An Amazing Easter

Wednesday April 15, 2009

Praise the Lord, He has risen…Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Well, it has come to another end of the Lenten season but I can assure you that this has not been one that I’ve ever experienced before. Today’s gospel talks about two of the disciples meeting with Jesus on their way to Emmaus. They don’t recognize him but they talk with the stranger about what has just happened in Jerusalem over the last few days. They say to him,

“you must be the only person staying in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have been happening there these last few days….all about Jesus of Nazareth, who proved he was a great prophet by the things he said and did in the sight of God and of the whole people; and how our chief priests and our leaders handed him over to be sentenced to death, and had him crucified. Our own hope had been that he would be the one to set Israel free. And this is not all: two whole days have gone by since it all happened; and some women from our group have astounded us; they went to the tomb in the early morning, and when they did not find the body, they came back to tell us they had seen a vision of angels who declared he was alive. Some of our friends went to the tomb and found everything exactly as the women had reported, but of him they saw nothing.”

When the day is almost over, the disciples invite Jesus to stay with them and it is only when Jesus was at table with them, takes the bread and blesses it and hands it to them that they realize that it truly is Jesus and not a stranger. But Jesus vanishes from them and they say, “Did our hearts not burn within us as he talked to us on the road and explained the scriptures to us?” And with that they set out back to Jerusalem to find the eleven who also say to them, “yes it is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.”
Today’s reading speaks to my heart so clearly of why we should have rejoiceful hearts at Easter. Our Lord has truly risen…it is not just a story in a story book, HE HAS TRULY RISEN! My heart honestly just leaps and I get tears in my eyes thinking of it, realizing that, just like the apostles, I have seen the risen Christ. What would it have been like to be in their situation? To meet a man on their road to Emmaus whom they share all about their sorrows and joys in the confusion of not knowing whether Jesus is alive or not. They have seen him crucified and they know that he was laid in the tomb but could the women really be right? Could he still be alive? I don’t know about you…but if I had seen my best friend die and then later hear that he isn’t dead but alive, I would be beyond belief but SO excited! I’m sure they were afraid and must have been talking about what had happened as they were on their way. If it was my sisters and I, we would talk and talk and talk about it trying to think through the whole situation of what had happened and I’m sure we would be afraid of what might happen to us. After hearing the gospel today and when it came time for the consecration at mass, my heart began to burn with a “knowledge” that the bread and wine is TRULY our Lord Jesus…risen from the dead.

“Did our hearts not burn within us as he talked to us on the road and explained the scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:13- 35)

What a humble but amazing God we have. If I can say anything, having the opportunity to take in daily mass has truly changed my life. Reading the daily readings and following along has allowed me to see our Lord, my life, as well as the Church in a new way. We have The God of creation at our side who suffered on a cross for us, but yet He has the power to move mountains….and what praise do I truly give Him? Obviously nothing compared to what He has given me. I have to borrow His gratitude to give it back to Him. I thank the Lord daily for his generosity. Praise the Lord…Alleluia!
For what I can say about being in another country for Easter, I am glad to be a part of the Catholic Church since it is the same wherever you go. Holy week was very busy and it was an eye opener for me because through it, I have realized my own sinfulness and…to be honest, my laziness in my Lenten sacrifices. I’m honestly upset with myself about it. I definitely feel that I have failed more than succeeded. But this week I realized that, like Mother Teresa said, “the Lord doesn’t want us to be successful, He wants us to be faithful.” Thank the Lord for realizing this because my heart was very heavy going into this Holy week. But the feeling of sorrow for my lack of commitment only allowed me to recognize God’s mercy and grace. Monday and Tuesday were still very busy at the school with finishing up reports and getting everything all worked out for Parent/Teacher meetings on Wednesday. I was a bit nervous going into parent/teacher meetings since I haven’t met very many parents and you never know what the children say about their “toobob” teacher. So on Wednesday I waited patiently in my classroom with the kids coming in and out (since the kids came to school and enjoyed playing outside the entire time. I’m still not sure why they even came to school since in Canada we would have the day off). We were supposed leave the school early, at around 11:00am but many of the parents didn’t show up until around then to pick up the reports. And of course, the parents that SHOULD be there to realize that their children are not participating in class or making the effort didn’t come but the parents of the children who excel in class all came. What a backward system, but gives clear evidence of why the children have the habits they do. Anyway…who knows, maybe a few will come when we open for school again.
