Blogs from Serrekunda, Western Division, Gambia, Africa

I am seriously hungry right now, and have been for the past week. It’s a pretty viable assumption that I probably have a tropical parasite in my tummy eating all my food and giving me the runs. My friend had this problem while living in Mexico, and the local solution for her was to not eat for 2 days, to starve the little critters, and then drink vodka, to get them drunk and confused and kill them. It worked for her, so if my problem persists I’ll give it a go. In homage to my hunger, I would like to share all about Gambian food with you (partially because I want some, partially because it’s good). For breakfast people eat a multitude of things. The local bread here is called Tapalapa (which I’m pretty sure has ... read more

I am reading a wonderful book at the current called “The White Man’s Burden: Why The West’s Efforts to Aid The Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good”, written by William Easterly. I’d like to share an excerpt from his book that I found to be particularly moving in my world, and hopefully yours. “I am driving out of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to the countryside. An endless line of women and girls is marching in the opposite direction, into the city. They range from nine to fifty-nine. Each one is bent nearly double under a load of firewood. The heavy lads propel them forward almost at a trot. I think of slaves driven along by an invisible slave driver. They are carrying the firewood from miles outside of Addis Ababa, where there are ... read more

For some queer reason I have been frequently getting the “What do you want to do with your life/ what are your career goals” question lately. I usually stare at the person with glazed over eyes and drool hanging off my chin in response. I usually don’t have much to say, and when I do say something, people look at me like I’m not ambitious enough, that I won’t amount to anything. What they are really saying, in their deepest gut, is, “Well why don’t you want to be successful and make a good living for yourself?” These life questions usually make me think of the question in different terms…What do you want? Well I can answer that question. I want more girls in the developing world to be educated. I want my family to be ... read more

I got to thinking about communication, and if understanding every part of language is really vital. Could fluent communication perhaps take away some beauty that lies in body language, eye contact, and understanding a person in other ways? I live in the modern day tower of babble. English is Gambia’s official language, because it was forced that way from colonialization (thumbs down). However, there are about seven tribes here that speak their own languages, as well as an increasing population of French speakers from Guinea Bissau and Senegal. And let’s clarify English here for a second. There is a small portion of people who speak and understand English well, as it is formally taught. Most people know a small amount of English. You have to develop a new concept of speaking “English” in order to be ... read more

After 2 long days of mind-blowing travel, I have finally arrived. The journey started out in DC, then I flew to London for a small lay-over, and then to Madrid for the most tummultuous and angry 11 hour lay over ever. After being charged an extra 650 dollars to check our bags through SpanAir, Julia and I were thouroughly pissed. We arrived in Gambia at 2 am on friday, and surprise surpise, our ride wasnt there. The intention from my friends to pick us up at the airport was completly honorable, except they thought we were coming on saturday. With no where to go, and no ride, we got some dude at the airport to drive us to my former land lords house, where we spent the night on the floor. We finally arrived to our ... read more

Life is funny sometimes. Jacked-up, but funny. I have been preparing for my move to The Gambia for several months now. The night before I was supposed to be in they sky, my friend who I was traveling with got real sick. Many phone calls, and a stupid re-booking fee later, our flight was postponed for a week. I've been walking around the house the past couple of days looking like a bag lady who should be pushing shopping bags in a grocery cart and barking. However, this next week I have before I leave gave me more time to do things I should have really done before I left. Like go to the dentist for the first time in 4 years. I had a tooth ache for a while, and never got it checked out. ... read more

Well, I have way too much to say in one entry, so I'll try to start from the beginning. Basically, it took us a really long time to get here, and we got very little sleep. When we got to Dakar, Senegal, it was nighttime. We stepped out of the plane. It was humid and it smelled like smoke. The ground was packed sand. Immediately, I knew I was in Africa, even though I didn't really believe it. It smelled like I thought Africa would smell. Once we got through customs was when we really realized we were in Africa. It wasn't the fact that Black people were everywhere that shocked me. It was that there were so many people everywhere trying to help you (get money) or talk to you (get money) or buy something ... read more