Postcards From Gambia

Photo

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 19:26:00 -0400

Tubabs in Kartung

The only restaurant in the village

tubabs biking!

Kartung

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 19:54:21 -0400

Tuve unos días de vacaciones a si que Liba, Dylan y yo decidimos ir explorar a fuera de la ciudad. Gracias a mi amiga Michal Friedman que me dio un libro de guía de viaje, encontré un publecito que se llama Kartung. Kartung esta localizada a dos horas sur de mi casa en Serekunda. Mi libro dice que Kartong es uno de los mejores secretos escondidos en Gambia.

Ese dia tomamos tres microbuses para llegar al pueblo. Cada microbús que tomamos fueron muy pequeños que todos teníamos que estar apretados en un solo lugar. Tuve que cargar unos cuantos niños para tener un lugar donde sentarme. Cuando llegamos a kartung, encontramos nuestro hotel el equator lodge.

Ese mismo dia decidimos explorar el pueblito. Cuando fue tiempo de la cena, nosotros no sabíamos que para tener cena de un restaurante, uno tiene que llamar unas cuantas horas antes, decirles exactamente nuestra orden y a si cuando es tiempo de comer en la noche la cena estará lista. Como no sabíamos esto porque ya estamos acostumbrados a la vida de la ciudad, nuestra comida no fue muy buena.

Al día siguiente, rentamos unas bicicletas y anduvimos por todos lados. El paisaje fue muy bonito, vimos ríos, playas y jardines muy grandes. Para la cena un amigo que hicimos el dia anterior nos invito a cenar, el mato una gallina y nos hizo Domoda con pollo. Estaba muy rico.

Todo fue muy divertido y relajante excepto por algo que vimos. Cuando andábamos en bicicleta vimos a un niño que iba llorando en la calle. El niño tenía una quemadura muy grave que la piel se le estaba cayendo. Nosotros no pudimos hacer nada pero sin embargo queríamos ayudar, porque se miraba muy doloroso. Llevamos al niño a la clínica del pueblo y nadie había. En Kartung nos dijeron que no hay doctores ni enfermeras. A si que lo único que pudimos hacer fue, lavar la quemadura y poner un poquito de medicina que yo traje para quemaduras y cortaduras.

Antes de partir a nuestra casa en serakunda fuimos a ver como el niño estaba. Cuando lo vimos nos sorprendimos que andaba jugando y riéndose con sus amigos. La mama le había puesto una medicina natural casera. La quemadura se miraba mejor. Me gusto ver que siempre de alguna manera u otra, aunque los recursos sean escarzos siempre hay una manera en que el pobre trata sus problemas con maneras alternativas que no cuestan mucho. Me sentí mejor cuando vi que el niño se mejoro y que iba a estar mejor.

Kartung

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 19:53:11 -0400

We had a few days off from school so Dylan, Liba and I decided to go to Kartong. Thanks to my good friend Michal Friedman, that gave me a nice travel guide book before coming to Gambia, we found this nice peaceful place, Kartong. As the book says, “Kartong is a calm little village… one of Gambia’s best-kept secrets, a picturesque-postcard village where gigantic palm trees sway over women with children on their backs and old men on wobbly bicycles” – Lonely planet

We took bush taxis (vans) to get to our destination, we changed vans three times and each time it was a smaller van crowded with people. I had to carry a few children just so I could have a seat. When we got there we found our place to stay, quator lodge. We stay in a little hut and it was very cozy and pretty.

I live in Serakunda which is the city. Going to Kartung exposed me to a different Gambian lifestyle. For example, in the village if you want to eat at a restaurant you have to call in advance and tell them exactly what you want so that they can fix it and have it ready for dinner. We did not know this so our dinner was not a very good one.

The next day we went on a bicycle trip. There are not cars in Kartong, so everyone owns a bicycle. This is place I would love to live, because I don’t drive and I love biking. The scenery was beautiful. In that little village we saw a river, the beach and huge gardens. A local friend showed us around we had the best time biking around. At night, we ate dinner with another new acquaintance, Amil. He made us chicken domoda and it was delicious. He killed a chicken for us and cooked his very best domoda plate.

Everything was really fun except for one thing that we saw. While we were biking around, we saw this little kid crying, he had a burn in his arm and it was a third degree burn. The skin was coming off. We went to the local clinic with him but nobody was there. Liba put on gloves and started washing the burn because it looked painful. I ran to my lodge and got my neosporin, as it was the only medication I had with me.

