IYOO

Iyoo... pretty much my response to everything these days. It means "okay" in Mandinka. I'm in Kombo for the day, just picking up funds for the next few weeks, med supplies, groceries, and stuffing my face with the pizza that I've been craving for over a week (weird what foods you crave when reading Fried Green Tomatoes alone, at night, in Africa-okay, not really, of course I'm craving pizza, it has been 3 months since I've had any).

I attended a board meeting for Allatentu yesterday. It consisted of myself, the VP and the chairwoman. It started 45 minutes after it should have because the VP had the key to the office and was late. Basically, we decided that since most of the support group members have gone to and are still in the President's treatment program, it will be hard to launch the CD by May 21st. It was decided that another meeting should take place to finalize whether or not the launching should be moved. I'll keep you updated. So now I know what meetings are like. They start late, and there is a good chance not much will be resolved by the end. Slowly, slowly, I have to remind myself.

On another fun note, some kid threw a stone at me yesterday. I was taking a late afternoon walk with my headphones on and had the music just low enough to hear the sound of a stone about the size of a baseball land at my feet. I just stopped in my tracks, amazed that it just happened. I look around to find the culprit and he just motioned for me to go. When I just stood there, he gave a few crude gestures and I motioned for him to go. I ended up just walking off because I got the feeling that if I just stood around, things could escalate. They didn't, but it still bummed me out the rest of the evening. I know it wasn't me in particular that he was trying to insult-just a foreigner in general.

Things are moving along, though and I'm still having a good time and learning even more. I'm going to try to plant some plants this week in the flower bed around my house. I'll try to make it a family affair, with my brother because I'll need to borrow the wheel barrow to collect manure, grass, leaves and other stuff because I'm not sure how well things grow in just the sand.

I think that's all for now. If you want to send me some candy like Starburst and Mike and Ikes, I'll write you a letter. Also, my mom has the CDs Allatentu made. If you want one for $10, send your address to her at gillag@ticnet.com

So are the days...

I have a slightly better understanding of how I will fill my time during the next few weeks. I met with the HOC program coordinator and we decided it would benefit me to spend the next 6 weeks on a sort of rotation. In addition to working with Allatentu, they also want me to work with the Home Based Care (HBC) program. HBC works with chronically ill patients by attending to them at their residence. One doesn't have to be HIV postitive to enroll in the HBC program. Illnesses such as cancer and TB are also seen so not as to disclose a person's HIV status. There are two German Nuns who run this program so I will be working closely with them. They have both been working in the Gambia for about 20 years. So these next 2 weeks, I'm exclusively on the Allatentu rotation. I'll be helping them get ready for the cassette launching in Brikama on the 21st. We also made soap yesterday as an income genterating project and I'll spend time getting to know the members of the group. After that, I'll be on the HBC rotation and learn about what exactly goes on there. After that, I'll do a clinic rotation for 2 weeks. Hopefully I'll be able to sit in on some intakes, attend to patients in the ward and help distribute medications and non-perishable foods.

At the same time, my house is slowly coming a long. The mosquito screens are finally installed and I at last have a bathroom door! A bed was delivered to me on the most recent mail run and my cement floors have been painted. This Saturday, I'm throwing a painting party and inviting people from the clinic and Allatentu, as well as near by fellow PCVs (and of course my family). I am finally coming to terms with the fact that I'm going to be living more of a "western" style life in Africa. I guess it's appropriate, as I have more of a "western" style job (I get weekends off). Yet, I am still listening to a goat cry outside this internet cafe right this moment and most of the time I still can't understand what people are saying to eachother. I still feel that everything is hunky dorey one minute and that if one more kid yells toubab at me the next minute that I will completely lose it.

I helped my family cook lunch today. We made these fish balls in an oil, onion and tomato sauce. With rice of course. My 2 year old brother continues to tug at my heart daily. Today he helped his 3 month old brother learn how to sit. The family calls him and ant becuase he is always on the go. Most of the time I'm in bed way before he is. I'm looking forward to watching him celebrate a few birthdays while I'm here.

Sorry about any spelling errors. I have 2 minutes left at the cafe. I miss you guys.

