Dealing

There have been a lot of ups and downs these last couple weeks in the capital. My group and I had our in-service training, which made for some long days. Yet we worked hard during our training sessions, for we knew that once it was all over we would get to enjoy a nice Christmas break!

Christmas Eve was a lot of fun! The US Ambassador invited all the volunteers to his house for dinner. We also watched A Christmas Story on a large, inflatable screen. That made for a fun night. On Christmas morning we had a large breakfast at the transit house. Some of the volunteers worked hard to prepare it, and they did a wonderful job. We also had a gift exchange game that we played. Later in the afternoon some of us decided to go down to the beach. This I really enjoyed, for I never thought that I would be swimming in the ocean on Christmas day. We ended the day with an open mic night. For this event some of the volunteers prepared certain acts to perform for everyone else. Some played guitar, performed skits, or recited poetry. I decided to tell a story, which everyone seemed to enjoy. All this made for a wonderful Christmas in The Gambia.

Two days later I received bad news. I found out that my grandfather had passed away. This was hard to hear, and the fact that I was thousands of miles away made it all the more difficult. However, I received a tremendous amount of support from the other volunteers. I was really glad that they were around when I heard the news, rather than being alone in my village. There were other circumstances that I was thankful for as well. My grandfather was at his farm and had loved ones around him, he also went peacefully. I miss him, and I do kind of dislike that fact that he will not be there to welcome me home in a couple years. However, I believe he is in Heaven now, and I will get to share everything with him some day. I know he would want me to stay strong and keep on doing what I am doing here. So I will do just that.

Now I will be returning to my village soon, which I am actually really looking forward to. I will be able to get back to my routine and continue with my work. The last couple weeks have been very eventful, in both good and bad ways. It has left me feeling somewhat exhausted, but I do have a renewed focus and determination. The new year is upon us, and I intend to accomplish much throughout it.

Rest in Peace Grandpa, I love you very much!

It's That Time of Year

I find it hard to believe that I have been in The Gambia for over five months now. Time seems to go by so fast here.  Now the holiday season is upon us. I thought it would be difficult at first to be halfway around the world from my family when the holidays came around. However, this is not a new thing for me. When I was in the Marine Corps, there were times when I was not able to go home to see my family for Thanksgiving or Christmas. So being away seems much easier this time around. So here is how I spent some of the recent holidays.

For Halloween my original plan was to watch some scary movies and enjoy some of the candy that was sent from home. However, this plan fell through quickly because I was unable to charge my laptop to watch movies. So I ended up going to a place in the village to watch a football match. After returning to my house, I decided that the next best thing from watching scary movies was to read some scary stories. So I read some short stories by H.P. Lovecraft.

I also spent Thanksgiving Day in my village, which was uneventful to say the least. However, the real celebration was that Saturday in Basse. Some of the other volunteers came and we had our own Thanksgiving feast. We all prepared a dish to contribute. I teamed up with another volunteer and we made fruit salads. We first cut a watermelon in half and cut up the insides into chunks. Then we filled our now made watermelon bowls with oranges, apples, pineapple, bananas, and of course the watermelon chunks. Other prepared dishes included yams, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, dibbled eggs, fried okra, garlic bread, pasta salad, and corn. And for dessert we had no-bake cheesecake and peanut butter and chocolate pie. All of this along with the company of the other volunteers made for a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration!

My birthday also passed recently. Two volunteers from nearby villages rode their bikes in to celebrate it with me. My language partner was one of them and she surprised me with a poster that she made. It said “Happy First Gambian Birthday, Bakary!” and it had some of her artwork on it. The three of us made lunch and visited for a while. We also went to a nearby bitik and got some cold sodas. It was great having them both there for my birthday. I also received a call from my mother and father, wishing me a happy birthday. It was brief, but it felt great to hear from them.

Next up is Christmas, which I have no definite plans for at the moment. I will be in the capital with the group of volunteers that I came to The Gambia with. So I am sure that we will be putting together something spectacular to celebrate.

