So...I passed my tech and major lang tests...and passed my final evaluation...so I am ready to swear-in as an offical peace corps volunteer. I got a bank account here, and the PC people "loaded" it with $$; some money for 'settling-in' and some money for site for the rest of april. But...I ran out of money but I made due when I was buying stuff....I bought a mattress, gas and two burner stove, pot/pan, etc etc. There is still more to buy. They give us more than enough $ to live here, but the first three months are tougher because I'll be buying stuff for my house and whatnot.
For the swearing-in, the head PC director from Wash. DC will be there. He flew in yesterday! So this is big...the head dude will be there...the guy that sends us our 'pay'-checks. PLUS, there will be some other hiearchies within the country there as well. THEREfore, our swearing-in will be televised nationally throughout the gambia= a big deal! We as the group have to do a little skit, sing a song and do some other activity ALL in local lang because of all the press and activity going on. Crazy, I know. After the ceremony, there is a party at the local brewery-JulBrew-and the the beer, so i hear, will be free = good times. i'll post some pics; you'll see me in a native african dress...not going to lie, i look bad ass...but you all probably laugh. rock'n roll. post some comments and ask some questions so i know what to type next time
with peace and love
haa yeeso
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Mina hen seeda seeda- - I'm on it, slowly slowly
14/04/2008
My Randomness-
Sorry prior to anyone reading this but my blogs will be full of random stories and will change topic from sentence to sentence. I know its bad…but when you only have internet once-four times a month and you are being charged for it by the minute, it’s tough to get all what you wanna say down. I know I could write notes about things I want to say before I type the stuff out but I’m too lazy.
Ok, so apparently it costs $0.90 to send letter from the US to me; I don’t know if that is only West coast or the entire country, but there you go. Sorry for the extra cost, but it does have to cross a huge body of water. On the letters, write ‘Airmail’ on the front of it…it may be sent via plane, = shipped faster. I’m not really sure. All the packages and letters I’ve received thus far have taken a months time. I get mail currently as soon as it comes in, because I am in training and I’m special. BUT, when I am a Volunteer (after 18/04), I will only get mail once a month. The mail will come in to Banjul- the Gambia’s capital. PC will pick up mail at the post office 3 times a week and store it in the PC office. Then a truck will load up all the mail for all 125-ish volunteers that live all around this country and deliver it. So my address for packages and mail is:
Travis Warrington , PCV C/O Peace Corps/The Gambia, P.O. Box 582, Banjul, The Gambia, West Africa
No more ‘PCT’ on the address, because I’ll be a Volunteer in a few days, and if you send something now, I’ll be a PCV by the time I get it.
So when you all asked me back home before I left “So, what are you going to do over there?”, my response was “I really have no clue”…and I got some funny looks. I have more of an idea now: There is a Health Clinic in my village that occurs the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month; where mothers with children under five and/or are pregnant can go for to check-up their children’s health- -for free. For me, I can help weighing the babies….and this might seem like I’m not doing much…but clinic days are chaotic and the nurses here can use all the help they can get. Also, my village doesn’t have a garden, so I will inquiry if they want to make one…and I will assist in the building one if they want one. (I speak Pulaar, language of the Fulas…who are known for having cattle, not gardens…so this may not happen). Other activities I’ll be involved with are showing my village how to make soap (either for personal use or to sell to make $) and to make a local mosquito repellent. I also met the Headmaster from the school in my village, and he is very interested in working with me (ie: me teaching a class or two regarding health topics to his students, helping him with his school’s garden, etc). I have counterparts, who are people who I’ll be working with- -Gambians who are motivated and want to change their country…so they’ll have more of an idea of what they want me help them on. The next three months, after I swear-in, are called ‘Three Month Challenge’…because you are officially a Volunteer and you are by yourself at your site/village with no teacher or fellow American to bail you out with your language. SO, my “job” for the next three months (I’ve told myself) is to get my house organized and buy stuff for it and to integrate….learn the language and learn about my village. Sounds easier when I type it out, ha. When negotiating meals with my host family, I wanted them (my host mom/sister(s)) to make me only breakfast and lunch, and for me to make my own dinner (one can only take so much rice and coos on a daily basis.) Plus, lunches here are the main meal, and dinner is basically a snack. And, by me making dinner for myself, I can make “Western type” food (ie: spaghetti). After I swear-in, I get $ to buy supplies and stuff for my house, which will be good because I at least need a bed and a stove.