There is not a hospital in Kartong or any doctors or nurses. This was very unfortunate to witness because we were not experts at anything. There was nothing we can do but the wash the dirt out of the burn and put a little medicine in it. The next day before living town we went to see how the kid was doing. Surprisingly, he looked better and he had a natural bandage covering the burn. He was laughing and playing with his friends. In places where the resources are scarce people have to rely more on their home-made medicine. I was pleased to see that the little boy was better and that the mother found an alternative way to treat the burn. They reassured us that the boy was going to be okay.

African Dinner at Dr. Sene’s house.

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 14:26:29 -0400

African Dinner at Dr. Sene’s house.

Last weekend we went on an excursion to James’ Island,...

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 09:40:00 -0400

Last weekend we went on an excursion to James’ Island, renamed Khunta Kinte. James Island was a British fort front in the times of colonization. It was a mid-point in which the Europeans could stop before going across the ocean to the Americas. Earlier to going in the boat ride to take us to the island, we went to a museum that explained more detail of how the island was used to keep slaves imprisoned before the terrible voyage. This Island is very meaningful in history and it is now part of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites.

La semana pasada fuimos en una excursión a Isla James, que es ahora llamada Khunta Kinte. Isla James fue una fortaleza británica en los tiempos de colonización. Fue un punto de encuentro en donde los europeos podían encarcelar a esclavos africanos antes de que los embarcaran hacia las Americas. Esta isla en muy importante en historia que es ahora reconocido como patrimonio de la humanidad por UNESCO.

Here in The Gambia, sunrises and sunsets are my favorite things...

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 08:44:00 -0400

Here in The Gambia, sunrises and sunsets are my favorite things to watch. It is impressive to think how lucky we are to be able to see these amazing things. I thought it will be nice for you to see it as well. Enjoy the pictures!

Aqui en Gambia, el amanezer y el atardezer son lindisimos. Poder mirarlos casi todos los dias en una bendicion. Es increible pensar en todas estas maravillas de la naturaleza. Ojala les gusten las fotos!

Kartong repitle park is run by a french man that wants to...

Sun, 04 Mar 2012 19:31:00 -0500

Kartong repitle park is run by a french man that wants to protect reptiles, in particular those in danger of extinction. In The Gambia, as he explained, locals think all snakes are dangerous. He wants to change those views as a way to protect the animals.

El parque Kartong is dirigido por un senor frances que quiere projer a los reptiles, en particular a aquellos en peligro de extincion. En Gambia, todos creen que todas las serpientes son malas, pero en realidad hay unas serpientes que son innofencivas. Y la majoria de serpientes no son venenosas. Asi que el senor quiere cambiar las malas percepciones para prevenir que maten a las serpientes.

Wednesday I went to see Alegeria vs. The Gambia Futbal match! It...

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 09:05:00 -0500

Orange man!

Wednesday I went to see Alegeria vs. The Gambia Futbal match! It was really exciting. Gambia’s national team scored a goal in the first half but Algeria scored two in the second, so we lost. After the game the fans were angry because they thought the players did not play well, so they rioted. People were throwing rocks at the police and it was total chaos. We watch everything for the stadium, we laughed so much when we saw this man selling oranges, while rocks flew over his head. That is what I called work ethics!

El miercoles pasado fui a ver un partido de futbol The Gambia vs. Alegeria. Estuvo bueno, Gambia metio un goal en el primer tiempo y Ageria metio dos goles en el secundo tiempo. Perdimos ;(. Despues del partido los fanes estaban furiosos que comenzaron a tirar piedras, querian agarrar a los jugadores. Nosotros miramos todo desde arriba del estadio. Nos reimos mucho cuando vimos un vendedor de naranjas, vendiendo como si nada. Las piedras le pasaban por la cabeza, pero el seguia vendiendo. Un hombre dedicado a su trabajo cueste lo que le cueste! jajaja

Student’s week! The best week I have had so far in The...

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 02:55:00 -0500

Student’s week! The best week I have had so far in The Gambia. In the sports tournament, I played soccer and scored an awesome penalty goal. For community service, I taught Latin American geography to high school students. At the cultural night I danced salsa and won the dance competition!

La semana de estudiantes fue espectacular! En el torneo de deportes, jugue futbal y meti un golazo de penalty. Para servicio a la comunidad, ensene geografia a estudiantes de secundaria. Y para la noche cultural, baile salsa y gane la competencia de baile!

Happy Independence Day Gambia! Feb. 18

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 02:27:00 -0500

Fatus' benachine

Happy Independence Day Gambia! Feb. 18

Photo

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 16:18:25 -0500

Una Boda Gambina!

