Dog Blog

Yesterday we adopted a dog, ok well not permanently (to my disappointment). We have offered to dog sit over Christmas for a couple that live around the corner and yesterday they brought Daffy (a lovely black lab mix) for a trial sleepover. Now it is no secret that I love dogs, especially Labradors. I still miss Poppy, the wonderful golden lab that we had until I was 12 – yes it was 11 years ago but I still think about her. However Zack is not so enthusiastic about animals, although I have to say he is coming around, our latest post-foreign service plan is to have a puppy farm in upstate New York (and an apartment in Manhattan of course). Anyway I am getting totally off track with the present story. So yesterday afternoon Max and Nola dropped off a very excitable Daffy. They had repeatedly said that Daffy was a low energy dog who preferred to spend her days sleeping (much like our cat), so I was not prepared for the next 20 hours...

3:00pm            
Daffy arrives at the house, tail wagging and tongue dripping

3:05pm            
Max and Nola manage squeeze out the door without Daffy escaping and I am left alone with the dog

3:05:02pm       
 I look down at the big slobbery wriggling pile of fur on the floor and she looks up at me with big wet eyes that just scream excitement, "hmm" I think to myself, "this should be interesting"

3:05:03pm       
 and she’s off... as fast as she can. With her paws slipping on the tiles, Daffy explores every nook and cranny of the house (she is an indoor dog that loves food and hates exercise so in reality it’s more of a lopsided waddle)

3:05:04pm        
as I stand there, wondering what to do next, a loud barking starts echoing around the house. Apparently Daffy is not content to just sniff everything, she also has to bark too... "so much for being low energy" I tell her. For the rest of her stay Daffy barks at everything... Lamin, the guard, the trucks on the road, the water filter... everything that makes a sound within a three mile radius has her barking like we’re under attack. I guess she would be a good guard dog - well that’s if the burglar was afraid of being licked. 

3:05:30pm       
 having never been in this situation and not knowing what to do I decide to chase her, my plan is to play with her until she gets tired and falls asleep

3:06 - 3:10pm 
we run laps around the house, Daffy in the lead, tongue flapping and drool flying, she thinks this is a great game "see Zack I'm great with dogs, my plan is working perfectly"

3:10:03pm       
six minutes of running prove too much for Daffy and she flops on the floor panting, seemingly exhausted. My plan has succeeded... until she spots the cat...

OK I think you get the gist. Thankfully I had already thought to keep the dog and the cat separated but that didn’t stop them from watching each other closely. They sat on either side of the glass door, staring at each other with death in their eyes (Slobs outside, Daffy inside) looking as if they were in an old western movie, ready for the shoot out. Yet despite the running, jumping, licking and barking, we all survived the night. Although at 5am this morning I was woken by a wet nose attached to a very excited dog trying to lick my face – 5am!

Will's Thanksgiving Visit

Thanksgiving week was one of the best we have had in Gambia. Our good friend Will  traveled all the way from DC to stay with us for 7 nights (although after his 10 hour delay in Dakar it was more like 6). He was our very first visitor and  I think we were more excited than Will. Unfortunately Zack had to work but I had managed to get all my work done the week before so I was completely free to show him around. The week was pretty jam packed with activities so I’ll just share with you the highlights. 

Since Will arrived at 5am on Monday morning, half of the first day was spent sleeping. When he had recovered in the afternoon we walked along the beach to my favourite place - where else but Coco Ocean! Walking on the beach has improved significantly since the resorts have cleaned up all the rubbish for the tourists and the bumsters are less persistent now they have more people to hassle. We met Zack after work and went to watch the fishermen bring in their daily catch. There is a small guesthouse where you can sit and watch the market below before braving the crowd to haggle over the fresh fish. 

One of the popular places for both tourists and locals to visit in the Kombos is the crocodile park. Locals go because crocodiles are meant to bring good luck in fertility (or something like that) and tourists go because where else can you get so close to hundreds of 6 foot crocs! Now I come from Australia where the crocs are merciless, they grab you, drag you under the water and roll on you before devouring you whole… so I think I’m justified in feeling a bit nervous when there is nothing between me and a giant croc. Lamin was nearly in hysterics when he saw how scared I was patting the sleeping croc, but in my defence Will also looked quite worried. Especially when a particularly large one started walking right towards us. 

The highlight of the week would have to be Thanksgiving day. The new ambassador hosted a wonderful dinner  (I even ate celery a real rarity here!) at her lovely residence overlooking the ocean. However, the really great part was taking the embassy speed boat out on the river. That morning Zack, Will and I met the  driver at the dock where we piled onto the boat with a large cooler of drinks. I never thought much of boats because I get seasick but this was awesome! We zoomed through the small winding rivers boarded by mangroves before entering the open water of the River Gambia, which is more than 3 miles across at the mouth. We were heading up to James Island and Juffure village where there is an old British fort and the previous heart of the Gambian slave trade. I have just finished Roots (a wonderful book which I highly recommend) and this is where much of the book is set. The island and museum was interesting and heartbreaking but set up for tourists, at one point there is an old food storage room which has obviously had fake bars attached to make it look like a slave dungeon.  We were alone on the small island so we were free to explore all the old ruins, which includes many large cannons. Although it has the sad slave history, the area was first “discovered” by the Portuguese and then the fort was used to guard the British ships and colonies from the French and many battles were fought there. How lucky we are not to live in those times. As we sped back down the river the sun was shining and the water was glistening - good friends and cold beer what else could you want!