Not a day goes by where I do not think about my family and friends back home. Yet I cannot really say that I have had any feelings of homesickness. I think a lot of it is because of the other volunteers. In a way we have become our own family. We do things together and we look out for each other. They are wonderful people and it is great to celebrate holidays with them. I cannot wait until our next celebration together.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

A Day In The Life

Some of you might be wondering what a typical day is like for me. So here is what happened yesterday.

0600 – The morning prayers blast from the mosque's megaphones, resonating throughout the entire village. My alarm is not set to go off for another half hour, but I just turn it off. The sound is so loud that it sounds like someone placed a boom box on my front porch. Might as well just get up and around. 

0715 – I just finished a small load of laundry. They should be well dried by the time I come back. Since I have to wash my clothes by hand I tend to wash small loads very frequently. This way I do not have to wash an entire pile. After I am finished I use the water in the tubs to water my banana trees (yes, I have two banana trees in my back yard. How cool is that?!). Then my host father knocks on my door to deliver a loaf of bread so I can make my breakfast. I make myself a peanut butter and banana sandwich.

0815 – I get myself signed in at my school. The students make their way to their respective classrooms. I am sweating from the bike ride here. The school is about one kilometer away from my house. I passed my usual morning traffic of children playing, donkey carts, and women balancing heavy objects on their heads while carrying babies on their backs.

1030 – I have an interesting conversation with another teacher about polygamous marriages.

1145 – I sit with some of the other teachers around the food bowl to have lunch. We have fish with white rice and onion sauce.  I try to not eat too much for I know I will be eating with my family later.

1400 – I make it back to my compound. The children all run over to greet me. I give each one of them a high five and a fist bump. I go inside my house to top off my water filter and bring my clothes in off the line. I sweep the floor also. This is I do constantly, for small things on the floor bring in ants.

1430 – My younger host brother comes to my door to tell me that lunch is ready. I go into my host father's house and join him and my host brothers around the food bowl. Today we are having domoda, which is white rice with groundnut paste. It is one of my favorite Gambian dishes.

1530 – I usually commit time after lunch to do some reading. I never really had much time to read back home, but here I read a lot. I have been at my village for a little over two months and have read eight novels. Right now I am reading Life of Pi.

1600 – I try to exercise regularly. I have found a couple of good running routes around my village. But today I decided to do yoga and stretching.

1730 – I carry the bucket that I filled up at the community pump to my latrine area to get ready for my bucket bath.  This includes bathing by gathering water in a cup and pouring it over my head. I actually kind of like bathing this way.

1900 – Night falls on the village. I turn on my lantern and look around the inside of my house. I am paranoid about having another bat find its way into my house. I have already had to kill one earlier in the week when I could not get it out. 

1930 – I join my host father and brother outside for dinner. Tonight we are having rice and sweet potatoes. My host father takes his leave early to do evening prayers. So I finish eating with my host brother. After dinner I help him with his numbers. He can now successfully write to ten. He also helps me with my Sarahule.

2015 – I take my toothbrush and a water bottle out into my backyard to brush my teeth. I have become very used to doing all my daily hygienics without having running water.

2100 – After reading a little more of Life of Pi, I get myself settled in to bed. I say my prayers and then try to make myself as comfortable as I can on the cheap foam mattress that is my bed. I think about my family and friends back home. I hope all is well with them.

Distinction

For this post, I wanted to touch on two significant cultural differences that I have learned about Gambian cultural to that of what I'm familiar with in America. There are many differences of course, but these are the two that stood out to me the most.

As I had mentioned in an earlier post, time is not an issue with the people here. They go about their days their own way without being in any rush. I found this to be an interesting and low stress lifestyle, but it goes much deeper than that. Many Gambians are not even concerned about their age, because they don't even know how old they actually are. This is common among those that are born in villages. If you were to ask them when they were born, they would tell that they were born during a particular season and not know the date. So needless to say, many Gambians do not celebrate birthdays. They just go on living their lives without worrying about the number of years they've accumulated.

