My List of Delicious Things I Want To Eat In America

In no particular order:
bagels & cream cheese, English muffins, sharp cheddar, lox, miso soup, sushi, tofu, sliced bread, veggie sandwich with sliced bread, brie, blue cheese, cheddar cheese, apples, orange oranges, cherries, strawberries, wine, blueberries, cranberries, turkey, hamburger, beer, grilled veggies, trout, fennel, lettuces, angel food cake, salads, leeks, pot roast, baked potato's, McDonald's fries, Mexican- burritos, tacos, nachos, salsa, chips, guacamole, green chili,  milkshake, blizzard, Mexican pizza, red chili, pancakes, BLT on sliced bread, chicken soup, biscuits & gravy, grilled cheese & tomato soup, french toast, cream of mushroom soup, banana split, ice cream with chocolate syrup, poppers, cold milk, turkey sandwich, PBJ, ants on a log, Iced tea, quiche, pie, mashed potatoes, potato skins, sandwiches with pita, criossantwich, sweet potatoes, potato salad, Brussels sprouts, casseroles, corn dog, hot dog, turkey leg, steak, pork chops, fresh pasta, s'mores, chocolate cake, cookies, cobbler, fruit breads, cheesecake, grits, Denver omelet, breakfast burrito.

This is the list I created while observing daydreaming in the Nursery school class at Kanubeh. If anyone wants to cook these things for me, or take me to a restaurant that serves these things, please feel free and consider it your patriotic duty to re-integrate me into American culture.

Futility continued, or not?

You should have read the previous post to get the most out of this one, and maybe I'll be able to add pictures when the internet isn't circa 1997.
Our story pics back up yesterday, Sunday, September 26th. 
The whole forestry committee was supposed to show up to plant and fence some 50-ish trees, one person, one tree, one fence.  Communication being the challenge that it is, there was also a school-garden-fence-building project planned for the same day, and wouldn't you know it, many of the committee members had to do that instead.
But we bravely forged on, planting and fencing 6 cashew seedlings in just less than 2 hours. 
Each person was free to choose their method of fencing, and so we have six different fences around the trees. (Pictures would be included here.)
In the end, it wasn't the volume of tree planting I'd hoped for, but it was community driven, and so that's what will hopefully make it stick.
I told another man (shamelessly) that I'd give him 10 seedlings if he got 10 people to plant seedlings. I also need to get rid of these trees.
To me, they're not worth planting if they will just be neglected and die- Mom and I worked hard to fill the bags with soil and plant the trees. The sun shone and the rains fell, not to mention I bought the nuts, and the little cashews started to grow. I kept them from goats and small boys until now, and with just a little bit of effort, in 3-4 years they will be bearing fruit.  That's the reason for making the committee fence the trees as a condition for getting them.  They've invested time and effort into planting the trees, not just the 5 min it takes to dig a hole and throw the seedling in. (And honestly, 2 hours is not that much time- really. Especially in the life of  a tree.)
So that's what's going on in ole HK these days.  I'll try and fill in some stories from the last few months here and there. Keep checking the blog, and thanks for all the support!

the futility of life

Not really, but the futility of posting pictures today has stymied the blogs inside me begging to be posted.
I have so many pictures to share! Internet, why must you be so slow?
Sure, this is a third world country, but you're striving to be better, to pick yourselves up, to build roads, to have electricity on a regular daily basis. And to load pictures of humble cashew plants onto the internet for the masses  few people in America that my mom makes read my blog see.
So unfortunatly (wow Gambian english, going to need to stop that in 4 months) I spent the whole afternoon trying to load 2 pictures, and not typing.
The abbreviated version of my life lately:
Last Sunday, the 20th, the Forestry Committee planted over 600 Gmelina (pronounced melina) stumps (which should grow into trees) in the Hella Kunda Community Forest.
Yeah! This is great- I didn't have a thing to do with the planning or execution, I just supported.  I see that as the gauge of effectiveness as a Volunteer- Is the community able to get things done without you? Will they be able to do so when you leave? In this situation, YES. I really just wanted to be positive reinforcement and gentle guidence, the community was the driving force behind the planting.
The committe decided to plant the cashew seedlings Mom and I started in June. At first I was going to sell them, with the proceeds going back to the committee or the community somehow, but I decided to give them away provided that they were individually fenced for protection from goats and other pests. 
The Forestry Committee decided to use the cashew seedlings as a border for one side of the village, with each member required to plant and fence one tree.  They decided to meet the next Sunday, the 27th, to do the work.

