Sept. & Oct. 2009

Work has been going slow but it shall pick up has school gets started for the year. I am still working at a ton of different places. Which all keep me fairly business in some way and plenty of people coming by to seek my help.

I have been writing a few grants. Nothing big just a few very small and simple ones. to get some new equipment for the schools I work at. I hope to have all the paperwork finished and edited to be turned in by next month. I need to have everything ready just in case they question our wants, needs, and willing to do.

I personally have been doing fine. Is was a bit different to see the difference in life styles when I got back. And to answer so many questions and pass out some new items I collected while home. I have been getting sick and tried a lot. Mostly due to the climate and time schedule change. But I should be all back together by Nov.
Well till later..

My Aug. 2009

OK so on Aug 2. I set my bags up and prepared for the long ride all the way to Senegal. I was going in to Senegal to take my flight on to OHIO. Man was I excited behind belief. I spent 2 days with my host sister and brother walking around Senegal. The day of my flight I had to get to the airport early. But traffic on the street was so backed. Lucky we left at least 3 hours in advance. So once at the airport I went in to check that the flight info was all the same and then went back outside to be with the family for a while.

The walk through all the bag checks, ID checks, Ticket checks were so long and took up so much time. Finally I was able to sit and wait for the boarding. Once on the aboard I was sited next to some old lady you pissed me off. With all my environmental allergies set off by the nasty air condition I started having a runny nose. She started questioning and threaten to move cause she didn't want to catch the flu. After I explain to her if I really had the flu she would catch it sit next to me or not with the recycled air she claimed down and went to sleep.

A long lay in DC of almost 7 hours just to get one a 1 hour flight to Cleveland. I was so out of my mind with nothing to do. When did all the airports start charging for Internet. Its not like we plan on living in the airports and we have already paid for the ticket. I guess nothing is free anymore..

So back to the state. 1st thing to do was getting food. McDonald's yes, I had everything on the dollar menu. And since when did they decide to change the name of things and add a coffee shop. I swear I just stared at the menu lost and holding up the traffic but I didn't care.
So I tried my best to spend time with everyone but that didn't happen to much. The days are way to short and of course people still had to work all but me. lol. So I was able to get out and hit the streets twice and boy was it a blast. Note to self drink in small amounts if after a long period of time without, my mistake. But in all I had a great time. Just being able to get dressed and go out with my girls was a blasted. I even loved just the scene of the night life cause its so very different here in Gambia.

Weekend random trip to Chicago was great. We didn't have any real hard plans (bad ideal). But we were able to run around the whole city running into things and finding places to go. The downtown there has so much more then Cleveland could ever dream of. We need more shopping, sites, and people willing to even be downtown to rebuild it. But this was a cheap trip. Rented a car got hotel room from a friend and ate streets style. was not bad at all.

Finally my family gave a small party to celebrate my coming home and great accomplishments thus far. And surprised my friend Tierra with a small birthday acknowledgement in there. Happy Birthday Tierra hope you enjoyed it. It was great to once again get all my family and friends in one place and see everyone having fun.

Last be not least I had to make my way back to the Gambia. The trip and layovers this time was not as long which was great. I even got a whole row of seats to myself all the way from DC to Senegal. I was so happy to straight out for the 8-9 hour trip. I ate very well on the plan and had some wine for the last time for free.

Now once in Senegal I had the plan to head straight out for Gambia. Since I got into Senegal at like 6am. I would be home in my own bed by night fall. But Senegal had other plans for me. I was stuck in what had to be the worst traffic in life. I was stuck on a highway barley moving for 10 hours. Cause me to have to sleep in the car and wait at the broader cause it was closed. Lucky I was not alone on this trip. I think I would have lost all my mind and been very upset. But i made it home by noon the next day. That trip took me near 20 hours for something that is normally 7 hours.
But am home now. Or at least in The Gambia

1 year over 1 year to go

Hello all my readers. Am so sorry it has been a long time since I have last wrote anything here. So here is the update in short. I will have longer version under this one if you care to read.

This is my First year mark of being in the Peace Corps The Gambia. I have made it through all the hard challenges and changes. The Peace Corps has had both its ups and downs for me within the last year, more up then downs. But it’s just like any other job/organization in the world. You have people who work very hard and listen, those who work but don’t listen and then those who do nothing but complain and nothing to change it. I have tried to my best ability to be a person who works hard and listens when playing my part, I also know my limits and I do know how to say NO now. But overall I would never wish to go back in time and change my thoughts about joining the Peace Corps. It has been every bit of the new adventure and experience it say it will/would be.

