Just a note

to say that we are all sworn in and heading to our villages in the morning. Friday afternoon we got to have a ceremony at the Ambassadors residence. We did some shopping after the ceremony for household goods that we would need in our huts, things like a mattress and a tank of gas and burner to cook with. Saturday and Sunday they left us alone for some free time, which everybody used to buy food, watch movies, eat out at restaurants, and have a little fun. I had a blast going to the beach around 5 o clock on both days to play a little volleyball. The garage here at the house is full of mattresses, water buckets, and stoves, but tomorrow morning everything including ourselves will be loaded in the land cruised and headed up country. Wont be around to talk for a while but have a good Christmas and New Years.
Love You

 On the right is my sister, her name is Isatoo Sanneh. She talked with me every night in Mandinka, and whenever someone else wanted to talk to me they always said it to her and told her to translate it for me. She is 15 and the oldest of my mom's daughters still in the compound at Kaif. In the middle is Hawa, she about 10 and though shes not looking at the camera dont feel bad for her, she abruptly jumped in every picture that I tried to take of Isa. On the far right is the youngest, Sarjo. Shes 5 and looks pretty intense and mean, and she really scared me at first, but then I figured out that she is just  not saying much because she is shy.

 This is the sun coming up behind a baobab tree. The building is a storage barn for the last compound on the outskirts of Kaif. When I wanted to walk this was my route.

 This is Pabi. He is 13, but is as nice as any grandpa you have ever met. His compound was where we went to school. He walked our group to a dance once, and the dance was as loud as any club you could find back home. Like you would call the police because you couldn't sleep if this club was within 5 miles of your house. Well Pabi got tired, and instead of going home when he was tired, he sat down inside of this dancehall and fell asleep with techno music blaring in his face until we woke him up and said that we were leaving, then he walked us back home.

This is a towel with Zabeth's name on it. Its a functional keepsake because I get to think of Zabeth, see her name, use something of hers, and plus get dry. Its drying in the backyard and the blue bucket on the ground is for bathing.

Similar Differences

One thing that has been pretty interesting so far is that the four of us who were in my training village are all Americans. We are each very different from each other, an older male from Seattle, a 22 year old female from Michigan and a 24 year old guy from upstate New York (in addition to myself). We didnt know each other until we all met in Philadelphia  and bonded on our plane ride over to Gambia. For all of our inherent differences, once we  got to Gambia we were all just considered Americans. It was a little hard at first, because we place so much difference on being from our different parts of the country. We also all have our own interests and attitudes and reasons for coming to Gambia. but to the people in Kaif and to most of the other Gambians  we have met we we are all just the same- Americans. We don't get a chance to tell them that the Southwest is dry and hot and your living in what used to be Mexico. The guy from upstate New York didn't really get to explain that his home is in the Adirondack's and not the huge city. People asked if we all knew each other before we came to Gambia, and although it was frustrating not to be able to explain how different we all are, they do have a point in that we are all American. Its the same for the people here in Gambia, though. There are many ethnic groups including Mandinka, Wolof, Fula, Serahuli, and many more that  Im not writing because I don't know how to spell them. Each group is as different as we all are, if not more so. In my Mandinka village we eat rice and peanut sauce, called durango a lot. Five minutes down the road though, the next village is eating something completely different like coos and fresh milk. When I went to Sami Koto the rice and peanut sauce was totally different from the way its made in Kaif, but it still had the same name. Its like ordering green chile and expecting them chopped, but getting some creamy enchilada sauce instead. I guess the point is Im from America, or the United States but all I really know about is life in the El Paso-Las Cruces area. I am looking forward to knowing not the entire country of Gambia, but one small village named Sami Koto.