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 14:10:33 -0500

Hace tres domingos fui a una boda Gambina. Nuestro Amigo Alieu nos invito a la boda de su tio. La boda fue en un publecito cerca de donde vivimos. Cuando llegamos, es tradición que los invitados sean introducidos a las señoras mayores de la familia. Conocimos a la novia y nos tomamos fotos con ella y su esposo.

Despues de ayudar un poco a cocinar, sacar agua de un pozo y hablar con la familia, los niños insistían en que nosotros les ensenáramos un juego. Mi amiga liba y yo decimos jugar un juego que se llama Goose. A los niños le gusto muchísimo y nosotros los tubabs también.

Despues de estar jugando por tres horas, nos llamaron a comer. Esta vez cominos al estilo Gambino. La manera como los Gambinos comen es simple. Ellos ponen mucha comida en un plato grande, lo ponen en el suelo. Para un grupo de 11 personas pusieron 2 platos grandes. Nos sentamos en el suelo y comimos con las manos. Uno solo puede comer con la mano derecha, porque la mano izquierda es considerada sucia. Me gusto comer de esta manera porque a si nos asimilamos mas a la cultura. Despues de la cena, los tambores comenzaron a sonar y la gente se preparo para la ceremonia de la boda.

Todas las mujeres de la fiesta se vistieron en sus trajes tradicionales africanos y comenzaron a bailar. Nos fuimos como a las 9 de la noche. Ahora puedo escribir en mi diario que e ido a una boda en África.

Gambian Wedding!

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 14:08:02 -0500

Three Sundays ago, we got invited to a Gambian wedding! Our friend Alieu invited us to his uncle’s wedding. I pull out my very best outfit (a flowery dress) and sort of tried to put my hair up. The wedding was in a nearby village; we arrived there and immediately were introduced to the elder women. We spent time talking to people, taking pictures and helping out cooking for a little. The family had their own well, so a few of us helped out pulling out water from it. That was a good arm exercise!

The children wanted some entertainment from us, so Liba a girl in the group taught us how to play goose. We sat around in a circle; there were probably at least 20 children no taller than 4 feet playing. They loved the game it was fun.

After a couple hours dinner was ready, we ate it Gambian style for the first time. Gambians eat their meal with their hands. The food is served in a huge platter and placed on the floor. Then everyone seats around the platter and start taking the food with their hands. The meal was rice, pieces for beef and cassava. We can only eat with our right hand, the left hand is considered dirty. The trick to eating with your hands without looking silly and spilling everything on your clothes is to make the rice and everything in it into a ball. I liked that we ate this way because that is how locals are supposed to do it. This way in my opinion makes the food taste even better not to mention it is very entertaining to see all the tubabs struggling to eat well.

After dinner the drummers came and people were getting ready for the ceremony. All the ladies were dressed in their beautiful traditional African dresses and started dancing. People were impressed with my African moves, I was proud. In the circle everyone takes turns to dance in the middle. I have noticed that Gambian dancing is more about stumping feet. Unlike my previous knowledge of African dancing that included lots of hand and head movement. We stayed until the bride came into the circle, when she came in, we could smell her amazing perfume. She smelled very nice. She danced for a little but remained sited for most of the time.

We left around 9 pm. I was very tired after all the dancing. It was a good work-out.

BeeCause!

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 18:31:16 -0500

BeeCause!

This is the thing I talked about in “Unexpected guest of...

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 05:39:09 -0500

This is the thing I talked about in “Unexpected guest of honor” check it out!

Bakau Katchikally Crocodile Pool. In this place they have over...

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 03:55:00 -0500

Bakau Katchikally Crocodile Pool. In this place they have over 100 crocodiles!

Photo

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 08:52:00 -0500

University of The Gambia!

Monkey at Bijilo Monkey Park

Traditional Chicken Yassa!

First week of school!

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 08:29:44 -0500

My first week of school did not start the way I wanted. I was already warned that the school system was very different from the one in the U.S. However, I was still taken by surprised. The first day, two of my teachers did not show up to class. I spent all day the looking for classes that had been relocated to different rooms or simply had been cancelled without me knowing. For some of the classes I went, we spent the first 15 minutes negotiating better times for the classes to meet. At the University of The Gambia, the professors are allowed to change the time and dates the classes are hold, if the majority of students agree with it.

