Setting up home

Slowly but surely I have bought new things for my house.

On Wednesday we went to the market as part of our language training, and I used the opportunity to buy sugar (sukar), salt (xorom), candles (sondeel), garlic (laaj) and a couple of different types of fabric (piis). The green and turquoise fabric is two metres and I will get a skirt made from it. It cost me about £1.50. The blue material is 6 metres, enough for a full dress and maybe a top (or a full Gambian outfit which I do want to have made but will get a much brighter fabric for!). The blue material cost me about £6 after some hard bartering!  

This weekend I unpacked the rest of my stuff, and started to make the place a bit more homely by putting pictures and cards up.

And then today I managed to buy some buckets for laundry, and get some wine glasses and a book of card games that had been left at the VSO shared house by outgoing volunteers. Carrying it all back from the market stall, and then back from Helen’s later this evening was quite amusing. We were met with many cries of ‘you are Gambian now’, and as I walked back to mine I had about five different guys ask me if I wanted any help, and all offered to carry it all home for me! I did attempt to carry the buckets on my head as the local women do, but it didn't really work! 

Today's haul