Video From The Queen of Companies 2010 Pageant

Clervi's Pageant Footage
Check this out. I still can't believe that I was a part of it and now I'm heading back to my mud hut. The Gambia is transitioning into the modern world in interesting ways.  Thoughts?

My Life this April

(Sorry no pics this time...)
Wednesday March 31: Rise at 5am, travel to Barra with Amadou in his gelly-van. Highlight: Farrafenni Chicken Sandwich!

2nd Highlight: Getting into Kombo with the whole afternoon.

Thursday April 1: Lesson plans, beach, Frisbee. Prepping Bokashi compost juices- yum!

Highlight: Dancing at the Kora. Pool (Billiards), Chillin with friends, meeting various new friends. Roll into bed somewhat late/early in the am…

Friday April 2: Visit Gambia is Good farmyard with Adrian. Spend a great day at the garden getting ready for IST.

Bummer: Got in a car crash on the way back/our gelly rear-ended the one in front of us. No damage, the drivers quickly checked, yelled and then drove on. Early bedtime!

Saturday April 3: Happy Birthday Jonathan! Lesson plans all day. NCAA Basketball Tournament at night! Woot! Start time: 11:00 pm. End time: 4:00 am? Early.

Lowlight: Lost the tournament pool very badly, and lost a bet to Scott… goodbye 300 dalasis.

Highlight: Basketball! In the Gambia! And beer.

Sunday April 4: Church at Bakau Methodist Church. The church is on the ocean at a beautiful site. It was full and there was an incredible drama presenting the easter story. 11 PCVs attended church. Lowlight: the longest sermon ever- church was 3 hours long. I think I’m about churched out for a few months… Highlight: He is Risen!

Also: lesson plans, Julbrew Party at Fransiscos. Won a sweet Vimto soccerball for the Hella Kunda boys team! Shenanigans ensued… Yet another early morning…

Monday April 5: More lesson planning and preparation for IST. Friends coming in for IST. VSN meeting with Co-Coordinator Leah. Serrakunda Market for sweet jeans and fukajai (aka dead white people clothes) with Adrian.

Tuesday April 6: First Day of IST! Rise and shine with the Ashley Wake-up call!- Sweet morning tunes and a kind good morning notification. Breakfast at Fransisco’s, Sifoe for beekeeping. Highlight: Co-Officer of Fun with Adrian. Crunchy rice for lunch special. Cashew fruits (Stripes and Bjorn). Early to bed.

Wednesday April 7: Another awesome wake up call by Ashley. Bee- Themed day at Sifoe. Using my mad creative skillz I constructed a smoker suit with an emergency blanket. It was quite a hit. Taught a session, made friends with the Sifoe crowd.

Highlight: Great run down Bakau Road! So needed in my life at that point. Early to bed again.

Thursday April 8: Ashley Wake up call. Sweet tunes. IST at Wellingara. Great sessions, some VSN work, seed exchange, Adam Njie. Dinner at Bamboo Garden- Chinese food, yum! Casey claims to be my musical soulmate. Sweet.

Friday April 9: Ashley Wake-up call. Awesome tune-age. IST at Wellingara. PLASA tree planting. General Rocking at life. Dinner at the always tasty Bakau Guest House. I had a delicious ladyfish filet.

Saturday April 10: Ashley Wake-up call. Music for the soul. GiG garden day! My big day with gardening/composting sessions in the am and Integrated Pest Management in the afternoon. I think they went well. Then off to Safari Garden for some Pool Time! Then some Dinner Time! And the night was just getting started! On to Churchills for the ancient art of karaoke! We sang ALL the songs. All of them. There were none left to sing. Made friends with the DJ. On to Kora for some dancing and general rollicking good times. And other stories. I may have gotten home late.

Sunday April 11: The Ashley Wake-up call was somewhat late, and the tunes were usurped by another Ipod. Oh dear. But we carried on and made it to IST at the empty stodge house. Paperwork, catching up, coffee and dark sunglasses all morning. Also, co-officers of fun gave the best trivia game ever for Fabulous Prizes! Seriously- a KTB hive and a solar cooker! What’s not to love? Then the afternoon: Sandplover beach! Woot! Lazy on the beautiful beach. After dinner an elite group of fun havers journeyed to Mamba for delicious cocktails and beers. And then to WOW for dancing. Early am…

Monday April 12: Day off, but there is still work to be done! Banjul and the Forestry Dept with my tooma. Julia (aka we are both Adama!) That was fun. Then what… probably nothing, just catching up on work. Making certificates for the IST venues as thank-you’s. Early to bed/fell asleep on a chair.

