Scenes from Mariama Kunda

I thought I would post some random pictures from Mariama Kunda.  I just liked some of these pictures and am about done with tales of Mariama Kunda.  Below is the main road through town.  The dirt here is basically sand.  When it rains the water pools up and the roads are treacherous.  You definitely need a big 4 wheel drive to navigate though them after a good rain.  But the picture below demonstrates the beauty of a nice day.  Now that I am living in the city I look back on this with longing.  Cars were not numerous as you can tell by the picture and the overall feeling was pastoral.  Note the fencing along the road.  This encloses compounds and can be made of mud block, corrugate in various stages of rusting, palm fronds, or anything else to enclose the area.

The next is a picture of some school girls in their school uniform.  I just like the picture, plus you cn see a little more of the 'hood.  Note the ever present chickens.

A picture of Haddy Cesaay, the youngest member of the family who live in the compound in which we did  our language training.  If she doesn't make you smile, something is wrong with you.

Here is Isatou from my training compound, working hard doing the wash.  I enclosed this picture because this will be me for the next two years doing my wash.  I try to do it frequently but sometimes the weather will not cooperate and it piles up.  I hear that the rain usually stops at the end of September but the humidity remains until November so October is the toughest month.

As I mentioned above the roads can get a little hairy in the rain.  This is not a road, merely a path, but any port in a storm.

Another rainy day scene that is quite typical.  When it rains hard and the puddles form, the little boys love to shed their clothes and splash in the water.  

Baobob trees are one of the scenic wonders of The Gambia.  Some of these trees are huge and are beautiful.  This was one in the village that was the marker for finding the bar that served beer and mixed drinks.  The bar is in a Christian compound since the Muslim faith does not believe in intoxicants.  

The Gambian children seem to love Toubobs (can mean various things but I will go with the kindest one -- white person).  We returned from training that had taken several days off site.  The neighborhood children were glad to see us return.

This little boy loved his blue rain boots.  He had his priorities when he was getting dressed -- boots first.

The Gambians use a very large mortar and pestle for their cooking.  I thought I would give you an idea of the size of it by including a picture of little Koomba Gaye,  hard at work.  She is 4 1/2 years old and a real firecracker.