I'm star struck!

This is the Hands On Care Clinic at the Brikama hospital.

So maybe some of you have heard of this famous Gambian Kora player
named Jaliba Kuyateh? He's kind of a big deal. He's played in Austin
and just got back for a tour in the UK. http://home3.inet.tele.dk/mcamara/jalibaku.html

I met him today. Just walked into his compound with 2 of my support
group members because they had a meeting set up with him. Turns out
he lives just down the street from me in Brikama. Needless to say, I
don't think I'll be moving houses after all. (Well actually, I decided
that I will stay in this house before I met him, but it adds to the
story). Did I mention that Allatentu released an HIV de-sensitization
CD last month? Well, they did and I'm sending 10 CDs to my mom and
they are for sale for 10 dollars or how ever much you want to
contribute to them. The money raised goes straight back to the group,
40% to the actual group and 60% to Fatou Seesay, the singer in the
band because she and her husband wrote the songs.

Anyway, if you want to buy one, ask my mom about them. So Allatentu
set up this meeting with Jaliba because they want to have a benefit
concert with him and be his opening act. He agreed pretty much just
like that, and the concert is going to be on May 21st here in Brikama.
Now, the next few weeks will be devoted to advertising, organizing a
location and possibly making t-shirts to sell. Also, there is talk of
wanting to produce another album, so I'm hoping to be involved with
that (maybe even do a little back up singing-which will encourage me
to speed up the Mandinka learning!!)

Some days are more Gambian than others, and today is definitely one of
them. I went with 2 members of the group to look at a plot of land to
start a garden for income generation, via public transport, and of
course, it broke down. We sat in the steaming gele-gele for about an
hour, while the driver and his entourage tried to fix something (rumor
had it was the breaks). The cheeky passenger women immediately
started comprising songs about hoping to find a peaceful road not too
far away, and as soon as I mentioned that my last name was Camera, two
women turned around announcing that I was their daughter, then another
woman, who has a joking relationship with the Cameras (her name is
Seesay), told us all that we ate too much. Joking with last names is
a big hit around here and it is always appropriate to say someone eats
too much. Then, once we got to the town where the land was, the
Alkalo (village head) asked if we could come back next Friday because
he didn't have time to show us the land after all that day, which is
also typical of Gambians. So next Friday, we are making the trek
again, this time hopefully with an old man driver (not a young boy like
we had today) because I learned that old men drivers look out for the
road and think of their families and young boy drivers, well, don't.

More Pictures

More pictures are posted from swearing in. I was also in the middle of typing another entry when the computer crashed, so I'll just briefly update.

I'm trying to figure out what to do with my house exactly. I honestly feel that it is too big, so I may start to ask around work to see if anyone knows of an available house more fit for PC living. At any rate, I've been spending these past few days trying to accumulate "stuff" on my PC salary. It feels sort of strange purchasing home furnishings, when the entire month before I left, I was working on significantly downsizing my material items. However, at the same time, it feels somewhat legitimate to me to be contributing to this economy and supporting local businesses. I have even re thought starting my own garden (not that I have a yard for it anyhow) because I live so close to the market and the women work hard in their own gardens to generate income for their families.

This week I'm going to re introduce myself to Hands on Care and Alletentou and start learning names and establishing relationships. Wednesday I'm scheduled to take my malaria medication. Sunday, I have a birthday party to go to. Looks like I have a busy week ahead of me. Send me letters! I miss you guys.

It's official

A trainee, I am no longer. Today, on this haunting day of Friday, the 13th, we were sworn in as Peace Corps Volunteers. The ceremony was at the US Ambassador to The Gambia's house and I now know what I want to be when I grow up (especially if I get to live in a house and overlook a view such as the one I attended today). Several of us dressed in traditional Gambian attire (pictures to be uploaded soon), and a spread of food so decadent was prepared that I had the same feeling as I often do when eating a Thanksgiving dinner. The best part is that we even have leftovers to devour when the mood strikes.

These past few days, I have been making routine trips to the bank, the large market, PC office for administrative purposes, the grocery store and of course, the beach. It is a bit overwhelming to think of and try to purchase home furnishings on a limited budget and from a market where prices are never to be agreed upon at first breath.

