Now This is a Cute Baby

This is a picture of my favorite Gambian colleague and his baby.  We were on trek together when his baby was born. We had a discussion on the types of things he would do (changing diapers was not going to happen but did) and this one did not even come up in the discussion.  I will say that he is the first Gambian man I have seen with the baby tied on his back, but both he and the baby look pretty happy.  And what a cute baby he is.  Way to go my friend.

Watching Foodball in The Gambia

It probably goes without saying that the World Cup has been huge in The Gambia.  Every boy here is a football fan (soccer to you Americans. My question is why is US football named football, they really don't use their feet on the ball that much)  When I was in Soma I watched the US Game in a video club, which are where most Gambians gather to watch football.  It was an interesting experience.  The Argentina/Nigeria game was on one television and the US/Germany game was on the other.

Unfortunately the sound was only on for the Argentina/Nigeria game. The US game was video only. Argentina scored the first goal in either game and several of the men leaped to their feet and cheered.  I asked someone why they were cheering for Argentina and they said that Christian Reynaldo played for Real Madrid and Real Madrid had many fans in The Gambia.  So I thought the fans were favoring Argentina. Then Nigeria scored and the room erupted.  Obviously, the Africa pull was much stronger than the club soccer loyalties.

I will confess that I ended up spending more time watching the Argentina game.  The camera work was better on that network and sound does make a big difference.  The US lost but was able to advance to the next round so it was okay.  Below is a different view of the video club so you can get the whole picture. We paid 5 dalasi to get in and 2 dalasi for a bag of water.  Can the cineplexes in the states compete with that.

If it looks to you like it might have been hot inside, it was.

My First (and Only) Donkey Cart Ride

Donkey carts are ubiquitous in The Gambia.  You see them up country and you see them in the city.  I was recently in Soma and was with another volunteer who lives there.  She was buying food for her host family to use during Ramadan as silifando (a gift).  The families all fast during the daylight hours but have better food than usual during the Ramadan after they break fast so Natasha had purchased a big bag of onions, 3 liters of vegetable oil, some spices and vegetables for her family.  Instead of throwing the purchases in the trunk of a car ala America, it was time to use the donkey cart. This donkey cart was driven by a boy who looked to be about 9 or 10 years old along with his younger brother.  In the picture below you can see Natasha and the younger brother plus the purchases loaded on the cart.

We proceeded from that point and the first thing the boy did was smack the donkey with a stick which made no change in the donkey's pace.  We told him we would pay him extra if he did not hit the donkey.   He sneaked in a few more swats but seemed okay to let the donkey go at his pace. I feel sorry for the donkeys -- they are pretty stupid but they have a hard life.  The picture below is my action shot.  I was just behind the driver on the right hand side.

You can see that the donkey does not seem to have a bunch of open sores (which some do) so I don't think he usually gets beaten too hard.  Slowly and steadily we finally made it to Natasha's house and presented the silifando. Her family was very happy.

My worst nightmare

Well maybe it is not my worst nightmare, but it is still pretty scary.  I have never been a big fan of ironing and try to avoid all fabrics that wrinkle.  I actually do some ironing in The Gambia so I don't walk around looking like I slept in my clothes.  But I do use an electric steam iron for my ironing. The Gambian women and men all look very well pressed and generally look much better than the average Peace Corps volunteer. However in most cases the iron they use looks like the one below.

I took the picture of the iron my landlord's family uses.  They were waiting for the charcoal to get to the right temperature to iron.  Now I know that my grandmother may have used such a thing in her day (I am old, remember) but am very thankful that I don't have to push an iron filled with charcoal over my clothing.

Human Powered Ferry

My Peace Corps service is drawing to a close but I have still another ferry trip to document. This is a human powered ferry over the River Gambia at the town of Bansang. The river separates the Central River Region into the North and South Banks.  We were doing monitoring on both banks and were going to stay on Janjanbureh, which is an island  in the middle of both banks so this ferry was thing we needed to get from point A to point B.  The ferry can take two cars and a bunch of passengers. Once everyone is on the ferry, the men passengers grab the cable that is strung through the boat and attached to  each bank.  When the ferry is not moving, the cable remains under water.

Here the men doing their manly duty. The  man with the red hat is Banno, our WFP driver for the trip.

Here is a picture of the smallest manly man doing his bit.  He actually was pulling the cable and carrying his share of the burden.  If you look to the right can see how the cable is strung through the ferry.

I, of course, had to take a turn on the cable.  It was not too much of a physical exertion.  I only did it for a short time and then retired to the sidelines with the rest of the ladies. Everyone except Banno and I used their bare hands to pull.

The last picture is the end of the line.  You can see the cable going to the shore and the people awaiting our arrival.

