Been looking for ages in the newspapers here and also on the net to see if I could find some sort of news report about the Busy Signal concert that I went to. Nothing to be found!
In the end a friend of mine in Barbados said that he'd heard about the concert!!! So I decided to widen my research!! Found the following article (see link below). Apparently there were 50,000 people inside and 10,000 outside who couldn't get in!!!
And finally in response to some of the comments on my blog! - I think Busy is great - wonderful infact but don't get me wrong, Beenie Man is a legend!
http://rjrnewsonline.com/entertainment/busy-signal-performs-gambia
Thursday 23 December 2010
Tuesday 14 December 2010
Busy Signal Concert
On Saturday night I went to see a Jamaican artist called Busy Signal perform at the Independence Stadium at Bakau.
The crowd was huge and absolutely insane and the crowd-control (by the police and military) was like nothing I have ever experienced before.
That's all I'm prepared to say on my blog!!
Don't really know what I was thinking going to see a 'dancehall/ragga' artist in Africa!
Though I never actually made it home that night I had an awesome time and it was an incredible experience.
Busy is crazy but I think I’m in love with him!!!
The crowd was huge and absolutely insane and the crowd-control (by the police and military) was like nothing I have ever experienced before.
That's all I'm prepared to say on my blog!!
Don't really know what I was thinking going to see a 'dancehall/ragga' artist in Africa!
Though I never actually made it home that night I had an awesome time and it was an incredible experience.
Busy is crazy but I think I’m in love with him!!!
Monday 6 December 2010
The Rodent War Chronicles (part one)
I am beginning to accept that my dealings with rodents will be an on-going concern during my stay in The Gambia. Consequently, I felt it important to title my post in such a way that demonstrates that I have reconciled myself to this and acknowledge that there may be many more posts relating to rodent issues. The war chronicles have began, there will be victories and defeats on both sides and blood will be shed (hopefully not mine)!
Well being an optimistic person I thought that this was wonderful news and that Isatou had killed 'the' ñino jalo! I believed that there was very little for me to do now and I didn’t even bother setting a rat trap (though if truth be told I did keep looking at the plug hole every time I used the latrine area).
To my horror, the next morning when I woke up and went to the latrine there were large droppings littering the floor?!!Oh no! How could this be? Surely there was only one ñino jalo in the whole of The Gambia and Isatou killed it?!!
Reluctantly I had to accept the possibility that there might be more than one ñino jalo and though I’m sure Isatou killed the hideous beast that lived in my plughole (please please be true) there may be others around. So the trap was set.
Now the trap is a vicious little thing (actually it's quite big) and the metal bit that springs back to kill the rodent is so fast and strong (not to mention loud), I really believe that it could cut your fingers off, it would break your hand at the very least! Setting the trap was quite scary and when I put it on the floor in the latrine area I did so delicately and was anxious the whole time about the slightest vibration setting it off and giving me a heart attack.
Well a few days passed and the trap was empty and rather than admit that the location of the trap or the food source placed on it (a lump of meat covered in peanut sauce courtesy of Isatou) needed changing I was happy to believe that all the ñino jalos that lived in my vicinity were dead. That is until one morning when I got up and saw the trap upside down with the lump of meat close by!
At first I was too scared to turn the trap over, though it didn't look like anything was underneath it the thought of having my hands so close to a killer ñino jalo terrified me. I was brave though and realised that it had to be done - so I called Paul!!
The trap was turned over and it was rodent-less. There was however a tail!! I assumed that it was the tail of a rodent but Isatou (who seems to be thriving on my ñino jalo issues) inspected the tail and announced that it belonged to a lizard. I felt bad that I had trapped a lizard’s tail but I’m sure that their tails grow back?!!
I have to confess that it took me a couple of days to remove the tail from the trap - it was all a bit gross. After removing the tail I left the trap (not set) outside for a while and temporarily forgot my ñino jalo concerns (I don't think that I actually forgot it - I just put it to the back of my mind though I still made sure that the doors to the house were closed properly, even when popping in and out the house and I also inspected the latrine area before entering and did all my business in there with an eye on the plughole).
Ñino Jalo was becoming a distant memory, that is until the other day when Isatou ran into my house shrieking with excitement, 'Kaddy, Kaddy, ñino jalo, ñino jalo!' She came into my house, grabbed my hand and led me next door; through her house and out into her cooking and latrine area (which is literally separated from mine by a wall about 6ft high - at the bottom of which there is a hole big enough for a cat to get through). She pushed past the children who had gathered to see the spectacle and pointed eagerly to a bucket in the corner. 'Ñino Jalo' she said, 'ñino jalo'.
