Hello! I know I just posted enough reading material for the next century but I hope no one minds! I actually am writing this note to tell you that it's not updated to the current day. Only until last weekend, so I'm sorry for that. The internet has been a bit better and so I thought I would get a few up here so you could read. Again, I appologize for the long wait and I hope that you're still wanting to read! I miss you all SO much and I wish you all could be here enjoying this experience with me.
Much love,
Jen
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Who knew well conditioned hair would be such an attraction?!
February 7, 2009
I had SO much fun today! One thing I realized is how much I really haven’t cared about “time” since I’ve been here, I’m just trying to take things as they come. Which is really nice and a really good change. People here think more of making relationships with others rather than making it on time somewhere – very different from home that’s for sure.
I slept in today until around 8:30. Well not around…it really was 8:30, and I was planning on getting up at 8:00 but my alarm went off and I hit snooze and didn’t wake up until Sr. Cecile woke me up a half hour later. I hurried and got ready for mass, which was at 9:00am. The parish in Brikama was hosting a religious conference today and there was religious from all over The Gambia. So they were having mass, which was open to the public and then a conference for the sisters and religious afterwards. And, I finally met the Bishop today. Ive actually gone to meet with him twice since I’ve been here but he’s been out of his office both times. So today was the day. After mass I went to greet him and he knew who I was right away. I think he recognized me because he saw my passport since it went through his office when he had to sign for my Catholic mission forms. He also said that he recognized my Canadian accent. Haha….I thought that was really funny, since….they’re the ones with the funny accent. Well, I shouldn’t say that since he is actually Irish and has an Irish Accent. But the people around here sure have an accent. Anyway, he welcomed me to the Gambia and then he said to me, “thank you for coming to help and give of your talents.” He was so sincere and I honestly was so shocked but so appreciative of his comment. In some way you never think of yourself as giving – since for myself, I feel like I’m the one receiving everything that these people have to offer. After meeting with the Bishop I went to say hi to some of the other sisters from the order and then I went on my way home.
I can honestly say, I have always loved the mass but being here has allowed me to appreciate it so much more. It has become my favorite part of the day and let me tell you, getting up at 6:00am isn’t exactly my idea of a good morning but the Lord has showered down graces to allow me to see the importance of the mass in my own life. Usually, on a weekday there are only a few people other than the sisters and I and it’s actually quite dark in the church since the sun has not yet come up. I wish I could explain the feeling of peace and joy that I have in my heart towards the mass, but it’s honestly unexplainable. I’ve definitely been able to relate to the gospel since at the moment, Mark is giving us his account of Jesus’ ministry. Last week He cast out demons from a man, this week He heals Simon’s mother in law, prays and then goes out to the neighboring countries to preach the gospel. In some way, I feel like the Lord has given me a renewed strength to get through this experience, since I feel so absolutely inadequate for the job. But, I’m realizing more and more how God’s grace – when we ask for it and allow ourselves to receive it – are used in many unpredictable ways. “We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.” – 1 Corinth. I realize more and more that I am no one and that only through Christ He is able to raise me up and use me as His vessel. Having the opportunity to go to mass has given me the strength to go through the day.
I walked home from the church and I really have to admit that I love walking around here. As much as I do not like getting stopped on the side of the road by people asking for money, money and more money, I really enjoy having the time to just walk and not have an agenda. I get to take in the culture. Whenever I get to walk from the church I always stop at 2 little supermarkets, just to see what they have. I enjoy looking at all the different food. At “Gateway”, the first supermarket I always meet up with Alhagie. I’m not sure if he actually owns the place or not but he’s always there and he and I have become good friends. I enjoy going because he always asks how the sisters are and just asks how things are going. He is a Muslim and the first time I met him he was in the back of the store kneeling on his mat praying. Since I have found a lot of the people – especially the men around here - very forward and awkward I appreciate talking to Alhagie since he’s really laid back. One of the other ladies that works there always invites me to just come and spend some time with them. I’ve promised them that I will make some time, so I’ll have to do that in the next little while. The next stop on my way is ….I can’t even think of the name! Anyway, it’s another little supermarket and for some reason, they always end up giving me a discount. I’m not sure if it’s because I always need change and they just don’t want to make the change or what, but I always end up coming out of there spending a few dallasis less. Since the sisters were gone, I got home and realized that I was the only one home –other than the maids. I made myself some breakfast which consisted of coffee and bread with – mom get this – Nutella. I’ve come to really love it. My mom used to buy it for us when we were kids but I can’t say that I really ever liked it that much but I’ve developed a love for it now. After I cleaned up breakfast, I cleaned my room and checked my email and then I realized that I didn’t have much time to wash my clothes before we went out to the Inter-house competition (which is a competition within a school for students to compete in sports). I gathered my clothes and realized how much there was since I didn’t have time to wash last weekend with the retreat. One thing I will not understand is how unbelievably giving the girls in the hostile are. Automatically when I come out with my clothes to wash, there are two or three girls wanting to help. Today, Therese, Nancy, Betty and Edwina helped me. I was so appreciative because I wouldn’t have gotten it all done in time to leave. Oh…I didn’t mention yet. Today is Edwina’s birthday! She turned 19 and I really can’t believe that she’s that young. She’s very mature for her age that’s for sure. One of the first days I was here and spent time over in the hostile with the girls, everyone was telling me their birthdays and Edwina, when it was her turn says to me, “My birthday is February 7. Are you going to buy me a present for my birthday?” To which I replied, “A gift is a “gift” not an obligation.” She laughed at that one, but I knew that I would get her something anyway. So today, I was able to give her a card and I gave her a pair of earrings from back home. I’m not sure if she liked them, but I hope so.
After washing my clothes, I sat down to prepare a little bit for going out to Kembojeh – where I meet with the youth for a scripture study. I only had a bit of time because Sr. Cecile came home just before 3pm so we could go to Presentation school for the Inter-house competition. I guess the school was split into four different houses (or teams) each representing a color from the Gambian Flag. There was a Blue, Green, White and A red Team. We were there cheering for two teams: the green team because Marian, Susan, and Antoinette were all on that team and the red team because it was named after Sr. Cecile! They love her here. What we found hilarious – because you can’t do anything else about it but laugh- was that Sr. and I got there at 3pm since it was supposed to start then. We actually thought that we were going to be late and we showed up and there were only a few people there. They call this “Gambian time”. The actual competition didn’t start until after 5pm. AFTER 5 PM! Seriously….someone would’ve been shot if that happened in Canada. Haha… We sat there for over 2 hours and then the competition finally started. We went to sit with the Red team, and they had a table and chairs for us to sit on. It was really cool – they loved having Sr. there to cheer them on. As we were sitting there, I was again overwhelmed that I am finally here. Here we were sitting in the hot African sun on this sand field with palm, orange, and mango trees in the distance watching these young kids compete in track events. Seriously, I felt like it was a movie playing in my head. The field, like I said, was sand. They had marked out track lanes with charcoal – that was straight from the fire, let me add- and the young kids ran in socks or bare feet. I couldn’t believe it. We didn’t get to stay for long, since we had been there since 3 and I had to go to Kembojeh for the meeting. So Sr. and I left and came back to the house to pick up Sr. Sue.
When we got to Kembojeh, we went straight to Albert’s house and asked if anyone was ready but because of the time – since it was so late Albert thought it would probably be best not to have it this week. When we get there, the only way that people know that there is something going on is that they ring the church bell…..a piece of scrap metal that is hit with another piece of scrap metal. Far from our church bell at home.
After leaving Kembojeh, we went on to Kolora to see the church and Sr. had a meeting with a woman from there. When we got to the house she was at there were a bunch of kids who started jumping in the back of the truck to have a ride. So we took them all to the church and while Sr. met with the lady, I stayed outside with the kids and talked and laughed and danced. Of course, at first when the kids meet me…my name is always, “hey toobob! Toobob! Toobob!” and I’ve become quite familiar with this name, it’s almost like my second name. But then the kids eventually learn my name and stop with toobob. I found it really hilarious today because the kids did something that I haven’t experienced yet. They all wanted to touch my hair. Because all the people here have such coarse hair here – afro style – my hair is so soft and different to them. If you can get a picture of this in your own head, I think it will be a bit more hilarious to you. All the kids were in the back of the truck (in the box) and I was standing on the ground looking up at them and all of a sudden I had a few of them reach out to touch my hair and then all of them joined in. I think I had about 20 hands touching my head at the same time. At the end of it, my hair was all over the place. I honestly wish I would’ve had a picture of it.
Sr’s meeting went longer than I think she planned, but it gave me the opportunity to see another thing I had not yet seen – the young kids dance in the moonlight. When it was getting dark I started to wonder if the parents of these kids wonder where they are. But I guess since it’s a small community, and everyone looks after everyone they never worry about the kids. I asked the kids if they wanted to sing me anything and I knew exactly what they were going to say. Kids here LOVE LOVE LOVE to dance and sing, so I knew I’d get a good response. They all started singing and dancing and I wished I had my camera. Next time…I’m bringing it with me. I HAVE to get that on video. All these little kids – like even 3 year olds were dancing with rhythm that I’ve never seen a child that young dance with. It was so cool! They all ask me to sing and dance and for the most part, I do a bit but I always end up stopping because I’m in such awe watching all of them. None of them are shy. When we left, Sr. said to me, “I think you’ve made quite a few new friends.” All of the kids jumped in the back of the truck – still singing and yelling- and when we dropped them off, they would run beside the truck with their hands out wanting me to stick my hand out of the window so they could touch it or shake it. They obviously love visitors. And…I enjoy being their visitor. That is an experience I will never forget.