Another Great Vacation

It has been a long time but I am still alive and kicking.  I recently got back from two weeks in Spain and Portugal that I spent with two friends from Portland.  I had been to coastal Spain in the mid 70's and to Barcelona just after the Olympics in the 90's and I am here to tell you that tourism has increased a bit. There are so many people everywhere, it is a little daunting.  My first reaction when I got there was that everything was so clean.  I was just looking around in awe and my friend said "But Portland looks like this".  I guess I had forgotten what a clean city can look like. Oh well, in a few months I will be able to experience it first hand again -- that and hot showers and baths.

I flew round trip to Barcelona on a Gambia Bird airlines airbus.  It was a very nice flight and a nice airplane. The flight from Madrid to Lisbon was a little different as you can tell from the picture below.  There is no cockpit door.  Shortly after I took this picture the pilot turned around and gave me a thumbs up with a quizzical expression on his face. I gave him a thumbs up and he nodded and turned around and proceeded to move the plane into the taxiway. 

But I get ahead of myself since Lisbon was the last stop. The first stop was Barcelona which was beautiful with lovely weather. We saw many sights on the hop on, hop off tourist buses which make getting around pretty easy.  When I was in Barcelona before (in 1993) my hotel was across from a Gaudi designed apartment building with balconies that look like skulls.  Lit up at night it is quite spooky looking but impressive and just like I remembered.

Another of the sights that we saw was the Barcelona bull ring or should I say that we thought we were going to see it.  When we got inside we discovered that it had been turned into a shopping mall with lots of restaurants. Barcelona is over the whole killing the bull thing.

One thing they are not over is making art from trash.  Here are two examples.  The skull below is made entirely from crushed cans.

This lizard is made entirely of old CDs.  It looks amazing when the sun is setting and it turns to rainbow hews.

The art of bull fighting is still alive and well in Madrid.  We took a tour and found that the shady seats get the premium and that the bulls are taken to butchers who sell the meat.  There are many interesting things in their museum.  I took many nice pictures, but the one I like the best is this out of focus picture of the mother of a bull.  The bull killed the most famous matador of all time. The bull itself was killed in the ring, but they went to to farm and killed the mother of the bull too. Her head is on display in the museum. (I know it is out of focus but the story tickled me)

We were in Spain during holy week.  On Palm Sunday we were in a white village in the hillsides near the ocean.  They had a little church in the village and they were doing it up in big style but on a charming level.  I saw Roman centurions on horseback, a whole slew of saints, Jesus riding a donkey, children dressed in a variety of costumes, people with olive branches and of course people with palm fronds.

We went to the Alhambra which I had seen back in the 70's but we took a guided tour this time rather than going from a guide book..  There was a lot more to see that we missed in my first vista.  On our way back from there we took a side trip to Rondo which is in the low mountains (some of them still had snow).  This was a charming town after the big city atmosphere.  It still had tourists but it had a different feel.  It is built on the top of a chasm and I do mean a chasm. The amazing thing was that you would not realize it was there until you are on the bridge over the chasm.  Tres cool.

After that charming start of Holy Week we were onto Madrid.  Let's just say that they take it to a different level. The Holy Week processions are now a major tourist attraction The penitents walk through the streets in long white robes, carrying candles, sliver googaws or wooden crosses.  They wear hoods reminiscent of the Ku Klux Klan but theirs predate the Klan by many, many years.  They have been doing these processions for centuries. Some choose to make the trek barefoot or in stocking feet to show extra penitence. Unfortunately it has lost its power because it also includes children penitents dressed in the same outfits being walked by Madre, Padre or both. I have a feeling that children have not always been part of the penitents. I saw a baby in asleep in a stroller who was dressed in the penitent’s robes.

You'll notice that the men with the crosses wear the points down on their hoods. There were also two richly ornamented floats, on in gold with Jesus and a silver float with Mary.  These were carried by the real penitents (imho).  They carry the floats on their shoulders and backs but the only part you can see of them is from their legs down. They are fairly large and must weigh a good deal.  I did not see any children carrying the floats.  It is quite the spectacle but mobbed with people and tourists (I know, I know, I, myself, was one).  I much preferred the Palm Sunday version in the white village. So, if you are ever in Spain during holy week, check out the smaller towns for a more down home feel.

From there it was onto Lisbon. My Mom and Dad had gone to Portugal in the early 60's and they loved it.  I don't know if they would recognize now, it is filled with tourists, including passengers from cruises who dock for the day. However, It is another beautiful city with good food and wine and sights to see. I think I more than made up for my lack of wine in The Gambia on this trip. My first day in Lisbon I got to do something that I have wanted to do for many years.  When the Segway riders were introduced I saw Diane Sawyer and Charile Gibson on Good Morning America ride them around with the inventor. Since then, I have always been jealous when I have seen one and wanted to try it out.  I hear that they do Segway tours in PDX now but I left before that started.  So I bought a 15 minute jaunt for 11 Euros. Below you see the proof. Woohoo! I don't think PDX has quite the background scenery that my picture has.