Saturday, Will’s second last day, bought warm sunny weather, of course that’s all there ever is this time of year! We drove down the coast to have lunch on the beach near the boarder with Senegal. The beach down here is clean and empty and we spent a lovely afternoon body surfing in the waves and relaxing in the shade. Some days in Gambia can be slow and (to be honest) kind of boring but it is weeks like this that remind me of all the great things we get to do living here. Sure there are no cinemas or cocktail lounges, things move sooooo slowly it is frustrating and it is often too hot to do anything but there are also many great aspects too. Will keeps thanking us for a great week in Gambia but I need to thank Will for reminding me how much fun we have here. So in the week of Thanksgiving I am thankful for how lucky I am to have such an exiting life that I get to share it with great friends like Will and my wonderful husband Zack.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Happy Tobaski!

Every year in November, corresponding with the time of the Hajj to Mecca, there is a big Muslim holiday called Tobaski, the Festival of Sacrifice. It celebrates the willingness of Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Isma’il to Allah (however Allah intervened and gave Ibrahim a ram to sacrifice instead). Thus, husbands are expected to buy a ram (usually one for each wife). The ram is then slaughtered and the meat is divided into three parts, one part for the family, one for friends and relatives and the final to give to the needy.  In a way I suppose it is sort of the Muslim equivalent of Christmas. Most Gambians took a few days off to travel to their villages and feast on the ram with their friends and family. 

We were very privileged to be invited to spend Tobaski with the family of an embassy driver who lives in the area. We met Coolie at noon (making sure to miss the ram slaughtering which is in the morning) and he directed us to his family compound which was in the maze of small dirt roads that dominate the residential section of the Kombos. Upon arriving we were warmly greeted by Coolie’s wife, three brothers, sisters-in-law and more children than I could keep track of.  Being vegetarian I was not expecting to benefit much from the feast but Coolie’s wife very kindly prepared me some of the most delicious fish I have ever eaten. At first we felt a little awkward sitting around the small living room making small talk - which was pretty limited considering we don’t speak any Mandinka, Wolof, Jula or Fula. It was a long afternoon of sitting, eating and watching. This may not sound very interesting but once we relaxed it was very enjoyable, Coolie‘s family were very kind and they did everything they could to make us comfortable. Pulling our chairs out on the street we all sat around drinking endless cups of ataya (very strong, bitter sweet tea made out of green tea, mint and a bucketful of sugar which is served in small glasses), discussing life and greeting the people who walked by. 

Coolie’s compound is next to the local mosque so it was a busy area. A local charity had donated a cow to the community and Zack was lucky enough to watch the cow slaughtering (I stayed back and drank more ataya). We left that evening feeling content after a day of good food and good company. 

The Shocking Return

Despite the post date on this piece this is my belated post from October (post South Africa)

At 10pm on a Saturday we stepped off our Air Mauritania plane feeling quite relieved to have survived the flight down from Dakar - it may have been a short journey but in a tiny Mauritanian propeller plane it felt a lot longer than 20 minutes. We were greeted at home by a very excited Slobs and a house that had electric current running though everything, including the water…  now I know I’ve said our house has had a many minor problems but this was new. After being shocked by everything we touched I finally convinced Zack that we should go to a hotel. Having excess electricity running through the house was not fun (especially when I had two major essays due) but I’m not going to lie… four nights at Coco Ocean was awesome! Zack had to get up and go to work every day but having minimal internet connection I had no choice but to relax by the pool and read magazines (we are very grateful for our subscriptions to Vogue and National Geographic). By the end of the week they had pretty much fixed the problem, we still occasionally get shocked by the shower but I try not to think about that too much.

By this time I was way behind in my course so the rest of October was consumed by catching up on my work and preparing for our Halloween party. When we first moved to Gambia we decided we would host a party to get to know people in the area better … and let’s be honest, we were trying to win over new friends by supplying them with free booze! As the party drew nearer I started to get a little bit worried, we had been meeting people at lots of events but how many people were actually going to come to our party? Luckily there was a big Dewali party at a local Indian restaurant the night before where we ran into lots of people we knew (and made new friends) all of which were invited and actually came! So in the end we had about 40 people and I think everyone had a good time - the punch I made helped that along. The highlight would have to be the Halloween piñatas we made, they were a hit!