Few things about the culture/life here:
Somewhat like Mexico, for most items here, you must bargain for the price of the item. Which is fine when you are speaking in English, but attempting to buy an item while speaking the local language from a Gambian who sees you are not a Gambia ( thus = to them you have $) is difficult. I manage…I’ve only had to haggle on a few major items…like getting 6 meters of fabric and THEN going to a tailor to have him make me a Gambian style ‘nice-type dressy’ outfit – or complet.
Greetings are key here….and the greeting change from morning, to afternoon, to evening…and the dialects of the languages differ from region to region. If you mess up on greetings or don’t greet, then you are rude. You basically have to greet everyone you meet while going anywhere (= give yourself enough time to walk to point A to B so you aren’t late for an appointments…which is why I am currently on ‘Gambian time’…= when you say you will be at there certain place at 1…you’ll probably be there at 1:45.) So without offending anyone, I greet when I can and as often as I can. The greetings consist of 3-5 question regarding that time period of day (ei: good morning, how did you sleep), how are the people at home/your village (which the person could ask about each individual in your family), and how is the work. Luckily for me, 80% of the responses to the greetings questions are “Jam Tan” (Peace Only). (Oh sorry, the greetings are the person(s)) ask you are question and you responding, and vice versa). The greetings can take 1 minute to 10 minutes…and, again, luckily for me, not knowing the language…when they ask question that I do not understand, I just default and say “Mi famani” (“ I don’t understand”).
If PC doesn’t transport us from place to place…I have a bike…well…I get a new bike in a month…so I can ride to the nearest city to get supplies and use the internet and maybe have a beer. But if I want to travel more than 45k (because I can ride my bike that far before lunch and have enough time to get home), I have to take public transport. There are two main roads in this country: the North Bank Road and the South Bank Road (guess where they are on the map?). The South road is rancid and horrible…pot holes everywhere…so vehicles go very slow at times to avoid getting a flat, and they drive off-road to avoid the shitty road. The North road is much better; and I hear they are attempting to fix the South one…but we’ll see when that gets finished…and I live near the South bank AND AND AND the actual public transportation is good times. In country, there are basically big vans, that have no power steering and are manuals. The drivers and their apprentices jam pack these vans full of people inside, and load the tops of the vehicles with goods (ie: luggage, rice, goats, and maybe some more people). So, if I want to get one, I must flag one down on the main road, if/once they stop, ask them (in local lang) where they’re going, is there room, how much is the fare to where I’m going….and if I think its too much, have them reduce it…and if I have a big bag that needs to go up top, to haggle with a price for that as well. Overall, good times. The vans are called ‘gele geles’ or ‘geles’ for short…and tend to be hammered vehicles because of the conditions of the roads and drivers not caring for their vehicles well being. You may sounds surprised and scared that I take these type of transportation to get to place to place, but PC thinks its safe, so it’s safe.
My Randomness-
Sorry prior to anyone reading this but my blogs will be full of random stories and will change topic from sentence to sentence. I know its bad…but when you only have internet once-four times a month and you are being charged for it by the minute, it’s tough to get all what you wanna say down. I know I could write notes about things I want to say before I type the stuff out but I’m too lazy.
Ok, so apparently it costs $0.90 to send letter from the US to me; I don’t know if that is only West coast or the entire country, but there you go. Sorry for the extra cost, but it does have to cross a huge body of water. On the letters, write ‘Airmail’ on the front of it…it may be sent via plane, = shipped faster. I’m not really sure. All the packages and letters I’ve received thus far have taken a months time. I get mail currently as soon as it comes in, because I am in training and I’m special. BUT, when I am a Volunteer (after 18/04), I will only get mail once a month. The mail will come in to Banjul- the Gambia’s capital. PC will pick up mail at the post office 3 times a week and store it in the PC office. Then a truck will load up all the mail for all 125-ish volunteers that live all around this country and deliver it. So my address for packages and mail is:
Travis Warrington , PCV C/O Peace Corps/The Gambia, P.O. Box 582, Banjul, The Gambia, West Africa
No more ‘PCT’ on the address, because I’ll be a Volunteer in a few days, and if you send something now, I’ll be a PCV by the time I get it.