We came home and I went straight to the hostile to see how the girls had done at the competition. Only Therese and Cathrine were in their room and I guess Susan had gotten third. After I ate a bit of supper, I went back out to visit with the girls, since it was Edwina’s birthday and they were all still up celebrating. One person that I never thought would open up to me was Harriet and for some reason, over the past few days, she’s been very talkative with me. I really really like her. She’s so honest and has this beautiful, beautiful smile. We stood outside of the hostile and talked under the trees and that was when I found out that there are a few girls who intend to become sisters. Harriet and most of the girls want to eventually get married but Lucina, Zenita, Fatima, and Therese are the four who have come to live here because they are learning English at the school so they can eventually join the order. I didn’t know that before! I was actually quite shocked to here it. Not that they don’t seem that they would be a good fit – that’s not the case at all- I guess I just didn’t even think of it before since there are not many young women at home in Canada who are have that intention. It was so wonderful to hear. More so because you know that they feel that it’s the Lord calling them, and knowing that they have that desire to serve the Lord in whatever way He has called them excites me for their futures.
Days like this really make me grateful for what I’m experiencing here. I’ve been on this journey for almost a month now and yes there have been times I’ve wanted to come home but I know that at the end of this – I will come home a completely changed person, with a new outlook on life. I already know I will never forget some of the faces I have met, and even now, I know I’m going to miss them. The girls in the hostile have become some of my best friends here and funny enough – I wish I could all take them home with me to Canada. I know they would appreciate it but that’s not even the reason – it’s because they’ve made such a huge impact on my life already. Life will definitely never be the same….it’s already better.
In Jesus and Mary,
Jen
I had SO much fun today! One thing I realized is how much I really haven’t cared about “time” since I’ve been here, I’m just trying to take things as they come. Which is really nice and a really good change. People here think more of making relationships with others rather than making it on time somewhere – very different from home that’s for sure.
I slept in today until around 8:30. Well not around…it really was 8:30, and I was planning on getting up at 8:00 but my alarm went off and I hit snooze and didn’t wake up until Sr. Cecile woke me up a half hour later. I hurried and got ready for mass, which was at 9:00am. The parish in Brikama was hosting a religious conference today and there was religious from all over The Gambia. So they were having mass, which was open to the public and then a conference for the sisters and religious afterwards. And, I finally met the Bishop today. Ive actually gone to meet with him twice since I’ve been here but he’s been out of his office both times. So today was the day. After mass I went to greet him and he knew who I was right away. I think he recognized me because he saw my passport since it went through his office when he had to sign for my Catholic mission forms. He also said that he recognized my Canadian accent. Haha….I thought that was really funny, since….they’re the ones with the funny accent. Well, I shouldn’t say that since he is actually Irish and has an Irish Accent. But the people around here sure have an accent. Anyway, he welcomed me to the Gambia and then he said to me, “thank you for coming to help and give of your talents.” He was so sincere and I honestly was so shocked but so appreciative of his comment. In some way you never think of yourself as giving – since for myself, I feel like I’m the one receiving everything that these people have to offer. After meeting with the Bishop I went to say hi to some of the other sisters from the order and then I went on my way home.
I can honestly say, I have always loved the mass but being here has allowed me to appreciate it so much more. It has become my favorite part of the day and let me tell you, getting up at 6:00am isn’t exactly my idea of a good morning but the Lord has showered down graces to allow me to see the importance of the mass in my own life. Usually, on a weekday there are only a few people other than the sisters and I and it’s actually quite dark in the church since the sun has not yet come up. I wish I could explain the feeling of peace and joy that I have in my heart towards the mass, but it’s honestly unexplainable. I’ve definitely been able to relate to the gospel since at the moment, Mark is giving us his account of Jesus’ ministry. Last week He cast out demons from a man, this week He heals Simon’s mother in law, prays and then goes out to the neighboring countries to preach the gospel. In some way, I feel like the Lord has given me a renewed strength to get through this experience, since I feel so absolutely inadequate for the job. But, I’m realizing more and more how God’s grace – when we ask for it and allow ourselves to receive it – are used in many unpredictable ways. “We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.” – 1 Corinth. I realize more and more that I am no one and that only through Christ He is able to raise me up and use me as His vessel. Having the opportunity to go to mass has given me the strength to go through the day.
I walked home from the church and I really have to admit that I love walking around here. As much as I do not like getting stopped on the side of the road by people asking for money, money and more money, I really enjoy having the time to just walk and not have an agenda. I get to take in the culture. Whenever I get to walk from the church I always stop at 2 little supermarkets, just to see what they have. I enjoy looking at all the different food. At “Gateway”, the first supermarket I always meet up with Alhagie. I’m not sure if he actually owns the place or not but he’s always there and he and I have become good friends. I enjoy going because he always asks how the sisters are and just asks how things are going. He is a Muslim and the first time I met him he was in the back of the store kneeling on his mat praying. Since I have found a lot of the people – especially the men around here - very forward and awkward I appreciate talking to Alhagie since he’s really laid back. One of the other ladies that works there always invites me to just come and spend some time with them. I’ve promised them that I will make some time, so I’ll have to do that in the next little while. The next stop on my way is ….I can’t even think of the name! Anyway, it’s another little supermarket and for some reason, they always end up giving me a discount. I’m not sure if it’s because I always need change and they just don’t want to make the change or what, but I always end up coming out of there spending a few dallasis less. Since the sisters were gone, I got home and realized that I was the only one home –other than the maids. I made myself some breakfast which consisted of coffee and bread with – mom get this – Nutella. I’ve come to really love it. My mom used to buy it for us when we were kids but I can’t say that I really ever liked it that much but I’ve developed a love for it now. After I cleaned up breakfast, I cleaned my room and checked my email and then I realized that I didn’t have much time to wash my clothes before we went out to the Inter-house competition (which is a competition within a school for students to compete in sports). I gathered my clothes and realized how much there was since I didn’t have time to wash last weekend with the retreat. One thing I will not understand is how unbelievably giving the girls in the hostile are. Automatically when I come out with my clothes to wash, there are two or three girls wanting to help. Today, Therese, Nancy, Betty and Edwina helped me. I was so appreciative because I wouldn’t have gotten it all done in time to leave. Oh…I didn’t mention yet. Today is Edwina’s birthday! She turned 19 and I really can’t believe that she’s that young. She’s very mature for her age that’s for sure. One of the first days I was here and spent time over in the hostile with the girls, everyone was telling me their birthdays and Edwina, when it was her turn says to me, “My birthday is February 7. Are you going to buy me a present for my birthday?” To which I replied, “A gift is a “gift” not an obligation.” She laughed at that one, but I knew that I would get her something anyway. So today, I was able to give her a card and I gave her a pair of earrings from back home. I’m not sure if she liked them, but I hope so.
After washing my clothes, I sat down to prepare a little bit for going out to Kembojeh – where I meet with the youth for a scripture study. I only had a bit of time because Sr. Cecile came home just before 3pm so we could go to Presentation school for the Inter-house competition. I guess the school was split into four different houses (or teams) each representing a color from the Gambian Flag. There was a Blue, Green, White and A red Team. We were there cheering for two teams: the green team because Marian, Susan, and Antoinette were all on that team and the red team because it was named after Sr. Cecile! They love her here. What we found hilarious – because you can’t do anything else about it but laugh- was that Sr. and I got there at 3pm since it was supposed to start then. We actually thought that we were going to be late and we showed up and there were only a few people there. They call this “Gambian time”. The actual competition didn’t start until after 5pm. AFTER 5 PM! Seriously….someone would’ve been shot if that happened in Canada. Haha… We sat there for over 2 hours and then the competition finally started. We went to sit with the Red team, and they had a table and chairs for us to sit on. It was really cool – they loved having Sr. there to cheer them on. As we were sitting there, I was again overwhelmed that I am finally here. Here we were sitting in the hot African sun on this sand field with palm, orange, and mango trees in the distance watching these young kids compete in track events. Seriously, I felt like it was a movie playing in my head. The field, like I said, was sand. They had marked out track lanes with charcoal – that was straight from the fire, let me add- and the young kids ran in socks or bare feet. I couldn’t believe it. We didn’t get to stay for long, since we had been there since 3 and I had to go to Kembojeh for the meeting. So Sr. and I left and came back to the house to pick up Sr. Sue.
When we got to Kembojeh, we went straight to Albert’s house and asked if anyone was ready but because of the time – since it was so late Albert thought it would probably be best not to have it this week. When we get there, the only way that people know that there is something going on is that they ring the church bell…..a piece of scrap metal that is hit with another piece of scrap metal. Far from our church bell at home.
