Hyena and attayah!

I want to begin by thanking people for their Christmas cards and the Christmas gifts that I have started receiving. I know that Christmas has finished but it's really cool getting post and when I do I put the cards up in my house. I know I haven’t got them all yet but thanks again for sending them - it's greatly appreciated!

Well the new year has been a great one and already I am embracing the new experiences of 2011!!

A couple of days ago I was out visiting schools and once again I encountered motorbike problems! The rear tyre got a puncture. I was quite impressed with the fact that I realised there was a problem so soon! The bike started swaying from left to right as though there was a huge wind pushing me from one side of the road to another! It was scary!!

I pulled over and called riders for help! It was whilst waiting for the tyre to be fixed that I got talking to some local people and they told me about a man in a nearby village who went into the 'bush' and killed a hyena! I was keen to see this hyena so I left my bike by the roadside and went to investigate.

It wasn’t long before I saw a crowd of people all gathered round the gate of a compound just off the road. I walked into the compound, greeted everyone and then made my way over to the group of men kneeling over something on the floor. When I saw the hyena I couldn’t believe my eyes - it was huge!

Even though the hyena was dead (and in the middle of being skinned) it still looked terrifying! I was both excited by what I was seeing but also petrified to think that these things live in the bush and so close to me!!!

The guy who had killed it (he shot it) was a hunter (a hardcore little man who roams the bush at night). As I got talking to people about hyenas it became apparent how difficult they are to kill. Apparently they move around in groups and they are really intelligent? Also they are supposed to have very strong jaws and once they bite they don’t let go!

There is quite a degree of superstition and myths surrounding hyenas here in The Gambia and people's beliefs vary dramatically considering where they live (my Gambian friends in Kombo for example think that eating hyena is bad luck whereas here in Kerewan the prospect of eating this unusual meat seems to excite people)!

I really wanted to take a photo but I didn't know how appropriate that would be so I politely asked the crowd if I could take a picture. The gathering were also excited by the kill (it's not a common thing to kill a hyena) and they were keen to let me take a photo. A little later the mechanic (who had arrived to fix my puncture) showed up and he purchased some of the meat.

Later that evening one of the guys from Riders cooked hyena and Nathan and I joined him for dinner!! Paul didn't seem keen on trying the meat so he stayed at home.

It tasted good! Quite salty and a bit gristly (but that's just because they don’t prepare the meat cuts properly here)! Not all Gambian's have tasted hyena and from what I can gather it's quite a 'bush' thing to eat! So not only am I becoming a Gambian woman I’m now a Gambian bush woman!!!!

As a side I also want to mention that I can now brew my own attayah (that's the green tea that people drink here). The brewing process takes some time and the little tea pot and the glasses that you pour it in to get really hot but I’m slowly burning away my fingertips and soon I won’t feel the pain at all!!!

The kill!! The guy knelt down is the hunter.

This man wanted to show me how sharp the teeth were!!

Me brewing green tea!

Christmas, New Year and new friends!!!

I decided to spend Christmas and the New Year in Kerewan rather than heading for the bright lights of the city. Many VSOs return to England for Christmas or go to Kombo. Some stay in a posh hotels and lots of VSOs had family around who had come over to visit them (escaping the cold weather in the UK!)So my decision to stay 'up-country' on 'my own' came as a surprise to many!

Christmas kind of crept up on me! As I have mentioned before there were no signs of Christmas here in Kerewan, not a single sparkle of tinsel and it was actually quite refreshing! I think it will be unlikely that I’ll ever have such a 'commercial free' Christmas again!

On Christmas morning I got up nice and early and rode my motorbike to Farafenni (about an hour and a half ride) so that I could attend a Catholic Church service. Farafenni is much bigger than Kerewan; it has a huge hospital, a market, gelly (transport) park, immigration office, police station etc. Consequently it has a few 'ghetto' like places on the edge of town and it was in the middle of one of these that the church was situated.

I parked my bike in a more secure area in the town itself and then walked to the church. I got quite a few stares!! Needless to say I was the only white person at the church! The service itself was in Jolof (one of the local languages here) with occasional bits of English thrown in.

After mass I purchased some material so that I could make some cushion covers for my house (I love the material here, one of my neighbours recently commented that my house was decorated with so many random colours and materials - it wasn't actually intended as a compliment but I took it that way!) and then made my way home.

My bike broke down (again) on the way home but luckily it was very close to 'Riders' (the garage) which was really convenient! I finally got home around 3pm!! When I got in I gave out some sweets to the people on the compound (this is a traditional thing that you do on special occasions, I’ve mentioned it before but to remind you it is called 'saliboo') and wished them all a merry Christmas. This went down really well and for the rest of the day every time I saw someone from the compound they started singing merry Christmas to me (in the tune of happy birthday!!)

I then made mash potatoes and gravy (I'd purchased a bisto on my last trip to Kombo)!! I made enough for everyone to try some and then sat eating it whilst listening to Christmas songs. The people on my compound were intrigued and many of them now think that this is what white people 'do' at Christmas!!!

In the evening time I sat outside my house and brewed 'lait' (this is a sweet milky drink made out of condensed cream and it's absolutely gorgeous - you brew it in a similar way to 'attayah'). Me and my compound people (or my compound people and I) sat outside until late evening chatting and drinking lait whilst listening to Bob Marley. It was really nice. A very spiritual Christmas. Good for the soul!!

Which brings me on to new year!! I had intended to go to the big city for New Year because apparently that is where the party is at! However due to circumstances (namely Nathan's indecisiveness - but that's a whole different story) I ended up staying in Kerewan.

Though I had a lovely time at Christmas I felt that I wanted a change in scenery (people wise) for the New Year celebrations! Conveniently just before the New Year I made some new friends here in Kerewan! A new set of people and a new place to hang out! So on new year’s eve I went to my new friends 'spot', drank lait (the pass-times are quite similar!)listened to music (I have appropriate music for every occasion and my new friends were suitably impressed with my music collection and knowledge of particular artists!!)and then chilled with them for the evening. They were great company and just what I needed for the New Year!!

So I had a 'different' Christmas and a 'different' New Year experience but both were wonderful! The only thing lacking of course was family! (Oh and good food, presents, board games, alcohol, crackers etc).

There were no holidays for Christmas and the new year as they fell on weekends and now things are pretty much back to normal in Kerewan (or 'the wan' as Paul and I affectionately call it). I have noticed that I seemed to have gained a lot more respect from many locals here for staying around at Christmas and New Year, (I don’t think many VSOs do that) and now, as well as my 'new friends', I also have lots more people wanting to greet me, talk to me and inviting me to drink and eat with them! I'm becoming quite popular!!