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.