It hasn't quite hit me yet that come Sunday, we are free to begin Peace Corps work. For a lot, that means spending lots of time trying to plan and come up with projects from the ground up. This period of service is known as "three month challenge", where you are encouraged to spend every night at your site for the next three months. It is supposed to be a time to gather needs assessment-type information about your village or community, in order to plan projects for the upcoming months. You are encouraged to spend a few hours each day out in the community, introducing yourself to your village and village heads, such as traditional birth attendants, village development committee chairmans, community health nurses, in order to start establishing valuable relationships. I will start showing my face at Hands on Care and Alletentou a few days a week, as well as begin working towards making Camera Kunda my home away from home.

Pics are posted!

Look at them!

Movie Series

So, it's really hard to describe 3 months of training in a few blog posts, but I'll try to do my best. Right now I'm back in the capital area, staying at the PC hostel until next Sunday (which means I have free Internet access, so send some emails this way and you won't have to wait a month for a response!) Friday, April 13th, we officially swear in as Peace Corps Volunteers. I've been holding on to my PC patch that my recruiter sent to me in the mail what seems like ages ago and come Friday, I'm going to sew it on my Costa Rica tote sack that is my excuse for a purse.

It seems appropriate to try to describe my experience sort of like a movie series. Right now I'm watching (or starring in rather) "culture shock part III" Don't be frightened by the title, it's a really good movie so far, and has an awesome soundtrack with lots of Yo La Tengo, some Velvet Underground, Niko Case, Dr. Dog, Camera Obsucra, Air during the yoga scenes and even Yes finds its way in sometimes. But this isn't one of those movies that releases the prequel years later, so I'll start with part I.

Part I- Training Village
The first 2 weeks of training were some what like an extended day camp. We had back to back training sessions, then started integrating language sessions in slowly. We were nervous to walk outside our living quarters, leery of what was on the other side of the brick walls. Some of us stayed up late, having dance parties with our mp3 players and first round of AA batteried speakers. Some woke up early and even practiced yoga or went on runs. I went to the beach a few times and thought paying D80 for 4 oranges was normal (about $3) (at the market they are D5 each, I later found out). Looking back, when I first got here, I didn't feel overwhelmed. Thing were pretty structured and I'm a pretty structured person, so it was easy to go with the flow and take things as they came. We had set meals 3x a day and were served "American-type food" and got our own plates and cutlery. We had field trips- one in particular to the Sera Kunda Market, a huge market in the Kombo area. That was the day my left foot got run over by the front right tire of a taxi cab trying to fit down one of the tiny market roads going about 5 miles and hour. Luckily, I had changed out of my chacos in to my keens, which probably saved my foot. (I need to write Keen to see if I can be a celeb in their next commercial or something). My foot was only bruised. I could immediately walk on it, but still immediately was taken to the PC health clinic a few kilos away. Two days later I was running on it. I am only just mentioning it now because it sounds like something horrible, but really wasn't and it hasn't bothered me since that week.