Tuesday April 13: Getting ready for all vol, I must have done something on Tuesday… A Ha! Serrakunda Market! That’s right. With Kasey. Found some sweet purple stilettos and bought them. Looked for asobe, but alas, none to be found. Got a great Gambia t-shirt instead. At night, Kora for pool with Kasey and Leah, Ricky and the boys. Other activities followed. Home rather late…

Wednesday April 14: Ashley Wake up call! This time to everyone, and at 6:30 am! Oh PC, we do love you so much sometimes… Off to the Sheraton for the All-Volunteer Meeting. In a conference room with no A/C for the am… lame. But, we had infinity pool in the afternoon. And lunch buffet. JulBrew Party at Francisco’s in the evening. Yours truly announced the contests and was generally hilarious. Note to all: You MAY NOT wear a horizontally striped shirt, and vertically striped pants and expect me to take you seriously. I don’t care how much money you make. Or who your friends are. Not gonna happen. Unless you’re blind, then we can talk.

Highlight: I am an awesome beer drinking contest MC.

Thursday April 15: Ashley Wake-up. All vol day 2. Early back from the Sheraton for Open Mic Night! Awesome performances by everyone! YaYa did an amazing poem, URR represented and fun was had. Adrian can sing, Brendan played the Kora and translated ‘Lean on Me’ into Mandinka! Rock On! Then we went to WOW! And danced all the dances.

Friday April 16: Last Ashley Wake-Up. Excellent Jamz as per usual. At All Vol Ambassador Barry Wells gave an excellent speech. We had some meetings and talkings, and then lounged by the beach during peer counseling sessions. A great end to all vol. Worked on my tan. Went to bed at a reasonable hour.

Saturday April 17: Sleep in! Worked on the newsletter with Adrian. Sat Night: Dress up as if for prom. Marnie’s friend Williams produced a beauty pageant, and in a gross oversight/boon asked Marnie and three of her friends to be judges. Me, Kasey, Marnie and Zach were 4 of the 6 judges at this high profile, cooperate-sponsored event.

We pre-gamed a little at Kora, and then walked over to the Jerma Beach Hotel where the pageant was held. Let me tell you people, this was the real deal. Folks were dressed up. Fancy. Like real fancy. We strolled in (pretty much the only white people!) and tried to convince the doormen that we were in fact the judges. They were not convinced, but we found Williams who confirmed that yes, he did get four scrubby PCV’s to judge. The pageant was a contest between 11 women representing the companies they worked for. Rounds included: Traditional African Dress, Casual wear, company presentation, talent (aka lip synching to a pop song) evening wear, question and answer. In between each round there was a ‘rap’ performance, or a ‘hip-hop’ group, and even a strange, very strange comedy routine.

The event was supposed to start at 8pm. It started at 12am. Then it went until 5:30. We got home at morning prayer call and finally fell into bed at 6 am.

Oh, and I was the Head Judge, since I volunteered. So when it came time, I added up all the scores with Marnie, and went up on stage to announce the winners. I’m just like Ryan Seacrest! The Queen of Africell won. Woot.

Clervi shot some video on his phone- check it out and you will see what I have no hope of explaining. http://apeironian.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=84469

Sunday April 18: Slept for a few hours and worked on the newsletter. Early to bed.

Monday April 19: Finish newsletter. Get surprise news that there will be a VSN meeting with OSS aka Peace Corps Washington. Spend the afternoon trying to make the meeting organized and focused. The meeting went well, and we should have a VSN training sometime this summer. Dinner with Clervi and Chris Chapman at the Thai restaurant in Senegambia. Enjoyed a few beers and met up w/ Ricky and Co for a few minutes. Bed.

Tuesday April 20: Today! My friends left today and I miss them. But I’m heading to site tomorrow. Wrote this fine piece of Literature for your reading pleasure. And as usual have about 12 other things still to do. They will wait for the next trip to Kombo. I’m going back to Hella Kunda.

Traveling is always an adventure. Here is a fun example.

Clervi, Tavi and I caught a set plus to Kombo. We were the last 3 passengers, so we got the very back seat. (We had already stayed up very late the night before, having a lot of fun, and it was very early.)