So with only the occasional electric shock the rest of October and the start of November passed by quickly. I somehow managed to complete all my assignments and finished out the year with pretty good marks. Previous excitements and those little Gambian idiosyncrasies  such as haggling over fabric prices, bumster encounters, avoiding crazy taxi drivers and seeing people riding pushbikes carrying a 10 foot poles and ladders (it happens more that you would think) are beginning to become daily life - Oh who am I kidding those things are always interesting (and frustrating). I think we could spend 5 years here and still be surprised by crazy occurrences every week. Finally, I am happy to report that the weather is finally starting to cool down (slightly). It hardly ever rains and the humidity has dropped significantly - don’t get me wrong it’s still really hot but at least I feel as though I can go outside again.

Safari Part Two

Before I begin with the second part of our Safari story I want to briefly reflect back on our time here so far. We have been living in Gambia for five months now and I like it here, our house feels like home (most of the time). I think the general ease at which I have settled into the area is thanks to my good friend Jen, who I was lucky to meet within the first week of arriving. She has taught me how to fabric shop without being ripped off, shown me the best tailors for getting clothes made, introduced me to the joys of Coco Ocean and just been an all round good friend. Last night we dropped her off at the airport and to say that I am sad to see her go is an understatement. I am really going to miss the lazy hours chatting by the pool, our hilarious attempts to learn yoga and the hot afternoons haggling over fabric that we really didn't need. With Jen left her lovely husband Doug, her sister Anna (who has also become a good friend over the past month and I am very sorry to see go) and two very cute cats. They are heading to Hong Kong where Doug has been offered a wonderful job and I know Jen will be very happy. Although they will be missed here in Gambia, I look forward to our already planned visits to Hong Kong and I know that we will remain friends despite the distance.

Now to some more Safari talk...

The last post left off just as we arrived at the lovely Kwenga Lodge. We barely had time to put our bags down before heading out on our first safari. Needless to say I was quite excited. Zack and I had been discussing what we most hoped to see and I had decided that although lions and elephants would be amazing, what I really hoped for was a giraffe. I was in luck - well actually our guide Willem told us that it would be impossible to miss them. Sure enough on our first morning there was the giant, long legged, long necked creature bending down to nibble on the top of a 12 foot tree. They are the most

fantastically awkward yet cute creatures I have ever seen, with their looooong necks and funny patterns- what was Mother Nature thinking?! At 5am that morning we had staggered out of our little cabin and into the safari truck. With temperatures during the day reaching up to 40 degrees the best animal sightings are early morning and evening. At about 7am we stopped amongst a family of giraffes grazing next to a heard of zebras for our pre-breakfast tea stop. So there we were sipping our Rooibus tea and eating rusks (a strange South African biscuit) as the giraffes and zebras watched us from only a few feet away and I should make it clear that these are wild animals- I'm not kidding it was fantastic!

With the safari drives in the early morning and evening I imagined we would have plenty of free time. However, once we had eaten breakfast, played some scrabble or pigs, taken a short nap and then ate some more, we had to get back out there! Mostly we would trawl the bush in the truck but a few times we ventured out on foot (with a large gun). Although I was grateful for the exercise I'm not going to lie, it was scary! When faced with a large rhino or heard of buffalo I think I prefer the false sense of security in the vehicle - even if it doesn't have walls.

The second afternoon we drove to a larger reserve that is part of the great Kruger national park. There are no elephants or lions at our smaller reserve so we were extremely lucky to see both on this aft. As we rounded a dusty corner we came across two male lions lounging right next the road. Content and sleepy after a big kill they couldn't care less about us - thankfully. As they began to move one looked right at me and with a scornful look that clearly said "what do you want?" it walked right in front of the car, so close that we could see his whiskers. Later that evening we also came across two families of elephants, both with babies, and a hippo, quietly watching us from the water... Good thing we weren't considering a swim!

On our final evening, after watching a baby rhino learn how to "wallow" in the mud, we stood in a grassy plain watching as huge bolts of red lightning fork across the sky. Forget the fact that there was a known leopard lurking nearby, now I was a little concerned about bushfires in all the dry shrub. After 10 minutes of imagining I could smell smoke, I gave up worrying and enjoyed the spectacular light show.

As the final morning arrived I was surprised to find that I was quite sad to say goodbye. Although we had only been at Kwenga Lodge a few days we felt rather attached to the place and the wonderful animals. In the end we had seen nearly every animal possible, except for the elusive leopard. There were a few times when we knew they were close but remained hidden from of sight. Oh well next time - perhaps when we own our own private reserve (and win the lotto!).

This has been a rather long post so I'm going to leave it here but please stay tuned because I will soon update you on life back in Gambia - it has been an interesting week!

The Journey

It was 2:30am on the morning of our scheduled departure to South Africa. The Safari was booked and we were supposed to be sleeping soundly, dreaming of the animals we were to see. Instead, Zack was lying on the couch drenched in sweat and sporting a 100^oF fever. We had both been feeling unwell off and on for the past week and despite the numerous doses of antibiotics (which in retrospect may or may not have been real) the bug refused to leave us alone. Poor Zack was miserable and I am sorry to say that I was a little cranky at the prospect of missing our trip. Knowing that some people wait for years to go on Safari we could hardly believe our luck when the opportunity arose. Zack’s conference in Johannesburg was scheduled to start on the Wednesday and we were leaving nearly a week early to enjoy the animal reserves north-east of the city... who cares about the conference, I didn’t want to pass up the chance to see a wild giraffe! Neither of us slept much that night but as morning came Zack’s fever dropped slightly and after a good sleep he was ready to go... Hooray!