After leaving Kembojeh, we went on to Kolora to see the church and Sr. had a meeting with a woman from there. When we got to the house she was at there were a bunch of kids who started jumping in the back of the truck to have a ride. So we took them all to the church and while Sr. met with the lady, I stayed outside with the kids and talked and laughed and danced. Of course, at first when the kids meet me…my name is always, “hey toobob! Toobob! Toobob!” and I’ve become quite familiar with this name, it’s almost like my second name. But then the kids eventually learn my name and stop with toobob. I found it really hilarious today because the kids did something that I haven’t experienced yet. They all wanted to touch my hair. Because all the people here have such coarse hair here – afro style – my hair is so soft and different to them. If you can get a picture of this in your own head, I think it will be a bit more hilarious to you. All the kids were in the back of the truck (in the box) and I was standing on the ground looking up at them and all of a sudden I had a few of them reach out to touch my hair and then all of them joined in. I think I had about 20 hands touching my head at the same time. At the end of it, my hair was all over the place. I honestly wish I would’ve had a picture of it.
Sr’s meeting went longer than I think she planned, but it gave me the opportunity to see another thing I had not yet seen – the young kids dance in the moonlight. When it was getting dark I started to wonder if the parents of these kids wonder where they are. But I guess since it’s a small community, and everyone looks after everyone they never worry about the kids. I asked the kids if they wanted to sing me anything and I knew exactly what they were going to say. Kids here LOVE LOVE LOVE to dance and sing, so I knew I’d get a good response. They all started singing and dancing and I wished I had my camera. Next time…I’m bringing it with me. I HAVE to get that on video. All these little kids – like even 3 year olds were dancing with rhythm that I’ve never seen a child that young dance with. It was so cool! They all ask me to sing and dance and for the most part, I do a bit but I always end up stopping because I’m in such awe watching all of them. None of them are shy. When we left, Sr. said to me, “I think you’ve made quite a few new friends.” All of the kids jumped in the back of the truck – still singing and yelling- and when we dropped them off, they would run beside the truck with their hands out wanting me to stick my hand out of the window so they could touch it or shake it. They obviously love visitors. And…I enjoy being their visitor. That is an experience I will never forget.
We came home and I went straight to the hostile to see how the girls had done at the competition. Only Therese and Cathrine were in their room and I guess Susan had gotten third. After I ate a bit of supper, I went back out to visit with the girls, since it was Edwina’s birthday and they were all still up celebrating. One person that I never thought would open up to me was Harriet and for some reason, over the past few days, she’s been very talkative with me. I really really like her. She’s so honest and has this beautiful, beautiful smile. We stood outside of the hostile and talked under the trees and that was when I found out that there are a few girls who intend to become sisters. Harriet and most of the girls want to eventually get married but Lucina, Zenita, Fatima, and Therese are the four who have come to live here because they are learning English at the school so they can eventually join the order. I didn’t know that before! I was actually quite shocked to here it. Not that they don’t seem that they would be a good fit – that’s not the case at all- I guess I just didn’t even think of it before since there are not many young women at home in Canada who are have that intention. It was so wonderful to hear. More so because you know that they feel that it’s the Lord calling them, and knowing that they have that desire to serve the Lord in whatever way He has called them excites me for their futures.
Days like this really make me grateful for what I’m experiencing here. I’ve been on this journey for almost a month now and yes there have been times I’ve wanted to come home but I know that at the end of this – I will come home a completely changed person, with a new outlook on life. I already know I will never forget some of the faces I have met, and even now, I know I’m going to miss them. The girls in the hostile have become some of my best friends here and funny enough – I wish I could all take them home with me to Canada. I know they would appreciate it but that’s not even the reason – it’s because they’ve made such a huge impact on my life already. Life will definitely never be the same….it’s already better.
In Jesus and Mary,
Jen
A trip to Tanjay
February 6, 2009
Since I’ve been here, I’ve slowly been getting used to everything and I even find I’m used to some of the things that really shocked me the first time I saw them. I’m really glad that the Lord sees to it that even though this whole experience has been a TOTAL immersion into this culture, that it’s been a pretty gradual experience of getting used to everything. Today was a day of experiencing something very new. After waking up early for mass and having the half day of school – because the Muslims have their day of prayer, Sister Bernadette asked me if I wanted to accompany her and Sr. Josaphine to Tanjay (A fishing village). Tanjay is right on the ocean and it’s about a 20 minute drive from our compound in Brikama. When I got view of the ocean, I was so excited because –even though I’ve seen the ocean many times since I’ve been here- this was the first time I saw the fishing boats. We parked the truck and walked down to the water where there were – I’m not joking – thousands of people. Even though Sr. Bernadette told me there would be a lot of people I didn’t expect to see what I saw. We first walked past people who owned freezers and fridges where they would keep their fish to sell, then we walked down closer to the water where I got a really close up view of all the boats out on the water. My immediate thought – this has to have been close to how it was when Jesus was alive. The men have these long wooden boats that only go out maybe 50 to 75 meters offshore and they fish there. For some reason, I could see the Lord Jesus standing on the shore looking out at Simon and Andrew in their fishing boat. I could obviously relate a lot better to the gospel about the Lord Jesus calling his disciples to be fishers of men after that whole experience of seeing the fishermen out in the boats. I’ve always loved the ocean and for me, being there today was really cool. I always find it so breathtaking, and today I really wished I could just put my feet in the water, but it was too windy and the waves were very high.
Like I’ve said, things here are SO behind the times of Canada and the US and it’s hard for me to believe that people actually live like this. The reason there were thousands of people on the beach wasn’t because they were all sunbathing like most of us would, it was because they were all selling their fish! It was like a seaside market. And….just like the regular market…I was again, very uncomfortable. I’m not really sure why I hate the market so much, maybe it’s because people are always staring at me or maybe because they’re always trying to “befriend” me so I will buy their goods. I have found that I’ve become very quiet while I’m in the market because you never want to even say a word or else everyone is trying to talk to you – even when you can’t understand them. What am I talking about? I’ve become very quiet in almost every situation around here.
I was just so taken back by everything, the people, and how everyone sells everything. I’m glad that Sr. Bernadette and Sr. Josaphine were the ones buying it. Even though I don’t mind bartering, I find I’m so uncomfortable with it here because I can’t understand anyone and I don’t know what a good price for anything is. I guess today was a really expensive day since it was windy and all the fish have been scarce. The exchange is very different here and like I’ve said before – one Canadian dollar gives me 20 Dallasis. The thing is that the Gambia is a developing country so what seems expensive to these people wouldn’t be very expensive to us in Canada. I thought that we had bought a lot of fish today, I think there were almost 50-60 fish of all different sizes and shapes and we paid 1,000 dallasis for it all. That’s around 50 Canadian dollars. That’s really cheap! But on a good day, for what we bought we would’ve paid only around 400 or 500 dallasis. So even though, I can do the math and say, “oh…well that’s not very expensive.” I could still be getting things for a better price and I’m still not sure how much everything “should” cost. Slowly I’m learning.
On the way home, I asked Sr. Bernadette if people pay taxes since – from my observations- there is no possible way that the government could possibly keep track of everyone’s income. Why? Because people sell and resell at the market. That’s business around here. (just a side note….now that the “newness” of everything is wearing off, my brain is finally relaxing and I have time to finally think about things like this. Which I find very interesting.) People don’t really pay taxes, I guess if anything they would pay a tiny little tax for using a “booth” to sell their goods. I later asked Sr. Cecile the same question and she said the same thing, other than that there are a few occupations who are starting to pay taxes. These are jobs like teachers or people who work for the government. I guess I find it so weird, since in Canada we pay taxes on EVERYTHING. And obviously, it would be nice to say, “Oh I wish it was like that in Canada – where we didn’t have to pay taxes” but...you have to think that they don’t have health care or roads or anything like we have either. We are fortunate enough to –yes, unfortunately pay taxes – but not have to pay for a doctor’s appointment. When I asked Sr. Bernadette about what would happen if someone had to go to the doctor or have surgery or something serious, she said that when people get sick they pay pretty close to everything that they have to just see the doctor. If there is something serious or surgery they will go on TV or the News and ask people for money. Isn’t that something? I couldn’t believe it! They must not have many people who have to be in that situation. I thought, “wow…if it was like that in Canada, we’d have a whole television network for people just asking for money to get better.”
When we got home, we unloaded the fish and I’ve just been trying to relax a bit.
To everyone at the Parish, thank you for your emails. I really am appreciating your prayers and thoughts. I think of all of you SO often and I wonder how home is. Cold, I imagine?!
Hope all is well!
In Jesus and Mary,
Jen
Since I’ve been here, I’ve slowly been getting used to everything and I even find I’m used to some of the things that really shocked me the first time I saw them. I’m really glad that the Lord sees to it that even though this whole experience has been a TOTAL immersion into this culture, that it’s been a pretty gradual experience of getting used to everything. Today was a day of experiencing something very new. After waking up early for mass and having the half day of school – because the Muslims have their day of prayer, Sister Bernadette asked me if I wanted to accompany her and Sr. Josaphine to Tanjay (A fishing village). Tanjay is right on the ocean and it’s about a 20 minute drive from our compound in Brikama. When I got view of the ocean, I was so excited because –even though I’ve seen the ocean many times since I’ve been here- this was the first time I saw the fishing boats. We parked the truck and walked down to the water where there were – I’m not joking – thousands of people. Even though Sr. Bernadette told me there would be a lot of people I didn’t expect to see what I saw. We first walked past people who owned freezers and fridges where they would keep their fish to sell, then we walked down closer to the water where I got a really close up view of all the boats out on the water. My immediate thought – this has to have been close to how it was when Jesus was alive. The men have these long wooden boats that only go out maybe 50 to 75 meters offshore and they fish there. For some reason, I could see the Lord Jesus standing on the shore looking out at Simon and Andrew in their fishing boat. I could obviously relate a lot better to the gospel about the Lord Jesus calling his disciples to be fishers of men after that whole experience of seeing the fishermen out in the boats. I’ve always loved the ocean and for me, being there today was really cool. I always find it so breathtaking, and today I really wished I could just put my feet in the water, but it was too windy and the waves were very high.
