Simple friendships

Today on my way back from work, via the market, I walked past a guy who runs a little restaurant. He once gave Helen and I a free meat pie and has been keen for me to go back and sit and chat with him ever since. I always turn him down, giving excuses about how busy I am, how I have to get home to cook dinner, how I am meeting friends etc but today I couldn’t think of a good enough reason not to stop by and talk for a while.

I really didn’t want to stay long, so when he offered me a drink I declined, telling him that I ‘didn’t want to take sugar today’. This is a very African expression that I have heard a lot, and have been storing up to use for a while now. Unfortunately his reply was, ‘fine I will make you a coffee…’ and off he went. Damn – that didn’t quite go to plan!

The next thing I knew I was sitting down with a coffee and a meat pie in front of me. At first things were relatively safe, with some chat about how the day had been, how my work had been, and whether the fact Manchester United and Manchester City football teams indicated that Manchester was really two separate cities. All of a sudden things moved onto rockier ground…

Him: Since the first time I met you I knew you were very kind, and you went straight into my heart.

Me: Oh. Umm. You do know I have a boyfriend though don’t you?

Him: Yes yes that is fine. We can just have a strong friendship.

Me: No I don’t think that that is fair on my boyfriend. I don’t want a strong friendship.  We can only be friends, nothing more.

Him: Ok yes that’s fine. We can have a simple friendship.

Me: But does a simple friendship mean we are just friends?

Him: No it means that anytime that you have some free time away from your boyfriend you can call me and I will take you out, but I will know that it’s not too serious. It’s ok though because I am very discreet and very good at keeping secrets. And also I would never disturb you or call you when you are with your boyfriend, because that might make him angry and cause him to be aggressive towards you.

Me: Oh right. I see. Is that the time, I really must go… [Sharp exit stage left].

Breakfast

Today I deviated from my usual tapalapa with beans and decided to experiment with something else. After greeting my tapalapa lady (who's name I have discovered is Arakii) I asked her what she had today. I was offered accra (fried bean curd) but I know that, so I moved on. I was then offered corned beef (likely to be spam), omelette, or 'siipa siipa'. I could not for the life of me remember what siipa siipa was, so I asked her... but she didn't know the English. She said 'You know.... skin'. I decided to pass on that one, and went for bullet instead! 

Bullet is balls of fish (like fish meatballs) in a sauce with pasta, which is put into tapalapa. Essentially a pasta sandwich - so you can see why I only need to eat twice a day, breakfast and dinner! One of these sets you up for the day quite well! 

When I got to the office I asked Ebou to remind me what siipa siipa is, as I really wanted to believe I hadn't been offered a skin sandwich. Turns out it is shrimps! 

Another catch up post!

I haven’t blogged for a very long time, owing to my work load really. But I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it won’t be long until things calm down a little. I also think that in some ways the gap between posts reflects how settled I feel – it seems so normal to be here, and as a result it is slightly harder to blog about what is now everyday life. So I have saved up different bits of news for this post, and will give a roundup of how things have been over the last few weeks. 

Socially things have been great! We got away last weekend and went to Kartong for the cultural festival. We stayed at Boboi lodge and had a great time chilling on the beach, body boarding, barbequing fresh fish, and watching the cultural dancing in the village.

Abdou and Dodou

Abdou and Jas - maaan! with Nicola and Graeme 

Body boarding time!

This weekend has been a long weekend in celebration of Gambian independence – yesterday (Monday) was a public holiday to mark the 48^th independence anniversary and today was announced as an extended holiday day at the last minute (of course). Due to the impending deadline of the Annual Partnership Reviews I went in to the office today and did a half day – working until about 2.30 when I felt it was time to get out, hit the beach and join  my friends!

It has also been a time for goodbyes – except this time it’s some of our group (or intake) that are leaving… Jasmine last week and Graeme today – so we’ve been having dinner at Aso Rock so that they can have their fill of tomato stew before they leave. Patrick – one of the volunteers from our September group also left today. He didn’t feel like the project was going anywhere and I think he felt too frustrated to stay. It’s a shame to see a member of the group leave, especially as I think the project is starting to turn around, but he’s happy to be going and that’s what matters most I guess.

Work wise, as well as being busy, I do feel like I am getting somewhere. We held a quarterly review meeting last week for the project partners, at which I presented the highlights of the quarterly report that I had put together. The presentation went well and I can see how much my presentation skills and confidence in public speaking has increased since I have been here – probably as a result of doing all the partnership review meetings. We did two more reviews last week which takes us up to 20 meetings now – just five more to go! And we also had our three month volunteer review (five months in!) which gave us all chance to present what we have done so far and reflect on our objectives for the remaining time that we have.

And best of all… the mangos are coming! I have loved seeing and smelling the mango trees in flower, and now little tiny mangos are starting to appear. I can’t wait until there are so many that you can just pick them off the tree wherever you are! 

Baby mango

Finally proof that (palm) wine is medicinal!

Domestic day

Today I woke up feeling full of cold and crappy, so I decided to rest up and do some of my work from home. I think I am also physically tired after doing a lot of walking over the past few days…  yesterday I realised I had covered at least 16 miles in four days. In addition, my gas cooker crumbled apart yesterday, and I wanted to wait in so that VSO could bring a replacement round for me.

