Sunday, April 25, 2009
Why hello all! I’ll continue with where I left off.
This week was Sr. Bernadette’s birthday and I think everyone loves it when there is a birthday in the house because we get to celebrate! And what better week to celebrate than during the week after Easter! We have a lot to be thankful for! Fried chicken and chips were on the menu and of course ice cream for desert. I think Sr. Bernadette was pretty happy that it was her birthday just as we all would be if it was ours.
I know that you might all be shocked to hear this news but….I have learnt to absolutely LOVE the market. HAHA….I even have to laugh at that statement because the view I had of the market before, I think I’ve done a complete 180. Those are the things that when I look back, I realize how out of my comfort zone I have come while being here. I think that it’s a great thing because I wouldn’t have done it otherwise. On the other hand, I’ve learnt to not really like the tourist markets. When you go to the market everyone is excited to meet you and they know that if they get you in their store that they can get a good price for things but they won’t harass you like a lot of the tourist market shops. They will just let you look, ask your name and where you come from and let you be on your way if you want but the tourist market, they keep you there until you buy something OR ELSE they keep you there trying to sell you something that you don’t want and you end up buying it just to get them off your back. Haha…sounds stupid I know but I guess if you do it enough it becomes a lifestyle. The Brikama craft market, I like. That is because I know people from there now and they are friendly. But other tourist markets, I have learnt to dislike them. Over the last few weeks I have slowly put my foot in the Brikama market and I am loving every opportunity I get to go. I think I was so afraid to go because I couldn’t understand people and I didn’t know the prices of anything. And another good reason is because I wasn’t used to being in such close proximity of so many people. But I enjoy going now, I enjoy the people and I enjoy bartering for prices for things. I started out by just asking around for the prices of things and I realized that once you get to know people first when you go into their shop, they realize that I’m not just a tourist and I always make sure they give me the “Gambian price” not the “toobob price”. I had one encounter with a gentleman who tried to sell me a pair of shoes for 80 dallasis and I knew the price for them was only 55 or 60 dallasis. When he said 80 dallasis, I looked at him and laughed and said, “haha…you think I just got here don’t you?” He smiled and said, “How long have you been here?” My reply was, “long enough to know that the price for those shoes is not 80 dallasis.” He laughed again and asked me how much I would pay for them. I ended up getting them for 60 dallasis. By the end of it there were many people around us wondering what the both of us were laughing at and they knew that he was trying to get a good price for the shoes but they also knew that I’m not new around here. The prices for things vary but there are many things that you just know the prices for and really only real toobob’s pay a different price for them. Every time I go to the market I allot myself at least an hour longer than what I think it will take me to get what I need because I always meet up with many people that I know and I always meet at least five new people who want to know who I am and where I come from. I realized this a long time ago, but what a smile does when it’s put on your face is like a title wave around here. I can’t even explain it. I think that when people see that you enjoy what you are doing and where you are they want to just say hello and they see the beauty of your soul through your smile. I won’t have anyone acknowledge me until I have a smile on my face and then I honestly can’t get out of the market without people stopping me to say hello. A smile can break so many barriers and it touches more people’s lives than only the one that you are smiling at.
Thursday the sisters went out to sell eggs and as much as I wanted to go, I knew that if I didn’t stay back to get my laundry done that it wouldn’t get done for another whole week. So I stayed back and did all my washing. I don’t want to toot my own horn, BUT….what was once a huge embarrassing task has become an item on my resume. No, I’m just kidding I’m not THAT good but it’s still a task that I have accomplished. Thank the Lord I’ve had every opportunity to wash my own clothes because otherwise I would never know how to properly wash clothes by hand. I’ve had plenty of opportunities to get made fun of and plenty of time to watch how the girls actually do it properly. At this point when I have the time, I enjoy doing it.