Personally, I have made big changes in my life since being here. I have had the chance to open myself up more. I have the time to get to know myself and grow. Reading more books (not only fiction) which have enlightened me to new things, I didn’t know already and they allow me to escape in my mind. I have learned to take what it is you have not for granted. They are many things that I left at home or that I cannot afford to have here that I thought “I just had to have”. But now I know that you can live with bare minimum and be just as happy or even more. That life should not revolve around your work/job/career there are many more things out there in life that can give you pleasure. As I have come to find out there is nothing more rewarding them the company of another person in which you can share ideas, thought and cultural.

Part 1 My Family and Friends State side

This is about me missing my family and friends in the states. I have kept in touch with more people then I thought I would have. You would never believe how much a letter, picture, card or email means when you are very far away from your norm. To have a blog is a good ideal but I think that it can be done from both sides me and those in the states. It allows them to have information about me and my doings just as much as it would allow me to check on the same for them. Or to at least have a webpage that you could keep up with small updates and pictures.

Well since my family and I are both missing each other I think I will be coming/going home very soon. I was making plans to come home in December but people are telling me to come for the summer break and not winter. So I will be checking into airplane tickets to check the cost I hope it’s not too much. I don’t have cash like that even though I have been saving I still have to think about the cost of me being home and going out. And I hope to get to see as many people as possible and go out every day of the weekend and maybe even some week nights. But first is a must needed shopping trip.

The Best Quote: From my brother “What you don’t come home till next year. Oh no you have to come home now. I miss me litter sis.”

Part 2 The Gambia

The Gambia has been a wonderful place to be. I have enjoyed my time with the people, cultural, customs, and life style. When coming to this country I came with a very open mind and low expectations. I believe that me coming here without knowing much about the country and have low expectations has opened me up to the Gambia. If I would have come with an ideal in mind of how life was to be I think I would have been disappointed but because I didn’t I have not had any real disappointing points since being here. I have not had the chance to see the entire (most) of the country but my travels will come.

Lately the weather has been my problem with all the heat. It has been regularly 37 or 39 Celsius (roughly about 100 plus degrees) like every day. The night time does get better but its not all to cold. The season is about to change again and now its time for the rains to come. I don’t think I will like it any much more then I like this hot season. Why because now it will be very hard to stay clean and dry. The one thing that all the change has brought about is fruit. I have been eating so many mangoes, guava, cashews (both the nut and the fruit), jack fruit, and other random local fruits. I will have to put up pictures for you to see what some of these things look like. Some are things I have never seen or even heard of.

Part 3 My Host Family

The host family that I am living with has been great to me. As I said before they enjoyed the visit from my mom. The have decided that she was such a nice and loving person to honor her. That will be done in the way of giving the new baby her name (a little African namesake). That is if the baby is a girl. Two of the older brothers recently got married to their first wife (not sure yet how many they will stop at). The one older sister (younger then me by 1 or 2 years) was married in the fall and has since left the house to live with her husband and his family. As the family continues to grow and spread out am trying my best to keep up with all the names and ceremonies that are taking place.

This is the season for programs to take place. I have been very busy with all types of works that I have cost me to miss a few programs but I plan to try my best to show up. There have been many naming ceremonies and weddings. A few congratulation parties for getting promoted at work or within the village and a few sad and unexpected funerals have taken place with in or around my village.

The one things about programs taking place is it allows you the chance to get dressed up. I have now the small but very nice collection of cultural/local outfit. And with more programs to take place my wardrobe will only get bigger. The fabric here is beautiful and relatively cheap (remember am getting paid just as much as the or a little more then my counter parts). And to get the fabric tailored is just as inexpensive for me since I have yet to get and all out fabulous outfit made.

Part 4 Working in Africa

Working here in Africa – The Gambia. The working conditions have been a little challenging at times. I have been trying to figure out where it is the problems lies with not getting things done or lack or resources. I have found that the problem mainly lies within the people or the structure of the organization.

Many people are not taught in such a way to think outside the box or looking at the bigger picture. The always seem to just look at what it is that want and need now verse looking in the future. It makes it very hard when putting plans together because they don’t remember that there is a small need of space for maintenance and updates. I have found a ways of fixing it within meeting by having them create or fill in a general meet outline and then telling them to stick to the topic at hand. So much time is wasted on arguing or complaining on topics which are not the ones of the meeting.

