Surprise Wedding!

Last Saturday we had a surprise Peace Corps wedding.  Fabulous Natasha, who recently finished her service, married Kunta, a former LCF (language and culture facilitator).  They wed legally in Banjul and then had a traditional Mandinka wedding to follow.  The food was continuously flowing and dancing was done by all.  Congratulations you two!  I wish you a lifetime of love and happiness!

Rachel and I excited for Benechin!

Me and the bride

The Bride and Groom

Happy couple, outfit change!

Rainy Season Update--let's discuss food

Rainy season has officially arrived.  In fact, it's in full swing now.  Everyone was really worried because it came over a month late, but it's finally here and it's not messing around.  In the last week it has rained every day, with a couple days that were rainy from morning til night.  I hope this means good things for our crops!  I have heard the millet and corn should be a meter high by now and it's just started to grow.  This time of year is also known as hunger season, because everyone is farming so they don't have time to do any other work--the next income will come at harvest.  This means we're dipping hard into our millet and groundnut store, as I live in Fanafana land, where "chere" is just as much the staple as rice.  Since rice is expensive (the price of a bag has more than doubled in the last 5 years), millet (chere) with groundnut sauce is what's for dinner.  I myself like to eat chere because its more nutritious and filling than white rice, although the sauce my family makes for it leaves much to be desired...  On the days I need a break from the family food bowl, I cook simple American meals for myself like macaroni and cheese, salad, pasta, sandwiches, whatever I can scrape up at the moment.  Recently I made a corn dish with sauteed veggies and chicken.  It was really yummy and my family gobbled up the leftovers.
The good news about upcountry food is that now the grass is growing again, the cows have food and will start producing milk! Chere ak Meew (Gambia's version of Cheerios and milk) is the typical fanafana, or upcountry Wolof, dish. My favorite!  You can add salt or sugar to the mix, and if there's leftover milk, let it set overnight and you have sour milk!  Also so yummy especially on top of rice or millet porridge with groundnuts.
In other food news, Abdou, my cutie boyfriend, ate pizza for the first time the other day and has declared it his new favorite food.  He also ate cheesecake and of course loved it, even preferred it over chocolate cake.  Smart man.
Also some fellow volunteers cooked dinner last night and it was the best food I've eaten in the Gambia thus far.  Baked teriyaki chicken, salad complete with avocados and delicious vinaigrette dressing, squash soup and homemade croutons.  Wish I was talented and motivated enough to pull something like this off!  DELICIOUS.
So there is good food news and bad food news these days.  Trying to keep my attitude on the bright side.  Fresh milk, mangoes, and avocados are going to keep my tummy and taste buds happy these next few months.  Get it while ya can!

Family Photo

Two weeks ago my host brother's wife had a baby boy.  Here in The Gambia, it's tradition to wait a week after the baby is born until a name is given.  During this time the mother and baby are supposed to stay in the home, only to go out for bathing, visiting the latrine, necessary activities.  After a week you have a huge celebration where a goat is killed in honor of the newborn, the baby's hair is shaven, the name is announced, and yummy food is enjoyed by all.  My wife (as they say here, because a woman marries her husband's whole family, not just him) gave birth to Ousman Njie on April 29 and the Naming Ceremony ("Ngente" in Wolof) was one week later.  At my compound, we celebrated the birth of Ousman and also his older sister Mariama, who apparently didn't enjoy such a wonderful event when she came along.  This meant two goats were killed, and both were showered with prayers and gifts.  We ate rice porridge with sour milk (Delicious) for breakfast, and Benechin for lunch (Spicy rice with whatever veggies and/or meat on top.  This time was goat and cabbage).  Dancing and singing also ensued.

My wife Juka, my brother Assan, Mariama, and newborn Ousman

Family Pic! 