Despite the fact that we were flying within Africa, the entire journey took about 20 hours. Not only is Africa huge (who knew?) but Gambia is fairly remote and flights are infrequent so we had to overnight it in Dakar, Senegal. We arrived in Joburg at dusk so by the time we finally got out of the airport (3 stressful hours were spent trying to pay the credit card bill online which we had forgotten about) it was dark and we could have been anywhere is the world. We planned an early start to pick up the rental car at 8:30am... by 11am we were finally driving Matilda the Nissan Tilda along M5 and we were on our way.

When Zack first suggested driving in South Africa I had visions of dusty potholed roads, crazy minivans driving erratically and animals all over the road. In reality it is nothing like Gambia and the drive actually reminded me a bit of country Australia. Small rolling hills with grazing cows in the dry paddocks and power plants on the horizon were a bit reminiscent of Gippsland, Victoria. Driving down the main street of the country towns I had an urge to stop at a bakery for a pink lamington. Well that was until we saw the barefoot kids playing on the side of the road and women sitting on the dusty sidewalk selling vegetables off a rug... "oh right we’re still in Africa".

Around dusk we rolled up to gates of the reserve. A small sign clearly told us to call the lodge on the provided radio and they would open the gate. We had finally arrived... well nearly. Upon entering the gate we were faced with four dusty dirt roads leading off into the bush, well what could we do but guess? As we blindly headed off it suddenly occurred to me just how vulnerable Matilda seemed, did I mention it was right on dusk and I’m sure I head a lion roar! After 15 minutes of driving around the scrub, guessing at every fork in the road, we finally gave up when we came to a roundabout.... a roundabout? Gee a sign would have been nice! We headed back to the gate - “Zack you remember the way right?” Back at the entrance everything seems simple, we’ll just get safely out (I’m sure I saw a rhino in the scrub) then wait for the owners to come and collect us. It seemed simple until we realised that they had abandoned the radio. So there we were, stuck with the Big 5 in a cheap hire car, screaming into a useless radio on a post. I was prepared to risk the barbed wire and electric fence just to escape, there were defiantly – maybe – some hyenas around! Just as the lions, rhinos, hyenas and buffalo (did I mention the buffalo yet?) were about to demolish us whole the gate slid open... “We’re free, we’re safe, we’re... in the middle of the bush in a strange country... now what?”

So as you already know we did eventually find the lodge. Our guide conveniently drove up just then and showed us the way – of course you turn right at the roundabout, isn’t it obvious?! After we had recovered we were very happy to see that we had randomly picked the perfect lodge. Until 2005 it was a private holiday retreat for a very wealthy family. Now it is a small 5 room lodge and for the weekend it was accommodating solely to us... our very own private game reserve!

Johannesburg

Well after only 3 weeks home in Gambia I have taken off to South Africa for 10 days, I love my life!

Zack has some boring economics conference in Johannesburg so I am tagging along and we are taking the opportunity to go on safari! After a week at a tiger reserve in India a couple of years ago, we have been anxious to experience more... the cold brisk morning air in the open top 4x4, the rush of adrenalin as we trawl through the bush in search of the illusive big cat and the stomach butterflies as a flash of fire orange passes through the long grass. So a partially paid (for Zack that is) trip to the land of elephants and lions was too much to pass up. After 3 wonderful days I am now back in Joburg, dreaming of owning a safari lodge. The African safari experience has been so much more that we expected - and expectations were high, but this is just a mini-blog to let you all know that when I get home I will post a proper blog with photos.

Bintang Bolong

A few weeks ago Zack and I decided to take an overnight trip to a small village called Bintang on the river - known as a bolong. The rainy season had started but the sky looked clear (there are no weather forecasts here) and we decided to risk it - besides what's a bit of rain anyway?

So we kissed Slobs good bye and set out in Gav the Rav for another adventure. We had heard the roads up country get pretty rough in the rainy season so we were pleasantly surprised when we found a newly paved road leading all the way to the turn off down to the river. After a (very long) 5km dirt track we had managed to avoid hitting any of the kids that tried to grab hold of the car while yelling "toubab toubab" and we rolled into our lodge in time for lunch. We had booked into a small lodge on the river. The lonely planet describes Bintang Bolong as "rustic". Well I'm not sure that "rustic" aptly describes the rickety cabins that jut out into the mangroves on spindly little stilts as well as "decrepit" would have. OK so I'm exaggerating a little, they weren't all that bad. I suppose they were almost "quaint" and they at least had electricity. Lunch was served in the small open restaurant (also on stilts) that looked out over the river and it was beautiful - the food and the view. We had booked a ride in a paddle boat at 5 so after lunch we headed out for a walk around the village.

