And uncomfortable cab ride, fish and rice in the afternoon, and an intersting invitation to be someone's friend

Friday, January 23, 2009

Today was really interesting. I woke up thinking that it was Thursday for some reason. And I only realized it when Sr. Cecile said to me that it’s half a day of school since it’s Friday. I thought…oh wow, it’s already Friday! We went off to mass and then on to the school where we had an assembly, Christian teaching with the Christians, and then we played volleyball again. Today was the boys turn to learn. I’m sure that some of them just wanted to go out and play football but we took them to teach them how to play. If they don’t want to play later on, they wont have to. This week, Sr. Catherine took charge and she separated everyone very nicely and I think everyone was involved in something that was productive to an actual activity. She had the older girls (grade 2 and 3) go with August and play football, the younger boys and girls (grade 1) go with Anna and play activities and then the older boys with Armando, Emmanuel and myself to play volleyball. I’m going to say that the boys are definitely better than the girls. Maybe it’s because they’re more active than the girls are, since the girls mostly skip and just play and the boys actually play with a soccer ball. They have very good hand-eye coordination and it was so good to see how fast they caught on. I was able to teach them how to both pass and set and I was actually able to play with them. It seemed like last week with the girls, the ball was flying all over the place but the boys passed and set it right back to me. It was really good to see. Well have to get the girls to get good at it too. I think once they see it all come together they’ll understand a bit better how the game works and then they can see how fun it is. The girls are always asking to play and that’s really good to see. I’m not sure how I’m going to teach them the rules, but I’m hoping to just simplify it for the first little while.

After that, we all piled on the bus and headed home. Sr. Cecile was coming back to the school and we met up with her so the sisters, Saba (she cooks the meals for the kids at school and sometimes works for the sisters at home) and I got off and rode home in the truck. Even though we have to pack into the truck it’s nicer since there isn’t as much screaming. Haha…its so hilarious riding that bus. I’m not sure if you ever get used to it and I don’t know how those kids don’t get claustrophobic. If I was in the back I’m sure I’d have my head out the window gasping for air. But the kids don’t seem to mind it.

We got home and everyone was doing their own thing. I wanted to go to the bank and then go and get a few groceries at the super market so I went with Fatoubintou. We had to take a 5 dallasis cab and I’m going to just say this right now. I’d rather walk. Talk about claustrophobic and it’s completely uncomfortable being the only white person in the cab. The Cab was an old beat up van (which they all seem to be, even the yellow and green cars are really beat up) that they pack about 14 people into it plus the driver. I honestly would rather walk. We got dropped off and we had to walk a bit to the bank. I immediately realized (since this was my first time walking in the streets) at how I get stared at. I can see why, since all the tourists stay in the hotel part of the Gambia and hardly ever do you see a white person in the little villages. Everyone knows Sr. Cecile so she doesn’t get looked at funny but everyone stops her to talk. But for me, since I was wearing shorts and t-shirt and had white skin I noticed that I was like an alien to these people. The thing that I do love though, and I’ve gotten this quite a bit while riding in the truck since I’ve been here but while I was walking there were tons of kids running past me yelling, “Toobob! Toobob!” ( a toobob is a white person). All the kids smile and yell it waving as they pass by me. It’s really quite cute.

We got to the bank and realized it was closed until 4 since it was almost 1 and everything closes for a bit in the afternoon for the Muslims to pray. So we walked back and I just kinda hung around the house. We ate lunch (which I’m getting a bit more used to) and it’s always an African style meal. It’s always fish and rice which is always cooked a different way. After than I offered to helps Sr. Odile with her “employment” as they call it (it’s their household chore). Her job this week was the chapel. Because she was going away for the weekend she was almost done but she still had to sweep and mop the floor. So I offered to help her so that she could get ready to leave. I’m not sure If I’ve mentioned what an African broom is, but I’ll explain it again if I have. An African broom is made out of dried palm branches and they take about 100 or 200 of them and stick them together and tie it with a rag at the bottom. To use it you have to actually bend down and sweep, it doesn’t have a long handle where you can just sweep standing up. At first I thought, how is that actually going to sweep all the dust but it does, amazingly enough. I couldn’t believe it. When I went to mop, I had seen Sr. Bernadette do it so I knew what I had to do, but you know how when we mop we have a regular mop with a bucket that has a ringer attacked to it, so that all we have to do is went it and ring the mop out. Well…they only have the mop and bucket part, so they ring it out with their hands. I feel like such a spoiled person when I see what these women have to do. We have such incredible conveniences at home and I’m glad I’m learning how to do things – in a sense- the “hard way”. If anything, I’m going to appreciate certain things when I arrive back at home. I already have a list started….haha. The first one being my education. It’s very obvious as to who has an education around here. There is a new generation of young people who will definitely change the face of this country, but its going to take some time that’s for sure. It’s obvious that those who work in the street selling their goods, do not have a formal education. The people who do have an education have the high paying jobs and work in office buildings like they would in Canada. People who have an education can speak English since that is what is taught in the schools and for the most part those who have not gone to school only speak the native languages. In the 2 weeks I have been here, I have really become grateful for my formal education and around here, I would have more education than most and I have the same as most people in Canada and the US – an undergraduate degree. A lot of young people are starting to get a college education but it’s very expensive and not a lot of people can afford it. But when people have an education they have the opportunity to move and work abroad and then send money back to their families. I’m so grateful for my education.

So after I helped Sr. Odile I took it easy for the rest of the day. And at around 4:30 I went with Sr. Cecile and Sr. Sue to the first communion classes. Sr. Sue and I first went to the bank and then came back and afterwards we wanted to stop and pick up a few groceries. Last week at the first communion classes I met this one girl, Edina. She had come up to me asking if I would be her friend. I think she’s not much older than 12 or 14. And I had no reason to say no, so I said sure! This week after class, she came up to me asking something but I didn’t understand her so I asked her to tell sister so she could translate for me. What she wanted was for me to come to her “compound” where her family lives. I guess I don’t realize what that means to people around here. I think it’s an honor to be invited to someone’s home and I didn’t realize that at the time. So after class we all walked to her home and met her mother and the rest of her siblings. I imagine that this home is something that is for people who are not rich but have enough money to have a nice home. To me, according to standards in Canada it would be very low income housing. More on the poor side, but they are so proud of their home. It was very nice to see. I appreciated their hospitality and when she offered me some water to drink I took it saying thank you but I didn’t want to drink any since I’m not used to the water yet. So I put my lips to it just as a kind gesture. I didn’t want to be rude. We didn’t stay long because someone called Sr. Sue for eggs but it was very nice. Edina wrote me a letter and when I got home I read it. I noticed that she took such time to color the pictures and put stickers on the paper and I she was asking for my friendship. I’m not used to this kind of invite since at home it’s just you become a friend or not and that’s the way it is. I found it to be very forward but I have to remember how different everything is here. She seems like a really nice girl and I’m sure I’ll spend more time with her over the next few months. We got home and said evening prayers and then had supper. Fish and fries were on the menu. It was very good and I even went back for second helpings.

I’ve been finding that I appreciate the opportunity to get on the internet since it’s kind of my only escape from how new everything is here. The only person who understands where I come from is Sr. Cecile – but still she has been here for 41 years, so in some sense she knows more of the Gambia too. So I find that I appreciate being able to get online and talk with my family at night.