A few days back

I am on a computer at Tendaba Camp, in Kiang, where we do the technical portion of Peace Corps training. I am here both in my role as one of the volunteer "guides" to the trainees, and as an ICT volunteer, teaching what it's like to be an ICT volunteer, challenges to expect and the tools to resolve them. It's a lot of fun, long days full of activity, and great to hang out with the new folks as they settle into life here. I've just finished my last teaching session, and had some extra time with the computer, so I thought I would write some.

Life is, as always and doubly true in Peace Corps, full of ups and downs. Ups of being able to chat a bit in Mandinka, downs of not having the language skills after a year that I expected. Ups of buying fabric for another very loud shirt, downs of paying a little too much for it because I just didn't feel like arguing with the vendor. Ups of having interesting work and opportunities, downs of being away from my house and people and the simple joys of that life. All in all, I know that I'm having an amazing experience here because I already am worried that the next year will pass too quickly and that I'll miss this place. I can't wait to go home, see everybody, and be in a "normal" place again, but it will be painful to depart from here and leave behind all of this. So, it's a good set of ups and downs...

My friend Joselin asked me to write about the people I meet, both Peace Corps and Gambians. In my mind, there are many other categories of people here - other NGO workers, other foreign nationals, Gambians who work with Peace Corps, Gambians who have lots of experience with foreigners, Gambians who make a living off of tourists (two categories there, scrupulous and not-so-scrupulous), and then the urban and rural Gambians. Peace Corps volunteers are the group with whom I spend the largest percentage of my free time, which I say because I am "working" to one degree or another whenever I am in my compound with my people. I am always representing America to them, and am dealt with first as an American and second as a man in most cases. The people closest to me in Fara Fenni don't act that way, but they are few in number. I also see a lot of other foreigners lately, because I've become friends with some guys who live in town and work on the road project. That may be ending soon, as I'm hoping the road will be complete when I get back.

response and a rush

How about the people you are meeting both in the PC and Gambians? What is the political climate like? Is tourism as big as they say it is?

So, three questions asked: people in Peace Corps and Gambian people, what is the political climate, and how big is tourism here?

In reverse order, tourism is a big thing here, but only on the coast, and it contributes almost nothing to the upcountry economy. In fact, I'm not sure what happens upcountry can even be called an economy. It doesn't really function as I think an economy is supposed to function, but I don't know much about that. Tourism is a source for jobs for people in the Kombo region, but almost entirely low skill jobs without real chances to advance. All the resorts are owned by foreign companies, and they are generally run and staffed at the management level by foreigners too. That's about all I know - tourism does bring people upcountry occasionally, mostly on buses and sometimes only for the day, and they try to return as quickly as possible. In that way, the road project should be a huge gain for the North Bank, as it will make it easier for tourists to come up and see the rest of the place. Hopefully by November the road will start to be paved, and then we'll see....

The second question I'll skip and answer in person.

The third has the longest and most interesting answer, but at the moment I have a ride waiting to take me back upcountry to continue training. Life rolls on....

I'll try to be back a.s.a.p, perhaps from Farafenni.

Work!

Today is about work, it seems, as I try to get ready for next week's training and had to sit through the all-volunteer meeting today. I got a couple of suggestions on topics, and will write responses to those, but would love some more ideas if any one else is motivated.

I have to go get some lunch before my next meeting.... I'm clearly working too much.

fo nyaato,

photos

I put seven new photos on the flickr page - here - from my recent life. I will hopefully write more today, just needed to get this up...

Another thing & food

The reason I came to Africa, if I had to choose only one, could be a feeling I had in my New York City days. Life was often "too easy" there. I didn't have to do enough to earn my daily survival and comfort. I could drift and be at ease. Here, it's not like that. I still like to do the same sorts of things - tonight I'm planning to make dinner with my pal Woman - but it takes more doing to get there. It's not quite swing by the super-market on the way home and call on your cell phone if you wonder about something. Although here in Kombo it's just a variation of that theme, in the case of making dinner. But Peace Corps volunteers world-wide seem to be obsessed with food and making yummy things when together. Big sections of my days can sometimes revolve around pulling together the pieces for a dinner.

On the other side of the food spectrum, I have a loaf of bread - basically a local style baguette - in front of me that I've been gnawing on for the last couple of hours. I bought two of them and three eggs as my food for today/this morning. It's now two thirty and I'm still working on it. Hard boiled the eggs and brought them to the office, efficiency of comestibles... Soon I'll leave and get a plate of rice and sauce, because I'm capable of eating rice every day, sometimes thrice, without getting sick of it. Perhaps I owe to time spent in Japan?

I'm babbling, too long in front of this screen. Please read the other post and respond. Cheers,

New Faces

I've started working with new education (my sector) volunteers, who arrived on the sixth of July, and just returned from travelling to the training villages with them. I got to spend nearly four days in Bambako, my home last year and the place where I fell in love with this country. It was a great time, to be able to help the trainees get settled, to have a chance to see how much I've learned in a year and what has become "normal, and also to have a chance to communicate with the people who knew me when I first came here. It is a wonderful little village, and in a way I'm jealous of the trainees for the time they will spend there. But, like so much in life, I wouldn't want to have to go through the process again of learning all the lessons that now make me appreciate that place so much.

As I reflect a little on the last year, I realize that I haven't been posting as much as I'd like recently. One reason was probably identified by a trainee when he said that I seemed "so normal here". I'm adjusted to this life, and fewer things cry out to be written down. One of the new folks, on the evening of his first day in village said that he really felt that he had a lot to write in his journal that night, after not quite feeling so motivated during the first week - spent here in Kombo. This experience has become more "normal" than I realized it would. I'm used to the harassment and hassles, the heat and humidity, the greetings and food bowls, and all the other things that used to provoke journal and blog entries. So, I'm asking for new topics.

What do you want to read more about? I don't get (m)any comments, but I've changed the submission process to make it quicker and easier, and I'm hoping people will submit their ideas so I can fill out the picture. I can tell you all about the buttock-mangling ride down the south bank road that defined yesterday, but I feel I might have written enough about transport for now. I could rant about the education system, or my job stresses, but it doesn't strike me as fresh these days. So, what's it going to be?

I'm in Kombo until Sunday or Monday, getting ready for a week of training sessions and going to an All Volunteer meeting on Friday. It's very exciting stuff, but I'm going to try to post as often as I can while I'm down here, to make up for the recent lack of activity here. And pictures. We'll get some of those up too...

Fourth of July and One Year away

Well, today is the one year mark on this adventure, and I'm going to the airport to pick up the new education group. I have been asked to work with them as they learn the ropes and get through the training process, which for me was a lot of fun, but for others was the hardest part of service. It's odd to realize that I'm now a veteran in Peace Corps standards, but the education group ahead of mine is mostly gone, and when I look around, I realize again that this experience has a lot of changes and turnover as a central part of it.

Last year I spent the 4th of July in Philadelphia, where it couldn't have been more obviously Independence Day. This time, I was travelling from Farafenni to Kombo, and mostly didn't notice except when a fellow American said something about it. All holidays seem to lose their meaning with distance from home. But, I'll be spending much time over the next few months with fresh-off-the-boat trainees, and I'm hoping they will inject some energy into things here.

I also hope to have more chances to write and post - I did upload a couple of photos the other day - so be on the lookout for more updates within the next weeks. Either that or noticable silence. Meaningless but possible. Hope all is well on the home front, things keep rolling along here...