The lack of resources is not as true as I thought. There are so many different program, grants, founding, sponsorships, etc that are given or found within this country. I have become a hug fan of writing or starting grant proposals. The problem is people do not know how to write these proposals, lack the correct/needed information to fill them out completely, or don’t care to try and communicate. Along with all this the many different people and organizations have/are given so much to the people of the Gambia its unbelievable. The problem with all the giving to this country is that it does not teach the people how to take care of themselves. Many people have this mentality to think they are owned something or should be giving things within them doing nothing for it. There is a large need for the Gambians to become more active in the projects and to maybe contribute to the project within they are going to rep the benefits of. This way it will make them feel more part of it and the maintenance of it.

Part 5 My Education Ideas

I have started to look into furthering my education. I want to continue to get my Master degree in Communication department (Cultural, Cross Cultural Comm.). I have not settled on a school but I have been looking into a few different Colleges/Universities. With me being in the Peace Corps there are many different schools that offer different types of programs and scholarship options, which is very much needed in my eyes. The ideal program for me would be one that will allow me to do my study while contining to travel see how that’s a big part of what I want to do in the end. If you have any suggestions or input information please do let me know. I still have to take the GRE so am not in any rush to find one school now. I want and need to weight my options very carefully since this will send me in my career direction.

Part 6 Traveling in Africa and Beyond

Traveling around the world is my life biggest joy and goal. I have been to more place in my short life time then many people twice my age. But as of now I am not done with completing this goal. I have only been on 6 of the 7 continents and I have one more to go. Along with reaching each continent I have a few places on my list of historical places to see in person I have to complete.

Within my first year of being here in the Gambia I have traveled to Senegal. Senegal is Gambia’s surrounding country (literary Senegal is on all sides of the Gambia beside the ocean). I went to the country myself which was not a very good ideal since I did not speak neither French nor Woloff their spoken languages. But with the help of others and my luck cell phone I was able to get around and enjoy myself.

Part 7 Making connections

I have had the chance to mingle with the likes of all kinds of people.

The first connections I have made are those within the Peace Corps office it’s self. There are many people working in the office who have a wide range of experiences. In the office we have a wide range of people from different states, people who have traveled or lived outside of the US, degrees from just about every department, and shared like ideas about the future or life in general.

Second work in the education sector I am exposed to many different locals and foreigners. Many of the people work directly within or linked to the education system in the Gambia. Even though not all expects of education have high interest to me (personally) they are all wonderful people to meet. Not only do you get to find out the things that interest them about education and their job. But you also get to know some of the personal and work reality experiences. Their experiences in more ways then one can be applied to my job now and future jobs to come.

Third but the one that is most valuable is the connections that have been created with the local people. These are the people who are affected directly and directly by my existence in the community. The level of connection can be from a counter partner in the field all the way to the vendors within the market. You can either get good help at work and understanding as to way the job is hard. Or get luck by your favorite vendor saving good veggies for you or making the price a little lower.

Thus the power of connections has now become very important in my life. The only hard part about it right now is remembering everybody’s Name. Here it is very important to remember peoples name if not the first name the surname is the best. As they use name calling as a form or greeting one another.

Sorry for the late post. Its March and I have now been in The Gambia for 8 long months. My classes are starting to pick up and work is getting more fun. I have been requested to help out a few other government schools and local groups. So now I am starting to feel more like part of the community.
Life is going well nothing new or bad. Oh my laptop almost died on me. It was very sad. All I could was hope it wasn't a virus or that I would be able to correct what was wrong. And after long time of not: being able to use my Zune correctly, play any of my 20+ gigs of music, not watch a DVD, or play any of my video games. I have fixed the problem and saved the day. Now life is going very well. I can even get more work done now cause I can use my laptop at home.
This is the month I have been waiting for. Why you ask. Because my mom is coming to visit me. She will becoming into Senegal, the next country. So we will spend a couple of days there. Then come to my home, where my family is planning a naming ceremony for her. I have no clue as to what name they are picking. After we stay at my house for a while seeing my area and doing nothing. We will head for the city, where once again we will go around site seeing. After all is said and done. My mom will be leaving me. but its ok I will have new pics of her and am happy about that.
So till next time...

Jan. & Feb.

Good month people.
So Jan. has come and gone. The new president has taken office and all of Africa is excited. The month has gone by without any big things happening. I have been teaching classes at the middle school and will start at the local nursing school. I have been traveling around the country going to different schools and fixing up their computers. Most of the time many of the computers just have virus on them from the many jump drive them put in to them. So its a simple clean up.

Now its Black History month and its nothing new or big in Africa. I have been trying to read a history book (text book). Titled: From freedom to slavery. It has been very eye opening to me. And I have learned a few things more then I did before hand. So I could say that am not as ignorant to my own history as I was before.