As well as writing up APR notes I have managed to have a domesticated day, making fresh wonjo juice (high in vitamin c and antioxidants apparently) and then some carrot, cardamom and orange soup. I also went out to the cashew fruit bakery and bought some local honey so that I could drink hot honey and lemon. While I was out I called in at the pharmacy to get some paracetamol and throat sweets. When the pharmacist realised I had a cold he gave me some interesting advice… he told me I should avoid drinking cold water!

Teeny tiny butternut squash!

Dried wonjo flowers, jar of soaked flowers ready
for the next batch, and a jug of wonjo juice

Carrot, cardamom and orange soup
(including the tiny butternut squash!) 

Later on I met Nicola, and then a whole group of people who were saying goodbye to another outgoing volunteer, Alex. After some drinks and masses of peanuts at Buba’s place, Nicola Helen and I walked up to Aso Rock to meet John, Jaz and Graeme for dinner. A nice day and evening despite feeling pretty ropey.

Oh and I also found the time to take a pic of my new handbag! 

My new purchase

Three day weekend

The new Gambian working week started on Friday 1 February - a policy decision that made it on to the BBC news! The new working hours have had a mixed reaction. My personal response is 'amazing... a three day weekend is the stuff dreams are made of' but perhaps my more professional response is along the lines of 'erm... what's this going to do for the economy and how will it affect the people of The Gambia?'. 

Time will tell how this all works out, but in the meantime having Friday off was a huge relief as I was shattered after being on trek! I relaxed through the day and caught up with myself, which left Saturday and Sunday free for maximum weekend enjoyment! On Saturday Nicola, Helen and I went to Caramel for coffees and cake, which felt like a very indulgent treat. 

After that we went to Senegambia craft market - Helen had put in a bumper order for leather bags with a well known and very popular leather worker on the market. Unfortunately, he passed away the other week, and so we went to offer our condolences and find out whether Helen's stuff had been completed. While there I fell instantly in love with a leather bag which I purchased on the spot - apart from material this is the first thing I have really bought myself while I have been here, and I felt very frivolous - but am really pleased with the bag. Photos to follow! 

We managed to extract ourselves from the market (harder than you would think when people are physically leading you into their shops by the hand) and walked through Senegambia to the beach. We walked all the way back down to Leybato, with slightly less hassle than last time - although we were all in really happy moods so perhaps we just dealt with it better! No sign of Skinny Boy, Hot and Spicy, or Freaky - three of the many people we met on our last walk. 

We all hadn't seen each other for a week, and so the whole day was spent deep in conversation - it was lovely! 

On Sunday we were supposed to go to a leaving BBQ for Bea, Ed and Alex. Unfortunately Helen's key broke in her lock and she had to wait in all day for the carpenter to come. It felt mean to leave her as a prisoner in her own home, so we waited in with her and made sandwiches, raided through the belongings that Bea and Ed are leaving here, and downloaded music and films from each other. We also played with Alieu and Rohay - the two children from her compound - who had put on their best clothes to join us (I think they thought we were having a party like we did at Christmas and they did not want to miss out!)

All in all it was a lovely, relaxed and settled weekend - one where I felt completely at home. As we near the five month mark it's amazing to reflect back on how relaxed and happy I feel here. 

Njawara Agricultural Training Centre

Well, Patrick was right when he said the NATC campus at Njawara is like a retreat – it’s like an eco-lodge out in the middle of nowhere, almost in Senegal. We arrived at about 7.30pm and were shown our rooms and given a food bowl. Afterwards we sat under the mango trees and rested for a bit, watching the bats swooping in and out beneath the trees, before getting an early night.

My room

The next day was really challenging – similar in content to the session we had held at AVISU the day before, but very different in feel. It was a lot less positive, and the participants gave me quite a hard time as the facilitator. After doing about 18 of these sessions and never having a problem I suddenly experienced what it was like to be given a rough ride. I confess there were times when I felt like throwing down my flip chart pen and letting them get on with it, but I breathed in, counted to ten, smiled, and tried to get it over with as quick as I could! I kept telling myself that it was character building, and that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, but I was really glad to get out of there by the end of the day. The sessions take quite a lot of energy anyway, and doing four back to back, as well as travelling long distances is quite tiring, but I felt more drained than usual after that session!

Patrick in the vegetable garden

Working under the mango trees

We headed back to Barra and kept our fingers crossed that the vehicle would get on a ferry that evening. Unfortunately as we approached we saw the queue of cars snaking back for about a quarter of a mile, and I think we all knew at that point that a ferry crossing for all of us was unlikely. A ferry was in, so me and the director from NATC (who had cadged a lift with us) jumped on as foot passengers and left Ebou and Ba Sarjo on the dock. The ferry was rammed with people, trucks, cars, and cows – and perhaps because of the tide / flow of water, took two hours to get across the river. The last crossing I did was 45 minutes, so it was quite a difference! Once in Banjul I walked through to the garage and took a van home – very happy to be back in the Kombos.