At first when I looked down at the bucket I couldn’t see anything but then after close examination I saw the nose of a rodent hiding behind the bucket (the rodent thought it was hiding but in fact it was trapped there by the blood-thirsty crowd). Apparently it had come from my latrine area through the hole at the bottom of the wall and into Isatou's latrine area. One of the boys from the compound was summoned. The boy broke a piece of wood in half and using the jagged edge he speared ñino jalo in the side. He then used the piece of wood to pull it out from behind the bucket and crushed its head with a large stone. Ñino Jalo's little leg shook for while and then stopped.
The killing of ñino jalo was a strange emotional experience for me. As I watched the make-shift spear plunge into ñino jalo's side and then the stone crushing down on its head, I was aware that I was witnessing something unpleasant HOWEVER I was also aware that another ñino jalo was being eradicated (possibly the one that lived in my latrine) and I couldn’t help but feel relieved and a little bit excited.
I took a photo of ñino jalo as it was being carried out the house so I thought that I'd share that joy with you all!! I think all the ñino jalos in The Gambia are dead now however I still set my rat trap that evening - just in case!!!
Well being an optimistic person I thought that this was wonderful news and that Isatou had killed 'the' ñino jalo! I believed that there was very little for me to do now and I didn’t even bother setting a rat trap (though if truth be told I did keep looking at the plug hole every time I used the latrine area).
To my horror, the next morning when I woke up and went to the latrine there were large droppings littering the floor?!!Oh no! How could this be? Surely there was only one ñino jalo in the whole of The Gambia and Isatou killed it?!!
Reluctantly I had to accept the possibility that there might be more than one ñino jalo and though I’m sure Isatou killed the hideous beast that lived in my plughole (please please be true) there may be others around. So the trap was set.
Now the trap is a vicious little thing (actually it's quite big) and the metal bit that springs back to kill the rodent is so fast and strong (not to mention loud), I really believe that it could cut your fingers off, it would break your hand at the very least! Setting the trap was quite scary and when I put it on the floor in the latrine area I did so delicately and was anxious the whole time about the slightest vibration setting it off and giving me a heart attack.
Well a few days passed and the trap was empty and rather than admit that the location of the trap or the food source placed on it (a lump of meat covered in peanut sauce courtesy of Isatou) needed changing I was happy to believe that all the ñino jalos that lived in my vicinity were dead. That is until one morning when I got up and saw the trap upside down with the lump of meat close by!
At first I was too scared to turn the trap over, though it didn't look like anything was underneath it the thought of having my hands so close to a killer ñino jalo terrified me. I was brave though and realised that it had to be done - so I called Paul!!
The trap was turned over and it was rodent-less. There was however a tail!! I assumed that it was the tail of a rodent but Isatou (who seems to be thriving on my ñino jalo issues) inspected the tail and announced that it belonged to a lizard. I felt bad that I had trapped a lizard’s tail but I’m sure that their tails grow back?!!
I have to confess that it took me a couple of days to remove the tail from the trap - it was all a bit gross. After removing the tail I left the trap (not set) outside for a while and temporarily forgot my ñino jalo concerns (I don't think that I actually forgot it - I just put it to the back of my mind though I still made sure that the doors to the house were closed properly, even when popping in and out the house and I also inspected the latrine area before entering and did all my business in there with an eye on the plughole).
Ñino Jalo was becoming a distant memory, that is until the other day when Isatou ran into my house shrieking with excitement, 'Kaddy, Kaddy, ñino jalo, ñino jalo!' She came into my house, grabbed my hand and led me next door; through her house and out into her cooking and latrine area (which is literally separated from mine by a wall about 6ft high - at the bottom of which there is a hole big enough for a cat to get through). She pushed past the children who had gathered to see the spectacle and pointed eagerly to a bucket in the corner. 'Ñino Jalo' she said, 'ñino jalo'.
At first when I looked down at the bucket I couldn’t see anything but then after close examination I saw the nose of a rodent hiding behind the bucket (the rodent thought it was hiding but in fact it was trapped there by the blood-thirsty crowd). Apparently it had come from my latrine area through the hole at the bottom of the wall and into Isatou's latrine area. One of the boys from the compound was summoned. The boy broke a piece of wood in half and using the jagged edge he speared ñino jalo in the side. He then used the piece of wood to pull it out from behind the bucket and crushed its head with a large stone. Ñino Jalo's little leg shook for while and then stopped.
The killing of ñino jalo was a strange emotional experience for me. As I watched the make-shift spear plunge into ñino jalo's side and then the stone crushing down on its head, I was aware that I was witnessing something unpleasant HOWEVER I was also aware that another ñino jalo was being eradicated (possibly the one that lived in my latrine) and I couldn’t help but feel relieved and a little bit excited.