On Friday afternoon I took some time to make sure I got down town Brikama for around 2pm because that is the time that the Muslims have their prayers. I’m not sure if it’s like this everywhere but in the Gambia when it’s the Muslim’s prayer day, the streets close at least one hour before prayers and almost all of the shops close from 2-230. I knew that this happened but I hadn’t yet witnessed it so Friday afternoon I took a little walk and I saw how all of the men gather in and infront of the mosques, each with their own mat. And they’re all jammed together, right next to one another. It’s crazy to see. Women are not allowed to enter the mosque so there are no women around when it’s close to 2pm. I felt really out of place and as much as I would’ve liked to take a picture just to be able to show everyone at home…I would never because I would get ran after. Haha…and it’s rude. When I got home all the sisters and I left for Shalom, which is in Fajara for a meeting that they had with the rest of the communities. I’m sure I’ve explain what Shalom is but this weekend I’ve had a new outlook on the place because I had more time to look around. Like I said, we left in the afternoon and since everyone was going I was excited that I got to ride in the back of the truck the entire way there. I got to see all of what they call “Coastal Road” (the road along the coast where all the hotels are – we deliver eggs on this road) in a new light. I got to look around and see things I’ve never noticed before. When we arrived at Shalom we got to pick where we wanted to stay since no one was using the retreat center this weekend. There are a few different buildings that a person can stay and I stayed in the one that had individual rooms with individual bathrooms. What I learnt from Sister Susan was that Sr. Cecile was the one who started the entire retreat center. That was back in the 70’s though and the gradual changes to the place are honestly so beautiful! When you get to Shalom you go through the gate and right in front of you is a view of the sky, you would be able to see the ocean except that the grounds are kinda on the edge of a cliff. To your left is the convent where the sisters stay as well as the formation house. The formation house keeps the young postulants. There is a new building that was put up and I’m sure that it’s for retreats as well as any guests that come. This building overlooks the ocean and has a beautiful veranda to walk out on to enjoy the scenery. There is a part of the convent (I think it’s part of it) where Pope John Paul II stayed when he came to the Gambia. This also overlooks the ocean and has a huge screened in veranda. In my honest opinion, if I stayed out there, I would move my bed out there and sleep during the night since it’s nice and cool and there are few mosquitoes since it’s screened in. There is also a fireplace in the room. Going back to when you come into Shalom, on your right hand side is the retreat center where there is a huge conference/meeting room, there is a huge dining hall and this building also has dormitories that have their own bathroom. This is where I stayed. Many of the other sisters stayed here too. Just next to that dormitory/building there is another dormitory but this one is for two people and there is one common bathroom. As you go a bit farther on the path from the retreat center to the dorm rooms to the next door room building you see the chapel. The chapel also over looks the ocean and the tabernacle is in the shape of a lighthouse. The light is very visible during the night and it’s said that men in ships actually are directed by the light. It’s really neat and I wish I could see what it looked like from their angle. The landscaping in the yard is phenomenal. I said this the entire weekend, “I wish my mom and dad were here to see this! My mom would absolutely love the plants!” One thing about the flowers here in the Gambia is that you never have trouble growing the same color. There are so many different colors of flowers! Sr. Sarian is the designer and the gardener does all the planting and gardening but trust me, I felt like I was in a beautiful hotel resort this weekend. It’s gorgeous. The funny thing is that I’ve been there so many times to deliver eggs but I’ve never seen it in this way. When we got all settled into our rooms the sisters started their meeting and I decided to take a look around. As I was looking around my mom called so I talked to her for a bit and then I decided to go down to the beach. Just at the edge of the hill or sort of cliff there is a big fence that separates the land from the sisters and someone else. The someone else is trying to build a hotel right in front of Shalom, but there has been a halt in construction because they’re trying to stop him from building there since it will cut off the view from Shalom. It really would be sad if they built a big hotel right in front. The sisters have such a nice view and many people come there for retreats so it’s nice and peaceful. So I went through the gate and I had to walk around their construction to get down to the real drop off. To the left of Shalom is a compound with apartment buildings and right in between Shalom and the apartments is a long brick driveway that leads straight down to the drop off. When I walked down and realized that there was no way I could get down to the water I looked and looked and