Fara Fenni again
So here I am in my second experience with the Fara Fenni internet connectivity (at Quantum Associates), and this time I have been here for more than an hour and a half before the connection was even available. Gamtel - the national phone monopoly - is having a problem with their dial-up server. So this place connected to another, better, isp called QuantumNet. We visited the QuantumNet headquarters last week when we were wrapping up training, and it is a breath of fresh air. A properly run (by my American standards, at least) company, with real profits and potential. And they seem to be trying to do their part for the country as well. Their biggest problem is Gamtel, which is unresponsive, abusive of power, and probably everyone's biggest problem in the arena of communications. Anyway, my education continues...
Things here have been going well as I settle in and get my feet wet with work. I am taking things as slowly as I can, trying to meet people, assess capacity, etc. Basically I don't want to commit to anything to involved before I know what it is I am getting into. The principal at the upper basic school (middle school) is also new, and seems like a good guy. The vice principal is a little more demanding, and I am not sure how I feel about him quite yet. I have yet to have another meeting with the principal at Njaba Kunda Senior Secondary (high school), because he couldn't get transportation into town yesterday for our meeting. I am planning to go over to Njaba Kunda next week, to see what's up and have an official visit as a volunteer / work thing. I also want to test out how feasible it is to bike there, and enjoy that challenge. It should be a fun, muddy 27km. [If I haven't ranted about the road, and the issues with transport, between here and there, then here it is: The roads in this country flat out suck. That should probably be all capitals. And the road between here and Kerewan (halfway to Barra, where I can get a ferry to Banjul) is the worst in the whole country. If you took a very bad dirt road in America, made it three times wider, and then drove heavy trucks on it for 15 or 20 years through big rainstorms and whatnot, it would still be better than this road. I think if there were ever a war with Senegal, they should schedule all the battles on this road, as a way to improve it. I could rant for hours about it. I spent nine hours trying to get back from Njaba Kunda last time - those same 27 km. Snails crawl back faster than that. I am done ranting.]
Things with my family are going very well, my Mandinka is recovering from the time in Kombo, and I am adjusting to the dialect here. I cooked my own dinner last night for the first time, a treat but not necessarily one I will do as frequently as I thought I might. It's just hot to do and a little wierd to not eat with the family when I am there alone. Saturday night Woman (aka Colleen, or Mariama) is coming up, and we will cook something. Sunday is the big lumo (weekly market) here in town, which is a big deal. I should get some more supplies, see what's happening, etc.
One of the biggest benefits of having a phone now that I am at my site is text messaging. I never really thought that would be a part of my Peace Corps experience, but life is what happens when I'm making plans. For example, I was planning on having two other volunteers here in Fara Fenni with me, a married couple, but the day I came here, I found out they had decided to early terminate (after having been here only three months). That took a day or two to get used to, but now I am fine with it. Not that I don't get lonely, but I keep busy, try to get out to practice language and meet people, and do my thing. Actually, I have more things to do than time to do them at the moment, and I am not even reading very much. (That's one of the issues some volunteers face - they slip into books and don't interact with human beings for months at a time.) Anyway, this paragraph is all scattered, but I think it conveys some of what it's like as I settle here.
I think I am going to be able to post this finally, so I will take my leave. Love to you all, unless you are a random person I haven't met, and then only kindness.
Things here have been going well as I settle in and get my feet wet with work. I am taking things as slowly as I can, trying to meet people, assess capacity, etc. Basically I don't want to commit to anything to involved before I know what it is I am getting into. The principal at the upper basic school (middle school) is also new, and seems like a good guy. The vice principal is a little more demanding, and I am not sure how I feel about him quite yet. I have yet to have another meeting with the principal at Njaba Kunda Senior Secondary (high school), because he couldn't get transportation into town yesterday for our meeting. I am planning to go over to Njaba Kunda next week, to see what's up and have an official visit as a volunteer / work thing. I also want to test out how feasible it is to bike there, and enjoy that challenge. It should be a fun, muddy 27km. [If I haven't ranted about the road, and the issues with transport, between here and there, then here it is: The roads in this country flat out suck. That should probably be all capitals. And the road between here and Kerewan (halfway to Barra, where I can get a ferry to Banjul) is the worst in the whole country. If you took a very bad dirt road in America, made it three times wider, and then drove heavy trucks on it for 15 or 20 years through big rainstorms and whatnot, it would still be better than this road. I think if there were ever a war with Senegal, they should schedule all the battles on this road, as a way to improve it. I could rant for hours about it. I spent nine hours trying to get back from Njaba Kunda last time - those same 27 km. Snails crawl back faster than that. I am done ranting.]
Things with my family are going very well, my Mandinka is recovering from the time in Kombo, and I am adjusting to the dialect here. I cooked my own dinner last night for the first time, a treat but not necessarily one I will do as frequently as I thought I might. It's just hot to do and a little wierd to not eat with the family when I am there alone. Saturday night Woman (aka Colleen, or Mariama) is coming up, and we will cook something. Sunday is the big lumo (weekly market) here in town, which is a big deal. I should get some more supplies, see what's happening, etc.
One of the biggest benefits of having a phone now that I am at my site is text messaging. I never really thought that would be a part of my Peace Corps experience, but life is what happens when I'm making plans. For example, I was planning on having two other volunteers here in Fara Fenni with me, a married couple, but the day I came here, I found out they had decided to early terminate (after having been here only three months). That took a day or two to get used to, but now I am fine with it. Not that I don't get lonely, but I keep busy, try to get out to practice language and meet people, and do my thing. Actually, I have more things to do than time to do them at the moment, and I am not even reading very much. (That's one of the issues some volunteers face - they slip into books and don't interact with human beings for months at a time.) Anyway, this paragraph is all scattered, but I think it conveys some of what it's like as I settle here.
I think I am going to be able to post this finally, so I will take my leave. Love to you all, unless you are a random person I haven't met, and then only kindness.
posted by Zac at
3:48 PM
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