I took a photo of ñino jalo as it was being carried out the house so I thought that I'd share that joy with you all!! I think all the ñino jalos in The Gambia are dead now however I still set my rat trap that evening - just in case!!!
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| The killer trap (with the tail attached!!) |
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| A closer look at that tail! |
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| A dead nino jalo (the last one in The Gambia?!!) |
Janding returns from Mecca
Over the last week or so there has been a lot of talk about Janding returning from her trip to Mecca (Janding is Step-dad’s first wife). I know that going to Mecca is something that Muslims try to do but many of the Muslims in The Gambia could never afford to go to Mecca so when people do, their return is a huge event. And I mean HUGE!!!
Of the five wives that live on the compound, three have been to Mecca; Janding being the third (I made an error in one of my earlier blogs concerning Ceesay Kunda, I said that both Dad and Step-dad had two wives each but in fact, Dad has three wives). I am told that having so many people from the one compound make the trip to Mecca is rare and a sign of the Cessay family’s status and wealth.
Well on Friday evening Janding returned and the celebration began. Janding was dressed in a white robe, decorated in gold chains and seated on an arm chair in a central part of the compound. A large mat was laid out in front of her. Food was constantly being cooked in huge pots and served throughout the day. Juice and a variety of soft drinks were flowing, grapefruits by the plenty and music, drums and chanting could be heard from Friday evening until Sunday afternoon. The material canopies that were erected around the compound to provide shade gave the place a regal feel and everybody was dressed in their finest outfits.
Over the course of the weekend people came to visit the compound and greet Janding and, though I was working on both Saturday and Sunday and therefore missed the bulk of the visitors, I must have seen at least two hundred people come and go!
On Saturday as I left for work in the morning, I was told to look at the cow that had been purchased to slaughter in honour of Janding’s return (and to feed the many visitors). Though it was only a couple of weeks ago that I witnessed the rams being slaughtered without too much dismay, I was glad that I wouldn’t be around when the cow was killed - I couldn’t help but feel disturbed when I saw the huge and helpless beast, bound and lying on the floor. Needless to say I disguised my emotions well and was able to assist when instructed by the excited crowd to take photos of the poor beast and then another of Janding stood over it!
The party lasted 2 nights and almost three days and gradually the visitors started to leave, most had left by Sunday evening (though not all). It was the biggest celebration that I have seen so far since being in The Gambia and from what I am told they don’t get much bigger than this. I also found out that when a woman returns from Mecca you add ‘Aja’ to the beginning of her name (so Janding is now called Aja Janding) and if it is a male who has returned you add Alhajie to the beginning of his name.
Finally, (and I hate to say it but..) the beef was delicious!
Of the five wives that live on the compound, three have been to Mecca; Janding being the third (I made an error in one of my earlier blogs concerning Ceesay Kunda, I said that both Dad and Step-dad had two wives each but in fact, Dad has three wives). I am told that having so many people from the one compound make the trip to Mecca is rare and a sign of the Cessay family’s status and wealth.
Well on Friday evening Janding returned and the celebration began. Janding was dressed in a white robe, decorated in gold chains and seated on an arm chair in a central part of the compound. A large mat was laid out in front of her. Food was constantly being cooked in huge pots and served throughout the day. Juice and a variety of soft drinks were flowing, grapefruits by the plenty and music, drums and chanting could be heard from Friday evening until Sunday afternoon. The material canopies that were erected around the compound to provide shade gave the place a regal feel and everybody was dressed in their finest outfits.
Over the course of the weekend people came to visit the compound and greet Janding and, though I was working on both Saturday and Sunday and therefore missed the bulk of the visitors, I must have seen at least two hundred people come and go!
On Saturday as I left for work in the morning, I was told to look at the cow that had been purchased to slaughter in honour of Janding’s return (and to feed the many visitors). Though it was only a couple of weeks ago that I witnessed the rams being slaughtered without too much dismay, I was glad that I wouldn’t be around when the cow was killed - I couldn’t help but feel disturbed when I saw the huge and helpless beast, bound and lying on the floor. Needless to say I disguised my emotions well and was able to assist when instructed by the excited crowd to take photos of the poor beast and then another of Janding stood over it!
The party lasted 2 nights and almost three days and gradually the visitors started to leave, most had left by Sunday evening (though not all). It was the biggest celebration that I have seen so far since being in The Gambia and from what I am told they don’t get much bigger than this. I also found out that when a woman returns from Mecca you add ‘Aja’ to the beginning of her name (so Janding is now called Aja Janding) and if it is a male who has returned you add Alhajie to the beginning of his name.