I have also found marriage proposals here to be interesting. Marriage proposals are done with kola nuts. Kola nuts are what Gambians use for a variety of customary greetings and ceremonies. For marriage proposals, if a man wants to marry a woman. He will present a kola nut to the woman's parents and then go back and tell his own parents. Then his parents will go talk to the woman's parents, and if they decide that they can be married then the woman's parents will give a kola nut to the man's parents. I found this to be a very interesting custom. What I found most interesting about this is that sometimes this can occur without the woman's knowledge, and she will discover that her parents have chosen a husband for her.

I continue to learn intriguing things about the people here. Somethings may be overwhelming at first, but I keep an open-mind about them. I have been living in Baja Kunda for a little over a month now, and the people are getting to know me better. The children in my host family walk with me whenever I venture out into the village and show me around. So things are going great, and I look forward to see what else I can learn from the people here.

Off The Grid

I have been living in my new village for a little over two weeks now. So far I am adjusting well, but I am still getting used to things. My new host family is absolutely wonderful! They really do what they can to make sure that my needs are met. They also are very patient with my limited language skills. No one in my host family speaks English, so I have been trying to improve my Sarahule. Even if my progress is slow, they have no problem with helping me learn. One of the main challenges I am facing is being separated from other volunteers. I am placed further into the country than most of them. So I have been finding ways to stay busy and keep feelings of isolation and boredom at bay. I have mostly been doing a lot of reading, but I do try to venture out into my village and talk to people. My village is actually quite big; it’s bigger than my hometown. So far I have not seen all of it, but I am sure I will before too long. I will be living here for the next two years, so I should make myself at home.

I have been able to see some interesting wildlife as well. Every time I walk into my yard I almost always see some kind of lizard. Lizards and toads seem to be everywhere. There are also many brightly colored birds that I have seen. Of course there are some animals that I need to keep at a distance. There are hyenas in the bush areas outside of my village. So far I have not seen any, but some of the villagers had told me that they are more active at night. Also last week when I was riding my bike, this warthog the size of a cow ran across the road. I remember seeing programs on TV about boar hunting in parts of America. However, the warthog I saw was much larger than anything I have seen on TV. So I need to keep a sharp eye when I venture out into the African wilderness. Of course I cannot be too off guard when I am indoors either. Even as I was typing this blog I saw a brown recluse spider climbing on the wall.

My school also started up last week. I have established a good rapport with the teachers and look forward to working with them. It looks like I will be focusing my efforts to helping with early literacy. I also will be starting a project to improve the school library. More details of my work will come as school goes on.

Overall things are going great! It will take some time until I am fully integrated at my village, but I will remain flexible and keep an open mind. Every now and then, the fact that I am living in Africa feels unreal to me. When I look at a map of the world, I look at where my family and other loved ones are and then look at where I am on the other side of the world. It can be tough at times, but this is an exciting challenge for me. And I look forward to see how things unfold in my village and at my school.

Just Getting Started

The last two months in The Gambia have been enlightening. I have been faced with many challenges, but I have also yielded many rewards. Now the training is officially over. My group and I had our swearing in ceremony on Friday at the US Ambassador’s residence. There we took the oath to discharge our duties as Peace Corps volunteers. We also listened to a few guest speakers and even gave our own speeches. During training, the group was divided into different groups to learn one of four languages, either Wolof, Pulaar, Mandinka, or Sarahule. Two from each group gave a speech, one to speak in the language and one to translate. My language partner gave the speech in Sarahule, and I gave the English translation. After the ceremony we all went down to the beach and had a nice swim.

Now the adventure really begins! I will be moving to my new village, Baja Kunda, tomorrow. The school I will be working in will start back up soon. I am excited to meet the teachers and students, and to see about any potential projects I can do. I am also excited to get to the village and get settled in. It will be difficult at first, because I will be entirely on my own. When I was living in Madianna, there were eight other volunteers that also lived there. However, I will be the only volunteer living in Baja Kunda. Therefore, I will have to find ways to deals with boredom and isolation. Once I establish a routine then things will run smoothly. It helps that I have a great host family there. They were very helpful when I did my site visit a month ago. So overall I am excited to take this next step in my Peace Corps service.

