Sarah of Basse on Motorbike

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Today it’s Setsetal Saturday meaning ‘clean up Saturday’ in The Gambia. This happens on the last Saturday of every month. Between the hours of 9 and 1 everyone must stay in and clean their compound and the street around it. A bit of a genius idea I think as there’s no nice council that comes along and takes your bins away and fixes your pavements. David Cameron and his Big Society would be loving it! All the shops are shut and there’s no transport to get anywhere so I reckon it’s a good excuse for a lie in and to update my blog.

This week we’ve been learning to ride motorbikes. We’re being taught by the lovely Suliman, a character indeed. His teaching technique is an interesting one and mainly involves us getting on with it while he sits on his rock under his tree sometimes watching us but mainly speaking on his phone. Still he’s a good laugh; he’ll be shouting down the phone in Madinka one minute and then his whole face lights up as he bursts out laughing the next, huge white teeth a glowing.

We’re learning in the typical Gambian fashion: slowly slowly. The first day involved sitting in the garage going through the schedule for the next 5 days word for word including timings in great detail, twice. That was about it. This is the schedule that we have in no way stuck to. The next 3 days we spent going round and round the football field. Round and round all day. Friday got more interesting. I can now stand up while riding a bike and go in and out of stones. And you should see my bike. It is COOL!!!! It’s a proper scrambler! The ones we’ve been riding on are big enough but I’ve seen the one I’ll have when I get up to Basse and it’s just like my brothers old playmobile scrambler bike. How cool will I be, on my scrambler, standing up over the pot holes!!! Who’d have thought it eh!

Having ignored the busy schedule all week we’ve surprisingly not covered all the things that we’re meant to in order for us to be fully prepared to ride properly (riding on an actual road might be a good start) so they’ve decided that we need another week of training. This is all fine by me. It means another week by the coast with all the nice bars and places to eat and seen as how I still don’t really know what I have to do in my job, I’m in no hurry to start it. So Basse will have to wait another week.

I’ve managed to get a name around the garage. Every time I mention to a Gambian that’s I’m going to Basse they give a sharp intake of breath and say ‘ooo that’s far’ and ‘ooo it’s hot in Basse’. Around the garage all the mechanics (of which there are a surprisingly high amount of girls) everyone has taken to shouting ‘Sarah of Basse’ whenever they see me. ‘Sarah of Basse how is the morning?’ ‘Sarah of Basse how was your ride?’ It has quite a grand ring to it I think. First there was Helen of Troy, then Joan of Arc and now Sarah of Base. I like it!

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Comments

[Maureen Lennox]

Sarah you are just amazing! How cool do you look? Can you hire one for me when i come to see you? Love from Mam xxx

[Joe Lennox]

Well Joan of Arc was burned and Helen of Troy was hanged. Your take care Sarah of Basse, some of those pot holes might be deep!