Happy to be in the City

well maybe not so much. I am definitely happy to be able to communicate with everyone, through email, letters that I got today, and the things I hope to be able to send out tomorrow. Other than that though I miss Kaif. It was a lot like leaving home two months ago. This morning it was still dark when the Peae Corps van came to pick us up. Even though it was quiet hours my dad, moms, and sister were all outside when the bus pulled up. I got to say good morning, hope you slept well, and my usual greeting one last time. It was difficult though and my voice started cracking. When its dark, the only way to communicate was through voice so I hope that they understood I was sad to be leaving. Last night I stayed up until after 11, and went to all of the important compounds in my neighborhood to say goodbye and chat a little. Every time someone would tell me to stay and chat I would tell them that my mom said I have to get home since its my last night. Actually, she was a lot like my dad. When I told her what time we were leaving she insisted on getting up and making me breakfast. It was way too early but she did rush out to get me a full bag of peanuts for the road.
 Once we got into the city we had a full day of instruction at the Peace Corps office. Then we all got home, ate dinner, and everyone went to work on the internet. Luckily some people went out tonight, which freed up some bandwidth. Well after the late night of saying goodbye yesterday, and the early morning travel today. Im going to bed now. Will try and be up early for some more free internet time. Love you guys!

LOve YOU GUYS

I haven't had a chance to say how much I love everybody. I really love everybody and miss you guys It is still very early in the scheme of things, but I know that I wouldn't have gotten here without everybody encouraging me and getting together to say bye. You guys are all in my thoughts all the time.

Foods

I have been really lucky so far with my food. Every morning in training village the four of us in my group all get our breakfast brought to us by our families after school has started. I am the only one whose food is ready each morning before I leave. Its kind of like my oatmeal in high school. Some people get white ricer porridge and a bag of sugar, most Gambian people would put the sugar in right away, but our families have been instructed to keep it on the side for us. I personally dont get rice, I get a late season millet called coos, or locally called noo, when its cooked its called mono. Its healthier than rice and has more fiber, plus it creates a little diversity in my diet. At training we all gave money so that we could eat a big lunch together. It is presented as a huge bowl of rice, and then the second bowl about half as big is full of vegetables and maybe chicken meat. Our main vegetables are squash, which is kind of an indulgence, and potatos, onions, and a very starchy fiber called cassaba, or namboo. Things are all cooked by boiling them, and then they are left to simmer in an oil sauce with chopped onions and a bouillion spice packet called Jimbo. We put the meat and veggies in the middle of the huge bowl of rice, and then thee four students and our teacher sit around the bowl. We all dig in with our right hands. The method is kind of whatever you find best for you, some people take big handfuls and squeeze the food into balls, I personally just use my first three fingers to take a small helping from the bowl to my mouth. I lost too much rice and veggies when I had a big handful. It was like seeing an 18 wheeler full of hay go down the highway and you think about all the lost product blowing away. That's how  I felt when I saw all the rice on my ankles that fell out of my hand. For dinner in Kaif every night I get a bowl of white rice with peanut sause, fish sauce, or sometimes a leaf sauce, either Jamboo, or Kucha. Jamboo is potato leaves and kucha is wild sorrel. It is pounded into a pesto like paste and put right on top of the rice. Wether in a communal bowl or your own personal bowl the idea is to take just enough sauce from the middle to flavor your bite. You dont want to ravage the bowl and mix everrything up, because if you dont eat it all your plate will be handed over to someone else, and just think if you were second in line you wouldnt want some rice and beans and enchiladas all mixed up in the middle, you would like things still seperate as they were presented so that you could make your own judgements about what to eat. When you eat communally it is very nice manners to reach into the middle, take something large and mash it between your fingers and then distribute it to other people. Its the equivalent of being the barbecuer at a cookout, your handing out the sausage, and in a group meal you are just serving every one.