Like I’ve said, things here are SO behind the times of Canada and the US and it’s hard for me to believe that people actually live like this. The reason there were thousands of people on the beach wasn’t because they were all sunbathing like most of us would, it was because they were all selling their fish! It was like a seaside market. And….just like the regular market…I was again, very uncomfortable. I’m not really sure why I hate the market so much, maybe it’s because people are always staring at me or maybe because they’re always trying to “befriend” me so I will buy their goods. I have found that I’ve become very quiet while I’m in the market because you never want to even say a word or else everyone is trying to talk to you – even when you can’t understand them. What am I talking about? I’ve become very quiet in almost every situation around here.
I was just so taken back by everything, the people, and how everyone sells everything. I’m glad that Sr. Bernadette and Sr. Josaphine were the ones buying it. Even though I don’t mind bartering, I find I’m so uncomfortable with it here because I can’t understand anyone and I don’t know what a good price for anything is. I guess today was a really expensive day since it was windy and all the fish have been scarce. The exchange is very different here and like I’ve said before – one Canadian dollar gives me 20 Dallasis. The thing is that the Gambia is a developing country so what seems expensive to these people wouldn’t be very expensive to us in Canada. I thought that we had bought a lot of fish today, I think there were almost 50-60 fish of all different sizes and shapes and we paid 1,000 dallasis for it all. That’s around 50 Canadian dollars. That’s really cheap! But on a good day, for what we bought we would’ve paid only around 400 or 500 dallasis. So even though, I can do the math and say, “oh…well that’s not very expensive.” I could still be getting things for a better price and I’m still not sure how much everything “should” cost. Slowly I’m learning.
On the way home, I asked Sr. Bernadette if people pay taxes since – from my observations- there is no possible way that the government could possibly keep track of everyone’s income. Why? Because people sell and resell at the market. That’s business around here. (just a side note….now that the “newness” of everything is wearing off, my brain is finally relaxing and I have time to finally think about things like this. Which I find very interesting.) People don’t really pay taxes, I guess if anything they would pay a tiny little tax for using a “booth” to sell their goods. I later asked Sr. Cecile the same question and she said the same thing, other than that there are a few occupations who are starting to pay taxes. These are jobs like teachers or people who work for the government. I guess I find it so weird, since in Canada we pay taxes on EVERYTHING. And obviously, it would be nice to say, “Oh I wish it was like that in Canada – where we didn’t have to pay taxes” but...you have to think that they don’t have health care or roads or anything like we have either. We are fortunate enough to –yes, unfortunately pay taxes – but not have to pay for a doctor’s appointment. When I asked Sr. Bernadette about what would happen if someone had to go to the doctor or have surgery or something serious, she said that when people get sick they pay pretty close to everything that they have to just see the doctor. If there is something serious or surgery they will go on TV or the News and ask people for money. Isn’t that something? I couldn’t believe it! They must not have many people who have to be in that situation. I thought, “wow…if it was like that in Canada, we’d have a whole television network for people just asking for money to get better.”
When we got home, we unloaded the fish and I’ve just been trying to relax a bit.
To everyone at the Parish, thank you for your emails. I really am appreciating your prayers and thoughts. I think of all of you SO often and I wonder how home is. Cold, I imagine?!
Hope all is well!
In Jesus and Mary,
Jen
Mother Rivier Day!
Tuesday, Feb 3, 2009
Wow was today an amazing day along with yesterday. Mondays have seemed to be a tough day for me, realizing how it’s the first day of the week and it seems that the kids need to be retrained from the weekend. So I came home pretty exhausted. I took a nap in the later part of the afternoon and when I got up I realized that everyone was cooking. You see, Tuesday (today) is the feast of Anna Marie Rivier – the foundress of the sisters of Presentation of Mary and who the school is named after. So today we had a day off school and all the kids came with their casual clothes to dance and have a party. So last night all the girls in the hostile and the sisters and other friends came to cook the meal for today’s festivities! This was a sight to see…let me tell you. The menu was benechine (the meal I couldn’t remember when I first got here). Benechine is so so so good. It’s fried chicken or fish that is later cooked with veggies. Once the veggies are cooked, you take the juice from the chicken and veggies and cook your rice in it. It’s honestly amazing. I have yet to learn exactly how to make it, but I can’t wait so I can have the recipe so I can make it when I get home. Just a side note, I know at first the initial shock of everything made eating new things not very appetizing but I have grown to love African cooking. I really love it! I’m so excited to take home some of these recipes so I can make them at home. Anyway…last night when I got outside, Sr. Josaphine and Sr. Odile were making dough to make donuts. They fried them in little balls and the kids loved them! Some of the girls were marinating the chicken and then later on they fried it. The thing I was most amazed at was how they cooked it all. It gets dark early here so by the time the cooking was just starting the sun was going down. So for the most part everything was done by firelight and the side house light. They just made little fires underneath the HUGE pots that they fried everything in. It was like camping…seriously…2 camp fires in the back yard. It was so cool. I have pictures of it all and I wish I could explain how cool it was. I just kept thinking, “this is So different…it’s so amazing how they do things around here.” I spent time taking pictures and the girls all wanted their own picture with me, so I have a string of pictures of just myself and one of the girls from the hostile. They love my camera…and I love taking pictures of them. We also made ground nuts (sugar coated peanuts) – which seems to be an ongoing thing. The kids absolutely love them! Sr. Josaphine and I laugh every time we see Saba making them because that means that we have to bag them….and Sr. Jos doesn’t really like doing it. I don’t mind but it but some days you’d think that was their vocation…to bag ground nuts! It started out being maybe twice a week, and now it’s almost every day that we have to make them. The kids buy them for 1 dallasis for a bag. So that night we also bagged ground nuts. It’s not really that bad…we all get to it and it’s done in no time and we all sit around and laugh talking or watching some tv. It’s fun.
Today we woke up and we didn’t have mass because we had it later in the evening at the house. So we got up and had to run to pick up a few things at the market. We got to the school and all the kids were there with their casual clothing and they absolutely love that! All the girls were dressed in dresses and most of the boys were in dress pants and a tie. Some just wore jeans and a t-shirt but everyone looked so nice. All I’m going to say is that the kids were so loud today and all over the place! They had the whole day to just do whatever they wanted and most of them danced and sang and played football.
Saba and the sisters got straight to work cooking the rest of the meal. I’m not sure how or why but even though we prepared the night before it still took all day to cook everything and we didn’t eat until around 4pm. I guess since everything is done from scratch it does take quiet a bit of time to collect everything and put it all together. It was amazing though and the kids loved it. We all laughed because even though Sr. Odile said that we don’t need that many veggies for the kids since kids around here HATE veggies, we still put a little bit in case there were some that wanted them and all the plates came back with the rice and chicken gone and all the veggies still on the plate. Today was my first day eating with my hands. Around here a lot of people eat just with their hands. They take the rice and make it into a ball and then place it in their mouth. When we all sat down to eat, Sr. Odile looked at me and said, “Uh Oh….you’re going to be baptized today.” Haha…she meant that I was going to really enter into the culture today by not using a fork or spoon to eat my food. Everyone had a good laugh at her comment. I was surprised at how well I was able to actually eat with my hands, but I think since I had been secretly watching Sr. Josaphine (who would rather eat without any utensils at the house even though we have lots to use) I caught on a bit quicker than most people thought I would. They all say that the food tastes better when you eat with your hands and honestly, I think the opposite. Give me a spoon or a fork and I’ll enjoy my meal a lot better. Another thing I find interesting around here is that a lot of people share meals. Meaning…they all eat out of the same bowl. We don’t do it here in the convent but the girls in the hostile do and the kids at the school did today. They have these big plastic bowls that we filled with lots of rice, chicken and veggies and 5 or 6 kids will sit around the bowl eating with their hands. It’s really very different. So along with eating with my hands today…I also ate from the same bowl as Sr. Odile, Sr. Catherince, Saba, and two other people I didn’t know. Talk about getting to know people. I really enjoyed it though. Those are some of the things that we would never find back home and I appreciate the fact that I get to actually join in and embrace their culture here.
