Post-Christmas merriment

The last few days of Vicki’s stay seemed to go quite quickly after Christmas day. We wiled away the days by hanging out at Leybato, going to Ngala Lodge with Graeme, Jasmine and Helen to drink more cocktails, venturing into Serrakunda Market, walking to Cape Point, and buying souvenirs from Bakau craft market.

It was wonderful having Vicki here, and I really felt like I was on holiday too! It was sad to see her leave on Saturday, but I was glad that she had a great time, and I enjoyed showing her around the place I have come to consider home.

Vicki was open to everything, fitted in with everyone here perfectly, and quickly learned the three main coping strategies for dealing with unwanted male attention:

• Be blunt / very direct
• Make up a husband or boyfriend
• Be evasive about how you will see each other again

She was able to put this into practice when getting through passport control at the airport – one guy asked for her number, one asked where ‘bossman’ was, and one told her he needed her to go into his office for a chat. So she said a quick ‘no’ to man number one, told man number two that the bossman was at home, and told man number three that she would see him around in the airport next time she came to The Gambia. I am so proud of her!  

Christmas day

My housekeeper came on Christmas morning and bought me a dress as a gift – which was very sweet of her. Thankfully I had a present for her too! Vicki, Yama and I shared the panettone that Vicki had bought out with her, drank tea and freshly squeezed orange and grapefruit juice, and then we headed to the beach to meet the others.

Like the VSO Christmas party, everyone brought something with them to share or cook, and the first huge excitement of the day was Jasmine and Graeme setting up an amazing cheese plate!

The second treat was Geraldine’s spicy crab – probably the hottest dish I have had here in the Gambia and we all had streaming eyes and red lips by the time we had finished, but they were so delicious no one could stop eating them! At least we could cool off in the sea afterwards!

The crab chef

For the ‘main course’ Vicki and I prepared sweet potatoes, and Helen cooked sausages which we dipped in cranberry sauce and ate with tapalapa! The improvised barbecue worked well, and of course the men got involved in playing with the fire!

Later on Shimoni found sticks to skewer some chicken, Helen handed around marshmallows for roasting, and Rob went and bought a ladyfish to wrap up and cook on the coals.

Xalifa’s first toasted marshmallow 
– he looks a little cautious!

Rob preparing the fish

It didn't last long...

...especially with all of this lot tucking in!

At around 9pm we started to get a bit cool, so we went up to a Peace Corps open mic night (the less said about that the better) and then to Aso Rock for some live band and dancing.

An unconventional Christmas, but a good one! 

The build up to Christmas

On Sunday we chilled at Leybato during the day and then went up to visit Alex and Ellie, who were house sitting in one of the Leybato apartments, for some cold beers on the balcony.

Ice cold beers!

After watching the sunset we walked up to Aso Rock and had some chicken pepper soup and rice, and spent the evening chatting with friends and an odd guy who kept telling us over and over again that he wanted to have friends, and who made Vicki feel that she was back in a crazy Rusholme pub!

Monday – Christmas Eve – was our treat day! Helen, Nicola, Vicki and I went to Coco Ocean, which is one of the nicest hotels just past Senegambia, and spent the day by the pool. Although it was a little bit cloudy it was still warm enough to relax and enjoy the day. I had my first burger in about 5 months, which I was very excited about, and Vicki had sushi.

As the sun began to go down we moved to the beach front and started on the cocktails, which turned into a bit of a cocktail crawl – first on to Gaya where we had cocktails and Christmas crackers, and then on to Aso Rock where we met everyone for a Christmas eve dinner. We ate, and drank, and danced and ended up staying out until about 3am – a fun way to slide into Christmas day!

Cocktails at Coco Ocean

Hibiscus daiquiri - yum

James, Vicki, Abdul and Nicola

Fufu at Aso Rock

Vicki's arrival and VSO party

Saturday was an exciting day – meeting Vicki at the airport and going to the VSO Christmas Party at Helen’s compound. In the morning Nicola and I shopped at Bakau for some of the party essentials (fresh prawns and red wine), and I called in to Bas the tailor to pick up a new dress and wrapper for myself, and a skirt and wrapper that I had had made for Vicki.

I had picked the material the week before from Serrakunda market – I ventured there by myself and was very pleased to get all the material I wanted for 35 dalasi a metre. When we first arrived in The Gambia Ellie, another volunteer, advised us that material was usually between 50-75 dalasi a metre and that if you managed to pay 35 dalasi you were truly Gambian, so I felt quite proud of my bartering skills!

Once at Helen’s house we marinated chicken, skewered the prawns, and drank George’s homemade baileys which I had been longing to drink after he gave me a taste of some a few weeks ago. Before I knew it the taxi was ready to take me to the airport, and I arrived just in time to see Vicki’s plane touch down - I was so excited to see her I thought I would pop!

