauritania (which is now mostly sand dunes). Let's just say we have out work cut out for us.I specifically will be working with a regional livestock director at a live stock camp.

One big project that I will be taking over from previous volunteers at my site is a meat rabbit project. I will also be helping try to increase dairy production during the "hungry season" (before the rains come, until harvest time, people don't have enough to eat or money to buy food, so every one is hungry). This project promises to be a challenge, if people don't have money for their own food, they most likely cannot suppliment livestock diets. I am also planning on getting a donkey to give demonstrations on proper care and treatment of horses and donkeys. I will also be working with the women's poultry assosiation.

We will not be going back to training villages, but will be staying in the Kombo (close to the shore, the Banjul metroplex if you will) and going on field trips until after swearing in as official volunteers two weeks from now. Then we will go to our sites and stay there for two years.Yesterday we had Thanksgiving dinner at the US Ambassidor's house. It was nice by American standards, but completely overwhelming coming from training village where I don't have running water or electricty.

To express all I've seen and learned thus far in my short time in the Gambia would take a hundred pages, but i will try to limit my thoughts here.

-running water is nice, but over rated. electricity, however, is not-bathing under teh stars on a clear night wre electricity does not exist is a spiritual experience.

-knowledge and education are worth more than silver and gold

-ignorance really is bliss. the less you know, the less you want.

-a cold soda is worth the 5km bike ride

-child labor is actually pretty efficient (even a three year old can swing a machettie)

-i sometimes feel like a celebrity being chased by the poporatsie when little kids chase my down the street yelling tubaab (pronounced two-bob)

and that's all i got for now. love you all and miss you much.