Greetings from Mr and Mrs Sonko!

On the 29th February Nfamara and I tied the knot making us officially Mr and Mrs Sonko!!

It was an interesting day though not as straight forward as one might imagine a civil wedding to be! However once all the appropriate people were given their 'incentives' and all the unkown 'well wishers' paid to bugger off we managed to complete all the necessary paperwork and also enjoyed a lovely evening meal at a super hotel called Ngala Lodge.

Nfamara and I would like to thank everyone who expressed their best wishes and hopefully in the not too distant future I will be able to introduce you all to my wonderful husband!

Mrs and Mr Sonko

Some of my VSO friends and Nfamara's family who attended the signing

Waiting in the hall

Not quite married yet!

Reading the documents

Reading them aloud!

Nfamara signing

Me signing!

It's official - Mr and Mrs!!!

The lovely couple (also getting married on the same day) who lent us their rings?!! (That's a whole story in itself!!)

The wedding car (thanks to Suky who got ribbons to decorate the taxi!!) The driver assured us that the 'F' was the right way round when you sit in the car!!

The 'V' works fine which ever way you look at it!

The happy couple at Ngala Lodge

Catherine, Suky, Me, Lynn and Mary at Ngala Lodge

Daniel, Nathan, Nfamara and Gareth at Ngala Lodge

Suky and Nathan

Mary and Catherine

Daniel, Gareth and Lynn

Me and Nfamara

Nfamara at the end of the night

Me at the end of a lovely day!

Wow that's a big one!!

Some of the boys from my compound were called to the garden the other day to help with a situation! The situation was a HUGE snake!

The boys calmly killed it and then carried it home in order to skin it (apparently you can sell the skin). I am told that some people eat snake but the Ceesay Kunda boys said that they wouldn't be eating it.

Though it was fascinating seeing such a big snake I am slightly alarmed by the fact that a snake of such size was living so close to where I live! I think that during my last few weeks here in The Gambia I will have to ensure that I actually do wear covered shoes when walking around at night!!! (Not that covered shoes would make a big difference if a snake that size was ready for the attack!!)

The journey to school

As part of my role here in The Gambia I sometimes go out to schools with the monitoring team. Some of the 105 schools in the region are on the main road but the majority of them are off the road and scattered all across the countryside / bush land.

Whenever you go out to schools on monitoring visits it's fair to assume that it's going to be a bumpy ride however yesterday being thrown around in the back of the monitoring vehicle was the least of our problems - we had water to cross!

We went to monitor the school on the island of Jinack. There are four islands at Jinack, two of them owned by Gambia and the other two by Senegal.

For Suky (the other VSO) and I it was more like a day trip to Jinack than a monitoring exercise but between taking pictures of the exciting boat ride, the sandy surroundings and the coconut trees we did manage to compose ourselves enough to monitor the school on the island!!!

There is Jinack just over the water. At least we don't have to take that pathetic little boat that you can see!! Oh wait.....

The monitoring team (plus me who is taking the picture!!) From left to right, Suky, Tafa, Paul and Fabola

.....preparing to get in that 'pathetic little boat'!!!

Off we go!!!!

Jinack

The school at Jinack

One of the beaches

Ready for the boat trip back to the mainland

A very special wedding

A few weeks ago in Kerewan there was a very special wedding. It wasn't a big affair but it was a memorable occasion especially for me as I was the person getting married! That's right - me!!!

I had a local Muslim wedding here in Kerewan. I'm not a Muslim though my husband is, and I wasn't actually at the Mosque when our marriage was announced but announced it was!

I spent the day and evening at my husband’s compound chatting with family and friends. It was a traditional Gambian marriage but by western standards it didn't really resemble a wedding at all!!! My husband and I intend to have a civil wedding here in The Gambia next week on the 29th February.

My husband is called Omar Sonko but friends and family call him Nfamara (I know that doesn't look like a shortened version of Omar but calling somebody Nfamara is a way of showing respect for that persons father/grandfather or uncle).

Early food preparation

Don't get too attached to this goat.....

The goat being slaughtered

Me with Nfamara's two sisters, Fatoumata to the left of the picture and Sainabou to the right

Nfamara with some of his nephews

Family (Nfamara's dad is the man sat with the children, three of his grandchildren, on the far left of the picture)

Nathan holding baby Assmao

The happy couple!

Some of my friends (the Kerewan crew!)

Nfamara's dad (Sulyman) on the left with two of his brothers

Nfamara and his friends (the boys hangout!)

At the Mosque (the two white guys are Nathan and Gareth - part of the Kerewan crew!)

The crew!!! From left to right, Nathan (Peace Corp), Me, Nfamara (husband), Suky (VSO) and Gareth (VSO)

The happy couple again!

Suky and I posing with some family members/guests

More posing...

...more guests...

....and more....

...and more!

Nfamara with some friends and family