Finally, (and I hate to say it but..) the beef was delicious!
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| Lisa preparing some 'meat' |
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| Some of the visiting children (and Paul)! |
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| Everybody loves the camera!! |
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| More children!! |
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| The cow |
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| Visitors under a conopy |
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| Excited children! (The middle two, Bassi and Awa live on the compound and are frequent house 'guests'!) |
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| Some of the important men (Dad is seated on the chair on the left holding his youngest child - Mama) |
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| Janding (on the right) with the cow |
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| Aja Janding (the little girl just ran up next to Janding when she saw me taking the picture!) |
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| Oustide my house! The visitors enjoying their food. |
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| More visitors, more food! |
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| Cooking |
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| Jenoba (one of Janding's daugthers) |
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| Enjoying the shade of the canopy |
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| Busy? (I had to go through the lengthy Mandinka greetings with everyone here - one at a time!!) |
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| Some of the men getting away from the crowds (hiding?!!) |
Sunday 28 November 2010
Breakdown!
Yesterday I set off on my bike around 2pm to attend a meeting at a school. About half way through my journey the bike's engine just cut out. Luckily at this point of the journey I was on a main road so I pulled over and decided to do the routine checks they tell you about in training.
I'm no mechanic but I realised that something quite serious was wrong when the 'kick start thingy' (told you I was no mechanic) had no resistance when I put my foot on it, it simply dropped down when very little pressure was applied. I also checked the oil and water and pulled the little fuel tube away from the little fuel 'bit' that it's connected to (to make sure that fuel was flowing to the engine) - I saw all this done during training!
Within about 20 seconds I realised that this was too complex a breakdown for me to deal with (basically unless it involves turning the fuel tank setting to ‘reserve’ then I’m stuck - and sometimes I even find that a bit tricky as the ‘turning thing’ can be difficult to manoeuvre) Anyway I called 'Riders' (they are the NGO that deal with our motorbikes, they did the training in Kanifing in the Kombos and have workshops across The Gambia – fortunately one of those workshops is in Kerewan – apparently before they had a workshop in Kerewan, when you broke down you would have to wait for someone to come from Kanifing in Kombo)!
The guy from Riders asked me what the problem was so I gave him my detailed analysis (as specified above). I sometimes get the impression that the guys from Riders don’t think women are suited to riding motorbikes! I’ve NEVER seen a Gambian woman ride a motorbike and during our motorbike training one of the trainers said that he was going to ‘go through the points slowly because we all know how women’s heads get muddled and they are easily confused’!!! Following the brief and rather disjointed telephone conversation (during which I confirmed that women were easily confused because I couldn’t actually tell him where I was. I remembered the name of a couple of the villages that I had passed through but not the last on – but at least I was on the main road?!) the guy from Riders told me to hold on and that he would come and find me.
So I was stranded! Luckily I had a bottle of water, reception on one of my phones and a camera!! Yes a camera! Therefore enabling me to take some ‘memorable’ pictures of my first breakdown!!
After about an hour the guy from Riders turned up on his motorbike? (He clearly didn’t think that my breakdown was going to require much attention)! However after a few minutes examining my bike he announced, ‘this is a serious breakdown’. These words filled me with joy! Which seems quite strange because why would anyone want a serious breakdown? This would mean that I would be without the bike for a while? But the truth is that as I was waiting for the mechanic to turn up I started becoming anxious and concerned about how embarrassed I would be if he was able to start the motorbike within a few seconds. (One morning I was unable to start my bike from outside my house so I called Riders and they said that they would come and look at it later. When I returned home from work and before the mechanic from Riders had arrived, I decided to try the bike again and to my surprise it worked!! I then had to ring Riders and tell them not to come out because my bike worked now. Once again confirming the belief that women and motorbikes are not well-matched)!
So a serious breakdown! I knew it!!! There was no vehicle to transport my bike back to Kerewan so the mechanic suggested that we tie a rope between our bikes and that he would tow me back. However there was no rope so after a few unsuccessful attempts with bungee cords he then produced a bandage! (The people here are so resourceful). This was a success and he was able to tow me back – that is until his fuel ran out and we came to a standstill again! After he had transferred fuel from my tank to his (using my water bottle, so now I was out of water!) we continued on our way!!
My bike is currently with Riders and hopefully I will have it back in the next few days. (For anyone interested in bikes apparently the piston is broken?) It was funny though because the day before my breakdown the speedometer on my bike had stopped working and I had been meaning to take it to Riders the following day but I’d just been too busy. Following my breakdown the mechanic asked me how fast I was going and I had to confess that I didn’t know! Women and motorbikes hey?!!!!
