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.