We were divided into training groups and placed in training villages. Kaiaf, a larger Mandinka village in the Kiang region was home for about 6 weeks. During the first week, I felt my first series of overwhelming experiences. Even though I tried to put expectations aside, I was still questioning whether I could live in such a foreign land for 2 years- how did people do it I wondered. I worked with these feelings by taking it a day at a time, going on runs (luckily I was placed with another runner), doing yoga in the middle of the heat of the day in my hut all by myself, going to language classes all morning and working on tons of school-type assignments that PC gave to us called TDAs (training directed assignments) that consisted of dipping bed nets with our families, putting on skits and coming up with plans on how we could introduce hygiene to our eventual permanent sites. Training was broken up by a few different trips to Tendaba Camp, a sort of resort place known for bird watching, that had a pool and cold drinks. It was a nice break from village life and a fun way to meet back up with people to see how their training was going. But at the same time, it was session after session of new information, which was overwhelming in and of itself. I ended up moving families mid way through because I was placed in a teacher renter's compound with a very traditional Gambian father. I felt uncomfortable around the family a lot, like I was actually in their way, so I requested a change. My new family was much more jovial (my father sold mintees, or candy-how appropriate, huh?), there were 3 wives and older children that went to school and I enjoyed all of their company. Most nights, after a run and a bucket bath, I would sit out on their bantaba with my language note book and they would watch me write and help me speak. I was starting to see how one could ease into the simplicity of village life, with the additives of fetching water from a pump and carrying the bucket on my head, listening to the mosque call 5 times a day (the first starting at 6 am), waking up with roosters and watching goats mingle in the cooking area (which didn't bother me at first, but by the end of training village drove me crazy!!) I some how chipped my left 2nd tooth (Marilina, what is that one called?), got strep throat or something and fluctuated between major constipation or full blown diarrhea (fun huh?). Bike rides to the next market town, Soma, about 10k away, were a big deal, where I loaded up on tons of cookies and leafy veggies--a huge treat. I even planned a weekend to visit friends in a Fula village about 12k away, spent the night and we biked to Tendaba Camp, swam, came back and made spaghetti and garlic bread on a gas tank. It was amazing garlic bread.

Part II- Perminant Site
Then about a week ago, we had our site visits. I knew I was going to be in Brikama, an urban town in the Kombo area, working with the NGO Hands On Care. I didn't know what site would be like, but heard that they had found a family for me. Turns out, it is still a renters compound, but with a family component. While being driven down a sandy-neighborhoodesk, tree lined road, I didn't know what to think. Then we passed a faucet pump and stopped at Camera Kunda. When I walked through the iron and glass french front doors and stepped on my tile floor, I was totally confused. I walked around my 3 bedroom, one living room, one bathroom with plumbing house for a good 10 minutes completely overwhelmed. I would say that feeling hasn't and probably won't leave me for a while. I escaped electric and water bills for 3 months, but now they've found me again. It's a brand new house and I'm the very first person to live there and I don't even know where to start in terms of decorating or furnishing, but it is important to me to have a safe, comforting place to come home to for the next 2 years, so I'm going to start with a fresh coat of paint. I hope to hold a few painting parties, otherwise, painting is the only thing I'll be doing in the next 6 months. I did get a chance to get to the carpenter before coming to PC hostel this week and should have a counter top, small table, night stand, bathroom stand and clothes shelf made for me when I get back. I'm going to send money with people who live up country to get one double bamboo bed made and one single to act as a couch in one of the rooms. I haven't decided what to do with the other room, but I'm thinking maybe a yoga/climbing room (I wonder if anyone would know how to build a climbing wall over here, and how much it would cost to get holds shipped over here?--I'm half kidding, but actually half serious--who wants to come visit and help me build a climbing wall, Aaron, Lisa, Summit? Chris? Arnold? Sarah and Srin?) I'm going to miss village life, but can't beat a 10 minute walk to my job and to the market where I can make veggie burrito/eggerrito goodness type food any time I desire. Traditional Gambian food is pretty good, but usually consists of a lot of rice and oil or millet and oil with some kind of groundnut or leafy sauce, sometimes with fish (that have tons of bone, naturally), cassava (a type of root), overcooked onions or a few over cooked bitter tomatoes. My living arrangements include having lunch with the family, but I will be on my own for breakfast and dinner, which will allow for some variety. I will still wash my clothes by hand, but have a spigot right outside my front door. I plan on planting lots of flowers in my concrete like flower bed at some point, too. I've met some employees of Hands on Care and members of the Alletentu support group and am excited to ease in to that position. Like I mentioned before, they just released an album, which I will buy and send back to The States for you guys to hear. The PCV I'm replacing, Bonnie, may stick around for a little while longer to work with another organization, which I'm really excited about because she has done so much with the group and it would be nice to have her help with my transition, and she's a runner and she's really nice.

