Three Month's Challange

I'm sorry this is so long! A lot's been going on since the last email and
it's been a little longer than I think it will typically be between
communications...
Well "3 Month Challenge" is over and we're back in the capital region for
some in service training. It's nice to see everyone again, but quite a
shock to be around everyone all at once after being in the "quite" village
setting for so long.
CULTURE
I use quiet in quotations because Koli Kunda has been quite the place the
last two months. I've had a taste of everything (not literally) and feel
really well settled in my village. My host uncle married his second wife
(it's a polygamous society, not a divorce society). The festivities were a
little more tame than I expected, but man, they didn't seem to end. First
there was "Prepare your tubob Barbie" day in which my hair was braided (it
looked really bad and there are NO pictures), I had my feet hennaed, and I
was constantly told to go here and there to ooh and aah at the gifts of rice
and veggies that the guests brought. Then there was a dance party waiting
for the bride to come (think jr. high school dancing) and the ladies sure
loved it when I would get up and swing my arms around mildly for a while.
That's the best description I have of the dancing. At about 11 I went to
sleep and the van with the bride and her posse pulled in at 6am. I did get
up to greet them. She came out covered in a white sheet which she remained
under for about a week and went in her house and stayed there for the
entirety of festivities. Eventually I was called out to sit and watch the
"ceremony." It was basically a man talking (the bride still in the house and
men and women separated) and ladies answering cell phones and greeting each
other and carrying on the gossip. Sometimes I forget I'm in AFRICA and that
was one of those moments...cell phones? at weddings? The last phase of the
festivities was to check out the loot. All of the wedding gifts were laid
out for the ladies to comment on. There were no bread machines or duplicate
toasters at this wedding. I think she was registered at Bowls R Us, because
she received either bowls or clothes. That's all you really need here
though. I must say I was happy when everyone went home and things quieted
down. I adore the new wife. She's 18 and really sassy and funny. She and
the family have really taken to each other as well which is nice since i've
heard stories of new wives being trouble.
We also celebrated Mohammed's (the Prophet) birthday...alllllll night long.
The village even rented loudspeakers to project the prayers. The prayer
calls reminded me of Jiroff (training village) and made it feel like so long
ago. Then when they were still going on at 4am I found them annoying. BUT,
it was really special to walk to the mosque at midnight and see the whole
village gathered. I walked back home soon after arriving with the other old
ladies who don't like to stay awake all night. On the way some guys were
talking to me, not necessarily in the most harassing way, but man, my host
granny ripped into them and I was even a little scared. It's good to know
someone has my back here.
There was a male circumcision ceremony for a pack of little boys. It was
basically prayers and dancing (are you seeing a trend in how we celebrate
here?) It was a very colorful experience and I wish I had my camera, but
all the same I'm glad to have that one as just a mental memory.
There was a funneral in the village recently too. (Grandmom should not read
this part: The village head's son died from a snake bite while he was out
running around at night...something I DO NOT do. A week or so later this
death was avenged when the whole village went out to hunt down every
venomous snake they could find...supposedly 3, but no one ever saw any of
the snakes) It was terribly sad and a sudden death and it was hard to see
the village that has so warmly taken me in feel so grief stricken. The
hardest part of it all was the notion that they don't hug here. All I
wanted to do was comfort people with an embrace, but even a hand on the
shoulder was weird. The women spent the day preparing food for later the
day and the men digging the grave and preparing the ram. The women's work
was no different than the church women bringing their dishes and setting up
the basement for the latest funeral. I found it strange how there was such
a sense of familiarity in that setting. There was no dancing at this one,
but there were prayers.
WORK
All of this culture has really slowed down any attempt at work, but we're on
it slowly slowly. We are making really good progress on a women's garden
which is now a community project, which I prefer. The land is cleared, the
fence almost ready and when I get back to village I'll start doing workshops
and we'll be planing before we know it! I held a metting on "my own" or
with the Village Development Chair leading it and somehow knowing what I
wanted to discuss. I was impressed with how much my language has
progressed, which I still feel is lacking, but we all understood each other.
I'm working on a tutoring session at the school now, which I didn't plan on,
I was just making it happen before I could stop the words from leaving my