Immediately, one of the other passengers made friends with Clervi, and gave him a new name. Clervi was now Pateh, the same as his new friend (interesting coincidence?).

We could tell this would be a good trip. After waiting 2 hours for the Janjanbureh ferry (the one we have to pull ourselves across on) we continued down the North Bank Highway and Pateh (the Gambian) wanted to get to know us.

‘Where are you from Pateh (Clervi)?

‘I’m from Texas.’

‘Oh, Texas, that’s a nice place. What about you?’

‘I’m from Colorado.’

‘North Carolina?’

‘No, Co-lo-ra-do.’

‘Oh, Carolina. Very good.’

(sigh) ‘Yes, Carolina.’

‘And you?’

‘New York.’ (Tavi is really from Vermont, but she wisely decided that NY was close enough.)

‘Ah, the capital city!’

‘Uh, yeah, the capital city.’

‘And where are you from in the Gambia?’

‘I live in Kombo.’

Now Pateh was really excited- ‘Oh, a Capital Woman! You are from both capitals!’

Yes, Tavi is from both capitals. The capital of America and the Gambia.

Pateh was a good pal to have, better than someone being rude. And really, I bet a lot of Americans think New York is the capital of the US. And Colorado and Carolina sound really similar. There is a substantial population of Gambians in NC. So it really makes sense.

Sadly our relationship ended when we saw a Peace Corps car on the road in front of us. We called to find out who it was and Peter stopped to pick us up from the set plus. Free ride to the ferry! Woot. (Only 10 more miles…)

And that was my latest journey to Kombo.

The thing about living in a mud hut is...

I actually live in a termite mound that is shaped like a hut.
I finally got the insecticide from the damage done to my house discovered around October (see October blogs) and we are going to plaster the hut with cement. (Something that should have been done in the first place and would have prevented this whole mess.)
Before putting on the cement plaster I had to remove the mud plaster.
That’s when I discovered the termite holes.
The first one I jokingly referred to as a new window. They got subsequently less funny after that. It was very demoralizing to see what poor conditions I live in, and to realize how powerless I am against nature.
As I removed mud plaster, Jamboye started on the cement plaster. He did a good sized section that day, and I think it will make a big difference to the house. I know I’ll feel a lot better when the work is done.
Unfortunately I had to travel into the city while they’re doing most of the work, so inevitably something will go wrong. Maybe the cement will get stolen, maybe they’ll decide not to finish the work, or plaster over the mud plaster instead of remove it first, or my house will get broken into and all my things will disappear. BUT, I hope none of those things will happen and instead I will return to a correctly plastered house and we can continue the work on the inside, kill the termites and fix my roof before the rains so I don’t start living in a swamp instead of a termite mound.

Hippo Watch 2010

Sunny invited Tara and me down to her site to look at hippos on the river.

We hung out by the river side all morning, and finally! One hippo came cruising down the river. We saw it surface and then go back under.

We scrambled for our cameras and waited for it to come up again. I didn’t get any sweet pics of the hippo because I only saw its ears and nose as it came up for air. The second time it came up it was way past us. It was going at a pretty fast clip! So I have now seen a wild hippo. Hippo Watch 2010 was a great success. Thanks Sunny!

We also saw our couterpart, Lamin, on his fishing boat.

And we saw Commerce On The River Gambia.

A tugboat came by towing (count ‘em) 12 barges of groundnuts! 12! From Basse to Banjul!

It was an amazing sight. When the tugboat went by we all made the international ‘toot your horn’ sign and even got some old women passing by to join in.

We were all thrilled when they obliged.

Henna!

Tara and I got traditional henna done on our feet and hands. Tara wanted it for her trip home to America. The henna is applied like cake frosting- squeezed from a bag. Fatou, the woman who did it made up the designs as she went. You wait about 20 min for the henna to dry and then wash off the excess, leaving the cool designs. It can last for a week to 10 days. Women also do solid black henna on their feet, or make negative space designs with tape.

The process leading up to the henna was a bit comical. Tara and I showed up in a compound her host family told us about. We greeted and looked around for the henna lady. She said she would do the henna, but needed to feed the kids’ breakfast and get the materials. While we waited for her we sat in their house. They have a satellite and French news was on. So we sat while women ate breakfast and watched French news. Then Tara drank Nescafe made with tea. The coffee tea mixture was interesting. Finally Fatou was ready and we did the henna and left.