Earlier in the day, August (our bus driver), Emmanual and Sang (two of our teachers) and I went to get palm wine. Around here, since there are so many palm trees everyone drinks palm wine. It comes straight from the tree and isn’t very strong but if you let it sit – even for a few hours- it becomes very fermented and it wont take long to get TOO much into your system. I wanted to see where it came from and just down the road from the school they have a station where they have men who climb the palm tree to get it from the tree. So off we went and we came to a road that looked like (only my family and anyone who has been to St. Laurent Shrine will know what this looks like) but it looked like the road where we would go to get spring water from the shrine road (the one right beside the ferry. It was this tiny little road with only tracks for the tires and straight bush on both sides. We drove in a little way and then got out and had to walk for a little bit. All of sudden we came to this little hut in the middle of the forest. There was man there just laying around and August went to talk to him. He mentioned that one of the men were just coming back from getting some palm wine so we were supposed to sit and wait for him. So as we were waiting Emmanuel grabbed one of the rings that the men use to climb the palm tree and began trying to climb the tree. I took a few pictures and it was really kind of funny because apparently it’s harder than it looks. He took his shoes off to get more grip and it was really funny to see him climb back down. When the man came back we went a little bit further into the bush and sat down by a bunch of bottles. I guess when you go to buy palm wine, you sit and taste it and see if you want it. So we all sat there and had a glass of palm wine. The only thing I don’t like about it is that it was warm, and I think that’s how it’s normally served. It’s like an off-white color and tastes almost like coconut milk. It’s really quite good, although like I said, I would put it in the fridge before drinking it. Today I also had my first “Julbrew” – the Gambian beer that is made in Banjul. It’s really good and I would compare it to something like Michelob Light.
Today was the first day that I saw the affects of a sunburn on my skin. I know you’re all thinking why it’s taken this long to actually get a sunburn in Africa but I can honestly say that I haven’t spent much time in the sun. And…I guess maybe I don’t really think I’m very tanned since everyone else around me is black. I know I have a tan but today was the first day for a sunburn. Since we spent all day out in the sun It wasn’t hard to get a bit red. Nothing serious though…just a tiny bit red.
For the most part, the day was spent like this: the kids all had an assembly in the morning to say their last day of the novena and then they all split up and started dancing and singing. I definitely took lots of pictures of that since all the kids wanted their own pictures. Then they had some sort of dance competition. It was really funny! One of the little boys in my class went up to dance and oh my…it was hilarious! You’d think he couldn’t dance, but he was really good! I was really proud of him. After the dancing stopped…only for a moment since all these kids would dance all day and night if they could, we had a procession around the school. A couple kids held a picture of Mother Rivier and all the kids marched in the back. Seriously…they marched. They looked like a TINY group of soldiers….haha…too cute. Later on they had a play about Mother Rivier’s life but I missed it when I had gone out with the guys to get palm wine. But they all said that the kids were really good. It was kinda free for them after that.
During the rest of the day, like I said some of the boy were playing football and I’m not sure why but I think everyone around here thinks I’m very girly and that I don’t play sports or what. But I saw some of the boys shooting on the goal and so I went over and David, one of the students in Grade 3 said, “Miss Jennifa, you try and score on me. You try three times and then I’ll shoot on you.” I just smiled and said…”sure!” No one knew I played soccer in high school. So when I went to kick against him everyone was excited because I could ACTUALLY play with the boys. We had a crowd watching by the end of it. I enjoy playing with the boys, especially since when one of them does something wrong, they ALL get involved until the matter is resolved. And then they keep playing.
We all thought we were going to get away from school earlier today like around 2pm but we barely made it home for mass at 6pm. We didn’t even eat until 4 or 4:30 and by the time we cleaned up and got everyone on the bus it was close to 5:30 and 6:00pm. We had mass tonight at the house because it was Anna Marie Rivier day and the associates were all invited for a private mass in the grotto at the house. I haven’t told you about it yet…I forgot, I’m sorry! The grotto was put up by the money from the chickens and I guess it was Sr. Suzanne who was in charge of the whole thing. When you pull up to the house from the lane it’s on your left hand side. It’s white and had red trimming and they even have seating where you can sit and meditate on a picture of Mary with Jesus. There are lights incase you want to sit out there in the evening and even a lock if you want to sit there by yourself. It’s really really beautiful and one thing I really like about it (and I just noticed it tonight because of where I sat during mass) is that right behind the wall of the grotto you can see the African sky with the huge palm trees in the sky line. It’s unbelievably gorgeous in the evenings. And I like I said I sat facing it for mass, that’s why I noticed it. So we pulled up to the house and all rushed in to clean up a bit since they were actually waiting for us to start. Fr. Gabisi said mass and it was all in Mandika, so while everyone stared at the white girl and wondered who she was….they all noticed that she knew not a word that anyone was saying. The thing I could say in Mandinka was one of the songs and that was only because I was sitting next the Sr. Bernadette and she had a paper with the words on it. I’ve learnt to bring my daily mass book with me for mass since most of the time I can’t understand the readings. I don’t know what I would do without it. After mass, the associates stayed for a bit but I came in and took a shower and got ready for bed. It’s been a long day and honestly I can’t believe some of the things I’ve witnessed today. I’m so grateful for the experiences that I’m getting. I keep thinking of how I wanted to go back to school so badly but the Lord had other plans for me…to come here. And honestly, no text book or lecture could ever compare to having first hand knowledge or another culture. It’s amazing to witness, and I’m grateful for all of it. Thank you Lord….
In Jesus and Mary,
Jen
Wow was today an amazing day along with yesterday. Mondays have seemed to be a tough day for me, realizing how it’s the first day of the week and it seems that the kids need to be retrained from the weekend. So I came home pretty exhausted. I took a nap in the later part of the afternoon and when I got up I realized that everyone was cooking. You see, Tuesday (today) is the feast of Anna Marie Rivier – the foundress of the sisters of Presentation of Mary and who the school is named after. So today we had a day off school and all the kids came with their casual clothes to dance and have a party. So last night all the girls in the hostile and the sisters and other friends came to cook the meal for today’s festivities! This was a sight to see…let me tell you. The menu was benechine (the meal I couldn’t remember when I first got here). Benechine is so so so good. It’s fried chicken or fish that is later cooked with veggies. Once the veggies are cooked, you take the juice from the chicken and veggies and cook your rice in it. It’s honestly amazing. I have yet to learn exactly how to make it, but I can’t wait so I can have the recipe so I can make it when I get home. Just a side note, I know at first the initial shock of everything made eating new things not very appetizing but I have grown to love African cooking. I really love it! I’m so excited to take home some of these recipes so I can make them at home. Anyway…last night when I got outside, Sr. Josaphine and Sr. Odile were making dough to make donuts. They fried them in little balls and the kids loved them! Some of the girls were marinating the chicken and then later on they fried it. The thing I was most amazed at was how they cooked it all. It gets dark early here so by the time the cooking was just starting the sun was going down. So for the most part everything was done by firelight and the side house light. They just made little fires underneath the HUGE pots that they fried everything in. It was like camping…seriously…2 camp fires in the back yard. It was so cool. I have pictures of it all and I wish I could explain how cool it was. I just kept thinking, “this is So different…it’s so amazing how they do things around here.” I spent time taking pictures and the girls all wanted their own picture with me, so I have a string of pictures of just myself and one of the girls from the hostile. They love my camera…and I love taking pictures of them. We also made ground nuts (sugar coated peanuts) – which seems to be an ongoing thing. The kids absolutely love them! Sr. Josaphine and I laugh every time we see Saba making them because that means that we have to bag them….and Sr. Jos doesn’t really like doing it. I don’t mind but it but some days you’d think that was their vocation…to bag ground nuts! It started out being maybe twice a week, and now it’s almost every day that we have to make them. The kids buy them for 1 dallasis for a bag. So that night we also bagged ground nuts. It’s not really that bad…we all get to it and it’s done in no time and we all sit around and laugh talking or watching some tv. It’s fun.
Today we woke up and we didn’t have mass because we had it later in the evening at the house. So we got up and had to run to pick up a few things at the market. We got to the school and all the kids were there with their casual clothing and they absolutely love that! All the girls were dressed in dresses and most of the boys were in dress pants and a tie. Some just wore jeans and a t-shirt but everyone looked so nice. All I’m going to say is that the kids were so loud today and all over the place! They had the whole day to just do whatever they wanted and most of them danced and sang and played football.
Saba and the sisters got straight to work cooking the rest of the meal. I’m not sure how or why but even though we prepared the night before it still took all day to cook everything and we didn’t eat until around 4pm. I guess since everything is done from scratch it does take quiet a bit of time to collect everything and put it all together. It was amazing though and the kids loved it. We all laughed because even though Sr. Odile said that we don’t need that many veggies for the kids since kids around here HATE veggies, we still put a little bit in case there were some that wanted them and all the plates came back with the rice and chicken gone and all the veggies still on the plate. Today was my first day eating with my hands. Around here a lot of people eat just with their hands. They take the rice and make it into a ball and then place it in their mouth. When we all sat down to eat, Sr. Odile looked at me and said, “Uh Oh….you’re going to be baptized today.” Haha…she meant that I was going to really enter into the culture today by not using a fork or spoon to eat my food. Everyone had a good laugh at her comment. I was surprised at how well I was able to actually eat with my hands, but I think since I had been secretly watching Sr. Josaphine (who would rather eat without any utensils at the house even though we have lots to use) I caught on a bit quicker than most people thought I would. They all say that the food tastes better when you eat with your hands and honestly, I think the opposite. Give me a spoon or a fork and I’ll enjoy my meal a lot better. Another thing I find interesting around here is that a lot of people share meals. Meaning…they all eat out of the same bowl. We don’t do it here in the convent but the girls in the hostile do and the kids at the school did today. They have these big plastic bowls that we filled with lots of rice, chicken and veggies and 5 or 6 kids will sit around the bowl eating with their hands. It’s really very different. So along with eating with my hands today…I also ate from the same bowl as Sr. Odile, Sr. Catherince, Saba, and two other people I didn’t know. Talk about getting to know people. I really enjoyed it though. Those are some of the things that we would never find back home and I appreciate the fact that I get to actually join in and embrace their culture here.