Bintang is the type of village that looks idyllic if you don't have to live there. Small dirt tracks flanked by trees and fields give way to small housing compounds where men lie under the giant mahogany trees, kids play soccer in the yard and women prepare the afternoon meal.

Of course in reality it is stinking hot, the torrential rains cause houses to collapse every year and the kids are running around barefoot, but hey who lets the truth get in the way of a good story!

So after a pleasant walk around the area... assisted by a couple of local "tour guides" who felt compelled to show us the old Portuguese church - despite our insistence that we found the mosque much more interesting - we headed back to catch our paddle boat.

It turns out that a paddle boat in Gambia is not like one of those old boats with the big water wheels that you see on the Murray... in fact it's more like a canoe. This would have been lovely except that is was paddled by a boy who looked about 11. After a very slow 30 minutes we had traveled about 100 metres and the poor kid looked exhausted. So when we stopped for a break Zack and I took over the paddling, which was much more fun anyway (only once did we run into the bank and nearly decapitate ourselves on the low hanging branches). As we floated back down the river, paddle in hand, I tried to ignore the sinister column of dark black cloud that was rising on the horizon... what's a bit of rain anyway right? Then the wind came...

We were finishing dinner when our beer was sent flying across the table by a gust of wind that felt as though it could take down a house (I suppose it does). As the staff ran around trying to prepare for the storm the power flicked out and we were left with front row seats to the biggest storm I have ever seen (and ever wish to). We huddled in our room trying to ignore the precarious swaying of our cabin and watched tensely as the storm pass right over us, willing the stilts to hold. Sheets of lighting lit up the sky and for a second we could see as if it were day before we were plunged back into darkness (well we did have one small solar lamp). Needless to say neither of us slept much that night.

Just after 5am the sun finally shed an eerie blue light on the crystal clear morning. As we walked through the fields and watched the sun rise over the mangroves I felt that being awake all night was worth it to experience this fresh dawn. I guess the weekend turned out OK... oh who am I kidding we loved it!

Plus we got to meet this really cute baby donkey..

It has been nearly 2 months since I last posted on my blog and I am starting to feel a bit guilty because I really love writing. I spend so much time writing essays for uni - which are not nearly as fun as blogging - that I forget to update you all on our exciting adventures!

As many of you know I have just returned from 3 weeks in Australia visiting my family, enjoying the cold, eating my favourite foods and drinking good coffee. Well I have left the cold wet weather of Victoria and am now back in the hot wet weather of Gambia. Zack has informed me that I missed some great rains while I was home - the evidence of which is still running down my study wall and rapidly turning to mold. I had a wonderful time at home (my original home) I am happy to be back home (my new home), despite the possible hazardous moldy wall. It is wonderful to see Zack, Slobs and the pool at Coco Ocean (the first place I went on my return!).

I have many stories to share from before my trip home and I can't possibly cram them all into this blog. So... just a short post to remind you all that I am still here and will be updating very soon!

Now I'm off to pursue my favourite activity (apart from Coco Ocean)... fabric shopping!

woodland kingfisher video

OK so here is the video of the woodland (also know as Senegalese) kingfisher... a whole blog post just for this is a bit much but I know you will all be very disappointed to miss it!



I was just reading back over some of my last posts and I must apologise for all the typos and grammatical errors. I am usually in a hurry to post and the editing goes out the window!

Zack is finally done with consular work (visas etc.) - he was filling in while the consular officer was on holiday - and now we are hoping to actually have a life together! The past three weeks have been crazy with Zack working harder than usual... wake up, work, work, work, come home, eat, watch telly, sleep, wake up, work... you get the drift... anyway I spend a lot of time studying, swimming, doing yoga and fabric shopping with my new friend Jen but I have missed my husband. We are looking forward to having time for more adventures (starting this weekend), but for now we're off to play tennis.

Oh wait... I just noticed Zack is asleep on the couch!

Quick duck....

With a guilty look on his face Zack hunches over the package and tries to look innocent... "is she coming... can they see me?" he says in an urgent whisper. I glance around but I think they have gone, the coast is clear and we hastily reach down to grab some more before they see. Then my heart stops "quick, Zack hide it... pretend nothing is happening" I yell as his hand shoves the bag under the chair and out of sight. The Lady approaches casually and I rack my brain for some cleaver quip. "More peanuts?" she asks casually before strolling back... "phew that was close" I say letting out my breath. Zack nods his mouth already full.

Don't worry Dad we haven't joined a drug cartel smuggling cocaine to Europe. This is just a typical weekend at the Sheraton. After a particularly grueling workout in which I thought I might collapse we have retreated to the lovely hotel pool. Our gym membership allows us free access to the pool but unfortunately it does not supply us with free food and drinks which are out of our price range. We split a 100D coke (about $4 USD!) but at $15 for a cheese and tomato sandwich, the food is just too much. We get around this by bringing our own sandwiches but of course the hotel staff are not impressed with this... hence the secret stash under the seat.... anyone would think are smuggling drugs - perhaps then we could afford to eat at the Sheraton!

