I am alive and well, dont worry

Hi all. Long time, I know sorry but not my fault…the internet at the nearest hospital was not paid for so I could not go on, go figure. I know you are all dying for information so Ill do what I can. I am currently in Basse, look at a map, visiting friends and we found an internet café…run by a huge generator, ha. So, lets try this out. I am just hanging out in my village as much as possible…although I go into Bansang or go and visit friends on weekends to see them and get supplies…I try to cook my own dinners but really what it comes downs to is just a tuna meal and then I eat some dinner with my host family. I, again, am trying to integrate and learn the language…good times, good times. These first three months are just really me trying to assess what the village needs, their resources, and what they are interested in. I will make a garden in my backyard soon soon…the rains will hit mid july…in fact the other morning it rained in Basse and apparently no where else in The Gambia, and it was amazing. All the locals ran into their houses and my PC friends and I just stood outside and took a free bath, ha. The PCs in my area just had a meeting regarding the worldwide impending food crisis, that will affect my area….thus people that I live amongst will be hungry…so im doing what I can do make sure we can construct gardens and have people save money…but time will tell. It is still 120 degrees F but, again, with the rains coming soon…it will cool down equals YES. So I am just figuring out my place in the village and area to see what work I will or be doing for the next two years. Stories….Battery Project. I had this idea when I was in training…people buy and used small batteries for their radios often here…but there is no garbage can or area to throw your waste…so it goes on the ground. Then kids will end up playing with the batteries…long story short…bad news bears. SO, I told a few kids in my village to bring me batteries and ill give them one minty, or candy, for one battery. Sounds like a good idea right, give the kids candy so they wont play with the used batteries. Well…I went thru 3 bags of candy my mom sent over from America and then I bought 2 bags of candy from the local shops in my village…thus showing my wealth as a white person in my village equal not good. And the kids were coming to me with their hands and cloths filthy. So I ran out of candy but had the kids wash their hands with soap as they came with their batteries. I currently have 2,000 D size batteries in my backyard, waiting to be put in my pit latrine. Ill have pics for it soon soon. Its an overall good story to tell, one of many moments that a PC had a great idea but it back fired. 2nd story...Bush Pig. So I live in a country that mainly practices Islam, thus they cannot eat pig. People througout the country now are clearing land for farming for the rainy season that is fast approaching. Also, hunters go out every sunday to rid the area of sqirrels, rabbits, monkeys, baboons and bush pig...because these animals will ruin their crops...sounds bad i know but its africa. so i tell the hunters, when you kill a pig, cut a leg off and bring it to me, because you cant eat it BUT i CAN. so finally one night my host brother brings me a pig leg at like 10pm the other night. i bring the leg to my backyard, really in amazment that i actually got the leg. i cut a few pieces off that night and fried it up...very good. the next morning i cut up half the leg and boiled it and had meat the entire day...i was very full and i got enough protein for a bit. the meat went bad later that night so i tossed it into the woods by my compound later that night. This is just one of man surreal african moments that ill experience while i am here.