On a separate note, I have been asked about my mailing address here. If anyone is interested in sending me anything my address is as follows:

Joshua Guerrero, PCV
C/O Peace Corps/ The Gambia
P.O. Box 582
Banjul, The Gambia
West Africa

Weather the Storm

The last two weeks have been every eventful, both in good and bad ways. Last Friday my group and I did Marathon March, which was a 20 kilometer trek through some of The Gambia’s jungle, rice fields, and mangrove swamps. This was my favorite part of training so far. I have always enjoyed hiking and backpacking back home, so this was right up my alley. There was no set trail that we would walk; we just went right through all the rough terrain. My favorite part was going through the mangrove swamps. Even though I was up to my knees in mud, it was so much fun. I was hoping to be able to do things like this when I found out I was going to be coming to Africa. Many of the other volunteers enjoyed it also.

We returned to our training villages the following day, many of us sore and tired from the march. There was a heavy rainfall that morning that stayed consistent throughout most of the day. Strong winds came through my training village, Madianna. When we arrived we saws signs of damage. Some of the trees had been blown down and there was scattered debris. Some of the houses in the village received significant damage, including the house of my host family. When I got dropped off at my compound, I saw that the roof of my family’s house had slid over the front porch and was inches from the ground. It turned out that the wind blew off the roof covering the back part of the house, and then the roof covering the front fell forward. My family had a small building that was separate from the house that they used as a kitchen, it was completely destroyed. The winds blew the roof of that also and walls collapsed in on themselves. My house was also separate from my host family, but it did not receive any damage, only part of my backyard fence fell, but that took minutes to repair. Thankfully no one was hurt. My three year old brother had a slight bump on the head but he was okay. When the rain stopped some of the other villagers came by to help put the roof back on. They salvaged some of the materials from the roof that fell off the kitchen to put on the house. It was not fixed like my host father would like, but he considered it to be good enough for the time being. He intends to do full repairs on the house once the rainy season is over, which will be in about another month. My family, as well as the other villagers are strong people, and they work very as a community. My family never ceases to amaze me. They seemed more concerned about making sure I had something to eat, rather than fixing their home. It certainly was a tough moment for my host family and me. Many say that strong winds like that only occur once every few years. However, after a few days things seemed to get back to normal.

Within the days following the storm, Madianna celebrated Korite. This marks the end of Ramadan. During Ramadan, Muslims worldwide will undergo 30 days of fasting. The villagers all gathered together on Monday morning for prayer to bring Ramada to a close. Later that day the children would go around the village collecting salibo (charitable donation). It is similar to Halloween, the children will come to the door and I would give them a coin or candy.

I moved out of Madianna yesterday. It was tough having to say good bye to my host family. They have been so wonderful and have looked out for me throughout my training. Even though my language skills have improved significantly since I’ve started, there is still a barrier between me and them. Only my brother and namesake Bubacar can speak English. Even so, I would always have a great time interacting with them. I certainly intend to find my way back to Madianna during my service to see them all again. I am sure by then my Sarahule would be much more fluent. I may not have been able to verbally communicate with them very much now, but in the end that did not matter. My time with my host family has been filled with smiles, and smiles need no translation.

Malaria Scare

This weekend my group and I were supposed to go on a boat trip down the Gambia River. However, many of the volunteers ended up coming down with an illness, thus postponing the trip. This last week we were going through a phase in our training called Model School. Each of us were going to teach lessons in a Gambian school. I was tasked with teaching 5th and 6th grade science. About half way through the week some of the volunteers ended up getting sick and had to miss some of the days. Eventually I also ended up getting sick. On Thursday after I finished teaching my last lesson with my 6th graders I started feeling a chill. From there I started running a fever and it went downhill from there. When I made it back to Madianna, I went straight to sleep and try to ride it out the rest of the day. I was able to break my fever, but it left me feeling weak. The next morning some of the volunteers suggested I should go to the medical unit. At first I thought that I was fine and that the worst was over, but eventually I went just to be safe. I was glad that I had listened to them because the worst was yet to come.