I saw street performers in many places and took their pictures, but this guy was my favorite.  He always had a crowd watching him.  If you look, he is about 6 inches off the ground.  I took a movie of him doing his routine but I think the picture is pretty impressive.

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It was a great two weeks.  I certainly saw many more things than this and went to lots of museums (which I like).  I also indulged in hot baths and showers and slept under heavy comforters every night. The food was fabulous and scenery amazing but I wanted to put in sights that you might not see if you go these places (OK maybe you would see a couple of them, but I know you don't want to see the 100's of pictures that I did take). 

  

Ebola Near The Gambia

Ebola has raised its ugly head in the region.  A forested area in Guinea, our neighbor to the South, has experienced an outbreak of Ebola, aka hemorrhagic fever.  This is an ugly disease, killing up to 90% of victims and doing it in an average of 9 days from the onset of illness.  The incubation period for the illness is up to three weeks so people can appear perfectly healthy while they have the virus.  The World Health Organization gave us a briefing last week and I don't think we are in danger, but it is kind of a spooky thing. Truck drivers are the people they are most concerned about since they move between countries and shall I say have not been known to be celibate.

Senegal, which surrounds The Gambia on all sides except the ocean,  has closed its borders with Guinea. However,  having accidentally gone into Senegal on trek, I know that the borders are leaky, though truck drivers would probably not travel on the roads I was on.

The interesting thing about Ebola and Africa is that the testing for it is not easy, the blood samples are being sent to Paris for testing.  Health workers are especially at risk, though with everyone on alert they are probably being more careful now.  But someone could come into the country with no symptoms and then come down with symptoms and expose the health workers.

As I said, I am not too worried about it, since it is still quite a distance from here.  But it is something to think about. They are saying to avoid eating bush meat which I don't think will be a problem for me. Love those bush rats.

The United Nations WFP Crew

Yesterday we went outside and had a picture taken of the whole WFP crew.  This is program staff, logistics staff and drivers. As you can see, I am the only toubob in the crew now.  The casually dressed man in the front is our finance officer who had popped in on his day off.  He just came back from 2 months temporary duty in Rome (wish I had been the one for that)

The head of the office, Vitoria Ginja is the second one from the left in the front row.  The two women on the right side wearing more western style skirts and blouses are both Christians.  The number two man in the office, the Head of Programme is on the right in the first row. Drivers are the men with with WFP blue shirts or pants. 

Just completed the second round of school garden training.  I was up country long enough to know that it is freaking hot up there in the afternoon.  We were outside for practical demonstrations and I thought I was going to pass out.  The volunteers up there tell me that afternoon naps are de regueur. I can certainly see why.  Working in that heat could kill you.  Let's here it for working in an air conditioned office. 

I will write more about training later but have not posted for a long time and this was an easy post.

Biggest crocodile yet

Well folks, I think this will definitely be my last story on crocodiles, but then I thought the last one was too. On my way to work every day I pass a craft market. This is an area where Gambians make and sell things for the tourist trade. Someday I will take some pictures of the men at work.  It is predominantly men that are producing the items.  I see some things in shops run by women but I do not see them actually making the things.  I will snap more pictures some day because their process is pretty interesting, but I had to stop and take this picture for this blog.  I had seen no evidence of this creature being carved, when suddenly one day there he was, in full glory, the biggest crocodile I have seen in The Gambia. I resisted the urge to sit and pet him but I did think he was pretty amazing. They do not use any power equipment for their carving -- hand tools only. If you could see the tools they work with to do carving, you would be very impressed.  I guess you can look forward to it as an upcoming feature.

And how do you charge your mobile phone?

If you teach at an up country school you may or may not have power, but mobile phones are ubiquitous.  What does a gal have to do to get her phone charged? Never fear, where there is a will there is a way. The picture below was taken in the head teacher's office at a school I was monitoring.  At the time I noticed this device there were about three more phones hooked up but I did not shoot quickly enough.  I don't know who manufactures  the device that all of the phones are plugged into, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it was not originally designed to be hooked into a car battery.  I know some school actually have a money making concern going by charging mobiles. for people.  These phones are probably staff members' phones. 

Vortex Smortex and Monkeys Too

I don't understand all this talk about the polar vortex. I am enjoying weather in the 70's and 80's with gentle ocean breezes.  Surely you people are imagining things.  Last week we had our yearly retreat for the WFP.  We went to one of the local hotels in Senegambia and had 3 days of meetings and food.  It was tough but we managed to get through it.

