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!