Through out most of Friday I felt alright. I ended up spending the night at the transit house to try and get some more rest. I even woke up Saturday morning feeling pretty good. However, not only an hour into the day my fever started coming back. This time with a vengeance! I started feeling chilly and my temperature began to increase. By noon my temperature had gone up to 104.5 degrees. I was taken immediately to go see the US embassy doctor. He did a physical examination and he ended drawing a blood sample to test for Malaria since I was showing some symptoms. Malaria does not very distinct symptoms, some of them can be found with the common cold. But considering that I am in a Malaria risk country the doctor wanted to have my blood checked. Fortunately the test came back negative and my temperature ended up going back down to normal.

So I would say that I've had a pretty tough weekend, but it did remind me of some important things. I have to take extra steps to keep myself healthy in this environment. There are a lot of things here that I have never faced back home. Normally back home I would just tough out an illness, but here I cannot afford to do that. I hope that this post has not got anyone too worried about me. There is a good medical team that is looking out for me. Now I am feeling fit and ready to continue on!

Eating to Live

I have been asked about the food that I have been eating here in The Gambia. For those of you who thought I was going to be eating bugs, sorry to disappoint, but I have not eaten any bugs, ha ha. First I will tell about lunch. My lunches are usually provided by a Peace Corps cook and they can vary. Sometimes I will get a bowl of rice with chicken, potatoes, cabbage, and other vegetables mixed with a sauce. Other times I could have noodles with beef and vegetables. Lunches made by the Peace Corps cook are delicious and I eat them with my language partner. Breakfast and dinner are provided by my host family. For breakfast I get one of two things, either sombi (rice porridge) or bread and butter. Dinner is usually a bowl or rice with a fish or some other sauce. The taste is not the best, and every now and then I may bite into some sand in my food. Some things took a while for my stomach to get used to. Even so, I would never complain about the food my host family gives me. They don’t have that much food to begin with, and yet they chose to share with me. It was already kind enough that they welcomed me, a foreign stranger, into their home and into their lives. There have been times where I have asked myself; Am I a burden to my host family? Am I just another mouth that they have to worry about feeding? I have young siblings in my host family, as well as a five month old niece. I would worry about whether or not they were getting enough to eat themselves.

Since I arrived in my training village, Madianna. I began to take on a lifestyle of eating to live. The people here have very limited food options that they use to meet their needs. This has been an overwhelming but humbling experience for me so far. Back home I could open the refrigerator or pantry to grab a snack or prepare a meal. Or I could go out and have a meal at a nice restaurant. That was more of a living to eat lifestyle. For the Gambians, sharing what they have is a strong value in their culture. There have even been times where I will be walking around the village and families will invite me into their compound to eat with them. Therefore I know that my host family is happy to share their food with me, and that none of them are going hungry. Even if I may not always like the food, I will never complain and I always say nuwari (thank you). Here I consider every meal to be a blessing.

Xonee, Xonee

Xonee, Xonee (x makes h sound). This means “slowly, slowly” in Sarahule. This is a great way to describe my learning of a new language so far, ha ha. I have been tasked with learning the language Sarahule, which is one of the less commonly spoken languages in The Gambia. Language training began once I along with some of the other volunteers arrived in the village Madianna. The village is predominantly a Mandika speaking village, which is the language that most of the volunteers placed here will be learning. Other volunteers have been sent to other villages to learn either Wolof or Pulaar.  Only I and one other volunteer have been chosen to learn Sarahule. We arrived at our assigned training villages two weeks agos.  Training so far has consisted mostly of language and cross cultural issues. Part of the cross cultural training includes living like a Gambian. My house is a very simple one room place with no electricity and a pit latrine as a bathroom. I also don’t have running water in my house. I have to fetch water from a tap and carry it in buckets back to my house. I then have to filter and bleach it before I can drink it. I also bathe by simply pouring water from a cup over me. I sleep with a net over my bed to keep the mosquitoes and other creepy crawlies out. Although this seems like hard living, I have actually been able to adjust to this lifestyle rather quickly.