Site Visit

Hey,
so this week has been a pretty big week for all of us trainees. on monday we went from our training villages to the big training center in Jenoi. waiting for us there were representatives from each of our villages. For two days we got to know our reps, and then on Wednesday they took us via public transport to our permanent sites. My site is a four to five hour bus ride from Soma up to Basse, then  a van ride for the remaining 25 miles over dirt road. I got to my new house, a cylindrical thatched roof hut a little after dark, but my family was all awake to greet me. I am living in a former volunteers house, so he already made some key investments, like building an outdoor bed and a structure for exercising. He also came to introduce me and catch up with his former family. On Thursday my represenative came over in the morning, and we walked around to meet the alikaloo, or village cheif, the alimamo, or spiritual leader, and the heads of the village development committee, womens group, teachers, nurses, and other important people. The tradition is to buy Kola nuts and then when you greet someone you hand them some kola nuts as a way of saying you are coming in peace and happy to be there. Alot of people were already off working in the fields by the time we walked through the village, so walking went pretty quick. Normally, when there are people out you greet each one and stop to chat. This is how you get to know people and become, slowly, slowly, a friend and then a member of the community. Friday morning I did the same thing in Same Kuda, which means new Sami, its the new part of the same village, but they have their own groups so I met them all as well. This morning I left in order to get back to Jenoi by tomorrow night for some more training.

My home is Kaif

Hey,
Well the deal is... we are in training.When we left Banjul, we came to Jenoi agricultural Training center for some basic orientation stuff. we spent three nights there and then moved to what is called our training villages. My training village is Kaif and I live in the village with seven other Americans. Four of them live in a different part of the village, and me and three others are live close to each other. Everyday we go to language class with our teacher. we learn and then go home with our host families to just get the hang of living, the lifestyle, the language and the pace. I really like my host family, There are three sisters and three brothers that I know are mine for sure. There are a million kids at any given moment so there could be some others related to me that I just dont remember their names. My mom and sisters make millet flour every night. They take the millet off the plant and beat it down in a large pot by hand. Its like a huge mortar and pestil system. Then my mom takes the flower and makes little flour balls, which gets cooked in the morning into pouridge. Rice for lunch and rice for dinner. I normally spend the first few hours after dark just sitting on the porch on a mat. My little sister is really good about speaking to me slowly and using simple words, so me and her talk, and she also translates for everybody else. It cools off at night so thats good hanging out time. the language lessons are really useful, for example one day this week we did transportation language, so today our assignment was to ride the bus to the city. I found out that I will be permanently going to a place called Sami Koto, which is way up the country on the other side of Basse. We visit there in a couple of weeks so I should have more to report. I feel like it is so beautiful and great that I havent been able to describe any of it adequately in words. In December, when training is over, hopefully I can give some pictures and a better representation.I got everyones emails and thanks so much. I thought it would be easier to write this though.If you have any questions please email me and i will try and tell you all about it next time.Miss you guys and love you alot. Things are good!

The first is a picture of my boot shined at the El Paso Airport. The second is a picture of everybody eating dinner at the house. Today we had our initial introduction to all the staff. Everyone who works at the office is Gambian. We did some language training, and then interviews for our possible sites and what languages we need to learn. We had chicken and rice for lunch, and chicken and french fries for dinner. So tomorrow we are leaving to our training villages for the next two months. I am going to leave my computer in the city, so if I find public internet I will be in touch, but if not I will e-mail again when we come back to the city. I am really happy to have a newly fashioned shirt that nani fixed, and Im always really happy to eat the candy that Zabeth gave me. I am saving the mementos and pictures for when Im pretty lonely out in a village. Love you guys, til next time

Just Getting Here

Well things have been pretty good so far. When I got in the shuttle to go from the Philadelphia Airport to the Hotel, another guy from my group was already waiting inside the van. We talked the whole way to our Hotel, and then found out we were roommates as well. It was sure nice not to have to meet someone else once we got there. After a small orientation and logistics talk on Wednesday, we all went to dinner across the street from the hotel. I chose Pizza. Thursday morning we got on a charter bus at 8:30 am and left for JFK airport in New York. That night our flight to Brussels left at 5:15. We arrived around midnight our time, which was 6am Brussels time. Then we got on a flight for Banjul at 10 am and got to Banjul around 4pm. There was a large group of people to meet us at the airport and welcome us to ton. That was really nice. Dinner was brought right over, it was french fries, cole slaw, and a meat on bone situation, but I ate it all. Tonight we are all in a big group house for all the Americans in Gambia. Tomorrow morning is vaccinations and moving into training.