the only way down was to go into the compound with the apartment building and use their stairs. I was just wishing that I could’ve gotten down to see the water and stand on the big rocks but I couldn’t see a good way to actually get there. Just then the guard/watchman who was on shift opened the gate just to check everything out (not because he heard me because I was really quiet) and I asked him if there was any way down from here. He said, “ no but if you want you can come through here.” I was so glad! So I got to see the apartment yard as well as go down to the beach. When I got down to the water, there were huge rocks that were piled up and since it was evening the tide was coming back so the water was coming closer and closer to the rocks. I took a little bit of a walk down the beach but to do that I had to climb through some of the rocks. It was really really beautiful. I only stayed for a bit since we were about to have some supper so I thanked the watchman for letting me in and climbed back up the hill through the construction to go for supper. I knew that I was going to be coming back to the apartments on the next day because Sr. Cecile said that the sisters know the owner and she would let me use their pool, which I was very happy about. Supper was great and the sisters are always good company. I sat next to Sr. Rozine and she always makes me laugh. She usually has a serious face on her even when she is joking around, so when I laugh at her she tells me to stop laughing. Even though I don’t know if she really is joking about me stopping laughing at her, I still laugh because she’s really funny. In many ways she reminds me of my college volleyball coach, Raftyn. Her personality and fight is what reminds me most of Raftyn. After supper was done, the young sisters were to do a presentation on the life of Blessed Mother Rivier and St Paul. I was invited to sit in and watch and oh boy did we laugh. It was really informative and good, although the young sisters dressed up and even Sr. Bernadette tried to shrink down to make herself look like tiny little Mother Rivier. Oh we had a few good laughs. After that Sr. Sue and I walked around the yard for a bit to catch some of the breeze and then everyone headed for bed. Sr. Sue and I often will take a little stroll at the house in Brikama and we usually link arms and just talk. I enjoy spending time with her chatting. We always end up laughing at each other.
I woke up in the morning for mass and went straight to the chapel. Bishop Cleary was saying mass for us and we had morning prayers as well. Then we had breakfast and the sisters started their meetings again for the day. I went to the apartments with two of the postulants to ask if I could use their pool but the lady was out for a few hours. The postulants were leaving back for their assigned visits and so they said for the maid to remember me and made sure I went back to check with her. So what I did, since it was still early and there was a nice cool breeze coming in through my windows, I pulled my mosquitoe net back over my bed and went back to bed for a few hours. When I woke up, I dressed and went back to the apartments to see if I could meet with the lady and the maid had already talked to her about it so I chatted with her for a bit and then she showed me the pool. It was gorgeous. The apartments were built for people who come and go. You pay per night and it is pretty expensive but the nice thing about it is that it’s like a hotel since you get a maid who cleans the apartment. Each room has a balcony that leads outside to where there is grass (!! Which you rarely see, so I was excited!) and then a tiled area where the pool is. When you are looking westward you see the pool and then the ocean right in front of you. When you walk a bit further, you go back onto some grass and then down a set of wooden steps that lead to the beach. This is how I got down to the beach the night before. What I did right away was sit down on a beach lounge chair on the side of the pool so I had a view of the pool and the ocean. I just sat there for a few moments enjoying that I was able to just hang out there for the day and then jumped into the pool. It was a really nice clean pool and what I liked about it was that it was deep so I could dive in. For the majority of the time I spent reading and just relaxing by the pool. I went down to the beach for a little bit but I didn’t stay long since it’s unsafe to stay around the beach area by yourself since there are not very many people except for the young men who lurk around waiting for tourists to harass. I was informed this by a nice gentleman, who I’ll actually call my “angel” for that day. I sat by the rocks for a bit and enjoyed the sand and then I went back up to sit by the pool. I’m such a beach bum…or maybe I should say water bum since I just love to sit by the water on a hot day. I think the temperature got to around 100 degrees but you don’t feel it by the ocean. I think people like to try to give me something to do for the day if they are busy but honestly, I’m most content just sitting in the sun reading and being alone. My sisters and I always do that at the beach when we go in the summer. I sat by the pool until around 230 since I knew that the sisters were having lunch and they told me to come back for it. So I went back and after lunch everyone else went for their siesta and I