The children get rewarded when they get first, second, or third in their class and in my class Kaddijatou got first, Modoulamin Jobe second, and Alieu third. Kaddijatou was actually a surprise since she is the student that likes to come late to class, not pay attention and do everything in her power to do her own thing. She was the student who would’ve rather been beaten than spend her break sitting in her desk in class. I will be honest, after thinking about it I realized that she has made quite the turn around in class. It’s obvious that she more than likely gets her own way in other places than school but she has quickly learnt that in class she has to listen to me. If she doesn’t do her work, she will stay in a break to finish, if she talks or disturbs the class she will have a consequence. Most of the kids have learnt a lot and I’m proud to say that my kids are slowly becoming very good listeners and they respect others more than some of the other kids in the school. They know that I’m not there to be their friend, that I’m their teacher and that even though they might think I’m the meanest person for keeping them in a break because they didn’t finish their homework, that I do it for their own good. They may have a hard time with their phonics or numbers but I can assure you that these kids are far from stupid. They can tell when someone is there to help them. I know that they know I care about them because even if they have the tiniest little scrape, they come running saying, “Miss Jennifa, I have a wound.” It’s cute because they know that even though they may not need a band-aid that I will stop what I’m doing to just LOOK at their wound and say, “are you ok?” And really…that’s all they really want. Anyway, we ended up leaving the school a lot later than expected but when we got home I attempted to go and check my email at the internet café. It’s so slow and by the time a page loads you have to ask the guy for more time. It’s very frustrating and it’s the reason why I can’t get any of these posts up. I apologize for that. Our computer is getting fixed so that is my only option at the moment. When I got home we were having lunch with a woman who has been helping out at the school. Her name is Elizabeth and she spent to weeks here last year on a British exchange your teacher type program. She spent two weeks here at AMR and Paul, one of our teachers in the school, spent two weeks in England last year. It’s a great opportunity for the teachers and the kids get a new face too. She has been helping out in the school all week, especially with the grade three’s since they are learning about plants. They go out to the garden and she explains how plants grow and the differences in plants that are grown in the Gambia versus plants that grown in England. She’s really very nice and we were glad to have her over to the house for lunch.
In the evening the sisters usually have a free supper night since it’s their day during the week for a silent evening but on Wednesday evening (since Sr. Jos and Sr. Bernadette went out to get fish) we grilled fresh “bonga”. Bonga is a fish that has more tiny bones that you’ve probably ever seen in a fish. If the fish wasn’t so good to eat, I would just pass it up because it’s so much work to eat. The sisters make a sauce with sliced onions, lime, red pepper, black pepper, jumbo, and salt. The onions are all kept raw and you eat it with the fish. They call this “Yassa”. It’s amazing…seriously, like I said if it wasn’t so worth it in the end I wouldn’t bother taking the time to clean the bones from the fish. We all sat outside just on the door step grilling fish on a small charcoal grill. The moon was full so it was bright and beautiful outside. That was one of my favorite moments being here because we just sat outside and talked into the evening. I think I enjoyed it so much because it would be something that my sisters, Lise and I would do when we’re together.