Vicki and I drove back to my place, exchanged gifts and quickly got ready for the party. It was great for Vicki to be able to meet everyone straight away, and all the usual suspects were there.

Everyone brought different dishes and we had some really delicious food. After eating we did secret santa and decorated the VSO Christmas tree.

I don’t know who was more excitable at the party… us dancing around ‘Gangnam style’ in santa hats or the children in Helen’s compound. We engineered for them to get the gifts that they loved in the secret santa, and they seemed to really enjoy the party (I think the gallons of fizzy drink they had helped pump up their excitement levels!)

A moment of calm!

Wolof lessons

Just to prove I have been sticking with my Wolof lessons, here’s a little bit of my last post in Wolof! I don’t get to speak it that much – apart from greetings and asking for things, but my writing is starting to come along and hopefully soon I will be good enough to have proper conversations with people.

Samdi si ngoon dinañu am Christmas party këri Helen. Dinañu leeka ñeebe ak ganaar ak salaat. Dinañu naan biya ak juus. Rob, Patrick ak Nicola ñooy fa neeka. Godfrey dina jogee Kaur. Man, Helen ak Nicola ñooy tooga. Dinaa tooga ñeebe ajuma si ngoon. Dinaa jenda ñeebe ak kaane tey ci marse bi.

I can’t believe it’s nearly Christmas!

It really doesn’t feel like Christmas is four days away, but I am super excited about what is to come!

Saturday is the VSO Christmas party – to be held at Helen’s house – and is the day that my friend Vicki arrives from the UK! So over the last few days we have all been busy preparing – yesterday I shopped for supplies for Vicki and I, and also for the party. We are all to bring a dish, and I will be taking beans cooked with carrot, pepper, onions and tomato – Ugandan style. The plan is to hold the party at Helen’s and then go somewhere afterwards, probably Senegambia.

I think Sunday will involve chilling on the beach, and Monday I am planning to take Vicki for a pool day at one of the nice hotels – a treat for Christmas Eve. Christmas day will be spent down at the beach, and we are planning to barbecue, body board and have a bonfire in the evening – so an unusual Christmas day but a fun one I hope!

It’s strange not having the usual build up to Christmas; no Christmas music, no last minute shopping rushes, no endless cycle of Christmas parties / Christmas drinks, and we haven’t grown tired of mince pies yet!  In fact this is probably one of the few run ups to Christmas where I have lost rather than gained weight (I realised yesterday that I have lost at least a stone since I have been here – the wonders of a naturally low fat diet and lots of walking!).

Work has been busy – last week I did another Annual Partnership Review in Brikama – the last for this year. The session was at GAPD – the Gambian Association for the Physically Disabled – and it went well. There was no VSO volunteer present, as their placement ended back in June, but GAPD had invited a lot of service users to help us assess what activities have been carried out this year. Ebou and I were tired, and it was difficult to keep the energy going sometimes, but we got through it and are looking forward to having a break before we begin again next year. Now I am busy writing up the reports from all the review meetings we have held, but I hope to get everything finished by lunchtime so that I can leave for Christmas break with all the work done.

The final workshop to facilitate before Christmas break

Veg of the week

This week's shopping haul and a lovely surprise from Yama, my house keeper - 

Sweet potato, oranges and grapefruit (gifts), tomatoes, squash,
 cabbage, chilli peppers, ginger, jumbo,
 bay leaves and chilli powder.

Kerewan

On Monday I went to Kerewan to conduct another Annual Partnership Review and Final Placement Evaluation for a volunteer who is just about to leave The Gambia. Kerewan is on the North Bank and involves crossing the river by ferry - from Banjul to Barra. This is infamous for being a bit of a pain in the butt, and we knew we would have to set out early if we wanted to cross. 

So, I woke at 5.30am and got ready for Ba Sarjo to collect me at 6am sharp. He arrived at 6.30am, and we arrived at the port just in time to see the 7am ferry setting off! On hearing that the next ferry could be an hour and a half / 2hrs away I decided to lay down on the back seat of the pickup and go to sleep! 

We eventually squeezed our way on to the 9am ferry, and arrived in Kerewan at 11am - only 2 hours late. They weren't ready for us anyway, so we had plenty of time to settle in and eat some breakfast (tapalapa with omelette and chips inside it). 

Four men physically lifted the VSO pick-up up, moving it
 closer to the edge of the ferry, to squeeze this car in!

But having seen the overcrowding of the passenger boats
I was happy to be on the vehicle ferry!

The session went well, and the volunteer had a lot of evidence about what he had been doing. As well as working to his objectives he had also done a lot for the community, generally helping our with all their IT needs, distributing bags of rice to ten needy families at the start of the rainy season, and supporting local schools by providing teaching and learning resources. It was clear to see that he had contributed a lot during his placement, and as with all the other reviews we have conducted, his employers will be very sad to see him go. 