I'm no mechanic but I realised that something quite serious was wrong when the 'kick start thingy' (told you I was no mechanic) had no resistance when I put my foot on it, it simply dropped down when very little pressure was applied. I also checked the oil and water and pulled the little fuel tube away from the little fuel 'bit' that it's connected to (to make sure that fuel was flowing to the engine) - I saw all this done during training!
Within about 20 seconds I realised that this was too complex a breakdown for me to deal with (basically unless it involves turning the fuel tank setting to ‘reserve’ then I’m stuck - and sometimes I even find that a bit tricky as the ‘turning thing’ can be difficult to manoeuvre) Anyway I called 'Riders' (they are the NGO that deal with our motorbikes, they did the training in Kanifing in the Kombos and have workshops across The Gambia – fortunately one of those workshops is in Kerewan – apparently before they had a workshop in Kerewan, when you broke down you would have to wait for someone to come from Kanifing in Kombo)!
The guy from Riders asked me what the problem was so I gave him my detailed analysis (as specified above). I sometimes get the impression that the guys from Riders don’t think women are suited to riding motorbikes! I’ve NEVER seen a Gambian woman ride a motorbike and during our motorbike training one of the trainers said that he was going to ‘go through the points slowly because we all know how women’s heads get muddled and they are easily confused’!!! Following the brief and rather disjointed telephone conversation (during which I confirmed that women were easily confused because I couldn’t actually tell him where I was. I remembered the name of a couple of the villages that I had passed through but not the last on – but at least I was on the main road?!) the guy from Riders told me to hold on and that he would come and find me.
So I was stranded! Luckily I had a bottle of water, reception on one of my phones and a camera!! Yes a camera! Therefore enabling me to take some ‘memorable’ pictures of my first breakdown!!
After about an hour the guy from Riders turned up on his motorbike? (He clearly didn’t think that my breakdown was going to require much attention)! However after a few minutes examining my bike he announced, ‘this is a serious breakdown’. These words filled me with joy! Which seems quite strange because why would anyone want a serious breakdown? This would mean that I would be without the bike for a while? But the truth is that as I was waiting for the mechanic to turn up I started becoming anxious and concerned about how embarrassed I would be if he was able to start the motorbike within a few seconds. (One morning I was unable to start my bike from outside my house so I called Riders and they said that they would come and look at it later. When I returned home from work and before the mechanic from Riders had arrived, I decided to try the bike again and to my surprise it worked!! I then had to ring Riders and tell them not to come out because my bike worked now. Once again confirming the belief that women and motorbikes are not well-matched)!
So a serious breakdown! I knew it!!! There was no vehicle to transport my bike back to Kerewan so the mechanic suggested that we tie a rope between our bikes and that he would tow me back. However there was no rope so after a few unsuccessful attempts with bungee cords he then produced a bandage! (The people here are so resourceful). This was a success and he was able to tow me back – that is until his fuel ran out and we came to a standstill again! After he had transferred fuel from my tank to his (using my water bottle, so now I was out of water!) we continued on our way!!
My bike is currently with Riders and hopefully I will have it back in the next few days. (For anyone interested in bikes apparently the piston is broken?) It was funny though because the day before my breakdown the speedometer on my bike had stopped working and I had been meaning to take it to Riders the following day but I’d just been too busy. Following my breakdown the mechanic asked me how fast I was going and I had to confess that I didn’t know! Women and motorbikes hey?!!!!
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| Nothing this way! |
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| Nothing that way! |
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| Stranded with my camera!! |
Wednesday 24 November 2010
Ñino Jalo
Last night I went out to the pit latrine area and just as I was about to enter I saw a strange creature coming out of the hole where the water drains away. It was dark and though I had a torch I still was unable to make out exactly what the creature was (also I wanted to maintain a 'safe' distance).
The creature was about 8 inches long and about 2 inches wide. It looked and moved like a rodent but it was jet black and didn't appear to have a tail. Initially I thought it might be a lizard but its movement was mouse-like. It ran around in the latrine area and then it went down the 'plug hole'. The creature was disturbing and watching it disappear down the plug was gross!!
I waited for a little while, head torch on - not wanting to get too close to the hole and then out it came again. It was like an extended mole. Freaky. I had noticed that there were sometimes strange animal faeces (like huge mouse poo) in the latrine area but I was hoping that they had just appeared by magic?!!