Earlier in the day, August (our bus driver), Emmanual and Sang (two of our teachers) and I went to get palm wine. Around here, since there are so many palm trees everyone drinks palm wine. It comes straight from the tree and isn’t very strong but if you let it sit – even for a few hours- it becomes very fermented and it wont take long to get TOO much into your system. I wanted to see where it came from and just down the road from the school they have a station where they have men who climb the palm tree to get it from the tree. So off we went and we came to a road that looked like (only my family and anyone who has been to St. Laurent Shrine will know what this looks like) but it looked like the road where we would go to get spring water from the shrine road (the one right beside the ferry. It was this tiny little road with only tracks for the tires and straight bush on both sides. We drove in a little way and then got out and had to walk for a little bit. All of sudden we came to this little hut in the middle of the forest. There was man there just laying around and August went to talk to him. He mentioned that one of the men were just coming back from getting some palm wine so we were supposed to sit and wait for him. So as we were waiting Emmanuel grabbed one of the rings that the men use to climb the palm tree and began trying to climb the tree. I took a few pictures and it was really kind of funny because apparently it’s harder than it looks. He took his shoes off to get more grip and it was really funny to see him climb back down. When the man came back we went a little bit further into the bush and sat down by a bunch of bottles. I guess when you go to buy palm wine, you sit and taste it and see if you want it. So we all sat there and had a glass of palm wine. The only thing I don’t like about it is that it was warm, and I think that’s how it’s normally served. It’s like an off-white color and tastes almost like coconut milk. It’s really quite good, although like I said, I would put it in the fridge before drinking it. Today I also had my first “Julbrew” – the Gambian beer that is made in Banjul. It’s really good and I would compare it to something like Michelob Light.
Today was the first day that I saw the affects of a sunburn on my skin. I know you’re all thinking why it’s taken this long to actually get a sunburn in Africa but I can honestly say that I haven’t spent much time in the sun. And…I guess maybe I don’t really think I’m very tanned since everyone else around me is black. I know I have a tan but today was the first day for a sunburn. Since we spent all day out in the sun It wasn’t hard to get a bit red. Nothing serious though…just a tiny bit red.
For the most part, the day was spent like this: the kids all had an assembly in the morning to say their last day of the novena and then they all split up and started dancing and singing. I definitely took lots of pictures of that since all the kids wanted their own pictures. Then they had some sort of dance competition. It was really funny! One of the little boys in my class went up to dance and oh my…it was hilarious! You’d think he couldn’t dance, but he was really good! I was really proud of him. After the dancing stopped…only for a moment since all these kids would dance all day and night if they could, we had a procession around the school. A couple kids held a picture of Mother Rivier and all the kids marched in the back. Seriously…they marched. They looked like a TINY group of soldiers….haha…too cute. Later on they had a play about Mother Rivier’s life but I missed it when I had gone out with the guys to get palm wine. But they all said that the kids were really good. It was kinda free for them after that.
During the rest of the day, like I said some of the boy were playing football and I’m not sure why but I think everyone around here thinks I’m very girly and that I don’t play sports or what. But I saw some of the boys shooting on the goal and so I went over and David, one of the students in Grade 3 said, “Miss Jennifa, you try and score on me. You try three times and then I’ll shoot on you.” I just smiled and said…”sure!” No one knew I played soccer in high school. So when I went to kick against him everyone was excited because I could ACTUALLY play with the boys. We had a crowd watching by the end of it. I enjoy playing with the boys, especially since when one of them does something wrong, they ALL get involved until the matter is resolved. And then they keep playing.
We all thought we were going to get away from school earlier today like around 2pm but we barely made it home for mass at 6pm. We didn’t even eat until 4 or 4:30 and by the time we cleaned up and got everyone on the bus it was close to 5:30 and 6:00pm. We had mass tonight at the house because it was Anna Marie Rivier day and the associates were all invited for a private mass in the grotto at the house. I haven’t told you about it yet…I forgot, I’m sorry! The grotto was put up by the money from the chickens and I guess it was Sr. Suzanne who was in charge of the whole thing. When you pull up to the house from the lane it’s on your left hand side. It’s white and had red trimming and they even have seating where you can sit and meditate on a picture of Mary with Jesus. There are lights incase you want to sit out there in the evening and even a lock if you want to sit there by yourself. It’s really really beautiful and one thing I really like about it (and I just noticed it tonight because of where I sat during mass) is that right behind the wall of the grotto you can see the African sky with the huge palm trees in the sky line. It’s unbelievably gorgeous in the evenings. And I like I said I sat facing it for mass, that’s why I noticed it. So we pulled up to the house and all rushed in to clean up a bit since they were actually waiting for us to start. Fr. Gabisi said mass and it was all in Mandika, so while everyone stared at the white girl and wondered who she was….they all noticed that she knew not a word that anyone was saying. The thing I could say in Mandinka was one of the songs and that was only because I was sitting next the Sr. Bernadette and she had a paper with the words on it. I’ve learnt to bring my daily mass book with me for mass since most of the time I can’t understand the readings. I don’t know what I would do without it. After mass, the associates stayed for a bit but I came in and took a shower and got ready for bed. It’s been a long day and honestly I can’t believe some of the things I’ve witnessed today. I’m so grateful for the experiences that I’m getting. I keep thinking of how I wanted to go back to school so badly but the Lord had other plans for me…to come here. And honestly, no text book or lecture could ever compare to having first hand knowledge or another culture. It’s amazing to witness, and I’m grateful for all of it. Thank you Lord….
In Jesus and Mary,
Jen
A Saturday retreat, more of the market, and a dessert called "Floating Oysters"
Sunday February 1, 2009
The last two days have been pretty relaxing, although we did travel a bit. Saturday was an early day because we had to make it to Serrekunda for mass at 7:30. Every month the sisters have a community retreat, and every second month they come together for it. So this month the retreat was held at the convent in Serrekunda. So we arrived late for mass since the truck wasn’t starting but they had waited for us to start mass. We had mass and then everyone helped to get breakfast together and then dinner ready before the retreat started. They had a whole day planned of talks and silent prayer time and I was basically just tagging along so that I wasn’t at the house by myself all day. I wouldn’t have minded but it gave me a great opportunity to see a little bit more of Serrekunda. I sat in during adoration and also during a presentation that was given. During the afternoon Sr. Odile had to go to the market to go and get groceries so she asked if I wanted to go with her. I also had to go and try to fax something so I thought it would be a good opportunity to go. I guess one thing I didn’t realize was that they actually do buy things from supermarkets here. I thought that everyone bought everything from the market. That’s why I thought I would never want to go buy groceries, but it turns out they buy most of their groceries from the supermarket and they buy veggies, fruit and fish at the market. I always have fun with Sr. Odile. We always end up laughing at something that’s hilarious, whether it’s something we did or something that someone else did, so we always have a good time. It was nice to go with her because she told me some of the prices that were good and some that weren’t good. For the most part, in the supermarket the prices are pretty good since you don’t have to barter with anyone. I’m definitely a lot more used to that than the market.
By the time we got back to the convent for the rest of the retreat it was still hot out and everyone was having their own silent prayer time so I decided to go outside and read a bit. I’ve been trying to go through the Sunday gospel a week ahead of time just to prepare my own heart for the Liturgy. I really am grateful that I have the time to do this because I think that in some way, I see the mass differently. I try to read the gospel and then there are a few books that the sisters have that have commentaries or homilies for catechists that give you a good idea about what the gospel is about. I enjoy it because when I was in school we were always studying about the period in time when the gospel or the reading was written. And it’s easier to know what the writer meant when you can understand the history of the time when the gospel was written. This has given me a really good opportunity to relate it to my own life for the whole week and then on Sunday I feel like I’m not just AT mass, but that I can enter into it because I have related my own life to the gospel reading. I’m not sure if I’m making any sense to any one but myself so I apologize for that. Anyway, so I took my books and sat outside in the sun. Later on the sisters had a meeting and some of the younger ones were preparing supper. I guess that Sr. Sarian is quite the comedian and she LOVES to give people a hard time about things. Usually when a community function goes on someone get to be the butt end of her jokes and the funny thing is that she doesn’t let up. It’s really quite hilarious to hear about. This time though, SHE was the one who got all the grief. The sisters are all in charge of bringing something and I guess she was in charge of brining oysters for supper. In their bridge in Banjul she just grabbed what she thought was the plastic container for the oysters and brought it but it turned out to be a container full of fruit salad. She was in the meeting with all of the superiors and the younger sisters had been plotting as to how they were going to get her back since she is ALWAYS giving them a hard time about everything. All of a sudden they all started singing (in their African way) “Floating Oysters, floating Oysters…” Over and over and over since the fruit was floating in orange juice. All the young sisters started singing this so loudly and marching outside to give it to Sr. Sarian. AND! They even had a pail that they started to use for a drum…it was honestly one of the most hilarious things I’ve ever seen. First of all because Sr. Sarian was getting how they put it, “what she deserved”…haha, and secondly to see all these sisters dancing around and singing. It was hilarious! I even got it on camera! We were laughing SO hard and just to let you know, it didn’t stop until we left. They made so much fun of her for bringing the wrong container that I feel bad for the next person who brings the wrong thing. She’ll be sure to give things back 10 times worse. I am so grateful for being a part of their community in some small way because I get to see these women in their element. I don’t just see them at mass, or at school or on the street, I actually get to live with them and experience their joy for life. That’s what I experienced last night when they were all singing and dancing and laughing. It was all in good fun and Sr. Sarian is sure to get back at someone – again…all in good fun. I just hope that it’s not me, who’s the next person.