Denano Part 2

The next day Chinese returned (we notified him that he had a new baby) and a parade of well-wishers came in to greet the newest addition to the Keita family. Mom and baby were fine, resting in the house.

It is Islamic custom to wait 7 days to name the baby. Until then it is called ‘baby girl’ (or baby boy if it’s a boy…). The mother should also do no work for those seven days. She should take the time to rest and be with the baby.

Because I am a stranger (guest) in the compound, Chinese ‘gave’ the baby to be, and the honor of giving her a name. (This an area of culturally treading lightly- walking the line between my culture and theirs, trying to honor their traditions fully without making promises I can’t keep or taking on responsibility I’m not capable of taking on.)

With help from Peace Corps Language and Culture Facilitator Adam (my tooma or namesake) I suggested to Chinese the name Asi. It’s like my name (Ashley) but it’s a Gambian name and Gambians can say it correctly (unlike my name…).

 

What does Chinese say? ‘Oh, Asi is good. You know, Asi and Sira are the same, and Sira is the name of my sister and of Fatou’s uncles wife. Sira is a good name.’ So the baby’s name is Sira. And I think all sides of the family are fine with it. But people still say the baby is my tooma (namesake).

The week after she was born, Sira was named in a ceremony called naambo. The elders came early in the morning and prayed over the baby, blessing her. Then the griot proclaimed her name and more prayers were said. It was the first time since the hospital that she left the house. The women put her on Fatou’s back for the first time.

The whole experience was crazy and overwhelming. It was certainly unexpected, but that’s par for the course here. So far, mom and baby are doing well. Fatou is back to work, but her sister came to stay with us for a while and help out around the compound with cooking and the labor.

Denano Part 1

After spending all day in Kanubeh in the Longest School Committee Meeting Ever where we created a teacher attendance policy among other lengthy processes, I caught a gelly back to HK feeling tired, but happy with the days accomplishments. It was early evening by the time I got home, and I accepted an invitation to attend an engagement party for my friend later that night.


Little did I know, I would never make it to the party (foreshadowing…).

In Keita Kunda it was business as usual, Chinese was away attending a funeral for a few days, and the kids were being rowdy.

Fatou cornered me and asked me if we could call her mom, so we trekked to up the hill. We didn’t reach her mom, and as we returned Fatou said her stomach had been hurting since 11:00 am that day, and she was worried.

I didn’t think too much of it- I figured we could head to the hospital in the morning if it didn’t get any better. I had estimated Fatous due date around late april or early may, so I was a little concerned about false labor, but since Fatou was up and about I didn’t get really worried.

After dinner I put on my nice complet to go to the party, but again Fatou asked me to make a call. This time I called Chinese because something was definitely not right. I told him we were going to the hospital in the morning if she wasn’t better.

By the time I got back from making the call, a neighbor woman had come by. Fatou had to go to the hospital in Basse. Now.

This was turning into a serious deal. We went out to find a car to take her, and picked up the Traditional Birthing Attendant (TBA) on the way.

Around 9:00 we put Fatou in the back of the car (a blue 4 door of unknown make/model) flanked by me and the TBA, the driver and some guy (along for the ride/as a friend for the driver?)

We started off, Basse was 20 k away (12 miles). Fatou was not doing well, and clearly in a lot of pain. She grabbed my shoulder and was moaning and groaning. I was of little use, just taking up space in the car, really. About 3 k down the road we stopped and put a piece of plastic on the back seat to sit on. Apparently this could get messy.

It did quickly. As we continued, the situation escalated quickly. There was pain, and groaning, and then a whoosh, with fluid, and more fluid, and then,

WAH!

OhMiGoshThere’sABabyInTheCar!

So we pulled over.

And Fatou gave birth on the side of the road, 6 k out of HK, at around 9:30 pm.

We got her and the baby situated and continued to Basse, stopping on the way to the hospital to get gas. (We weren’t in much of a haste now.)

The hospital was a terrible, terrible place. To say I was disappointed and appalled would be an understatement. We were hassled at the gate by the watchmen who didn’t want to allow us to drive in. (Hello, we have a woman in the process of giving birth here!)

We pull up to the clinic door and help Fatou walk in.

The nurses at the nursing station give us balnk looks. ‘Saalaam a leekum’

They return a lackluster ‘Maaleekum saalaam’ and that’s it.

I walked up to the window, ‘Hi, my host just gave birth.’ (As if they couldn’t see that.)