Well we didn't make it to Bintang Bolong last weekend as we planned due to a going away party for a friend who is going back to the states. The plan is to go tomorrow instead. However, we did go to one of our favourite places... Abuko Bird Reserve, I've poster photos of it before. I thought I would share this one with you because it was a particularly good visit. Zack filmed this great video of a woodland kingfisher catching fish in the crocodile pool. That boring photo of a log in the water is actually one of the resident crocs!

We also made a great brunch one morning - nutella crepes yum! But I mainly wanted to post this picture for Maddy and Beccy so they can see the country road mugs in good use!

I better go... I'm really late for French. Every morning I go to french classes at the Franco-Gambiene Alliance which is a bit like being back in high school - although now I think of it the class room is a little different from being at Toorak, over 30 students stinking hot, minimal resources and the power goes off all the time. I can't say I'm loving the classes but I do really enjoy learning French. I also have great plans to learn the two dominant tribal languages Wolof and Mendinka.

OK the video is taking forever (have I mentioned my annoyance for the internet?) and now I am really really late for French and I can see Lamin pacing around outside so I better go and post the video when I can, here is a photo instead...

Qcell is much like Verizon

Every week… actually I think every second day… something in the house breaks (I feel like I’ve mentioned this). Today it was the power in the living room and as a consequence the internet went down too. I know I’m not meant to complain and I can tell you are all thinking “gee, what does she expect living in some country no-one has ever hear of”… and it wouldn’t be so bad if I hadn’t just started second semester and still trying to organize my classes. I knew that getting the power back on was really simple, I just didn’t know exactly how to do it. Eight hours and numerous phone calls later the workman finally shows up, it takes him less that a second and the internet is back on! Great, good to go… oh wait not quite. Despite the fact that Qcell (the Gambian equivalent of Verizon) insist that there is nothing wrong, our internet is 80% of the time out of service. In case you’re wondering, Verizon’s terrible, frustrating service is not unique, apparently they are qualities that can be applied to any internet/phone provider anywhere! After a Qell representative came out to tell me there was nothing wrong with the internet we were hit with a 3000 Dalasi (about $120) bill. OK, are you sick of me yet? I think I am, I’ll stop complaining and just hope that one day I’ll be able to sort out my classes.

This Thursday in Gambian National Day and it marks the 16th anniversary of the current government. That is it has been 16 years since President Jemmeh took over power in a coup and is yet to be succeeded by anyone. Anyway, the main thing is that we get the day off on Thursday (no French for me and no work for Zack) and Friday may or may not be a holiday… apparently the president will decide on Thursday, interesting system. Despite the fact that it is raining nearly every day I am trying to convince Zack to go away this weekend. We have managed to get out and about for day trips but I would like to go and stay somewhere… not sure exactly where but I promise to let you know if we do anything exciting… it will make a nice change from the recent blogs about nothing!

We are having ‘new friends’ over for dinner tomorrow night… still deciding what to cook for dinner but I am very happy that my cookbooks (along with all our other things) have now arrived. I had fun last week unpacking all our things, many of which I haven’t seen since out apartment in Washington. It was a bit like Christmas! Well I’m off to the gym… yep that’s right I have actually joined a gym, something that I have always been morally against. I always thought that the best way to exercise was in the fresh air but given the fresh air here is like hitting a brick wall of heat and humidity I am retreating to the lovely lovely air conditioned exercise haven (sorry global warming). Plus going to the gym means going to the Sheraton which is like going on holiday! So Tuesday night is becoming Gym night.. To follow Monday’s ice-cream night. Oh and speaking of which, last night as we were eating our ice creams on the beach we watched the best sun set yet… although there was still a bit of haze the clouds were lit up in warm tones and the palm trees swayed to the gentle breeze (jealous?). I didn’t take any photos but I found this photo of the same beach online so you get the gist…

Well looks like the internet is working again so I better post this before it drops out again.

Gambian Toubab

This photo has nothing to do with my blog today but I thought I would upload it anyway because I don't have much else to show you. This is the beach that we walk along near our house. The photo was taken on a particular peaceful morning when all the bumpsters were still asleep so we weren't hassled. I apologise for the uneventful blog posts recently... the lack of adventure stories can be blamed on my back. Most of this past week lying has been spent lying on the floor watching Friends episodes.

I am worried I am turning into a rude person. As I have mentioned before, wherever I go people try to talk to me. When we first moved here I would talk to everyone who called out to me on the street... I didn't want to be rude... now I am perfecting the art of "Oh, were you talking to me? Sorry I don't speak English". In my defense the conversations are usually pointless and more often than not result in somebody wanting money or my address, both of which I don't hand around. However, sometimes it can be amusing. Today I walked to the supermarket wearing... picture this... a purple, slob hair covered tank, capris that I love so much they no longer look clean even when I wash them and my green spotty gumboots (it had been raining and there is mud everywhere). I forgot to put socks on so I was hobbling from blisters and need I mention the humidity which meant I was hot, sweaty and my hair was a little crazy. Yet as I was walking along a very kind gentleman (OK, perhaps he was more sleazy than kind) said "hey lovely lady, you're looking very smart today"... is he blind? I think he honestly expected me to talk to him because it was followed by the predictable "I just want to say hello, this is Gambia, it's nice to be nice!". I kept walking. However, I felt better on the way home when the man at the cigarette stand on the corner said "hello Gambian Toubab.. how are you?"... I smiled at him. Toubab is usually yelled at us by giggling school kids before they ask for mints - it means white person - however, in this case, I took it as a compliment, I guess now that he sees me walk past every day he knows I live here - or perhaps not, people just like to talk.