So when you all asked me back home before I left “So, what are you going to do over there?”, my response was “I really have no clue”…and I got some funny looks. I have more of an idea now: There is a Health Clinic in my village that occurs the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month; where mothers with children under five and/or are pregnant can go for to check-up their children’s health- -for free. For me, I can help weighing the babies….and this might seem like I’m not doing much…but clinic days are chaotic and the nurses here can use all the help they can get. Also, my village doesn’t have a garden, so I will inquiry if they want to make one…and I will assist in the building one if they want one. (I speak Pulaar, language of the Fulas…who are known for having cattle, not gardens…so this may not happen). Other activities I’ll be involved with are showing my village how to make soap (either for personal use or to sell to make $) and to make a local mosquito repellent. I also met the Headmaster from the school in my village, and he is very interested in working with me (ie: me teaching a class or two regarding health topics to his students, helping him with his school’s garden, etc). I have counterparts, who are people who I’ll be working with- -Gambians who are motivated and want to change their country…so they’ll have more of an idea of what they want me help them on. The next three months, after I swear-in, are called ‘Three Month Challenge’…because you are officially a Volunteer and you are by yourself at your site/village with no teacher or fellow American to bail you out with your language. SO, my “job” for the next three months (I’ve told myself) is to get my house organized and buy stuff for it and to integrate….learn the language and learn about my village. Sounds easier when I type it out, ha. When negotiating meals with my host family, I wanted them (my host mom/sister(s)) to make me only breakfast and lunch, and for me to make my own dinner (one can only take so much rice and coos on a daily basis.) Plus, lunches here are the main meal, and dinner is basically a snack. And, by me making dinner for myself, I can make “Western type” food (ie: spaghetti). After I swear-in, I get $ to buy supplies and stuff for my house, which will be good because I at least need a bed and a stove.
Few things about the culture/life here:
Somewhat like Mexico, for most items here, you must bargain for the price of the item. Which is fine when you are speaking in English, but attempting to buy an item while speaking the local language from a Gambian who sees you are not a Gambia ( thus = to them you have $) is difficult. I manage…I’ve only had to haggle on a few major items…like getting 6 meters of fabric and THEN going to a tailor to have him make me a Gambian style ‘nice-type dressy’ outfit – or complet.
Greetings are key here….and the greeting change from morning, to afternoon, to evening…and the dialects of the languages differ from region to region. If you mess up on greetings or don’t greet, then you are rude. You basically have to greet everyone you meet while going anywhere (= give yourself enough time to walk to point A to B so you aren’t late for an appointments…which is why I am currently on ‘Gambian time’…= when you say you will be at there certain place at 1…you’ll probably be there at 1:45.) So without offending anyone, I greet when I can and as often as I can. The greetings consist of 3-5 question regarding that time period of day (ei: good morning, how did you sleep), how are the people at home/your village (which the person could ask about each individual in your family), and how is the work. Luckily for me, 80% of the responses to the greetings questions are “Jam Tan” (Peace Only). (Oh sorry, the greetings are the person(s)) ask you are question and you responding, and vice versa). The greetings can take 1 minute to 10 minutes…and, again, luckily for me, not knowing the language…when they ask question that I do not understand, I just default and say “Mi famani” (“ I don’t understand”).
If PC doesn’t transport us from place to place…I have a bike…well…I get a new bike in a month…so I can ride to the nearest city to get supplies and use the internet and maybe have a beer. But if I want to travel more than 45k (because I can ride my bike that far before lunch and have enough time to get home), I have to take public transport. There are two main roads in this country: the North Bank Road and the South Bank Road (guess where they are on the map?). The South road is rancid and horrible…pot holes everywhere…so vehicles go very slow at times to avoid getting a flat, and they drive off-road to avoid the shitty road. The North road is much better; and I hear they are attempting to fix the South one…but we’ll see when that gets finished…and I live near the South bank AND AND AND the actual public transportation is good times. In country, there are basically big vans, that have no power steering and are manuals. The drivers and their apprentices jam pack these vans full of people inside, and load the tops of the vehicles with goods (ie: luggage, rice, goats, and maybe some more people). So, if I want to get one, I must flag one down on the main road, if/once they stop, ask them (in local lang) where they’re going, is there room, how much is the fare to where I’m going….and if I think its too much, have them reduce it…and if I have a big bag that needs to go up top, to haggle with a price for that as well. Overall, good times. The vans are called ‘gele geles’ or ‘geles’ for short…and tend to be hammered vehicles because of the conditions of the roads and drivers not caring for their vehicles well being. You may sounds surprised and scared that I take these type of transportation to get to place to place, but PC thinks its safe, so it’s safe.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
So...I'm in Africa...fyi
To all who read...friends and family...and/or curious folks-
So I have a myspace blog, and I've kept up on that for the past three months since on left DC...but then again, I really haven't had access to a computer that much, let alone running water and electricity. I attempted doing a mass email, but there's just too many addresses to copy/paste and Internet is slow and usually it costs. So here's my blog. Sounds like I'll have access to Internet more like either once a week to at least once a month. So there you go. I've received a few letters and a package thus far, and they all made my day!! Send more and as often as you can..if you'd like.