Finally they responded with some life and asked if she had birthed the placenta.

(Answer: no.)

The TBA (who was great through this whole process and very capable and kind) brought Fatou to the back to a birthing table (?) covered in dust of course…

One of the nurses (Nurse 1) threw what looked to me like a tarp over the table and essentially told Fatou to hop up. No offer of assistance whatsoever. (Fatou being the amazing woman that she is was able to get up.)

Then, this is probably my favorite part of the Terrible Hospital Experience, the nurses told me to go buy soap and a razor blade from the shop around the corner. We had to buy our own razor blade to cut the umbilical cord. And our own soap for Fatou to wash. From the shop around the corner that also sells bread and cigarettes.

I was furious, but apparently this is standard procedure.

We got all the ‘medical supplies’ and the nurse cut the cord and weighed the baby: 3.1 kg or 6.2 lbs, girl, apgar score 9/10.

And then we left.

We stopped by a street vendor stall and bought a bunch of meat for Fatou (iron replacement and protein) and were back in Hella Kunda by 10:30.

Wait a minute, I've done this before!

I keep doing Work. It’s amazing! The Monday we got back from trek, the URR Forestry Dept. had a QUARTERLY PLANNING MEETING!! (I hate all caps, but this was amazing and I’m so excited about it that I had to emphasize it.)

The Regional Forestry Head (RFH) is new in Basse, and wants to work on Community Forests and the other forestry directives.  The URR also got about 8 brand new forest scouts out of the forestry school.  These guys are young and excited about being foresters. 

Monday morning the RFH just decided to have a planning meeting. The quarter was already half over, but better late from never.  With the two area heads (Kemo and Sisawo) we reviewed the Community Forest procedures.  Each of the scouts made a plan for their area and presented it to the group.  It was great!

I think this is a great opportunity to guide the URR Forestry department through the implementation of the national forestry plan.  The plan is large and can be complex. It’s very difficult to take sweeping directives and turn them into day-to-day actions.  We’ll be taking the big picture ideas in the quarterly plans, and breaking it down by months and weeks into specific tasks to complete. 

I’m really excited because there is so much potential for the URR Forestry Department to be the best department in The Gambia.

Up Country Trekking

The whole time I’ve been here there’s been a rumor of  a forestry worker in the town 3k from me. 

I finally met that man when Chinese and I sold Fatou’s groundnuts in December.  Kemo Kinteh is the community forester in Bakadaji.  He’s been working in the area for the last three years, but we’ve never crossed paths.

When my schedule cleared up in February I got the opportunity to go on trek with a team from Forestry doing the national forestry assessment. The inventory is a legitimate study, with quantifiable results and gathers useful information about the natural resources and the human interactions of the country. The inventory team is made up of experienced foresters and natural resource specialists, and a driver; 5 men in all, including Kemo.  (and a few other foresters we picked up on the way)

It was a great experience. I got to visit the extreme east end of the country- Fatoto and Wuli district, east of Basse. I had never been there before and we crisscrossed the Gambia (admittedly only 20 k or so wide…) staying in villages every night with different families.

Every village we went to was amazingly kind and generous. They loved that I can speak Mandinka. If I had had this experience a year ago it would have been overwhelming and not very fun, but now that I can speak with people and understand the culture somewhat, it was fun and only a little overwhelming.  I spent two nights in Ceesay Kunda with a 16 year old in a bed, and the mom and 4 kids on the floor. Nene, the 16 year old, braided my hair after we got back from the field.  The forestry guys loved my new style. 

We stayed in a Fula village with electricity that had never had a white person visit.  (Too bad I don’t speak Fula)

During the mornings we headed out to the bush were our pre-determined points. The National Forest Inventory set out survey plots every 9 km across the entire country. Using a GPS receiver we locate the points and conduct a series of surveys, including tree species along a tract and land use and land cover changes.  (Hooray! Science! Quantifiable data! Meaningful results!) We also conducted household surveys within a 1km radius of the plot center.

We spent an entire afternoon trying to figure out if one of the plots was in Senegal or The Gambia. Turns out it was almost entirely in Senegal.

We picked up my friend Julia in Fatoto and she came on trek with us for a few days.

The team completed 5 plots over about 7 days and returned to Basse to complete paperwork and tie up lose ends.   

Which leads into the next story…

BLT's In Basse! What, What!!

For a VSN (Volunteer Support Network) Event I hosted BLT’s in Basse on Feb 13th.