OK, so to finish off this exciting blog in which I have just told you pretty much nothing - and because Lang asked for a picture of the house - I will show you a photo of our new roof leak. So here is our lounge room, yes, I know we need to decorate more. Although they (they being the various workmen who are always here) fixed the entire roof, it still leaks right onto the only small patch of carpet in the entire house - smells like wet dog now!

May I please use your cardboard as a prayer mat?

I'm going to start this blog by showing you the basket I bought from a market on Sunday. Zack laughed at me for being so happy with myself but I bargained hard for it so I'm going to show it off... plus I think Slobs looks cute. Although, I don't think he appreciated being put in a basket, it reminds him of dreaded trips to the vet. Well on to topics that don't involve the cat...

Life in Gambia is unexpectedly different. The country and the people surprise us in ways we didn't expect. When it was announced at the flag day ceremony, that Zack was being posted to "Banjul, The Gambia", I had no idea what or where it was. I needed my friend Kate to reassure me that we were headed to a good place and not a war torn, famine ridden, far flung country. Even after extensive googling I still had no idea what we were getting ourselves in to. Gambia is a fairly unknown country (except to the thousands of Brits and northern Europeans who flock here every winter so I should rephrase that by saying it is fairly unknown to Americans and Australians) and I expected to be living with poisonous spiders and eating rice and stew for 2 years. Turns out that Australia has more poisonous spiders than here and there are so many wonderful restaurants to try that we are never at a loss for where to eat (although our bank account may suffer). So the lifestyle change is big but we were surprised at how easy living is here - well for those who have money.

The main differences have been social and cultural. Nothing can be rushed here, patience if defiantly a virtue and sometimes there is just no explanation for why things happen in a certain way. Gambians love to talk about anything and everything. They will ask us every detail of our lives, including specific directions to where we live (which we are increasingly vague about) and I have learnt that it is polite to ask after family members even if you have never met them. Clothing above the knee is considered inappropriate yet nobody cares about shoulders, tummies or cleavage showing. The majority of Gambians are Muslim and thus they pray 5 times a day. It is not uncommon for us to open our gate at night to find our guard praying on the front step. The other day Lamin pointed to an old folded up box and asked "May I please use your cardboard as a prayer mat?"... well there's a question I had never been asked before and an example of the unexpected.

Well Zack is about to get home from work and we're off for our weekly icecream ritual - Monday is icecream night and we usually walk down to the beach and watch the sun try to set - I say try because most days is just dissapears into the haze on the horizon. However, I have been told that there is a season for beautiful sunsets so I'm looking forward to that. In the meantime I'll leave you with this charming photo I took on the weekend when we went for a walk in the monkey park near our house... looks a little like Zack after a long day at work! (Sorry Zack just kidding). Oh and by the way, he was a wonderful MC at the 4th of July party last weekend. Although, in typical Gambian style, nobody would stop talking long enough to listen to the speeches, even when the ambassador and foreign service minister spoke.

I Hate Frisbee

I mentioned in the last post that we are hiring a gardener and to the great relief of all the embassy guards and workers, we have finally done it. People can now stop asking me every time they come "where is you gardener?... it is high time your hired a gardener". His name is Lamin (along with half the population of Gambian males) and he has already made a huge difference to our yard. Having a gardener is a very foreign concept to us, especially as he will double as a driver. We feel awkward having someone work for us, but I suppose hiring a gardener here is much different to in the States or Australia. The embassy encourage it as a contribution to the local economy and it is also helpful to have someone around the house if we're out. So with a new gardener my project this week has been to start a compost. We have so many fruit scraps that get wrapped up in plastic bags and it seems ridiculous to have so much biodegradable waste. I have never started a compost heap and it is going to be interesting in this humidity and with all the rain. I tried to explain the compost heap to Lamin but I think he thought I was crazy... anyway despite us both not knowing what to do we're attempting it anyway... I'll keep you posted on the exciting developments!

