Great Gambian adventure: Back in the swing of things

Well, I feel fully integrated back into life in The Gambia. Dinners, drinks, meeting friends, market shopping, Wolof conversations and lots and lots of greetings (which I missed while I was back in the UK) have all merged back into my reality, and it feels like I never left. The only evidence is my slightly better stocked fridge and alcohol store (thanks to duty free) – and the pile of new shoes at my door!

Bakau fish market

I had a nice moment on Tuesday when, after meeting Helen for dinner and a drink at Bakau guest house, I came home and ate a grapefruit for supper. There was no light, so I ate my grapefruit by candlelight. Firstly I had to laugh at the fact that I had used my new grapefruit knife – one of the more random things I picked up during my trip to England (thanks to Mum and Dad for sourcing one for me!). I eat a lot of grapefruit here, and every time I do my mind flicks to a grapefruit knife we used to have at home when I was a kid. When planning to move to a country where many people have very little, I didn’t imagine that one of my realisations would be how useful a grapefruit knife is, but there you go. I wanted one, I got one, I used it and it made me happy! As I enjoyed my grapefruit in the dark, I reflected on the fact that I had been lucky to eat a wide range of delicious food during my trip to the UK, but sometimes the simplest pleasure comes from the humblest action, and eating a sweet grapefruit that was still warm from the day’s sun was enough to make me smile.

Grapefruit by candlelight

Friday was fun. I had a good day at work. I don’t like to blog too much about work, not because I am always on the beach drinking and having fun (I know that is the impression my blog gives, as a few of my friends have commented!) but because it’s difficult to get into details on a public blog. Sometimes it’s just not interesting to write about (I mean not many people would want to write about what they do at work all day, or read about someone else’s work) and sometimes it’s a bit too sensitive to write about, and I need to be discrete. But on Friday I had to draft a response to an assertion that the VSO programme office didn’t agree with, and I loved it! It was like being back in London, with a short deadline to respond to a parliamentary question or something. I really enjoyed the challenge, and the reassuring feeling afterwards of ‘phew I can still do this stuff!’.

After work I went to the beach and saw how quiet it is now that the tourists have gone. It’s like when we first arrived, miles of sand scattered with Gambians doing exercises and that’s about it. I then went to Nicola’s to eat a huge pile of vegetable chilli and drink vodka (thanks to Helen’s own duty free haul).

Please note, the food wasn't just for us girls!

During the evening we planned a day trip to Sanyang for the next day. Joe drove us (in two trips which was very nice of him) and we went in ‘waves’ – one pickup at 8.30am and the next at 9.30ish. The fishermen went first, which gave Helen and I time to meet Traffic Light, have a coffee and by breakfast for everyone, before Joe collected us and drove us down the coast. Sanyang was beautiful, nicer than Kartong I think, as it is in a lovely cove. We fished (well, I didn’t), swam (the sea is getting really hot again) sunbathed, drank rum, and ate lobster salad. Bliss.