TO POST A COMMENT - At the 'Comment as' box click on the drop-down menu and select 'Name/URL' then in the name section type in your own name (the sender) and press 'contine' (there is no need to enter anything in the URL box).
Any views expressed are my own and are not representative of VSO.
I've been in The Gambia for just over 6 months now and I'm still having a wonderful time. I'm learning new things every day, meeting new and interesting people and I feel like I’m really getting to know the place.
A couple of weeks ago my Dad and sister (Cathy) came out to visit. It was really great to see them and we had a super time. They had an action-packed week and even managed to do an overnight stay in Kerewan!
During their stay here we went to church in Bakau and then to Bakau fish market and watched the fishermen bring in the evening catch. We went on a long (but lovely) boat trip to Juffureh, an old trading post and slave factory (made famous by Alex Haley's book 'Roots' and believed to be the home of the legendary Kunta Kinteh) and learnt more about the slave trade and the historical role that Gambia had during those days. We took a smaller boat over to James Island (recently renamed Kunta Kinteh Island). We also went to another fishing village called Tanji and also strolled on one of the beaches in the Senegambia area.
Like I mentioned earlier we went to Kerewan so dad and Cath got to experience the ferry crossing (Banjul/Barra) as well as getting to see where I live and meeting some of my friends and compound people. We also got to eat two home-made Gambia dishes, chicken yassa and benachin (courtesy of Aja Ceesay). We wet for strolls, evening drinks, saw crocodiles, visited craft markets and local gardens and fended off numerous bumsters!
We had a great time and I really enjoyed their visit (and that's not just because I got to stay with them in the luxury hotel with running hot water and an unlimited power supply)!!! Both Dad and Cath are talking about coming out again and I really hope they do!
I want to thank everyone who sent things out with Dad and Cath, the bats, balls etc were really popular and the children love them. Thank you as well for the luxury items that were sent out for me, they are fantastic and you've been so generous. Luckily Nathan doesn't eat that much chocolate and the taste is far too rich for the locals so more for me!!
Me and Dad at Calypso (one of our favourite hangouts)
Dad with his feet in the Atlantic Ocean
Bakau fish market
The fishermen bringing in their catch (Bakau)
The hussle of the fishmarket (Bakau)
Juffureh/Albreda
Statue at the slave museum at Juffureh
Juffureh (at the museum)
Cath and I meeting the Alkali of Juffureh (this is the village leader and this lady if one of the two female Alkali's in The Gambia)
Dad and the Alkali
James Island (now Kunta Kinteh Island)
Bakemo (Ceesay), Dad, Buba (Ceesay) and Cath at Tanji fishing village
Tanji fishing village
Some of my Kerewan friends (from left to right, Lamin, Famara, Sainey and Famara)
The fish at Tanji (they smoke them like this until they are brown and almost burnt looking and then they last a long time)
The fish being smoked (Tanji)
Me and Cath at the hotel (Ocean Bay, Cape Point)
Dad and Dad (Dad with Dembo Fula Ceesay, the big dad on my compound)
Me with two of my Kerewan friends, Sainey and Famara
Nathan helping to start the fire so we can brew green tea
The ferry (loading ready for the crossing from Bajul to Barra)
The ferry loading (from Barra to Banjul)
Buba, Me and Bakemo outside my house in Kerewan (Buba currently lives on Ceesay Kunda and Bakemo grew up here but now lives in America)
Up-country housing (near Tambana)
Dad outside my house fanning the attayah burner
One of the crocodiles in the water next to Calypso bar
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!!
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!!
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!
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)!
Following the discovery of ñino jalo in the latrine area there have been further developments. Ñino Jalo was spotted one evening when I returned from a trip to Kombo and it was the next day that I went to work and found out the name of the strange creature. When I returned from work that evening I was talking to my neighbour, Isatou (mother of Bassi and little Kaddy) and she said that during the day (when I was at work) she saw a ñino jalo in her house, she cornered it and then called one of the boys from the compound to kill it. (Apparently he beat it with a stone).
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!!!
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!
Lisa preparing some 'meat'
Some of the visiting children (and Paul)!
Everybody loves the camera!!
More children!!
The cow
Visitors under a conopy
Excited children! (The middle two, Bassi and Awa live on the compound and are frequent house 'guests'!)
Some of the important men (Dad is seated on the chair on the left holding his youngest child - Mama)
Janding (on the right) with the cow
Aja Janding (the little girl just ran up next to Janding when she saw me taking the picture!)
Oustide my house! The visitors enjoying their food.
More visitors, more food!
Cooking
Jenoba (one of Janding's daugthers)
Enjoying the shade of the canopy
Busy? (I had to go through the lengthy Mandinka greetings with everyone here - one at a time!!)
Some of the men getting away from the crowds (hiding?!!)