went back to the pool to spend the rest of the afternoon there. It was awesome. When I got back, there was a gentleman sitting by the pool, the only other person there except for the security guard. His name was Roger, as I later found out, and he’s a business man who is from Lyberia. We got into a good discussion about the culture clashes, and to be honest the entire conversation was a clash of views. I’m always amazed at Muslim culture and I will never be able to grasp the ideology that it contains. Life is just very different and the gender differences are extremely different. When most men who come from countries like that meet American women they are appalled at the lack of “respect” that we would give them. And it’s not that I wouldn’t give him the respect that he deserves but for men in a Muslim society, women are treated very different and there are many expectations for them. As for American’s, I’m going to do my own thing and realize that we both come from differing cultures. I’m not someone who likes to back down when I know that no one except me can change my view about something (my family knows this very well) but there were many times we laughed because he knew I was stating my point of view and that he couldn’t change it. Anyway, it was a good conversation and everytime I talk to someone like that, I gain more knowledge about the culture differences in the world. What a small but HUGE world we live in.
I ended up going back to Shalom at around 6pm after having a good chat with the three security guards who were at the entrance of the apartment buildings. This was by far one of my favorite conversations’ here in the Gambia so far since even though one liked to joke around and ask me for money (since I’m a white) I’ve learnt a few tricks to defend myself. I think that many white people just automatically give people like that money and…I always make them work for it, since he has a good paying job. While he tried to get money from me, the other two laughed and laughed. Not at me…at him since they both knew I was holding my own and that he wasn’t getting anywhere. When he said, “why are you laughing?” They said, “Haha…because this lady isn’t a white, she’s a Gambian. She knows what she’s talking about.” HAHA…I just laughed when I heard him say that. The best part about it, was that even though we were all laughing he knew that I respected him but I also knew that he respected me and that we would both walk away from the conversation friends. Those are the types of converstations when people say, “you will never know what a culture is like until you sit with the people that live in that culture everyday” that I realize how alike we all are. The Lord has allowed me to see the beauty of this culture in the people of the Gambia. I’m more than grateful for this experience. My life will never be the same having gone through this. Thank you again for giving me this opportunity.
So I got back to Shalom and the sisters were still busy so I went and cleaned up a bit and relaxed in my room until supper. After supper everyone packed up and left for home. Sr. Josephine had left earlier in the day since her sister was getting engaged and they had the engagement ceremony at their home in Brikama. When we all packed in the truck and left for home Sr. Odile, Sr. Bernadette, and Sr. Catherine decided that when we got home we would go to the ceremony. When we pulled up to the house you could hear the music from a mile away. There were tons of people and we walked into the compound and found many people all over. Many were dancing to the music and there were several elderly people there. We went to find Sr. Josephine and she was in the house with her family. We greeted everyone (I’ve met her mother and father before) and then just sat down enjoying the music and talking. When some of the music was good Sr. Catherine (who loves to dance) and Sr. Bernadette (who seems to love to dance also) started dancing and of course, I did too. Although I was the student learning from the masters. I can dance but there are certain moves for the different types of tribes. So it seems. It’s really not difficult but it’s neat to witness. It was awesome. I went outside to watch some of the others dancing and what I like about Africa, it doesn’t matter whether you are an old ma or pa or a young kid, everyone dances! It’s great. And I don’t mean just dances, I mean really gets into it. Back home an elderly person would dance some of the old time dance stuff, like polkas or waltzs but here, they’ll dance to anything! It’s great to see. Dancing, music and loud noise it a huge part of this culture and I feel like when I go home I’m going to think everything is toned down and quiet. I really love the culture here. We met with Sr. Jos’s sister and greeted everyone again and then we went home. As we were walking out of the compound we saw some of the girls from the hostel. I haven’t seen them all for about a week so we were excited to see each other. When we past the church on our way home we decided to stop and see how the preparations for the Parish feast were going. Some of the men and women from the church were in Father’s back yard making all the food for the next day’s event. Everything was going smoothly and everyone was working really hard. I’m not sure what time they went to bed but we were on our way home going straight for out beds. Everyone was tired.