Xonee, xonee is also a great way to describe the lifestyle of the people of my village. No one ever seems to be in a rush. It is never too much trouble to give a polite greeting or to sit down and have a chat. Families eat all meals together. They sit around a large bowl of food and eat with their hands. Meals here consist mostly of rice and other things added with it. There is no 30 minute lunch breaks here, lunch is over when it’s over. The people here have been very accepting of us. A naming ceremony was conducted at the home of the head of the village two weeks ago. There we all received Gambian names. My Gambian name is Bubacar, after my host brother. It is what I will be referred to as throughout my service here. The Village Head advised everyone that we are no longer outsiders, but people of the village. As I learn more about Gambian culture, I find myself further integrating with it. I definitely enjoy sharing a good laugh with my host family and kids around the village. It is also great to relax on a bench and visit with new friends. Xonee, xonee is the way of life here.

I also found out where I am going to be placed after training. I will be in a village called Baja Kunda. It is a big village toward the other side of the country in the area referred to as the Upper River Region (URR). Out of all the volunteers that I came here with, I will be the one that will be placed the furthest into the country. I do not know too much about the village yet, but I imagine that it will be quite similar to how I am living in Madianna. I do know that I will be working in a Basic Cycle School, which includes 1^st through 9^th grades. I will also be close to the river and mangrove swamps, so hopefully I will get a chance to see some hippos and other wildlife!

First View of Gambian Culture

What an amazing last couple of days! On Friday I got to meet the training staff that will be guiding me and the rest of the group in getting prepared for service. They are a wonderful group of people; they’re very friendly and have a lot of positive energy. That is one thing that I have observed so far about Gambians, they enjoy a good laugh and aren’t afraid to smile and wave at you. So far my group and I have received overviews of what to expect during our training. It sounds very intense and will take a lot of work. What most of the volunteers, myself included, are concerned about is learning a new language. We will likely have to learn Wolof, Mandinka, or Pulaar before we can serve. We will also have to undergo cross cultural training as well. We got to experience Gambian culture first hand by viewing a performance by Gambian musicians and dancers. The musicians used mostly drums and singing and at times one of them would blow a whistle. The dancers had a variety of costumes that they would wear, most of which included masks and heavy clothing. We even got to participate in some of the dances, which was very fun.

Yesterday we had a couple of training sessions at the Peace Corps office. Afterwards we headed back to the transit house to pack our stuff. We then hopped into the coaster (our vehicle) and made our way to Yuna Village Garden Resort, where we will continue more training. It was supposed to be about a 30 minute ride from Banjul. However, the coaster over heated and we had to wait for other vehicles to come pick us up. We broke down right by a village compound. Many of the children there saw us and were quick to come over. They were very well mannered and greeted us with smiles and handshakes. I ended up getting my picture taken with some of them. They were really excited once I showed it to them on my camera. Interacting with them was a very enlightening experience. It makes me really look forward to settling into my own village, but first I got about 10 weeks of training to complete.

Here we go!

Well I have made safely in The Gambia! It has been an intense last couple of days. I arrived in Philadelphia for staging on Tuesday and spent the night there. I got to meet the rest of my group. There are 17 of us. They seem really great and I look forward to working with them throughout this experience. We then spent Wednesday and today in transit. Now we are staying at the Peace Corps transit house in Banjul for the next couple days. Then the really work begins!

One Month to Go!

I'm getting down to the wire! Lately a lot has been on my mind. I keep thinking about what I should bring with me and all the other things that I need to get done before I go. Being that its Memorial Day weekend, I'll have to put things on hold until Tuesday. I'm very excited for this opportunity! As a teacher, being able to teach abroad is absolutely amazing. This will also quell my yearnings for adventure. I know that I will get to experience all sorts of new and exciting things. However, in the midst of all that excitement, I can't help but feel nervous and maybe even a little afraid. I was in the military and I have met many accomplishments so far in my life, but being a Peace Corps volunteer is gonna be my toughest challenge to date. I've dealt with lifestyle change before in the Marine Corps, but moving to The Gambia takes it to an entirely different level. It's going to take much adjustment and I need to keep an open mind and be flexible. I just pray that everyday that I'm there that I always do the best I can for the community I serve. Any other challenge that I've faced in the past has brought substantial rewards and I know this one will too! I have one month until it all starts, and I feel it's going to go by fast.