What should I do? I can’t evacuate the latrine area, it's where I wash, clean my teeth, and relieve myself! I wasn't going to let it win! So I did my business as fast as I could (keeping a close eye on the plug hole all the time) and then ran inside and bolted the door. I felt quite brave!!
This morning when I went out to the latrine area I cautiously peered round the wall before entering and then I positioned myself in a 'quick getaway' position and poured water down the plug hole - nothing happened. I poured a little more - nothing happened. I then did my business and a short while later I had a bucket shower.
At work this morning I felt compelled to tell one of my colleagues about my strange latrine creature. I describe it just as I have above and when I had finished he said, 'you have a ñino jalo'.
Ñino jalo? What on earth was that? Well apparently it is Mandinka for a type of mouse. It is black, long and thin and has a very short tail. For the Mandinka people it is seen as the worst type of mouse because it is known to bite people! According to my colleague, it has a long mouth and very sharp teeth and can bite through anything. It's name comes from a translation of 'singing mouse' and it's known for making a loud noise that is very disturbing (fortunately this mouse lives outside my house and there is such a variety of random noises going on throughout the night that I haven’t singled out this particular mouse noise!)
Anyway, my colleague told me that 'ñino jalo' was 'bad, very bad indeed' and it needs to be killed. I am in agreement with him. A human-biting, night time screaming rat-like mouse in my plug hole? Yuk. It's got to go!
My colleague suggested pouring boiling water down the hole, 'keep doing it again and again and it will burn its skin'!!!!?? To me that sounds more like a 'final stage’; don’t really want a skinless rodent running around in the middle of the night looking like a victim from a nuclear assault. No, I think stage one will have to be a rat trap in the latrine area (a mouse trap would be too small to catch this thing but big sister Lucy must have anticipated that such troubles lay ahead for me as she recently sent me a package containing equipment for a war against mice which included two rat traps).
I will put the trap out this evening and allow 48 hours (that’s what it suggests on the box). If this is unsuccessful I will move to stage two (I’m not sure what this would be yet but I know that it will not involve boiling water - that would be stage 3!)
I will keep you posted (hopefully with a picture of a dead ñino jalo)!!
The creature was about 8 inches long and about 2 inches wide. It looked and moved like a rodent but it was jet black and didn't appear to have a tail. Initially I thought it might be a lizard but its movement was mouse-like. It ran around in the latrine area and then it went down the 'plug hole'. The creature was disturbing and watching it disappear down the plug was gross!!
I waited for a little while, head torch on - not wanting to get too close to the hole and then out it came again. It was like an extended mole. Freaky. I had noticed that there were sometimes strange animal faeces (like huge mouse poo) in the latrine area but I was hoping that they had just appeared by magic?!!
What should I do? I can’t evacuate the latrine area, it's where I wash, clean my teeth, and relieve myself! I wasn't going to let it win! So I did my business as fast as I could (keeping a close eye on the plug hole all the time) and then ran inside and bolted the door. I felt quite brave!!
This morning when I went out to the latrine area I cautiously peered round the wall before entering and then I positioned myself in a 'quick getaway' position and poured water down the plug hole - nothing happened. I poured a little more - nothing happened. I then did my business and a short while later I had a bucket shower.
At work this morning I felt compelled to tell one of my colleagues about my strange latrine creature. I describe it just as I have above and when I had finished he said, 'you have a ñino jalo'.
Ñino jalo? What on earth was that? Well apparently it is Mandinka for a type of mouse. It is black, long and thin and has a very short tail. For the Mandinka people it is seen as the worst type of mouse because it is known to bite people! According to my colleague, it has a long mouth and very sharp teeth and can bite through anything. It's name comes from a translation of 'singing mouse' and it's known for making a loud noise that is very disturbing (fortunately this mouse lives outside my house and there is such a variety of random noises going on throughout the night that I haven’t singled out this particular mouse noise!)
Anyway, my colleague told me that 'ñino jalo' was 'bad, very bad indeed' and it needs to be killed. I am in agreement with him. A human-biting, night time screaming rat-like mouse in my plug hole? Yuk. It's got to go!
My colleague suggested pouring boiling water down the hole, 'keep doing it again and again and it will burn its skin'!!!!?? To me that sounds more like a 'final stage’; don’t really want a skinless rodent running around in the middle of the night looking like a victim from a nuclear assault. No, I think stage one will have to be a rat trap in the latrine area (a mouse trap would be too small to catch this thing but big sister Lucy must have anticipated that such troubles lay ahead for me as she recently sent me a package containing equipment for a war against mice which included two rat traps).
I will put the trap out this evening and allow 48 hours (that’s what it suggests on the box). If this is unsuccessful I will move to stage two (I’m not sure what this would be yet but I know that it will not involve boiling water - that would be stage 3!)