We all piled in the truck and made it home pretty late. Everyone went to bed and in the morning I woke up early to see if Sr. Cecile wanted me to come for outstations but she told me to go back to bed. I really enjoy going to outstations because Its something that not a lot of people get to experience BUT I was SO excited to go back to bed. I’m sure the only gift the Lord has given me is to be a good sleeper. Haha…so I went back to bed and I woke up in time to get ready for mass at10am. Sr. Bernadette and I took a taxi and I was excited because this was the first time I was going to get to see the entire mass. Usually when we go on outstations we’re a few minutes late for mass so I never get to see the procession or the first part of mass so I was excited. If I can explain the feeling I got it would be the same feeling when we have pilgrimage masses at the Shrine – our Lady of Lourdes. There is incense and music and it’s almost overwhelming. I enjoy it so much. Fr. Gabisi was saying mass and I can’t even explain how great of a priest he is. I enjoy his homilies and you can tell how much he appreciates his vocation. I like that he loves to joke around and be sarcastic because that’s my type of humor. We always joke around after mass. I was able to go to confession to him on Thursday and he gave me some of the best advice that I’ve ever been given in confession. He said this, “ God gives us free will so that if we sin that we have the opportunity to come back to Him in humility AND so that we can relate to someone else that may go through it also. This is all done so that everything can be given back to the Lord for HIS greater glory.” I loved his advice because honestly it was exactly what I had been thinking about and it’s so true. If we were perfect how could we relate to the imperfect?! We are here to allow the Lord to work in our lives and when we think we’re perfect and have no sin then we have no reason for the Lord. Then there would be no reason for Him coming to earth to save us from our sins. Confession is SO important and it frees us from ourselves, allows the Lord to change our hearts to become more and more like Him, and to be able to unite our own hearts to each other because we’ve all been through similar things.
Mass was beautiful and I honestly love going. We came back to the house and had dinner and then it was a pretty relaxing rest of the day. Everyone took naps and just enjoyed the day. I sat outside for a bit reading and it was really hot. I keep forgetting to check the temperature but I’m guessing that it must have been close to 30 degrees (or for all of you Americans…it was close to 90).
In Jesus and Mary,
Jen
The last two days have been pretty relaxing, although we did travel a bit. Saturday was an early day because we had to make it to Serrekunda for mass at 7:30. Every month the sisters have a community retreat, and every second month they come together for it. So this month the retreat was held at the convent in Serrekunda. So we arrived late for mass since the truck wasn’t starting but they had waited for us to start mass. We had mass and then everyone helped to get breakfast together and then dinner ready before the retreat started. They had a whole day planned of talks and silent prayer time and I was basically just tagging along so that I wasn’t at the house by myself all day. I wouldn’t have minded but it gave me a great opportunity to see a little bit more of Serrekunda. I sat in during adoration and also during a presentation that was given. During the afternoon Sr. Odile had to go to the market to go and get groceries so she asked if I wanted to go with her. I also had to go and try to fax something so I thought it would be a good opportunity to go. I guess one thing I didn’t realize was that they actually do buy things from supermarkets here. I thought that everyone bought everything from the market. That’s why I thought I would never want to go buy groceries, but it turns out they buy most of their groceries from the supermarket and they buy veggies, fruit and fish at the market. I always have fun with Sr. Odile. We always end up laughing at something that’s hilarious, whether it’s something we did or something that someone else did, so we always have a good time. It was nice to go with her because she told me some of the prices that were good and some that weren’t good. For the most part, in the supermarket the prices are pretty good since you don’t have to barter with anyone. I’m definitely a lot more used to that than the market.
By the time we got back to the convent for the rest of the retreat it was still hot out and everyone was having their own silent prayer time so I decided to go outside and read a bit. I’ve been trying to go through the Sunday gospel a week ahead of time just to prepare my own heart for the Liturgy. I really am grateful that I have the time to do this because I think that in some way, I see the mass differently. I try to read the gospel and then there are a few books that the sisters have that have commentaries or homilies for catechists that give you a good idea about what the gospel is about. I enjoy it because when I was in school we were always studying about the period in time when the gospel or the reading was written. And it’s easier to know what the writer meant when you can understand the history of the time when the gospel was written. This has given me a really good opportunity to relate it to my own life for the whole week and then on Sunday I feel like I’m not just AT mass, but that I can enter into it because I have related my own life to the gospel reading. I’m not sure if I’m making any sense to any one but myself so I apologize for that. Anyway, so I took my books and sat outside in the sun. Later on the sisters had a meeting and some of the younger ones were preparing supper. I guess that Sr. Sarian is quite the comedian and she LOVES to give people a hard time about things. Usually when a community function goes on someone get to be the butt end of her jokes and the funny thing is that she doesn’t let up. It’s really quite hilarious to hear about. This time though, SHE was the one who got all the grief. The sisters are all in charge of bringing something and I guess she was in charge of brining oysters for supper. In their bridge in Banjul she just grabbed what she thought was the plastic container for the oysters and brought it but it turned out to be a container full of fruit salad. She was in the meeting with all of the superiors and the younger sisters had been plotting as to how they were going to get her back since she is ALWAYS giving them a hard time about everything. All of a sudden they all started singing (in their African way) “Floating Oysters, floating Oysters…” Over and over and over since the fruit was floating in orange juice. All the young sisters started singing this so loudly and marching outside to give it to Sr. Sarian. AND! They even had a pail that they started to use for a drum…it was honestly one of the most hilarious things I’ve ever seen. First of all because Sr. Sarian was getting how they put it, “what she deserved”…haha, and secondly to see all these sisters dancing around and singing. It was hilarious! I even got it on camera! We were laughing SO hard and just to let you know, it didn’t stop until we left. They made so much fun of her for bringing the wrong container that I feel bad for the next person who brings the wrong thing. She’ll be sure to give things back 10 times worse. I am so grateful for being a part of their community in some small way because I get to see these women in their element. I don’t just see them at mass, or at school or on the street, I actually get to live with them and experience their joy for life. That’s what I experienced last night when they were all singing and dancing and laughing. It was all in good fun and Sr. Sarian is sure to get back at someone – again…all in good fun. I just hope that it’s not me, who’s the next person.
We all piled in the truck and made it home pretty late. Everyone went to bed and in the morning I woke up early to see if Sr. Cecile wanted me to come for outstations but she told me to go back to bed. I really enjoy going to outstations because Its something that not a lot of people get to experience BUT I was SO excited to go back to bed. I’m sure the only gift the Lord has given me is to be a good sleeper. Haha…so I went back to bed and I woke up in time to get ready for mass at10am. Sr. Bernadette and I took a taxi and I was excited because this was the first time I was going to get to see the entire mass. Usually when we go on outstations we’re a few minutes late for mass so I never get to see the procession or the first part of mass so I was excited. If I can explain the feeling I got it would be the same feeling when we have pilgrimage masses at the Shrine – our Lady of Lourdes. There is incense and music and it’s almost overwhelming. I enjoy it so much. Fr. Gabisi was saying mass and I can’t even explain how great of a priest he is. I enjoy his homilies and you can tell how much he appreciates his vocation. I like that he loves to joke around and be sarcastic because that’s my type of humor. We always joke around after mass. I was able to go to confession to him on Thursday and he gave me some of the best advice that I’ve ever been given in confession. He said this, “ God gives us free will so that if we sin that we have the opportunity to come back to Him in humility AND so that we can relate to someone else that may go through it also. This is all done so that everything can be given back to the Lord for HIS greater glory.” I loved his advice because honestly it was exactly what I had been thinking about and it’s so true. If we were perfect how could we relate to the imperfect?! We are here to allow the Lord to work in our lives and when we think we’re perfect and have no sin then we have no reason for the Lord. Then there would be no reason for Him coming to earth to save us from our sins. Confession is SO important and it frees us from ourselves, allows the Lord to change our hearts to become more and more like Him, and to be able to unite our own hearts to each other because we’ve all been through similar things.
Mass was beautiful and I honestly love going. We came back to the house and had dinner and then it was a pretty relaxing rest of the day. Everyone took naps and just enjoyed the day. I sat outside for a bit reading and it was really hot. I keep forgetting to check the temperature but I’m guessing that it must have been close to 30 degrees (or for all of you Americans…it was close to 90).