Thursday was a busy day because I went out to sell eggs with Sr Cecile and Sr. Suzanne. And I think you all know how much I love to go. It’s really enjoyable to go with them because I usually laugh the whole time since both Sr. Cecile and Sr. Suzanne have fun personalities. I always laugh to myself thinking that they’ve spent so much time together I’m sure over the years that they know how each other works. And it’s hilarious to see first hand. Like I said, I usually laugh the entire day. I actually had forgotten that I was going, so I woke up kind of late and I had about 30 minutes to wake up, eat and get ready. But we were on our way and since I haven’t been out with the sisters lately because of school I got to see many friends today. It was a busy day and we tried to get back early enough to have time to relax a bit before we went to Holy Thursday mass. We got home and I showered and got ready for mass. Mass was really beautiful and I was surprised that there weren’t very many people. Everything was pretty similar to home and they had 12 men come up for the washing of the feet. After mass was done we had exposition and then the crowd filed out of the church with the Blessed Sacrament following behind for the procession to the Altar of Repose. The old church, which when the new one was built was turned into the church hall was the spot where they had the Altar of Repose, where everyone would stay until 12:00 with our Lord Jesus. When we arrived in the hall everything was so beautiful. The Altar was very simple but it had white and red flowers beside and red candles on top. We had old wooden benches to sit on and everyone stayed for at least 10 minutes after father left. The sisters and I left after about 30 minutes to go home and change, eat some supper and then we came back and stayed until 12:00. For me, the time flew by and I spent most of my time reading the passion in the gospel of John. When we left to go back home, I got to ride in the back of the truck since all the sisters were with us and it’s too crammed for all of us to fit. I have to admit that I enjoy riding in the back. On Thursday night when we left it was well after midnight so I got a good view of Brikama late in the evening. To my surprise, it was dead. Haha…I thought many people would be out and enjoying the evening but there were only a few people that I saw on the side of the road. The moon was full and it was beautiful. Everyone came home and went straight to bed. Friday, everyone got to sleep in a bit and I don’t think I heard much until around 8:30 or 9:00. I know that everyone was up earlier than that but the sisters have a day of silence in the house. When I woke up I found Sr. Cecile in the kitchen and she explained it to me. I spent the early part of the day cleaning up my room and then I got ready for stations of the cross at noon. Now, the Stations of the Cross are something that I’ve never experienced before on Good Friday but here in Brikama about 5 years ago the young people asked the priest who was here if they would be able to do stations of the cross in the streets of Brikama. So for the past 5 years the entire parish meets out toward the road we got to school and we are escorted by the city police officers down the main street in Brikama while reciting the Stations of the Cross. It was something so unique and beautiful. Some of you may think that it really isn’t that interesting and I’m sure in a predominantly Christian environment it really isn’t as unique as I say but when you’re in a community like Brikama (or the Gambia entirely) where the population of Christian’s is only 1% and the rest are Muslim and don’t believe in Jesus, it’s another story entirely. And keep in mind, this is only 5 years old so it’s still pretty new in the community. There is a reason why we were escorted by police. Many people stare and stop what they are doing to just watch us walk by and we even get people who try to say things and disturb what is happening. This year, nothing really eventful happened but Sr. Cecile said in previous years many of the Muslims would spit on the ground or turn up their radios when we walked by. The procession was lead by one altar server who was carrying a big cross followed by two other servers and Father Carl. We all followed behind. The crown started small at first but by the end it was very big. At each station, we would all stop and knee in the middle of the street and read the reflection. We did that the entire way to the church and the last station was in the church. Since it was at noon it was extremely hot outside. After stations, we celebrated the Good Friday service and everyone left in silence.
Traditionally, it’s a custom here as a Christian to give alms. But the people here have started the tradition that on Good Friday they all make – Nan Buru (this has turned into my FAVORITE dessert). It is made from rice and boabob juice. You pound the rice and form small balls and soak them in boabob juice and then cool it in the fridge. It seriously is amazing and I know I’m going to miss it when I go home since we don’t have the boabob fruit. So the Christians all make it and offer it to their Muslim friends as a gift. The Muslims do the same when it’s their holy feast. But the Christians give to Christians too. The sisters get so much that it’s close to the only thing you eat for the entire day. I don’t mind at all because it’s turned into something I could eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It took me a while to get used to it because I remember for one of the first days I was here the sisters made it and because of the texture, I didn’t really enjoy it very much. I’ve never liked tapioca pudding for that reason. But, I absolutely love it now.
After we came home, I went out to visit with some friends for a bit since the sisters were all taking the day for silence. When I met up with Papis, I found out that Nday was really sick so I went to their home to check on her and she was not doing very well at all. When I got to their house she was awake but looked completely drained of any fluid and she obviously hadn’t had anything to eat for a few days. Right when I got there I sat down on her bed and she curled right up and put her head on my lap. I asked her if she had gone to the doctor and she said that she had but she didn’t get her results because she had to pay 50 dallasis for them and she couldn’t afford it. I also asked her if she had eaten anything, and she said that she hadn’t eaten or drank anything all day, and at that point I got kind of upset knowing that she was trying to take care of two kids and no one was taking care of her. I ran out to get her something to eat and I went to talk to Papis to make sure he knew that she NEEDED to keep eating and drinking something, even if it was a little bit. I called Musa to come and take care of her because I had to get home. Musa brought her to the doctor the next day and they found out that she had malaria. She ended up getting the medication and instantly was getting better. I hope that she’ll be fully recovered within this week.