I have a mother named Tida, a father in France named Lamin, 3 sisters named Kadi (who has Momedu age 7, Ebrima age 3 and Adama 3 months) Fanta age14 and Mansanta age 10. I also have an aunt (or binki-the father's sister) named Mariama Camera, same as me, ironically (which is known as your name sake or toma), who has 3 sons, Lamin age 21, Saja age 18 and Kemu age 12. They own and watch a TV most nights, own a land line and have electricity. The boys all speak some English, so not all communication is lost. At this point, I can say where I'm going, where I've come from, what I want and need, what I'm doing currently, what I did yesterday and what I will do tomorrow. We've learned how to say what we habitually do, ask questions and even that we're doing something while doing something else (like talking while eating), but my vocab is still minimal and sentence structure is a pain in the butt.

Part III- PC Hostel, aka The Stodge
This is where Yes gets some play time. Who knew hot showers, bunk beds, DVD/TV, shelves of games and books and a full size kitchen could be so overwhelming!? I walked in to an actual grocery store in the first time in 3 months and didn't know where to start (who am I kidding, I went straight to the candy isle). I bought a 1/2 kilo of mozzarella cheese for D125 and soon remembered how much I missed actually cooking and the repetitive act of washing dishes in a sink with running water. I am going to savor this next week and eat 10lbs of veggies and maybe even buy ice cream. It's also a mad house there right now because all the trainees, as well as all the close of service (COS) people are staying here right now.

So what do you think the trailer would look like at this point?

This is the section where I mention things I miss.

Things that I miss (and may fit nicely in care packages):
gummy candy (like mike and ikes)
gum
burts bees chapstick
dried fruit
batteries-AA/AAA
trail mix/nuts (anything other than peanuts, please)
triscuit crackers
a stylish pair of sunglasses
posters I could hang on my bare walls
bobby pins and pony tail holders
shampoo, crest toothpaste/toothbrush

Letters! Letters! Letters!

Things I miss (but wouldn't fit nicely in care packages):
My family and friends
My dogs
NPR

Well I think I'll close for now, I've been here for almost 5 hours. Promise pics this week, check out some extra links--may give you a little insight of what work may be like for the next 2 years.

Love and Hugs so big!

I don't even know where to start!

So, first of all, thanks to those who have sent letters this way. They totally lift my spirits. Please keep them coming! I've officially moved to my perminent site in an urban town called Brikama. I will be working with an NGO called Hands on Care that works with people living with HIV/AIDS. I will start that work in 2 weeks, after officially swearing in. I'll try to get as much info in as possible in the 30 min I have remaining at this internet cafe.

1. My English talking and spelling is getting worse-disregard mispelled words
2. I brought 5 tubes of chapstick and haven't found any here yet, keep them coming if you want to send any in the mail.
3. Chris Emme's mom- Chris has gotten tons of letters and packages, but I think you've heard from him by now.
4. My new home in Brikama is at least 2 times as big as my home in Norman, has electricity and running water. My new host mom's name is Tida Kanajii and her husband's name is Lamin Camera (he is in France right now)
5. Just when I had gotten used to fetching water from a pump and carrying it on my head and using a pit latrine and taking bucket baths every night in my training village, Kaif, PC switched everything up on me and is tricking me in to thinking I'm somewhere in between The States and Africa.
6. I am a 10 minute walk to a market to get fresh veggies and fruits.
7. Training has been exhuasting and I'm excited to start working with the NGO
8. My training group put on several presentations consiting of Malaria skits in Mandinka, dipping bednets, etc., a model school presentation on HIV/ AIDS, with a song on how HIV is spread and not spread to the tune of "Shake Your Booty", a final presentation on Personal Hygiene, how to put together a needs assessment and how to put the info into a skit to our Peer Health Group in the Kaif school.
9. I really wanted to start some sort of garden, but I don't have a back yard. Maybe I will find some land somewhere close to my house.
10. I miss you all back home!
11. I'll try to post pics soon, I have a lot
12. Mango season is about to be here. I've discovered the cashew fruit and it is amazing. You can eat the fruit and the nut, but not the shell from the nut.
13. Send emails because I can check them.
14. My Gambian name is Mariama Camera
15. The sound of a donkey braying is almost as funny as watching it bray.
16. I hear the Mosque call to prayer 5 times a day.

I have to go for now, but more to come later. I love you guys and miss you. But I want to hear from you!