How did I get bacon in a very muslim country you ask!?

Tex and Chief came through for me with 2 packages of precooked delicious bacon.

Tomatoes and salad are locally available. There was even avocado! WOW! What a day.

We met up and ate BLT’s and were happy as clams.

Learning People How To Do Skillz

PCV Travis lives in Sare Sofi, a Fula village about 40 k from me in the CRR. His village people expressed interest in beekeeping, so he asked me to come teach some men how to weave grass hives.

I biked over in the morning and met with his main counterpart. PCV Amber came over to help and provide some moral support.

We had 5 men come for the training and all of them managed to weave a sizable portion of hive by the end of the day.

It was fun to do Work, and my language skills are high enough that I could explain what to do, with only a few clarifications in English with the help of a man translating.

The men were all very motivated to make hives and keep bees. They promised to finish the hives and asked if I would come back to help them hang the hives in the bush.

Get Excited to Visit Marnie!

For months Pabby has been asking to go visit PCV Marnie (Mahana) at her site in Bantanto.  Every time I come back from being gone or using my mobile, Pabby askes where Mahana is, and if she’s ok and when he’ll see her next.  They are clearly besties. Pabby is only three, but he’s my little buddy and Marnie and I thought it would be a great adventure to bring Pabby to her site for one night. Chinese and Fatou were agreeable, so we set a date.

We packed up and waited by the road for a car.

A man who works for a major road construction company picked us up.  We had a great time talking. He was from the UK and has spent several decades working around the world on construction projects (Hooray multicultural interaction!). Pabby fell asleep in the car for the hour ride.

Bill (the Brit) dropped us in Bantanto and Marnie was there to ecstatically greet us.  We got some juice and headed for the compound.

Soon after arrival things started to go downhill.

Pabby was not overjoyed to see Marnie. Instead, he wanted to go home. Oh brother.  We tried to put him down for a nap, but as soon as we left the hut, he made a beeline for the road.  A small girl came in and was like ‘That boy just left.’

‘What! Where?’

‘Down the road.’

Shoot. ‘Pabby! Come back! Where are you going!?’

Then he started to cry.

Marnie’s host brother tried to play with him and amuse him, but nothing worked. Pabby wanted to go home.  

He finally took a nap, but after he woke up and ate some lunch he started crying again.

Marnie and I decided that this was not fun, so I took him home.  The second I said ‘ok, we’re going home’ Pabby was fine.

I dropped him off at home and went back to Marnies.

We decided that’s the last time we trust a 3 year old. 

WrestleMania 2010

Here’s the story- villages hold tournaments for 3-5 consecutive nights. On the first night all the wrestlers arrive and there’s lots of drumming and wrestling, starting around midnight and it lasts until 3 or 4. It’s neat when you would rather sleep that watch, but whatever.

The second night (the night I attended) started around 6 pm, when it was starting to get dark (hence the low light pics…). We (Chinese and I) walked to Sare Sonkule with the hundreds of other people headed to the festivities. There were many, many teenage girls there to check out the strapping young wrestlers. Carloads, bike loads and donkey cart loads of people streamed passed us, eager to see the entire match.

The wrestling pit/arena/field is a giant dirt field. The wrestlers and drummers stand in the middle, with the various hangers on bustling about. The men do various kicks and jogs and stretches to warm up before a match. The uniform seems to be a variation of spandex (leotard, womens swimming suit, etc.) in the gaudiest pattern possible, (with or without shirt), spandex shorts and a strange skirt/apron thing made from local fabric that is adorned with tassels and puff balls. It ties in the front but is open, so it’s not really a skirt. Most of the men wrestled barefooted.

I didn’t really understand how the rules work, but 2 guys pair up, and wrestle until one wins. I’m not really sure how winning happens. I thought it was when one guy was pinned, but that didn’t really seem to be the case. Anyway, when a guy wins he takes a lap around the arena followed by a group of drummers. (There is constant drumming) He struts and dances and the people cheer as he goes by, and sometimes give him money or chewing gum.

This is repeated until somehow, someone is the ultimate champion for the night.

When it gets too dark to see, two bonfires are lit at either end of the field. It’s sweet to see the wrestlers silhouetted against the fire. (Pictures don’t turn out too well though) The wrestlers travel the country and Senegal going to different events for the two months of the season. As much fun as I had the first night, I decided not to go the second night.

Also: I posted a video on YouTube of the wrestling.