I will keep you posted (hopefully with a picture of a dead ñino jalo)!!
Tuesday 23 November 2010
The silence of the rams!
Well Tobaski and has been and gone and a wonderful time was had by all (humans that is - it wasn’t such a great time for livestock, particularly rams)! I have to admit that the title of my post was not an original idea, it was just something that another VSO told me and I found it really funny!
Some friends from Kombo came to stay in Kerewan for Tobaski to experience 'up-country' living (life in the Kombos is quite a unique Gambian experience)!
It was a great few days. One evening we made a fire on the pier and the men even went in the river (on reflection this was not a very sensible thing for them to do but they had been alcohol-fuelled and they were grown men so who am I to protest? - Also there was a quite a bit of nakedness involved!!)
The actual slaughtering of the rams was pretty smooth too. Some of the males from the compound held them down whilst step-dad swiftly slit its throats and then broke its neck. They slaughtered five in total. They laid their bodies on sheets of metal from the compound then skinned and butchered them as soon as they had killed the last ram (not the most hygienic environment but I’m not complaining)!
During the slaughterer people gathered round to watch and then afterwards people took bits of meat (as well as intestines, brains and other internal organs) and began to cook. One lady from the compound very kindly cooked a huge plate of rice with meat for me and 'my strangers' (that's what the people on the compound call people who come to visit!)
Later that evening (after my 'strangers' had left), I was given an African traditional outfit to wear so that I could attend the evening meat-eating session!!! People were very impressed with my outfit (so was I to be honest, it was an excellent fit and I was a bit sad to have to return it! I think I’m going to copy the design and have a similar outfit made for special occasions) and I also put on some beads that a neighbour gave me as a birthday present! I was a very Gambian experience and an excellent one at that.
Some friends from Kombo came to stay in Kerewan for Tobaski to experience 'up-country' living (life in the Kombos is quite a unique Gambian experience)!
It was a great few days. One evening we made a fire on the pier and the men even went in the river (on reflection this was not a very sensible thing for them to do but they had been alcohol-fuelled and they were grown men so who am I to protest? - Also there was a quite a bit of nakedness involved!!)
The actual slaughtering of the rams was pretty smooth too. Some of the males from the compound held them down whilst step-dad swiftly slit its throats and then broke its neck. They slaughtered five in total. They laid their bodies on sheets of metal from the compound then skinned and butchered them as soon as they had killed the last ram (not the most hygienic environment but I’m not complaining)!
During the slaughterer people gathered round to watch and then afterwards people took bits of meat (as well as intestines, brains and other internal organs) and began to cook. One lady from the compound very kindly cooked a huge plate of rice with meat for me and 'my strangers' (that's what the people on the compound call people who come to visit!)
Later that evening (after my 'strangers' had left), I was given an African traditional outfit to wear so that I could attend the evening meat-eating session!!! People were very impressed with my outfit (so was I to be honest, it was an excellent fit and I was a bit sad to have to return it! I think I’m going to copy the design and have a similar outfit made for special occasions) and I also put on some beads that a neighbour gave me as a birthday present! I was a very Gambian experience and an excellent one at that.
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| The first ram to be slaughtered (this was the biggest). Step-dad watches as the boys firmly hold it down |
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| Step-dad moves in and takes his position |
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| The cutting |
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| The rams head is sort of twisted (i assume this is to ensure that it is dead) |
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| It's dead now (but for a good 5 mins afterwards it did random kicks etc - maybe muscle spasms?) |
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| About to do ram number three (note the others behind)! |
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| Close-up. Ready for action |
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| The cut is made |
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| I love this picture, it shows step-dad waiting for the last ram to be carried over but the way he is stood with the knife and the dead rams around him is classic! Should add the caption: don't mess with step-dad! |
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| Here are the guys getting the metal sheets (ready for the 'butchering') |
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| Step-dad begins to skin the ram |
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| All family member join in |
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| There's really not much left when they have finished. |
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| And now for something totally different!!! Me in my Tobaski clothes! Very Gambian! |
Monday 22 November 2010
My birthday party!
Recently it was my birthday and I had a wonderful birthday party courtesy of Paul and Nathan.
Paul had prepared a 'pass-the-parcel' made out of layers of carrier bags (paper is quite hard to come by!) and in each layer there was a forfeit and an accompanying object (linked to the forfeit). It was fantastic and really good fun. We changed the music every time we started passing the parcel and the person who held the parcel when the words of a track began had to unwrap a layer.
