It's a Bob!

Hi everyone! Happy Thanksgiving and I hope you all had spectacular Halloween costumes! Everything in the Gambia is going well. The seasons have changed with the last rain coming in on the 16th of October which provided a longer than usual rainy season. The village was getting worried about it being too long and damaging the peanut crop, but i think we're okay now. I did go out to the groundnut field with the family one day. Hard work, gave me a new respect for Jimmy Carter. They couldn't believe that a US President once worked a groundnut field. Impressive, I know. So the groundnuts, the corn, and the millet have been harvested and we are now starting to harvest the rice. It's amazing to see how hard my village works.
> But there's some play going on here too...
> What do you get when you combine fake hair, eye liner and a dead ram? TOBASKI! We just celebrated the commemoration of when Abraham did not sacrafice his son but putting on our best outfits and getting dolled up. The men could think about nothing but how big their rams were and how much rice they wanted to eat. It was a fun day and a good time seeing the village all happy and enjoying life.
> We also had another celebration in the compound...my host mom had her baby! He's beautiful (and i never think babies are cute, but this one is) healthy boy. The weight and the length don't matter here, and we'd have to convert out of metric anyway. Regardless, I spent my Halloween evening getting water and helping birth a baby. It was a really amazing experience and I get a little choked up when I think about they whole "miracle of life." Jenaba was a champ with little acknowledgement of pain and by sunset baby boy was here. I was very insistant that they name the baby Bob for my cat, and it stuck for about a week. At the naming ceremony, he was officially named Momadou (for Chris and the volunteer before me). I was a little upset and told host dad how sad I was that it wasn't Bob. "But he needs a Muslim name..." I was told. Fine. So the old ladies and I are still calling him Bob, although they are starting to call him Gibi. Whatever. It's just fun to have him around. And the real Bob seems to not be too bothered by another kid.
> It's fun to look at the compound and think about all the growth I've been witness to in a year. Kids walking that couldn't before. Kids making words who were only making noises. New wives, New babies, gardens where there weren't any, and some language skills where I could barely great a year ago. My how time flies. Only one year left.
> The work has really picked up and I've been keeping busy. I'm working with two new gardens that are really progressing quickly and looking very promising. We did two family planning workshops that hopefully will start to curb some of the population in the villages. The ladies seemed to have a good time and we walked home feeling really accomplished and proud. It was a good feeling. I'm working with two, now three schools on teacher lesson plan support which is fun, but not my main passion here. I am really enjoying my evening tutoring sessions with two eigth graders. They are smart and motivated and we have a good time discussing big concepts and small details. Sometimes even Bob comes to join us which the kids really enjoy.
> So now I'm ready for some good quality Thanksgiving time with the other Peace Corps people, and actively making my Christmas plans...I'm hoping host dad will wear a santa costume, but i doubt it. I definetly see antlers in the future of the donkeys!
> Much love and many happy holiday blessings to you all!!!!