mouth. We had one session and it went, ok. We'll see.
I'll be helping the World Food Program coordinate school gardens through out
the country. This is very recent and I'm not positive on all the details,
but it's something I look forward to.
I also helped judge the tree nurseries at the schools in my region. It was
fun to see the schools, but long hot days and our 2 flat tires didn't help
much. I guess I'd still do it again though so it must not have been THAT
bad!
That's pretty much it for "work." Things kind of float around, but I'll save
those for other emails!
LIFE
The family is still amazing. They are really feeling more like family every
day. I feel annoyed with people at times and supper appreciative at
others. The kids are still adorable and my favorite boy Juju (3) has stolen
my heart. I've allowed myself to be a little more affectionate with
him...when he doesn't look too snotty and germy. The last month 2 of my
favorites have been in the capital visiting relatives. it's been terribly
quiet without them though. I talked to them on the phone one night and it
was nice to hear them again...SAME with my realy family. It's always good
to talk to MY mom and dad and grandmother. It makes a difficult week or day
so much better. LETTERS also make a huge difference when the mail truck
comes! Thank you everyone for the support! Replies are on their way,
although it might take a while. Bob Saget is growing and sweet as ever.
He's in and out a lot, mostly on the prowl for food like any other growing
boy. At the moment he is trying to get in the house with a lizard he
caught. We're working on the "no toys in the house" rule. He did set his
tail on fire when I had a candle out one day, but I honestly don't think he
even noticed. The PC family has been good, and growing too. I'm making
lots of new friends and finding lots of good people. My house is sort of
half way up country and at a major junction so I've been running a hotel
more than being a PCV I feel. It's nice to see people as they pass though
and make connections but not have them around to hear all of their
complaints about things like administration or other volunteers. The most
exciting thing on the radar with life is that Chris is visiting in July!
We're all excited for the visit (don't ask if I am, of course I am!)...this
includes the village. They want to have all sorts of celebration...probably
dancing and prayers. I always interrupt their plans by reminding them they
didn't even do that when I arrived and they laugh at me! It's also REALLY
hot. 120 is the highest high and 70 the lowest low lately. Everything is
brown, dry and dead, or almost dead. The animals are all fairly emaciated
and yet some how all having their babies it seems like. Even the wind is no
reprieve as it too is hot. We manage though and once it's over 100, I don't
much notice beyond that. I made it out to Basse [Santa Su] one weekend to
bank and see friends. It's REALLY hot up there and I feel for the folks
posted all the way out in the sauna. Basse's pretty happening though and I
might head up there every other month or so. We shall see.
MAIL
Again I'm really grateful for all the letters, packages and support
otherwise! Since the last e-mail I've received letters from Clarks, Logans
(and 2 post cards and 1 package), Val, Rick, Mother, and a package from
Chuck and one from Eloise. In regards to the packages specifically, THANK
YOU! I'll be taking all the goodies to the school, some will be rewards for
going to the tutoring session, the rest at the disposal of the head master.
For the curious, I feel like I should update some package successes and
less success from personal experience and from what I've noticed with other
volunteers....
Success:
School supplies...NO penciles, rulers or sharpeners arrived broken!
Hard pretzels
Slim Jims/jerkey
Tuna "pouches" (I hear there are chicken ones that travel successfully too)
Oreos, would you believe there enough preservatives that they stay FRESH for
a long time?
Tea bags
Kool Aid/drink mixes
Peeps...duh they store well!
Life savers and hard candies (life savers have limited wrapping too!)
Sour patch kids (ate the same box for 2 months)
Noodles (a surprise item that was really wonderful)
Less Successes:
Chocolate chips (although they are wonderful and I am eating them happily,
they tasted a lot like the ziplock back, maybe leave them in the original
bag next time....there will be a next time right?)
Mint Gum-it made everything else in the box taste like mint
Musical cards...they don't make much of an appearance around the children
because i'd go crazy for sure!
Reminders:
Putting things in zip lock type bags is really handy on several levels;
freshness, re purposing, protection of other package contents
A letter or note inside the package would be nice too! It doesn't have to
be all business!
Feel free to wrap stuff in magazine or newspaper articles that I'd enjoy
reading. This mail I had obituaries and grocery store adds, the latter is
just cruel!
Be creative or test the limits of what will mail!
Mail only comes to me on the third saturday of the month and how long it
takes to get to Africa is random, but you can try and account for that
timing.