In the morning everyone got to sleep in since there was no schedule for outstations since preparations for the feast were going on. So we slept in a got ready for mass. Since the church is named, “The Resurrection Parish” they always celebrate their parish feast on the Sunday after Easter. It’s a huge event and it’s a big fundraiser too. Father Tony was the Celebrant for mass and he did a great job. Father Gabisis and Father Bruno were also celebrating. The church was packed and the music was exceptional. I was thinking the entire time, how much our parish at home would love to see this so because there was a gentleman taping the entire mass I asked him afterwards if I could get a copy to bring home. I’m so glad…so everyone will get to see what mass here in the Gambia is like! I’m excited to show all of you! Mass was beautiful.
After mass, lunch was served to all the priest and sisters and everyone stayed to enjoy the day. Everything was held in the church parking lot and we were all glad that the huge trees shaded us from the hot sun. All the sisters from the other communites came to spend the day as well as most priests from the diocese and a lot of Church members. I met many people as well as enjoyed a lot of good food, music and company. I always love watching the young kids play the drums, sing and dance and at one point there was a group in the back of the church playing. It was really awesome to witness. You can’t help by start dancing along with them. That day was beautiful and I know I’ve only been here for less than 4 months but the people in this parish as well as the community make me feel like I’ve been a member of the community for years. I appreciate it so much. I will never forget the hospitality of this community.
Monday began the third term of school at AMR and I have to admit that because the break was so busy I was more tired going into the week than I thought I would be after 10 days of break. We had a new addition to the AMR family, Nina the new cook. She and Saba are working together now to plan and make meals and she is so nice. Right away when I met her there was something that just attracted me to her and I didn’t know why I really liked her. I then realized how much she reminds me of my oldest sister, Eryn. Honestly, Eryn…if you’re reading this, you have a black twin. If I’ve ever seen someone who looks like you, talks like you, is a “motherly” person like you…it’s Nina. I just love that she reminds me of Eryn since it’s kind of like having a piece of home around here. Nina is awesome and I love that she’s so nice…and an amazing cook! She and Saba do a good job.
The week went good and Sr. Odile informed us that we should be handing in our teaching plans to her this week. I was exempt from it before since I was new but I assume she thinks its good for me to experience what a real teacher has to do. Its good for me to plan because it helps the kids be focused and I know what I’m doing week to week. So we’re back at it and I hope to see some good progress this term. The exams weren’t very good for my students since when you can’t read…how can you do a test? Haha…oh boy, I can see why Bill Cosby used to laugh hysterically on the show, “Kids say the darndest things”. I had some of the most creative answers on their tests. Oh well…I will never forget these kids and I sure hope they can remember me. I spend almost every day with them and some days I get upset with them but most days I have to turn my face to the blackboard and almost die laughing at something that one of them will say. I wish all of you could meet them, I feel like you already do and then I have to remember that only words could never ever explain the personalities or how each of these kids has touched my life.
I’ll leave you with a familiar but applicable quote, “Life is like a box of chocolates…you never know what you’re going to get.” Never in my life would I have thought I would be teaching in Africa having 12 students who are so incredibly different from me as well as one another. But, it’s always good to look at life with the “glass half full” mentality.
I hope all is well with everyone!
In Jesus and Mary,
Jen
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