We ate lunch - food bowls of domoda with rice, which I didn't have much of an appetite for having only eaten breakfast three hours before - and then set out back to Barra to catch the ferry. The scenery on the North Bank felt quite different, with more trees, river tributaries and wildlife - I even saw a monkey running across the road. 

A fence and a washing line!

We got to the ferry port at 4.30pm, and waited until 6.30pm for a ferry. It was clear that we wouldn't get on with the vehicle as the queue of traffic was huge... so I abandoned Ba Sarjo and Ebou and skipped on as a foot passenger. The sunset was beautiful, and it was a nice time to cross the river. 

Once in Banjul I walked through the back streets in the dark (relying on a vague memory of where to go having only really been to Banjul once during our in country training) and made my way to the gelli park, where I took a gelli to Bakau. After collecting my house keys from a friend I eventually got home at 10pm, and flopped straight into bed, too tired to think about eating or doing anything else! 

So it was a long day, but a good one, and great to see more of The Gambia. 

A busy week!

Since coming back from ‘up country’ I’ve had a really busy week. I was given the day off on Friday, and so I spent it relaxing and catching up with friends, body boarding, drinking wine at Leybato, and later having a few beers at a bar known as the Scottish Embassy.

Nic and Helen drinking pints of gin and tonic.

On Saturday I went to the launch party for a friend’s magazine – WaZoBia. It’s a magazine for the Nigerian diaspora in The Gambia, and the launch party was attended by some suitably important Nigerian people, including the Nigerian Ambassador, Her Excellency Mrs Esther Audu. I somehow found myself being invited to sit at the high table, and spent the evening feeling a little bit bemused as I tried to follow along with the Nigerian speeches and jokes.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were unseasonably cold, grey and cloudy, and it felt like a lot of people went into hibernation mode. I had to sleep with a sheet and wear a cardigan – very unusual! I thought it must be 10 degrees or less outside, but apparently it was about 21 degrees, so we must have acclimatised!

On Wednesday I was asked, along with Helen, John and Aloysious, to go on a march to support International Volunteers day. The start time was 8.30am, but being wiser to Gambian Maybe Time now, Helen and I turned up at 9.15… and the march began at 10am! Proudly (ahem) wearing our very lovely free t-shirts, we walked to the beat of the police marching band all the way up Kairaba Avenue to Serrakunda stadium. There we were seated in rows to wait for the speeches to begin. We waited, and waited, and waited, and after hearing a few painful speeches, and a few apologies about the fact that nothing had arrived on time (food, display tables, the people scheduled to speak etc) Helen and I decided to make a break for it. We casually sauntered to the exit, quickly stripped off our t-shirts and almost broke into a run as we fled the scene! Our legitimate excuse for going was that we needed to help another volunteer who was leaving that week, so we met her, and then headed back to Helen’s to eat cheese, drink tea and relax before heading up to Aso Rock for our regular Wednesday dinner night.

Waiting for the speeches

The dinner was good fun – we had about 11 medical students on a visit from Swansea, as well as our usual crowd of 12 or more, plus a few others, so it turned out to be a really good night. The dish of the day was plantain and ladyfish – a big hit – and after the food we all had a bit of a dance.

The medical students

Friday afternoon was spent at Leybato again, for more body boarding and wine. We were surrounded by butterflies all day, and the in the evening they were swarming around the lights like moths, or resting on all the trees and tables around us.

Nicola's black eye from body boarding!

On Saturday afternoon I found myself at a naming ceremony in Brusubi, for the Police Commissioner’s granddaughter. While there we greeted some people, ate some benechin, and were given sweet doughnuts – typical at naming ceremonies. In the evening I went to a Christmas party at Gaya art café, where the staff were wearing Christmas hats and handing out mulled wine! I confess, despite the effort, I still didn’t feel very Christmasy! However, I was excited by the finger food – hummus, tzatziki, stuffed vine leaves, and meatballs with spicy tomato sauce – all flavours that I haven’t had for quite a few months now!

At the naming ceremony

Huge bowl of benechin

Helen and Danni at Gaya

After that I went to Aso Rock for a live band, joined by Jasmine and Graeme – which was a lot of fun. The special dish was goat pepper soup – with the goat slaughtered fresh that day for the occasion, but unfortunately I was so full of hummus and mince pies I couldn’t eat any!

Yes I really am wearing a hoody
- something I never dreamed of a few months ago

Jas and Graeme

And finally on Sunday I met Josie and Dan at Alliance Francaise at 11am. They are on holiday in Kartong, not too far away, so arranged to meet with me. We walked to the beach, brewed ataya with our friend Carl, swam and ate some lunch. The weather has really improved and it was a lovely hot day, with a beautiful sunset. Before I knew it it was time for them to go home, and time for me to get some sleep before the start of a new, so far, very hectic week.

It was lovely to see Josie and Dan

A beautiful evening