When I got home, Father Gabisi was over for supper and of course as the conversation always goes when Father is around – he was telling stories. Usually by the end of any conversation with Father EVERYONE has a sore stomach and tears in their eyes from laughing so hard. I hadn’t realized this, but Father Gabisi is the eldest preist in the diocese and he recently had his 25th anniversary of his ordination! When I got here, he quickly became a person of comfort for me since everything was so uncomfortable and new that his humor and excitement was always calming. Since then, we have created a great bond and we even have a small handshake when we meet up after mass in the morning. It consists of me getting my arm shaken off….haha. Father’s humor apparently comes from his mother since I hear that she was quite the jokster. We had a few good laughs Friday night.
I forgot to mention! On Tuesday evening, I found out that Sr. Josaphine was attending the Chrism mass that was being held at the cathedral in Banjul. I didn’t even know it was going on until about 2 hours before we left, but when Sister Cecile asked if I wanted to go I said I would love to since I hadn’t seen the cathedral yet. We left early enough to catch transport where we had to change vans at Westfield and go on to Banjul. When we got to the Cathedral I was shocked at how beautiful it was! We got there just on time, so it was packed full and I was trying to take everything in. The music was really beautiful. A lot of African drums and the choir was really good. If not everyone knows what the Chrism mass is, it’s the mass where all priests are called to concelebrate with their Bishop and it is where each parish receives the Holy oils. I realized how many priests and sisters I knew since everyone was there. I recognized a lot and after mass we spent some time visiting with everyone. I saw most of the Presentation sisters as well as Sr. Elizabeth (the one who came with us to Kartung), many other sisters and many priests. I even saw the young seminarians. They’re all really fun and some of them were surprised since I’ve only met most of them once that I remembered some of their names. One thing around here is that whenever there is a function, everyone has to be fed. So we went up to the rectory and all the priests, sisters, and a few others were enjoying something to eat. Sr. Jos and I came home with Father Gabisi and Mathew (a seminarian who is from Brikama). I really enjoyed myself and it was a beautiful mass.
So…where were we? Oh yes, Holy Saturday I slept in a bit and when I got up, the sisters and I ate breakfast. Saturday morning Sr. Cecile woke up not feeling very good and it’s sad to say that she spent the entire day in bed because she was so sick. I felt so bad for her because she was sick on both her birthday (which was only a few weeks ago) and on Holy Saturday. Sr. Sue had asked if I wanted to help out in the poultry a bit on Saturday and I was excited to have another attempt at handling those chickens. Since after the first attempt, when the chicken pecked at my hands, I was a bit nervous. What I will say now, I was still a bit nervous trying it out again but after the day was done I had become really good at taking the chickens out of the place they lay eggs. Seriously, chickens don’t like you to take them out when they’re laying eggs. And I had a few encounters with one chicken who I like to call “Mrs. Stubborn”. She was in room D and every time I went to go get eggs from the rooms she was ALWAYS sitting in the box where they lay eggs. When I would try to take her out she would peck at me and make noises. I doubt that the eggs she was sitting on were even her eggs but she just liked to be stubborn and sit there while I tried to figure out ways to put my hand in the box to take her out. I’ve never seen a real chicken with such attitude. I thought it was quite hilarious myself. So for the majority of the day, I helped the guys in the poultry and I really enjoyed myself. We picked eggs and put new saw-dust in the rooms, the guys cleaned the drinkers and we washed the veranda floor and the biggest job seems to be separating the eggs. Since the sisters sell two sizes of eggs we have to separate the eggs from big ones and small ones. When you go collect the eggs you have to keep them separate so you can count how many each room lays. So once you count then you pack according to size. Sometimes you get some incredibly small eggs and a lot of the time you get some really big eggs. Because some of the eggs are wet when they are layed the saw dust sticks to them so you have to clean them before they get packed. I guess you don’t have to, but no one wants to buy dirty eggs. Tony and Raymond (two boys who come to help) were helping pack eggs. So with the two boys, Sarjo and I sitting packing eggs on the floor we laughed quite a bit.