Here are some pictures of the M&E (Monitoring and Evaluation) team during one of our sub-meetings.
As you can see the circumstances were pretty rugged.  I don't know how we dealt with it

Many of the team members in the picture are stationed up country to do field monitoring for post emergency food supplementation. They are providing food to pregnant and nursing mothers, identifying children who are severely malnourished and referring them for hospitalization, and identifying moderately malnourished children and providing them with food to take home. If a children is moderately malnourished they provide them with Super Cereal Plus. It contains maize (58 percent), de-hulled soya beans (20 percent), dried skimmed MILK POWDER (8 percent), sugar (10 percent), vegetable oil, and vitamin & mineral premix. If you notice the 10 percent sugar content, it is to make it taste good.  Many of the malnourished children no longer have an appetite.  The sugar makes it more taste tempting to the child. The picture below of some children who are not in either of the malnourished categories but are providing good evidence that Supercereal Plus tastes good.  A bag of Supercereal Plus had broken and they are licking up the remains on the table.

Recently Rustica Carlos send me a birthday card telling me to celebrate my birthday like a monkey but stop short of throwing my caca around.  It struck a familiar chord.  At the same meeting we had a coffee break outdoors when one of my co-workers felt something like rain.  He looked up to see a monkey had urinated on him from a tree above.  Is that close enough, Rustica?  Needless to say he got a new plate of food.  I took several pictures of the monkeys -- they were pretty big. They call them red monkeys here but I do not know the scientific name.You can see a few of  them below:

A monkey family:

Thank goodness they did not celebrate in the way that Rustica suggested that I avoid.

Crocodiles!

Yesterday was New Years Day and I had the day off so I decided to spend the day with a friend and visit the local tourist attraction, Katchakally Sacred Pools, home of crocodiles, lots of them. While wending our way to the pools we passed a tree that I have seen frequently in The Gambia called the Cotton Tree.  It grows very tall and has a very interesting trunk structure at the ground level. I am standing in the middle of a couple of roots (trunk parts??)

Here is another view from another side of the same tree (without the beautiful model posing):

But I promised you crocodiles and you shall receive them.  When we entered the crocodile area we got a guide who works for tips.  He informed us that the crocodiles were pretty safe because they feed them lots of fish before the park opens so that they are not hungry.  The first thing we could do is touch one of the crocs known to be tolerant of such things. Trust me these guys did not move.  Here I am patting the croc:

I don't know if you can see it but the croc has a greenish cast that looks like it is algae but it apparently is tiny plants that will become water lillies.  You can see there is another croc right behind me who was totally unimpressed with my presence. No I was not sitting on his head. I do not think that would have been recommended behavior.

The picture below is of our guide who tolds us all about the crocs and the sacred pools. Apparently before it became a tourist attraction the pools were considered sacred to help women who wanted to have a baby. They ,merely had to bathe in the pools.  Hopefully there were not as many crocs then.  I doubt that there were.  Our guide said that they feed the crocs fish every morning so they are fat and happy when the tourists come.  They control the numbers of them by taking eggs out of the nests.  I don't think that I would volunteer for that duty, thank you very much.

As we walked around we saw crocs of all sizes sunning themselves in the morning sun. I have no idea how many there were, but there were a lot.

If I were with you all I would sing you the song "Never Smile at a Crocodile" -- Patti I know this breaks your heart to miss it. But I would give you two examples of smiling crocodiles and I think you can see why you should not hang around smiling at them.

Note in the big smile below that the crocodiles have no tongues. So I guess they can't apologize for biting you.  The other interesting tidbit I learned from the guide is that crocodiles have their mouths open to cool off, kind of like dogs, but I could not hear him panting.

We also some some crocs who made it past the egg culling stage.  There are at least 3 different sized small ones in the picture belo

Then for an extra added bonus, I thought I would throw in a few pictures from the little museum they had with the pools. The first is a picture of the original, more up country version of the Kankurang. I have included pictures in other entries but they were shaggy red guys.  This is more the original version which was made of tree bark.

The next one I am not really sure what it is but I don't think I would like to meet him.  I don't think Gambians were ever into shrunken heads.

The final museum picture is of a marimba like instrument.  Palm fronds and gourds can make music too.

And then lest you forget that this was titled Crocodiles!, my friend and I went to the restaurant that had the Beware crocodile sign.  The resident crocodile actually graced us with his presence. You will probably have to double click to get the larger view, but he is actually in there swimming. That is not a log, it is a crocodile right next to where we were enjoying lunch. Not as big as the big ones we saw at Katchakally, but I would say 5 feet long. We did not try to pet this one.