Saturday, January 30, 2010
Get Excited to Visit Marnie!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
WrestleMania 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
Making a Duck Pond
It seems that my feathered friends are not ducks. They are geese. (Do geese see God? One may ask.)
According to the Gambia bird book, and other knowledgeable sources, the ducks are really geese. Nevertheless, they are tasty and like water.
Ever since I brought my three duck/geese (Henceforth referred to as ducks, or burro in Mandinka, even though yes, they are geese.) back to Hella Kunda they have been sadly with out a place to ‘take bath.’ I finally bought 2 bags of cement to make a duck pond with, and Chinese and I constructed a very fine pond for the ducks.
From tracing the pattern to actually digging out the pool and laying the concrete, I think it expanded about 3 or 4 inches on all sides from the original shape. It ended up about 1.2 m² and 1 foot deep.
Let me just tell you, that is a big pond when you are filling it bucket by bucket from a pump 3 compounds over.
I contracted an army of small boys, aka the Peace Corps Football team to fill the pond for a 100 dalasi contribution to their fund. (Peace Corps is the name chosen by the boys because I am helping sponsor the team. The boys all contribute 5 dalasis a week, and I match the funds once a month. They’ve been through 1 football so far, and bought another one with the funds they raised. Next they want to buy football jerseys with numbers. I’m trying to help them fundraise for that.) They boys hauled approx. 600 liters of water to fill the pond. It’s actually almost a swimming pool.
And the ducks really like it. Chinese and I also built a fence around it to keep various donkeys and goats from drinking from it. We also wanted to contain the ducks, but they don’t stay w/in the fence.
Right now there are 9 ducks, but I want to eat some soon…
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Bednet Update
The Against Malaria Bednet Campaign has been a huge success! Some of the nets have been distributed, and the rest are awaiting transport from Senegal. I plan on attending some of the distributions and educational programs, so I’ll keep you updated on what happens! Once again, thank you so much for all the support!
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Thank You!
I have to say thank you thank you thank you to everyone who has sent me letters and packages over the last few months! You are amazing and make my life so much better! It’s fun to share the things with my family and friends! Especially Oreo Thursday! And I’m going to have a BLT Day in Basse for Peace Corps Volunteers with the bacon that was sent! You enrich my life with your generosity and love! Thank you!
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Oh, The Gambia
Cars in America are wired to require the key in the ignition to run. Not so in the Gambia! I was in a gelly when I looked up and noticed there was no key in the ignition, but we were driving down the road…
I’ve seen seplast drivers (I believe this is the correct term) hotwire their cars to start them on numerous occasions.
Most recently, I was in a car heading to Kombo. At a police checkpoint the driver had to show his documents (registration etc.). He used his key to unlock the glove compartment and retrieved the documents. After he returned them to the glove box and locked it we started to drive away. As we pulled out, he returned the key to the ignition. The car never turned off, and was wholly unaffected by the removal of the key.