The sisters were preparing the meal for after Easter Vigil mass for the majority of the day. I guess after mass the priests either host the sisters or the sisters host the priests and this year was the sisters turn to host the priests. Everyone got ready to go to mass and we said good bye to Sr. Cecile who was sick in bed.
When we got to the church, Easter Vigil Mass had just started and everyone was huddled around the fire just outside the church in the parking lot. I couldn’t see much since I’m too short and there were too many people but I still heard everything that was said. We all walked through the parking lot to go into the church and as we walked into a dark church everyone held their candle. Father sang the Exultant and he did a wonderful job. I always look forward to hearing the Exultant sung. When the Gloria was sung it was so beautiful and it was so long! Even though I couldn’t sing it and it was long, just realizing that we could sing it again made me smile the entire time it was sang. The music was so upbeat and exciting and everyone in church was excited to be singing again. I sure was. It really makes a difference without the African drums. This year there were, I’m sure….around 25 candidates for baptism. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that many at Easter time. They all wore a white African style dress. The men had pants and nice top made in white and the women had a dress made in white. It was really beautiful! The women were all accessorized with white hair bands and ties with their hair all done really beautifully. At the time for the baptism all the candidates with their sponsors came up and formed a semi-circle around the altar. Each candidate had their own turn to put their head on top of the bucket and Father poured water on their heads baptizing each in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It was really cool to witness. At the offertory all the newly baptized brought something up for a gift. Some brought potatoes, some brought okra, some brought rice, peppers, etc. Mass was beautiful and such a celebration! After everyone was greeting each other and so excited to finally say Happy Easter. I even saw a few of the people from Kembojeh who come on Saturday evenings. It was good to see that they had made the trip to Brikama to come to Easter vigil mass.
After mass we got home and Father was right behind us since he was coming for the midnight lunch. By the time we got home it was close to 1:30 am or 2:00am. We all sat around eating Yassa and chips and drinking good wine and drinks. After we did dishes everyone went straight to bed since we had to get up in a few hours. We were talking about the next morning over the supper table and Sr. Suzanne reminded me that we had to get up early to go for out stations in the villages. She said that if she was up early she would wake me up but when I got up in the morning it was well after 8:00am and she had gone. When she got back which was just in time to take us to the church for mass in Brikama, she mentioned that she even did the two parishes herself! I couldn’t believe it because even on a good Sunday where everything runs smoothly, we are all rushing to get back to Brikama for mass. And that is with Sr. Cecile, Sr. Suzanne and I. I usually go with one of them and we split up and each do a parish but she did both on Easter morning! If I didn’t know better, I would’ve thought that the Lord had maybe given her the gift of bi-locating just to allow both parishes to receive communion on Easter morning.
Mass on Easter was beautiful and there were many people who attended. The choir sang beautifully and there was a lot to celebrate about! The Lord has truly risen…Alleluia! After mass everyone got ready and packed in the truck to go to Lamin (a village just north of Brikama) to meet up with all the other sisters from the congregation in the Gambia. We were all in for a surprise since the Banjul Community was hosting this year’s Easter and all they told us was that we were supposed to meet at the church in Lamin. So we all met and exchanged greetings and “happy Easters” with all the sisters and then we packed back into the vehicles and followed behind in a caravan all anticipating what we were going to do. We pulled up to what is called “Lamin Lodge”. Lamin Lodge is on the Gambian river and to me, it seemed a lot like Makasutu (the place I went with the Billingtons the first weekend I was here). We arrived and the first thing you see is a tall African looking hut and lots of colorful wooden canoe-shaped boats. Lamin lodge is known best for their boat trips on the river but to get to the boats you have to walk on a rickety old bridge (to me it reminded me of the bridge that collapses in one of the Indiana Jones movies, although it wasn’t as high.) I’m not afraid of bridges since I can swim and the current doesn’t flow, actually to be honest I think it was mostly MUD underneath the bridge so in a “worst-case scenario” situation, I would imagine you would just get stuck in thick, thick mud. Haha…I’m imagining it now. So as we were crossing the bridge I had gone over first and so I looked back and laughed at some of the reactions of some of the sisters. There was a look of excitement on some of the young sisters and then, on some of the older sisters, there was the look of sheer terror. I’m not sure if it was the fact that the bridge wasn’t sturdy or that they had come into clear view of the days activities….a houseboat ride! Seriously, I LOVE water so I