The forfeits were entertaining and one of the highlights was when Paul had to drink a 'milk based cocktail' (the accompanying object was a milk sachet)! The final layer of the parcel was a special prize just for me! Paul had carefully arranged little plastic packets of whiskey across three sheets of (precious) paper to spell out my name! It was wonderful - very artistic!!
After pass-the-parcel we played a card game called 'The Kings Cup'. It involved quite a lot of drinking and was really good fun (definitely one I’ll be teaching people when I return to England)!! After the Kings Cup we moved onto 'pin the tail on the donkey'. (Nathan had very kindly drawn a donkey, made some tails and provided a blindfold though given the way animals are sometimes treated here I’m sure nobody would have protested if we had actually tried to pin a tail on a real donkey)!
Needless to say by the time we played 'pin the tail on the donkey' we had all had a few drinks and finding the right spot was difficult but fun. Finally we played a few games of poker (can't really remember too much about that though)!!
It was a truly excellent birthday!
Paul had prepared a 'pass-the-parcel' made out of layers of carrier bags (paper is quite hard to come by!) and in each layer there was a forfeit and an accompanying object (linked to the forfeit). It was fantastic and really good fun. We changed the music every time we started passing the parcel and the person who held the parcel when the words of a track began had to unwrap a layer.
The forfeits were entertaining and one of the highlights was when Paul had to drink a 'milk based cocktail' (the accompanying object was a milk sachet)! The final layer of the parcel was a special prize just for me! Paul had carefully arranged little plastic packets of whiskey across three sheets of (precious) paper to spell out my name! It was wonderful - very artistic!!
After pass-the-parcel we played a card game called 'The Kings Cup'. It involved quite a lot of drinking and was really good fun (definitely one I’ll be teaching people when I return to England)!! After the Kings Cup we moved onto 'pin the tail on the donkey'. (Nathan had very kindly drawn a donkey, made some tails and provided a blindfold though given the way animals are sometimes treated here I’m sure nobody would have protested if we had actually tried to pin a tail on a real donkey)!
Needless to say by the time we played 'pin the tail on the donkey' we had all had a few drinks and finding the right spot was difficult but fun. Finally we played a few games of poker (can't really remember too much about that though)!!
It was a truly excellent birthday!
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| Paul drinking the milk-based cocktail |
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| Nathan opening 'pass-the-parcel' |
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| My whiskey prize!! |
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| Me (totally sober) |
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| The party-goers!!! |
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| Ready to play 'The King's Cup' |
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| The donkey is behind you Nathan! |
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| The donkey!! |
Thursday 11 November 2010
Do you know where you're coming from?
Since arriving in his accommodation in Kerewan, Nathan has been painting a picture on one of the walls in his house. Nathan is a wonderful artist (even came to The Gambia with paints!!) and has a background in graphic design and the painting on his wall is technically and artistically impressive HOWEVER the subject of the painting is somewhat 'dark' to say the least.
It depicts (so far as it's a work in progress) a monkey painting a picture of a machine that appears to be producing human internal organs. There is a ribcage central to the picture and various arteries connected to different parts of the machine. There is also a rather evil looking emaciated monkey in the picture who is eating a human brain?
As I said before the actual artwork is superb though the content is a little disturbing. When he has completed it (which might not be for a long time as it’s so huge and detailed) I will be sure to take some pictures and put them on the blog!
Anyway, as Nathan knew that my birthday was approaching he offered to paint me a picture of some sort (I think he meant on paper but I decided to take advantage of his kind offer and suggest that he paint something on one of the walls in my house for me)! Nathan was most obliging and once I told him what I wanted he began work the following day. Needless to say I decided not to have the brain-eating monkey and went for something much more British!
It took two days to complete and he really did do a wonderful job! All the visitors to my house have been suitably impressed though very few actually know what it is!
It depicts (so far as it's a work in progress) a monkey painting a picture of a machine that appears to be producing human internal organs. There is a ribcage central to the picture and various arteries connected to different parts of the machine. There is also a rather evil looking emaciated monkey in the picture who is eating a human brain?
As I said before the actual artwork is superb though the content is a little disturbing. When he has completed it (which might not be for a long time as it’s so huge and detailed) I will be sure to take some pictures and put them on the blog!
Anyway, as Nathan knew that my birthday was approaching he offered to paint me a picture of some sort (I think he meant on paper but I decided to take advantage of his kind offer and suggest that he paint something on one of the walls in my house for me)! Nathan was most obliging and once I told him what I wanted he began work the following day. Needless to say I decided not to have the brain-eating monkey and went for something much more British!
It took two days to complete and he really did do a wonderful job! All the visitors to my house have been suitably impressed though very few actually know what it is!
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