So I left from DC on the 7th (some of this info may be a repeat from my myspace blog, sorry). Before I left, I was told, sorry- I was urged, to cut my hair and take out my earrings. So I cut my long hair (but left my bangs) and took out my earrings (see pic(s)). So, there you go for all that hated my hair and/or my earnings. Um...I flew into the capital and stayed in the main capital area for the first week (there were 17 from all over the US that flew over in my training group). Then after finding out what language we'd learn (me- Pulaar), we were assigned training villages. The Pulaar group had 4 trainees (me included). So, we headed to our designated villages, and we stayed there for two months, give or take a week. In those weeks, I stayed with a host family in a compound of 7 huts, in a village with 7 compounds = small village. The other three trainees in the village with me (one + one married couple) each stayed with a different family/compound. We also had a Lang. and Cultural teacher living in the village...who would teach us how to live in the Gambia (hence their title) Life wasn't hard...just different. I woke up every morning at 7, walk to my teachers house to get the watering cans, walked to the pump to pump water for my garden, watered my garden. At 7:30am my host-mom would send over my breakfast, which would either be rice "oatmeal" or coos in warm water...with or without sour milk. Then, we had class from 8-1....which was mostly language. At 1 we had lunch (Peace Corps (PC) paid a village woman to cook lunches for us...which the five of us would each out of a huge bowl with our right hand only, while sitting on the floor = bad ass!). After lunch, it would be freak'n hot and I'd be really full (sorry, lunches would consist of rice, with either chicken, liver, beef or spam), with assorted veggies, with a sauce = I won't be eating rice again when I get home, sorry mom) so I'd take an hour nap. After napping, I'd study, attempt to interact with my family/village. Two of the other trainees were males, so we'd go for bike rides, or climb trees, or do other 'manly' things. The four of us would also by food to make westerns style food (french fries) some nights or have movies nights (the couple brought a laptop). I'd leave a bucket of water out on my back porch all day long, so at 7pm, after watering my garden again, I'd take a bucket bath with the warm water and listen to the BBC. At 8:30pm, my host-sister would bring me my dinner, which would be more rice, and maybe a small fish and some sauce. There is a video that I'll try to post that shows my hut at my training village (which doesn't compare to my permanent site's hut). There is a lot to put in here that happened between the gaps...but I can only type so much here....but more stories will come to me. Oh....my training village was near Tendaba...so google that and you'd find me.
This last Wednesday, we packed up our shit at training villages and had a site visit to our permanent sites!! Holy crap, talk about scary and awkward. I've been here from 3 months now and am at a Intermediate Low on my lang scores for Pulaar...and they want me to visit my village!?! So...my site is near Bansang, in fact 29k away from it (again, google that and you'll find where I'll be for the next 24 months) = middle of no where; AND since its far from the coast, its really hot, fyi....good lord hot!! I had a lang/cultural teacher with me the whole time I was at site; which help ease the awkwardness of me just being able/willing to only say greetings, I'm going to the pump, dinner was good, and i'm tired. My teacher also assisted in negotiating my rent, meals, and laundry for my with my family. My new host family consists of a dad and one mom (which a male having one wife in the gambia is UN-heard off...so its cool in my fam), 2 sisters, and a brother = small family = easier for my to learn their names...or not forget them at least. My hut is one bedroom, round and spacious, 2 windows....WITH a big backward with a mango tree AND its mango season....hell ya!. My hut also has a thatched roof = shit will fall down on me at night but as a opposed to a metal roof, it will be a lot cooler at night. My village has 47 compounds and 1500 people, with a school and only a few water pumps, but we are 1k away from the river. Wednesday, PC drove us out there from our training villages, but I left with my teacher on Friday to go back to the capital area (Kombo) via public transportation = good times but looks like I wont be coming to Kombo very often because it was a pain in the ass. SO...currently I am in Kombo...I have some more classes and have my final language test ( = scary because if I don't pass it with Intermediate Mid, then I stay in Kombo for 2 more weeks to me tutored = I don't swear -in with the rest of the group = not cool....so no pressure there). I swear-in as a PCV on the 18th and then I get $ to buy stuff for my house...then I'm sent back to my village up-country and there you have it. This is my first blog..but I'll be near a computer for the next few days...so I'll think of some more stuff and type it up. Miss home...the Western style of life and the ease of it all.