One Month!

Hi all!
I wasn't planning on being able to send out more email this soon, but I had to come back to the capital for my flu shots.
I've been in my village for about a month now and I really love it. The family is more than wonderful and take very good care of me.
There are a lot of women and children around so there's always someone to talk to or play with or go fetch water with.
I've become quite fond of Hawa the 6ish year old girl in the family. She's very sweet, although very energetic. She almost always goes with me to the well and is very good at bossing me around like only a girl of that age can do.
The big news is that my personal family has grown. I have been given a kitten by my family after they saw how much I liked the big cat that roams around the village. His name is officially Bob Saget, but we just call him Bob. I decided the name would be easy for the Gambians to say and that the addition of "saget" would be particularly comical to my American visitors. Bob and I get along well, although he is very much a kitten and CONSTANTLY wanting attention. He is white with a black tail, black ears, and a few black spots...so he fits in with all my other pets (Balboa excluded) being monocromatic and having a name that starts with a "B." Bob has also proven to be a successful mouse and lizard hunter. He's a good boy.
Aside from Bob I AM making friends in the village. I stopped by one compound on my way around town one day, just to say hello. I then got a lunch invitation and the friendship of Hule a 13ish year old gal who goes to the school. I think I will be working hard to maintain this friendship as there are lots of funny gals in this compound AND good cooks (my family's cooking leaves much to be desired, but I make do).
I still need to go around town and make some more friends. My biggest problem is remembering names. There are SO many! I do know how to say "there's one of me and many of you, so give me time to learn your name." Folks seem understanding of this.
I"m also trying to explore the surrounding community more. "The Island" is quite a swanky place with lots going on. We had a regional meeting there and I walked around a bit on my own. The market is fairly substantial and there are "tubob" shops around where I can find some comforts should I really be struggling. There's also internet somewhere there but I have yet to explore that. It's not my priority at the moment.
My least favorite part is the military camp near by with a lot of men looking for a wife or ticket to America. I loathe having to walk past the camp as their attention is very annoying. Every time I get near that place I think "man, I hate these guys." Fortunately there's a back way to get to where I would go to pass by the camp so I can avoid it 98% of the time. Really that has been the only negative part of this experience so far.
My first week in village I did feel a little down physically. I think I was just burned out from the go-go-go of training since I never took any time off if I felt a little sick like a lot of people did. I spent my first 4 days mostly just sleeping in village. My family was very understanding as was my body and by day 5 it was like the light switch got turned on and I was ready to go. Thankfully that's all the more "sick" I've been, no major stomach problems still...knock on wood!
I did go to the "garden" with my host father, uncle, and bothers and cousins. This has been the major accounting of "work" so far. They were clearing some of the tall grasses so their mango and banana trees can grow better. Really I think they were just burning out the snakes...none of which I saw. The process was quite interesting and I saw the men working with the same sort of grace and intuition that I see in the ladies, no matter what they are doing. There is a rhythm here that I think each person is born with. It stops me every time I catch it. I hope I can find it and become just as efficient as everyone here.
Other "work" involved sitting in on a community meeting. It was to assess the status of a farming project and see where the folks involved stood with its progress. I was asked to take notes, which I was more than happy to do, but had trouble doing since my Pular really isn't that good. I wrote down a sequence of words that I was able to recognize though. Progress? Thankfully they didn't want the notes I took. They did write a few things on a blackboard which I copied for them onto paper. I thought that was most interesting since they were writing in English and since most of the people can't read to begin with. I guess it's for record keeping. I did enjoy sitting in on the meeting to observe my village in such a setting and not have to be responsible for facilitating it. It was also a good way for me to introduce myself to the community as a whole.
A second community meeting was held by a man trying to get a woman's garden going. I'm fairly excited about this endeavor, however wonder about the village's true enthusiasm about the garden. We shall see. It would be a fairly "easy" project though and most of it is planned out already, I just have to be a motivator and supporter.
I went the school about a mile down the road too. I met with the head master and we talked about what I could and wouldn't do and what his wants were for the school. He was a nice enough guy and was very insistent that I return the next day for a "program." I expected some sort of skit night, but instead I ended up passively chaperoning a school dance. I enjoyed the people watching greatly and the kids were really charming. A 10 year old boy tried to hit on me and even put his arm around me. "Precious," I thought getting up to get some more rice. The next day the schools in the area were having a track meet. There's a big celebration on the 18th I think, for some national holiday and all the country has a national track meet. I enjoyed watching all of the kids running and celebrating the victories of their com padres. It was touching to see such celebration for each kid. It was a really hot day though and I don't know how the heck those kids were able to run so much in the heat of the mid day desert sun. Crazy I say.
In all, I'd call the first month somewhat successful, for not accomplishing much at all. I'm not sure when the next email will be so happy Groundhog Day, Superbowl, Birthday Kenny and Grandmom and Eloise and Chris, happy Valentine's Day to all, and all my fingers are crossed for snow days for y'all!