In Jesus and Mary,
Jen
My First Full week of teaching...it was a week the Lord had to unfortunatly work overtime. Please be patient with me Lord.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Why hello everyone! How is everyone doing? I’m going to apologize for the huge load of reading material that I posted last week, I know it was a lot. There is SO much to tell and I want to make sure that I inform you of everything that is going on, so I hope that no one minds.
This week has been one full week but I can’t believe it’s Friday already. The past week has flown by and I was again shocked to find out that it was Friday this morning. It has been my first full week of teaching and I really have been enjoying it. I will admit that Monday was very overwhelming. I know I mentioned before that I was helping in one of the grade 1 classes with the slower children but while I was in class I realized that these students (there are around 12 of them) don’t get much one on one attention from the teacher. And, that is kinda what they need. Most of the kids didn’t get a chance to go to nursery school so they are quite far behind and they would get lost in the class because there was never enough time to give them the attention that they need. So they were basically coming to school empty and leaving empty – learning nothing. The sisters have been trying to remedy the problem but there hasn’t been an opportunity. On Saturday last week, Sr. Cecile and Sr. Odile had asked me if I wanted to take the 12 students from the class and give them the necessary attention that they needed. I said that I would love to! I didn’t realize what I was exactly in for. I had prepared the night before for the class. And really, it’s grade one basics and I had really just planned on seeing where they were at for the upcoming week. So Monday morning we had the classroom all arranged and we took the students into their new classroom and we just started with basics, like if they even knew how to spell their name, sing songs in English, introduce themselves, etc. I hardly got through that during the day because I spent the ENTIRE day disciplining them. Honestly……honestly…..I came home with the biggest headache and I went straight into my room and took a long nap. I didn’t really think they were going to be angels…but I sure didn’t think they would be so all over the place. I was honestly very frustrated and later on that night I went to the chapel and had a good heart to heart with the Lord about it. I just kept saying over and over, “Lord, you’ve brought me all this way to discipline kids?” I hated the fact that I didn’t know exactly where the Lord was calling me while being here and the last thing I wanted to do was to come here and have the worst experience of my life. And I thought that if every day was going to be like this, this would really be the worst experience of my life. Honestly though, how many of you really know me? Can you see me being the disciplinarian type?! Me either, so I thought. The thing is, is that these kids have not had the opportunity to be shown that they can learn or that they are even capable of being someone smart. They’re only in grade one so this may be their first time going to school and so they’ve just slipped through the cracks just getting by and no one following up with them. And….this is huge….they don’t even know basic manners like please and thank you, or even how to just sit in their desk and ask to use the bathroom or sharpen their pencils. Seriously…I’ve never thought that a tiny little sharpener could make so much stress in a classroom. For all of you teachers reading this….I APPLAUDE you for a job well done. Not only about mastering the sharpener situation, but about continuing to be a teacher after the first day in a classroom. AH! I was So overwhelmed! And I only had 12 students. Again, like I said I’m sure it would be quite different from school in
The next day, I really really wanted to give up, and if the Lord hadn’t given me the patience or the strength, I really would’ve. I went into the next day (which was Tuesday) not knowing how I was going to handle it. But, looking back on it now, I realize that the Lord gave me incredible courage. When the bell rang the kids of course were running around and had no control. They were ALL over the place – like animals in a zoo. For some strange reason, I just took the bull by the horns and just MADE them each sit in their own desks and just SIT. I thought, “well, if they haven’t yet learnt how to just sit in their desks quietly, then that’s where we start.” I can honestly say that by the end of the day, we hadn’t gotten through much other than ABC’s and learning how to sit in their desks and there were a few little boys who were falling asleep in their desks. They just hadn’t had a whole day where they actually had to concentrate so they were pretty tired. I came home with a bit more strength that day, and a little bit better plan as to how I was going to approach this teaching business. J
For a lot of these kids, no one has followed up with them, I mean as far as their parents. So, when they tested my patience or tried to test me when I told them that if their bags weren’t on the floor under their desks or they didn’t have their shoes on their feet before class started or they were playing with pencils or papers, etc….that they would become mine, they didn’t think I was serious. All I’m going to say is that I had a PILE of book bags on the top of my filing cabinet at the end of the day and there were a few kids that went outside for break without any shoes. Haha…it sounds harsh I know, but honestly to them, it’s just a different way of disciplining them rather than how their parents usually do….unfortunately by beating them. That’s just how they do things around here. So taking something away from them doesn’t sit well with them. And in my defense, these kids play bare foot all the time, the worst part for them, was that I actually took the shoes away and they couldn’t get them back until the end of the day. They didn’t think I was serious. The next big lesson for them was that if they were going to be playing in class, then they weren’t going to get to go out and play for break. NONE of them liked this concept. I had a few students who didn’t like the idea that they had to stay in class while all the other kids went out to play. One little girl thought it would be better that I would beat her rather than hold her in for break, and I just said, “woah…hold on here…this is an interesting picture.” She would’ve rather just taken a beating and gone out to play than to actually just sit quietly in her desk. Of course, that’s not how I do things, so she spent the time in the classroom sitting quietly….and pouting the entire time. I honestly was quite shocked. Like I said….things are different around here and slowly I’m trying to wrap my head around it all. And slowly they’re learning that Im serious. I know all of you are probably thinking, “wow, that’s kinda mean,” especially about the shoes part. But, I think that it’s always easier to have control of a class and then gradually be nicer than to be nice at first and have NO control what so ever over the class. I have thought SO much about my elementary days while being here over the past few weeks, and there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think of Mrs. Peters, my grade 6 teacher. She was the teacher you NEVER wanted to mess with, and everyone knew it. So everyone was good in her classes. But, even though she may have been mean, we learnt a lot and I have very fond memories of doing a lot of fun things in her class. Maybe once these kids learn just how to sit in their desks and learn a few manners, we can have some fun and the kids will have a few memories to take away from their year “Miss Jennifa” came to teach. One thing I’ve realized that a sticker is like GOLD around here. Before I came, I had gone to the dollar store to buy a few things to take with me and I bought these sheets (with probably 100 stickers) for a dollar, and I thought they would go over well with the kids. And oh my, do they ever. The kids in my class love them and we do a lot of Phonics, word association and spelling and when they get answers right they get a sticker. Oh boy…it’s hilarious to see and it’s really given them incentive to remember what they’ve learnt. And it works…haha J I think that’s most important. There are even kids from the other classes who love the stickers and I always have 3 or 4 girls who “call” sweeping my floor after school so that they can get a sticker.
One thing I’m grateful for over the past week has been that I’ve gotten to spend a little bit more time with Sr. Odile. I’m trying to get to know each of the sisters individually and working with Sr. Odile at the school has allowed me the chance to get to know her a bit more. Sr. Odile is the principle of the school and what I love most about her is that even though sometimes she seems like she has this serious look on her face, she will all of a sudden burst out laughing at something and it almost catches me off guard. She’s so easy to talk to and I enjoy the mornings since we eat breakfast together in her office. We both like “pancakes” so very often we’ll buy them off the street and eat them for breakfast. I really appreciate that she’s behind me in the whole disciplining the kids aspect because there have been a few times where I’ve had to send kids to the her office. And they usually come back sitting up straight and listening, which I appreciate. I imagine I’ll be spending the most time with her over the next months that I will be here.
I can see why Sr. Cecile has spent so much time here. There is a joy that I’ve seen in her while I’ve been here that I have never seen while she is at home. You can just tell that she LOVES it here. This has definitely been her calling and I can see why. There is a joy that comes from doing the Lord’s Will for our lives and no one can ever put a price on such a thing. But, we all have to search for that and in searching we realize what makes us most happy…in doing the Lord’s Will in each very different ways.
In Jesus and Mary,
Jen
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Hello Everyone!
I would just like to appologize for not posting anything for the past two weeks. Besides being busy, the computer has been having issues connecting to the internet. I have to admit I almost hold my breath the entire time I'm on it because I never know if in the next second it's going to kick me off. So I appologize for not keeping up these past few weeks. I will post all the reading material you will ever need hopefully this weekend sometime. So keep your next week free cause it'll probably take you that long to read it all... :)
Thank you for the emails, again. I appologize again for not replying since I haven't been able to get into my inbox. I appreciate any emails though...really I do.
Thank you for your prayers and please continue to pray, the evil one loves to distract me and I really need to keep focused, so please pray for me! You are all in my prayers!
In Jesus and Mary,
Jen
I would just like to appologize for not posting anything for the past two weeks. Besides being busy, the computer has been having issues connecting to the internet. I have to admit I almost hold my breath the entire time I'm on it because I never know if in the next second it's going to kick me off. So I appologize for not keeping up these past few weeks. I will post all the reading material you will ever need hopefully this weekend sometime. So keep your next week free cause it'll probably take you that long to read it all... :)
Thank you for the emails, again. I appologize again for not replying since I haven't been able to get into my inbox. I appreciate any emails though...really I do.
Thank you for your prayers and please continue to pray, the evil one loves to distract me and I really need to keep focused, so please pray for me! You are all in my prayers!
In Jesus and Mary,
Jen
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