was so excited but some of the sisters don’t like boats and are afraid of water so it was kinda scary for them. As we got onto the boat everyone started to settle in a bit more and when we started moving we unpacked the food and ate lunch. It was awesome. After lunch everyone just relaxed. Some people even took naps and when we found out that we could go on top of the boat I jetted up to see what kind of adventure I could have. I think that most people were afraid to go uptop because it didn’t have railings but it was awesome because it had a little tent type thing and pillows where you could lay out and rest. The young sisters came up and we all sat around talking, dancing, and laughing. I really enjoy spending time with the sisters, and I’m glad that I get to spend time with everyone from all the communities because everyone of them are different. We enjoyed most of the day up on the top of the boat. We toured around the river and it was a gorgeous day to do it. On the banks of the Gambian river are what are called, “mangroves”. Mangroves are the plant that oysters attatch themselves to so women go out to collect them. It’s crazy to see because there are so so many of them and it honestly looks like large bushes on the banks of the river. When we got back to the lodge it was another eventful moment because everyone had to get “out” of the boat. The boat was swaying and all I’m going to say is that most of us had a good laugh looking at the faces of some of the people who were scared to jump out. We walked back across the rickety bridge and went to an African hut which was a restaurant and that is where we ate supper. Like I said, the Banjul community was in charge but I realized that the Fajara community was in charge for desert. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but the Fajar community is made up of two people – Sr. Sarian and Sr. Marie – seriously two of the funniest people I’ve ever known. They both like to play pranks on people and of course desert was not dismissed. Everyone was excited to see what they had brought for desert and so they introduce everything saying that each person had to pick a number and then we would get the desert that went with our number. Of course, when we each picked our number and gave it to them – each person ended up with a swapped number and desert. They gave deserts like a small bag of peanuts, or dried up fruit that wouldn’t have been good to eat. Everyone had a good laugh and after all the complaining (which was all in good fun) the sisters pulled out a big basket of fruit and cakes and we all enjoyed. After that everyone went our separate ways and we came home. When we were just about to have supper my sisters called and so I had made the arrangement to talk to them when I got back to Brikama. Everyone at home was together at my mom and dad’s place so when they called to talk later in the evening, I got to talk to EVERYONE! It was awesome! Even if it was for only a few minutes it was nice to hear everyone’s voices and hear how things were going. My family has always gotten together for holidays and birthdays and one thing is for sure since our family is small when some one is gone, you really feel the place of the missing person(s). Usually I wasn’t the one gone but since I’m not home this year, I know what the feeling of not having everyone home is like. The only people I didn’t get to talk to were my cousin Alex (who is in school in California) and my other cousin Sara who is finishing up her year and a half of being a missionary nurse in Ecuador. But let me tell you, as great of an experience as I am having, there is nothing like hearing your family’s voice on the other end of the phone.
I went to bed and woke up for mass in the morning….late. I’m not sure if I hit the off button on my cell phone or if it didn’t go off but when I heard the truck start and I looked at the time to see that it was almost 7:30, I threw some clothes on and SPRINTED outside to catch the truck rolling out of the driveway. The sisters were laughing at me and I was honestly laughing too because I can just imagine what I looked like running out of the door, fighting with the lock to close the door and sprinting around the house to get the attention of the sisters so they wouldn’t leave without me. Haha….oh boy.
After mass, we came home and ate breakfast and Sr. Suzanne had asked if I wanted to go to the Brikama craft market to look at some of the things they had there. So off we went, and like I’ve said before – Sr. Suzanne is the best person to go to the market with because she barely will take any price off the bat. We usually end up paying around half of what the people are asking. It’s great, and I laugh the whole time because some times when they give us a price (which is usually outrageous) she pertends to stumble and say jokingly, “ah…hold me, I think I’m going to have a heart attack.” Haha…ah man, I love her reactions. I met a lot of her friends and everyone just loves her there. We bought a few things and I even sat down with a gentleman who taught me how to play a bit of the African drums. It was awesome. Again, one of the best things I’ve had out of this experience – sitting and enjoying time with the people of the Gambia. They love it, and I love getting to know them. When you attempt to sit with them and join in with a part of who they are, they accept you like you are their brother or sister. We left having met most of the shop owners and I left with a long list of places to come back and visit.
