Catch up post - and birthday treats!

I have been tardy with my posts... the office have asked me to support the writing of the Annual Country Report, and so I have been doing the Monitoring, Evaluation and analysis for all of our thematic areas - secure livelihoods, education & TVET (technical and vocational education and training), and participation & governance. Needless to say it has been keeping me busy, and I have become absorbed in logical frameworks and assessing whether outcomes and outputs have been achieved for year two of our country strategic plan. 

But it hasn't been all work... At the weekend I went to a school fete with Ellie, who works at the International School here in Fajara. Ellie used to be a volunteer, but returned to work in The Gambia after her placement ended. The school fete was mostly about food - stalls and stalls of fried chicken, pepper chicken, breadcrumbed chicken, curries, and gambian dishes like domoda, fufu and soup, and ebbeh. But it was a nice day for people watching!

On Sunday Ellie and I met early at Serrakunda market to pick up some things from her tailor and look at fabric. My clothes are really suffering after a year and a half of hand washing and drying in the hot sun. The African fabrics are fine and have stood up to the rough treatment, but my English clothes are worn thin and full of holes. So I have been looking for material to make some new dresses. I quite enjoy buying from the off-cuts at the front of the market stalls; often two metres from the end of the roll. You have to be careful, some is flawed or marked, but sometimes you can find some great pieces without the commitment of buying from a big bolt of fabric. And you can usually haggle down to a much better price. So Ellie and I browsed the offcuts and the fabrics, and both came away with some good finds. 

I'm often drawn to blues, reds and greens, but on Sunday my theme was pink! The middle one was from a bolt, not an off cut, but I was given a good discount from the man I took my brother and Richard to buy from. 

A blog post of mine wouldn't be complete without a food pic - this was an evening meal this week... late home from work and totally uninspired I ended up making a delicious luncheon, mustard, lettuce and onion sandwich with homemade chips. Yum!

And the week has gotten even more exciting than homemade chips... because today is my birthday! Last night I went to Ellie's for dinner, and an episode of Breaking Bad - and was surprised with an amazing gift of cupcakes! 

We had a lovely evening, and today I woke to a cupcake for breakfast, cards, and presents from the wonderful Lucy! 

I didn't eat them all for breakfast, I promise!

Lucy's present arrived on Tuesday - and had most definitely been nosed through by customs. It's the first time that one of the packages that has been sent to me has been opened, and while I don't think anything was taken, it still feels weird that it was looked through before I got it! Most things were just opened a little bit, to test that they were what they were meant to be on the customs sticker I guess, but the clothes parcel was and truly ripped apart! But - it didn't spoil my enjoyment! 

Slightly rifled through! 

Exciting gifts!

A wonderful package of vest tops and leggings, candles (which smell great and will be much appreciated as we seem to be in perpetual darkness at the moment), shower gel (huge luxury after using cheap soap!) a great looking book and a gorgeous nail varnish. 

I had to paint my nails straight away! 

So now I am at work, and back to the grindstone, but a lovely start to the day and a happy second birthday in The Gambia!