pcV, wmphasis on V

I"m finally official! Yesterday we swore in at the US Ambassador's house. It's a pretty swanky place with a really great view of the ocean, but enough about that. The ceremony was very basic and to the point. Dressed in our matching fabric, all styled to each person''s own taste, we opened with Islamic and Christian prayers, both national anthems and then all of the necessary speeches. As we took the oath, i got a little choked up and teary eyed as I thought about all of the waiting to get to that moment...well more waiting for the moment of officially arriving in village ready to get working, but having something like an oath to really cap it off was significant. It was also really sweet because we had to sit alphabetically which put me next to Wells, a character I met almost a year ago at Madagascar's non-staging. We took a moment to "debrief" and savor the moment and of course pose for a picture with our certificates and big dopey smiles! We also sang a song in our languages, it wasn't the most spirited of songs, but it was neat anyway. The whole thing was televised and no long after all was said and done, a couple in our group got text messages from their host families that they saw them on tv! Following the ceremony and photo shoot we made our way for lunch and some light shopping to get ready for today; the shopping extravaganza. A wild party later ensued. I won at some coin toss game and for the first time in all training, was at the front of the food line! I went to sleep instead of going out dancing so I could be ready to go for our day of shopping. We had a lot of money to spend to get the bits and pieces to settle into our new places. These are the things on my shopping list:
-mattress
-double burner, with accessories and gas tank (i had a lot of trouble getting this and my burner's fate was in the hands of a man who said "trust me." I'm glad I did)
-cups
-plates
-plastic medicine cabinet
-pizza pan (because I"m teaching the neighbor how to make pizza)
-kettle
-rope
-cutting board
-floor mat
-sheets
-pillow
-small trunk
-plastic lawn chair
-paint and a brush
-any food items I can find
-soap, soap soap

In all the process was very easy and I'm glad I only have to do it once, i guess that's why they call it the jungle baby. So now all I have to do is help pack the truck on Monday and then bump out to the middle of the country. I'll be there getting settled in and enduring the "three month challenge" as they call it, which is just time we're to spend in village as much as we can to get familiar with the community and continue working on language. I do have a visit to Senegal planned so I can be in the know about the evacuation routes since I am a cluster warden (a person who does the head count for the folks in my region in the event of an emergency). I'm thinking this trip will be around February, but who knows. I'm not sure when I'll be able to make it back to internet next, that will be part of the experience, so this will be the last big email for a while. I will still get mail once a month so if you feel so inclined write! (address below). I hope to have many new pictures to put up of the adventures! If you haven't seen pictures yet, see if this link works: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2037496&id=50801709&saved#/album.php?aid=2037496&id=50801709
I tried to get a video tour of my house online but the connection is too slow here. I'll have to find some other way. I'm sorry to get hopes up about that.
I hope everyone enjoys the winter weather, I know I am :). It will soon be getting HOT here though so you'll be able to make similar weather jokes to me. Be well and safe all!
I love and miss you much!
-Katie

Katie Cahoon, PCV
C/O Peace Corps/The Gambia
P.O. Box 582
Banjul, The Gambia
West Africa