Top, from the left:  Sister Awa, First wife/My mom Jabou, Second Wife/My Mom Penda, my dad Batch, brother Assan, me, brother Dam

Bottom, from the left:  Awa's son Siekh, Juka and Ousman, brother Mort, brother Ousainou (Assan's twin), girl who lives in my compound we call Maam Ceesay, brother Alieu and Mariama

*all the brothers and sisters shown here are children of my father's first wife, Jabou

Mariama's goat and Ousman waiting to have his head shaven in the background

Mariama and the giant bowl of churah gerte (porridge)

Killing Ousman's goat

Twins!

Alright, I'm headed to America in two days! See ya'll in a hop, skip, and a jump!

CATch me if you can!

I have a new man in my life.  I met him at the ferry crossing across from Janjanbureh, an island town in the middle of the Gambia River.  I gave him the name Coco because he was nameless before we met.  He is both black and white, which makes him very good-looking in my opinion.  I thought he was cute right away and couldn’t wait to cuddle with him.  That first day, I brought him to my compound and introduced him to my family.  The children were scared of him and the others were not sure if they liked him yet.  My dad laughed when he met him.  But I knew they’d come around eventually.  Of course he moved into my hut that same day and I fed him and took care of him like a good host.  But don’t worry, I still don’t let him sleep in my bed with me—he’s too frisky.  His favorite food is fish and he also eats rice and millet with sauce sometimes.  He’s really good at keeping rats and lizards out of my hut and even eats them as snacks after he catches them.  He’s also useful when village children disturb me too much.  I just bring him out of the house and they all scream and run away.  My family has gotten used to him now and they always greet him throughout the day.  My brother’s baby daughter always comes to look for him in my hut.  I think we will enjoy these two years together very much, as long as he learns to stop being so clingy—he still misses his mom and brothers and as a result has become my constant shadow.  Oh, by the way, if you haven’t already caught on, my new man is a CAT.

Peace Corps The Gambia ABC's

Aparantes: baggy pants wearing dudes who try to rip you off when paying for public transit
Bumsters:  beach-residing men who have two hobbies: doing push ups and harassing white women.
Coco: my new kitten--he's frisky but kills things
Dogs: dirty, diseased, desperate for care. Breaks my heart.
Education:  the reason I'm here, and where so many problems in this country lie.
Family:  the structure may be different than I'm used to but I love my Gambian family and all they do for me.
Goats:  unintelligent and abused animals, good for a boost in protein intake around holidays, weddings, and naming ceremonies.
Husband: what men ask me if I have any time I leave my village
Intestinal issues: a normality here
Jujus: magical pouches tied around arms or waists to protect people from various kinds of harm
Kombo:  place where you can find Internet, ice cream, and beautiful beach resorts
Litter: it's everywhere, everyone does it
Mangoes: best thing about hot season. Only a couple more months to go!
Njie: my surname. We are the fearless lions of this part of the world.
Officers: police, security, immigration.  Always there to delay travel, demand to see IDs, and ask for your phone number.
Pit latrine: I definitely prefer this to the alternative here, broken toilets.
Questionable: the state of some meats I eat, the honesty of people selling you things, the quality of most goods here, and much more.
Rachel: my partner in crime.  We might as well have a joint service.
Sun: it's almost always there to fry your skin and drench you in sweat.
Toubab!: what children (and some adults) shout at white people, usually accompanied by these phrases: what is your name? how are you? Give me dalasis, minties, your bicycle, clothes, you or your friend as my wife, etc.
Ugly: what mothers ask you to call their babies.
Vegetables: I buy them for my family every week to spice up our food bowls.
Water: no tap in my house, compound or area of the village. I use my bike to fetch it from the hand pump while all the other women carry it impressive distances in buckets on their heads.
Xtreme: my team of 14 awesome volunteers who came here together in June.
Yaay: Wolof for mom. I have two of them here, YaJabu and YaPenda.
Zoo: what I feel like I'm in when I have 25+ kids gathered around me staring at whatever I'm doing.