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Published: March 12th 2009
On saturday at 2 Njareh picked me up and took me to Banjul. The city itself was nothing spectacular, but we went into the market. IT WAS HEAVEN. fabric store after fabric store after fabric store of beautiful african fabrics. i bought a ton of fabrics for under $100 and am probably going to get them made either tomorrow or saturday. on sunday i woke up to the sound of women laughing and talking in Wolof. they were outside making donuts for the Gamo. i went out and helped them. they had a huge pot of vegetable oil over a fire and were taking chunks of dough and putting them in. then they took the donuts out when they were ready. that's all their was to it. we made 4 giant tubs of these donuts. that night Aunty Bin gave me these beautiful african clothes that were blue and red and we went into one of the villages to deliver the donuts. they were small compounds with children EVERYWHERE. we sat in a dark bedroom and people came in and out. they would talk for a while and then we would all pray and then the would leave and a new set of people came in. it was cool to see. i sat next to Aunty Bin's sister Amie who told me what was going on. they were all speaking Mandinka. then an old woman sat next to me and was talking. all i heard was "toubab." Amie told me that the woman was telling her "I want to talk to her, but i can't speak toubab." then we went to another compound and as soon as i came in little kids started yelling "toubab! toubab!" and they grabbed my hands and kidnapped me to a room where they basically sat around and stared at me. finally we left and went home. monday i worked with first grade. pretty uneventful. in the afternoon i went to the eighth grade french class. no one had shown up by 4, so i got a private french lesson in pronunciation and the very basics. then the eighth graders came in and the teacher taught them some grammar, which i understood better than they did. no school on tuesday because Monday night was the Gamo.
The Gamo is the commemoration of the birth of Mohammed. everyone dresses in their beautiful clothing and goes to mosque, which is held in giant outdoor tents. they sit there all night and pray and sing. first we went to one in Banjul, and it was HUGE. we got there around 11 and stayed until 3. at 1 the lights went out, so i slept for about a half hour before the lights came back on. at 3 we went to another Gamo at a compound. it was much more interesting. the whole thing is in wolof and arabic, so i didn't understand it. but at one point i heard the man speaking say "toubab." everyone started laughing and looked at me. TOO BAD I DON'T SPEAK THE LANGUAGE. Jarry told me that he had said "it's nice that we have a white person here." around 5 we went home and i slept until 2 the next day.
tuesday was uneventful. i sat around and read and watched tv.
wednesday i worked with grade 2. there wasn't much for me to do in the classroom so i started translating harry potter from spanish into english. it's actually really fun. in the afternoon i taught 7th grade math again. adding negative and positive integers. somehow we bonded and they love me now. they're really great. i'm pretty sure i'm teaching their class every wednesday from now on. after that class was over i went and helped Aunty Gone with the little kids who can't sit still. that was interesting. then i came home, ate, and went to bed.
today i was at ABC 2 with the third grade. their teacher is really cool, but i forget her name because no one has normal names here. i taught quantitative, P.E., and math. in PE i taught them elbow tag, wizards and trees, and tag everybody's it (thank goodness for camp). they loved it and had a blast. i was able to eat lunch today because i'm getting used to the spices now. during the last class (integrated studies), the teacher gave the kids work, and i taught her spanish. it was fun and we'll probably continue with it.
after school Jarry and i took the van to Serrekunda and went to the market. i got cat-called at and one guy even came and touched my shoulder. it was awkward. we bought vegetables and bargained, which is wicked fun. then i exchanged money (the rate went up $.25!) and went home. tomorrow i'm with grade 4. i may come back to the internet.
love you all!
Kate
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mom
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Great descriptions!
Honey, i loved reading about Gamo, your donut making, and teaching the kids about integers! I sent this link to Karl at Calumet because he'd love the camp reference in terms of games. My guess is that you'll be speaking in their language soon enough, or at least enough to get by. Keep posting! We are still waiting for spring here; Aunt Hallie and I walked the dogs today at Callahan and had to skirt around the edges of giant ice patches. Of course the dogs didn't mind and just fell and skidded all along the path. Addy is feeling better; not back at school yet but healing all the time. Duncan has his first baseball practice this afternoon and leaves for spring training next week, and Jeff is doing well and will begin outdoor soccer as soon as the ground thaws, which will be...april maybe? Oh, and Duncan is going to get his permit next week! love you-- mom