At the University there is a chair shortage; students need to go take seats from empty classrooms for their next classes. I had to do this several times. I found it to be very funny but I also realized that for Gambian students this is not something that interferes with their eagerness to learn. Gambian students are very welcoming and kind to new students; everyone respects and acknowledges the fact that not everyone can afford to go to a university, therefore everyone should be thankful to be there. I feel the same way.

After the several adjustments I found a schedule that works very well for me. I will take history, French, agriculture and math.

My last class of the day is Math. I decided to take a simple math class to improve my math skills. I am glad I went. Being part of that math class made a difference in my college experience so far here in The Gambia. I went to the class and it was completely full, I did not have a seat so I spent a good time looking around for one. There were 65 people in a small classroom and it was probably 100 F degree. However, my teacher an engineer from Sweden came in with the most enthusiastic face. As the class progressed I kept admiring the great work my teacher was doing by teaching math as clearly as he could. He was very patient and he made sure people understood everything. One the things I liked that he said to the class was,” Please ask questions, in particular the stupid ones, those are the best ones”. I felt so inspired by his work it almost made think that I would like to be a teacher too. I believe this man is doing a great thing, passing his skills to people that need them the most. This class also made me laugh, by the end of the class we were probably 80 people. We were literally rubbing shoulders with each other. Nevertheless, even if we are not in a fancy setting, for the Gambian students and me, the thing that matter the most is to learn math and learn it well.

At the end of the day I thought of what Alec Davis once told me “Make the best out of every situation”. I look forward to the things I will learn in my time in The Gambia.

Primera semana de clases!

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 08:24:17 -0500

Mi primera semana de clases no fue lo que esperaba. Los directores del programa nos habían advertido que el sistema educativo Gambino no era como el de los Estado Unidos. Es fácil decir las cosas, pero es más difícil verlas en realidad. El primer día de clases, dos de mis profesores no vinieron. Me pase todo el día buscando salones de clases que no salían en mi horario, y me la pase buscando clases que ni sabían que se habían cancelado. A veces no hay sillas en las aulas para sentarse. A si que todos los estudiantes tienen que buscar sillas en salones vacíos. A las clases que fui, en los primeros 15 minutos los profesores y los estudiantes nos la pasamos negociando cuando queríamos que las clases fueran. En la universidad de Gambia, los profesores pueden sugerir que se cambien las clases para solo tenerlas un día a la semana con diferentes horas. Es muy conveniente de esta manera, porque a si todos pueden ir a la clase en el tiempo que es mejor para la mayoría de los estudiantes. Después de asistir a todas las clases que tenia en mente, hice finalmente mi horario de clases. Voy a tener Historia, Agricultura, Francés y Matemática.

Una de las cosas que tengo que decir, es que los estudiantes Gambinos son muy muy amables. Me ayudaron mucho a encontrar los salones de clases, la cafetería, los números de algunos profesores etc. Todos son muy amigables y entienden que somos estudiantes internacionales y que no sabemos donde nada se encuentra.

Mi última clase del dia es Matematica. Mi profesor es un ingeniero de Suecia. Esta clase me encanto porque el profesor fue muy paciente y amable con todo el mundo. Los estudiantes Gambinos se miraban muy serios y con muchas ganas de aprender. Nadie se burlaba de nadie, y todos hacían muchas preguntas para asegurarse que todo fue entendido. El profesor nos dijo “Por favor hagan preguntas, especialmente aquellas que creen que son estúpidas, porque esas son las mejores preguntas”. Yo pienso que este profesor esta haciendo un trabajo muy admirable, esta ayudando a gente que necesita aprender matemática de la mejor manera posible. En la clase también me reí un poco, habíamos como 80 personas en un salón muy pequeño, no aire acondicionado por supuesto (no que lo extraño, porque nunca me a gustado) y estaba tan llena la clase que literalmente todos estábamos tocando hombros con todo el mundo. Estas son las experiencias que yo ando buscando.

Esta clase también me hizo reflexionar en que tener una educación es un derecho humano que todos necesitamos para avanzar como sociedad. Especialmente en países pobres, educación en las ciencias y matemáticas son vitales para el desarrollo del país.

Al final del día pensé en lo que me dijo Alec Davis acerca de la vida,” hace lo mejor de cualquier situación en que te encuentres”. Estoy muy emocionada de las cosas que aprenderé de mi estadía en Gambia.

Photo

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:36:00 -0500

The Arch in Banjul

The National Museum

Our friend Alieu!

Muhamed and I! Alieu's nephew

Sunday Soccer!

Kiki!

Alieu's family eating their lunch :)