Since this is our week off (which strangely enough I thought we had two weeks- I’m not sure if it was my imagination or a wish that made me think that) but anyway, all the schools in the Gambia have the week off. So, during lent all the girls in the hostel were gone and boy does it make a difference around here. The place is so quiet! I love having the girls around, but I can honestly say that the quiet and stillness was really nice to have too.
After Sr. Suzanne and I came back from the market everyone ate lunch and we had talked about going to just out side Banjul for the annual Easter Monday kite flying fundraiser that the Banjul Parish puts on every year. Sr. Josaphine, Sr. Bernadette and I got ready and headed out to Banjul where everyone was flying their kites on the beach. We got there and there were tons and tons of people. There was a tent set up so you could sit in the shade, lots of food and drinks to buy and they had lots of music. We met up with some of the other sisters from the communities and they were standing next to a volleyball game that was going on. For most of the evening the sisters spent time with people that they knew and I met up with people that I knew but I was more so content with just going along the beach walking and sitting watching the water and the sunset. I spent some time talking with some of the girls from the hostel who had come. I mostly sat with Edwina and talked and as the sun faded away, so did the warmth of it and the wind picked up to where I was almost positive I stepped into -30 degree Canadian weather for a brief moment. By the time we were leaving for home, I was so cold that I even thought about going to bed with a hot water bottle. Haha…I know my mom can appreciate that statement. I really had a great day on Monday and I appreciated getting to go out to the beach again.
Yesterday was another day full of fun and laughs. Since Monday was Easter Monday and most places were closed, Sr Suzanne and I went out selling eggs yesterday. Sr. Cecile still wasn’t feeling well so it was just the two of us. And boy did we laugh. I know I’ve said this time and time again, but I just enjoy spending time with Sr. Suzanne because we have some of the best conversations and we both usually do something to make each other laugh. It took the entire day to sell eggs and I think we ended up getting home well past 8:00pm. Since we have baby chicks they need special meds and food so Sr. and I stopped by the vet pharmacy to get a few things and when we were there I witnessed something really funny to me. At one point we were talking with the vet pharmacist and when we finished he went to the back of the shop picked up a briefcase- medbag looking thing and strolled outside. When I looked out the door, I saw him on the side of the street giving injections to a horse. On the side of the street! Usually they would bring the animal to a vet clinic wouldn’t they?! Well, anyway, to me it was strange because the owner of the horse had his little horse cart and the horse was just standing on the side of the street. As the day went on, we packed and repacked eggs and met up with a lot of people that we knew. At around 5:00pm we met up with Marie who always buys eggs and she usually is the one to go to the market in Banjul with me and we went to meet with Sr. Suzanne’s uncle who is from England. Well he’s a Gambian but he married an English black woman. They were staying at a hotel in Banjul and when we pulled up, Sr. Suzanne began to show me the place. I honestly couldn’t belelive it. It’s one of the nicest hotels that I’ve ever been to! It’s right on the ocean so it has a lot of really tourist-y type things and it was huge! There were a lot of people, expecially by the pool. When you walk through the pool area you can go out toward the beach where they had tables and sun huts all over the place. There were young boys playing football in the sand and for a brief moment I thought, “what would it be like to have this type of experience rather than the one I’m having?” As much as I enjoy hotels and the beach and sun, I was happy to be the one oohing and ahhing about how nice the hotel was but yet at the end of the day we went back to the village life. To be a tourist is one thing, but to be a part of the community here in Brikama is another thing. People already call me a Gambian and I appreciate that, knowing that they accept me as one of their own rather than a tourist just passing through town. We spend about a half hour with Sr.’s uncle and aunt and then we had to go on our way home. Like I said we got home late so we unpacked the truck, I showered and went to bed.
I know that my mom was asking and making sure that I wrote every last detail down of my Easter experience here and I hope that I did it justice. It’s been so awesome to be a part of this experience and in some small way, have been become a part of the parish community here. As much as I write down I could never explain the feelings of what I’m going through here and what everything is really like. I will be forever changed from this experience and I will never forget it either.
I hope everyone has had a blessed Easter and I hope the weather is warming up!

In Jesus and Mary,

Jen