Peace and quiet

Living on a big family compound can be great and having lots of children around and people to talk to ensures that life is always interesting. However sometimes it's quite hard to get a bit of peace and quiet.

It's not only me that feels this way, a few times I’ve had adults and children alike seeking refuge in my house telling me to close the door and not tell people where they are just so that they can get half an hour or so of peace!

Well baby Sarjo (who is almost 4 months old now and as beautiful as ever) often finds it difficult to rest in her own house. Her 'loving' sisters just want to play with her, pick her up, carry her around and just generally keep her awake. So, whenever she gets the chance, Isatou (Sarjo's mum) will sneak Sarjo into my house and tell me to close the doors so that her baby can sleep in peace.

And sleep peacefully she does as I sit at the side of her tapping away on my computer! Peace and quiet at last - well that is until her curious sisters come banging on the door!!

Death by chocolate cake?

On a recent trip to the Kombos, I decided to treat myself and splashed out on a black forest gateau from one of the western style supermarkets.

The picture on the box was enough to make your eyes water and both Lucy (friend and fellow volunteer) and I were keen to open the box and sample a piece.

Well the cake did not disappoint, it tasted wonderful - how we didn’t eat the whole thing I just don’t know - BUT.... I'm glad that we didn’t.......

About half an hour after eating the cake I started to feel a strange tingling sensation just above my upper lip. The tingling became more and more intense and I felt certain that I was going to come out with some sort of rash in the shape of a moustache above my upper lip.

At first this sensation was strange but when Lucy started to describe the same tingling sensation just above her upper lip the two of us started to panic!

After about an hour the tingling became more like a burning sensation and though it was confined to the moustache area both of us became more and more concerned that we were having an allergic reaction of some sort to the cake.

But why would we both have exactly the same allergy? And why would it affect us in the same way? There was only one conclusion to be drawn - we had been poisoned and we were both going to 'suffer' death by chocolate cake!!!

As Lucy and I contemplated our fate all I could think about were my poor parents having to tell people that they lost their daughter in Africa. "What happened to her?" people would ask. "Was she savaged by a lion? Crushed by an elephant? Fatally wounded in a tribal conflict?" "Not quite" they would have to say, "she was, well, err, she died of chocolate gateau."

Needless to say we didn't actually die and we both lived to tell the tale. By morning both Lucy and I were no longer experiencing the burning sensation though neither of us have any idea what it could have been that caused us to react that way?

Has it put us off chocolate cake? I'm afraid not however we decided it best not to finish the rest of the cake!

Anyone for a piece of cake?

Breakdown!

I set off on my bike nice and early Sunday morning heading to Farafenni however about 10 minutes into my journey I started having some bike problems!

Over the last year I have become much more confident on my bike and now I really love it. I'm also getting much better at recognising when there is a problem and what it might be. And sometimes I even remember to check the petrol and oil before making long journeys!

However on Sunday morning I was at a loss as to what the problem might be! The petrol and oil were fine, I checked and cleaned the spark plug (the ignition and 'on' switch were on! - something that people always ask me when I breakdown!) But the bike sounded bad and the engine kept cutting out.

Being the skilful rider that I am, I was able to ride the bike very slowly to 'Riders' and then I sat and watched as the mechanics looked for the problem.

They basically stripped the bike (something way beyond my abilities - if I take the spark plug out I have to really concentrate on where it goes back and what was connected to it) and concluded that the last lot of petrol that I put in my tank was dirty (it was from them!) and that the sand/dirt in the tank had damaged almost everything, clogging it up and making it cut out.

So they cleaned everything up. Removed the tank and emptied the petrol (they showed me the sand and there was a lot of it!) and then poured the petrol back into the tank but filtered it through some material.

It took them almost three hours and though I watched carefully I don't think I can even remember how to take the seat off let alone anything else!

Once again I had a camera to hand and took some pictures!!

It would be painful if I tried to ride it like that!

I wanted to help but I was too busy taking pictures!

This is the bottom of the bucket that they emptied the fuel tank into - just look at that sand!

A year in The Gambia!

Today is my one year anniversary in The Gambia. It has been such a wonderful life-changing experience. The year has had its ups and downs but I thank the Lord for the opportunity to be here and the many blessings that have been put before me.

Thanks to all my friends and family who have been sending me packages, cards, gifts and also those following the blog and sharing their interest in my 'adventure'.

Thank you EVERYBODY and thank you Gambia!!!

Big beetles!

I mentioned in another post about some of the interesting insects that appear during rainy season so when I saw one of the big beetles (albeit dead) I was anxious to take a picture so people could see just how big they are!

Sometimes these things literally fall out of the sky and land on you and believe me - it'll make you jump!!

I used my mobile to give an idea of size!

Toilet Trained

The other day I went out to my latrine in the morning to find a pile of poo in the corner. Yes - a pile of poo! It was animal droppings of some sort but a whole pile of them altogether, very strange indeed.

I'm no expert in animal droppings but after close examination (not too close) and a discussion with my neighbour, I think the poo belongs to a lizard. However neither of us have any ideas why there would be so much of it and why it would all be concentrated in one place.

So the poo was in the corner of the latrine and as my back yard area is more like a nature reserve with every species of rodent, lizard and insects attempting to set up home there, I have come up with a theory about the pile of poo - I think that a lizard was backed into the corner by another animal (maybe a bigger lizard, rat or even cat - yes I’ve had cats in my back yard area) and then literally shit himself with fear! Hence the pile of poo!

Obviously this is only a theory and unless I catch the perpetrator in the act I will never actually know however I was impressed that the animal that left the droppings had the decency to do them in the latrine area!

And a story like this would only be half a story without pictures...

The pile of poo (droppings)

The poo in the corner of the latrine area (just to give you a bit of size perspective)!

Beauty Pageant

Though my official role here in The Gambia is that of 'Primary Cluster Teacher Trainer', I often find that some of the work that I am asked to do falls very loosely (if at all) under that title.

Recently I was asked to organise a 'Miss 22nd July Scholarship and Beauty Pageant' at the regional office where I am based. Apparently this is an annual event and each region (of which there are 6) do 'heats' and then send the contestants that came first and second place to the final competition in Banjul. The event is sponsored by the President and the winning girl is awarded a scholarship. The competition is a way of promoting girls education.

There has been much discussion among people here about the merits of such a pageant however I do not wish to comment on that. I was merely carrying out what appears to be a 'VSO responsibility' in The Gambia, and was able to organise a successful event in a very short space of time.

As a one of the judges I was unable to compete which is a real pity because I even wore African dress for the occasion!!

Me all dressed up and ready to take my place at the judges' table

It's a very serious business this beauty pageant thing!

Obviously when Nathan heard that there would be lots of beautiful young women gathered in one place he decided to come over and see what was going on!