In other news, we have started playing ultimate frisbee, sorry I'll rephrase that, Zack has started playing. Thursday night, in attempt to meet more people, Zack convinced me to give it a go. Who even knew that frisbee was an actual game? Now this was a bad idea from the start, I never have and never will like team sport. Therefore it was unsurprising when, just like T-ball (dad remember that?) and kickball (Taylor can vouch for that one), it turned out that I was terrible at frisbee. Zack promised me in the car that I could just watch the first game but when we arrived I was coerced into playing so the teams were even. So we arrive at the MRC fields (British medical research centre) to some stony looks from the Brits, most of who don't even bother to introduce themselves when I smiled at them (well the Gambians were friendly) This is how it went:

10 seconds - me: "Zack I don't know what to do"
Zack: "It's just like soccer"
me: "right, well that would be helpful if I knew how to play soccer"
Zack: "just run around"

This is followed by 50 seconds of me looking awkward as I follow people I don't know around the field

60 seconds - me: "Zack throw me the frisbee"
Like everyone else on the field, Zack ignores me

This is followed by me looking even more awkward

80 seconds - random guy yelling: "Katie, keep on 'that girl who I was never introduced to'"
me: "oh I'm meant to be playing defense?"
exasperated look from random guy
Zack: "just run around"
me: "OK I'm done"

I stalk off the field, find a paper and spend the next hour reading. When the game finishes people don't even stick around to chat (so much for making friends) and it's all over. Oh and should probably mention that Zack is actually really good at the game so he managed to make some friends, I managed to get some cold stares... yes I am being a sook and a whiner but I did not like it and I'm not going back (Zack do you hear me?)OK so I know that you're all reading the blog so hear about life in Africa and not playing Frisbee at MRC but that (and hiring the gardener) have been the big news this week.

Last night we did have a lovely dinner with friends - before which we watched Ghana be beaten - to the great dismay of one of our guests who was rolling around on the floor in agony (as we watch in horror as that penalty shot bounced off the top of the goal). We feel very proud that we have been having people over for dinner, as it is part of Zack's job description, but I'm not sure if it count when we only invite the people we know the best here. I suppose we should branch out, maybe invite some cold mean frisbee playing people.

This weekend is a holiday as tomorrow is 4th of July and for those of you who don't know (because I never did) it is when Americans celebrate independence from the British. The embassy is holding a cocktail party at the nicest resort in town - Coco Ocean - Zack has to MC... this should be interesting...

I'll keep you posted!!!

Gav the Rav

I haven’t written for ages and as I look at the last thing I posted I realise that recently, time has gotten away from me. Despite appearances, I haven’t forgotten about my blog and I intend to continue writing about our experiences in Gambia whether anybody is reading it or not - well at least I know my mum and dad are. The past two weeks have been consumed by uni work as I have been desperatly trying to finish my end of semester essays. I know it is my own fault, I have had weeks to work on the assignments and I left it to the last minute… it’s not like moving to Africa has been much of a distraction! Anyway, they're in, my marks are surprisingly good and now lets move on to more exciting activities…

Our beloved car - Gav the Rav - has finally arrived and we are excited to explore the country (we just have to dodge the roads that turn to rivers with all the rain). A couple of weeks ago we went for a drive. As most roads don't seem to have names and those that do lack signs, I'm not quite sure where exactly it is that we drove... so lets just say we went exploring. Following our noses - and the lonely planet guide - we went to visit some villages south east of the Kombos (where we live). There were many amazing vege gardens, lots of baby goats (which I would like to adopt) and lots of mud. Despite being poor, people keep their living compounds exceptionally neat. Grass is scarce but the packed dirt is swept clean and everything is tidy. This made us feel a bi3t guilty because our yard is the opposite. We have different guards at our house every night who insist on sweeping and tidying for us - we have given up telling them they don't have to. One guard explained that if the yard is dirty he also feels dirty - we think this is a muslim belief. So we are hiring a gardener this week and hopefully the guards and whoever else comes to our house, will feel more comfortable.

To celebrate my recent birthday, distract Zack from work and celebrate surviving our first month in deepest darkest Africa, we have just spent a very relaxing weekend at an eco-retreat on the Senegalese boarder (courtesy of my parents). We stayed in these funny looking eco-cabins complete with solar energy, turbine pumped water, composting toilets and NO air conditioning!! We spent 2 days lying on the beach, reading, walking (zack had a bit of trouble with the fences), drinking beer, eating too much food and playing with snakes - yes that is a photo of Zack cuddling up to a rather large python! We visited a reptile park next door where we saw many large dangerous snakes in not so large and flimsy looking enclosures. In fact our hosts informed us that the giant python of 4 meters had recently escaped (I made sure to check under the bed before going to sleep). Despite growing up with very poisonous snakes right in my backyard I am slightly uncomfortable around them… OK I am very uncomfortable around them and I choose to take the photos. I did however love the terrapins, I wanted to take the baby home - well that was before I heard about the salmonella… yuck!

In other news, the rainy season is really starting to set in and there have been a couple of great storms. The best part is the lead up... this shot was taken just as last nights thunder was rolling in and the camera isn't exagerating, the light really was as orange as it looks! The last photos were taken the other morning, it looks so dark that it is hard to believe it was only 8:30am. The wind was huge and the photo doesn't do it justice. Slobs, terrified of the wind, tried to escape inside but got stuck in the door as it blew closed... in his distressed state I tried not to laugh at him too much!