So I have a myspace blog, and I've kept up on that for the past three months since on left DC...but then again, I really haven't had access to a computer that much, let alone running water and electricity. I attempted doing a mass email, but there's just too many addresses to copy/paste and Internet is slow and usually it costs. So here's my blog. Sounds like I'll have access to Internet more like either once a week to at least once a month. So there you go. I've received a few letters and a package thus far, and they all made my day!! Send more and as often as you can..if you'd like.
So I left from DC on the 7th (some of this info may be a repeat from my myspace blog, sorry). Before I left, I was told, sorry- I was urged, to cut my hair and take out my earrings. So I cut my long hair (but left my bangs) and took out my earrings (see pic(s)). So, there you go for all that hated my hair and/or my earnings. Um...I flew into the capital and stayed in the main capital area for the first week (there were 17 from all over the US that flew over in my training group). Then after finding out what language we'd learn (me- Pulaar), we were assigned training villages. The Pulaar group had 4 trainees (me included). So, we headed to our designated villages, and we stayed there for two months, give or take a week. In those weeks, I stayed with a host family in a compound of 7 huts, in a village with 7 compounds = small village. The other three trainees in the village with me (one + one married couple) each stayed with a different family/compound. We also had a Lang. and Cultural teacher living in the village...who would teach us how to live in the Gambia (hence their title) Life wasn't hard...just different. I woke up every morning at 7, walk to my teachers house to get the watering cans, walked to the pump to pump water for my garden, watered my garden. At 7:30am my host-mom would send over my breakfast, which would either be rice "oatmeal" or coos in warm water...with or without sour milk. Then, we had class from 8-1....which was mostly language. At 1 we had lunch (Peace Corps (PC) paid a village woman to cook lunches for us...which the five of us would each out of a huge bowl with our right hand only, while sitting on the floor = bad ass!). After lunch, it would be freak'n hot and I'd be really full (sorry, lunches would consist of rice, with either chicken, liver, beef or spam), with assorted veggies, with a sauce = I won't be eating rice again when I get home, sorry mom) so I'd take an hour nap. After napping, I'd study, attempt to interact with my family/village. Two of the other trainees were males, so we'd go for bike rides, or climb trees, or do other 'manly' things. The four of us would also by food to make westerns style food (french fries) some nights or have movies nights (the couple brought a laptop). I'd leave a bucket of water out on my back porch all day long, so at 7pm, after watering my garden again, I'd take a bucket bath with the warm water and listen to the BBC. At 8:30pm, my host-sister would bring me my dinner, which would be more rice, and maybe a small fish and some sauce. There is a video that I'll try to post that shows my hut at my training village (which doesn't compare to my permanent site's hut). There is a lot to put in here that happened between the gaps...but I can only type so much here....but more stories will come to me. Oh....my training village was near Tendaba...so google that and you'd find me.
This last Wednesday, we packed up our shit at training villages and had a site visit to our permanent sites!! Holy crap, talk about scary and awkward. I've been here from 3 months now and am at a Intermediate Low on my lang scores for Pulaar...and they want me to visit my village!?! So...my site is near Bansang, in fact 29k away from it (again, google that and you'll find where I'll be for the next 24 months) = middle of no where; AND since its far from the coast, its really hot, fyi....good lord hot!! I had a lang/cultural teacher with me the whole time I was at site; which help ease the awkwardness of me just being able/willing to only say greetings, I'm going to the pump, dinner was good, and i'm tired. My teacher also assisted in negotiating my rent, meals, and laundry for my with my family. My new host family consists of a dad and one mom (which a male having one wife in the gambia is UN-heard off...so its cool in my fam), 2 sisters, and a brother = small family = easier for my to learn their names...or not forget them at least. My hut is one bedroom, round and spacious, 2 windows....WITH a big backward with a mango tree AND its mango season....hell ya!. My hut also has a thatched roof = shit will fall down on me at night but as a opposed to a metal roof, it will be a lot cooler at night. My village has 47 compounds and 1500 people, with a school and only a few water pumps, but we are 1k away from the river. Wednesday, PC drove us out there from our training villages, but I left with my teacher on Friday to go back to the capital area (Kombo) via public transportation = good times but looks like I wont be coming to Kombo very often because it was a pain in the ass. SO...currently I am in Kombo...I have some more classes and have my final language test ( = scary because if I don't pass it with Intermediate Mid, then I stay in Kombo for 2 more weeks to me tutored = I don't swear -in with the rest of the group = not cool....so no pressure there). I swear-in as a PCV on the 18th and then I get $ to buy stuff for my house...then I'm sent back to my village up-country and there you have it. This is my first blog..but I'll be near a computer for the next few days...so I'll think of some more stuff and type it up. Miss home...the Western style of life and the ease of it all.
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