Alright people I know I haven't written a darn thing since I've been back home. Yup, that's right, in case you missed it. I am in fact back home now. I'd ment to write about Sierra Leone and all my packing and travelling eadaches but I have to be honest here I'm kinda lazy when it comes to stuff like that. Especially since I've been home there are a million comfortable distractions to get in the way... but here it is then, I mean I've got to finish up this site. I'm done with my Gambian Adventure, and I should wrap things up as much as I can.So I know its late and all but the following is a somewhat abridged version of Lien and my trip to Sierra Leone. I just say abrigded because I wrote a journal while we were there and was going to transcribe it, but... ahhh you know, it was really pretty long... anyhow, heres what you get.
My trip was very good. Sierra Leone is really beautiful. In some ways it’s like Gambia, but there’s pretty important subtle differences that make it so much different and better. Not to diss Gambia mind you… *chough*… yeah. Anyhow, My traveling companion Lien and I were only there for a week so unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to see everything we wanted to, but I think we got a pretty good flavour for what the country is all about. Before I get down to specifics though there were a few more general impressions I got from the country. It’s really green there; far more than Gambia, but that might just be because the people were too busy killing each other over these last 10 years to bother cutting down their trees unlike Gambians. The people were super friendly, and not even remotely interested in the fact that we were tourists. The impression I got was in fact that there really were no tourists there. The only people I think I actually saw other than West Africans were UN personnel, and I suppose the occasional corporate investor taking advantage of the post war situation in a way that only pure capitalists can. There was a hell of a lot of UN peacekeepers there, literally everywhere. All the checkpoints are still manned, and there were, particularly in Freetown UN vehicles all over the place. But the UN guys seemed at ease, most went unarmed and I think a lot of their work, the guarding and what not are just formalities nowadays. This country is well into the process of rebuilding since the war, which apparently really actually only stopped like 2 years ago. They are doing well though, I was impressed that they actually have a lot of the country’s infrastructure rebuilt. There are roads, and power (for the most part), water, and a growing reindustrialized society. People are picking up the pieces of their lives, and putting their country back together far faster than I would have expected. At this point, only two years after a pretty decimating war they are already ahead of Gambia, and they didn’t seem to be stopping. What I liked the most maybe though was the fact that we didn’t get harassed or hassled at all. I know that may sound petty or just silly, but you’ve got to understand what it’s like living in Gambia. To be accosted by ‘bumsters’ everyday, to get hassled all the time, people always trying to rip you off because you’re white, and even kids, who don’t know any better and you can’t blame them for it, shouting ‘toubab, toubab’ at you every single time you walk anywhere… it gets to you. I mean it really gets to you. To have a break from that, no matter how small, was like a little piece of heaven, soundproofed…
Travelling with Lien is a nice and refreshing change from my big trip a few months ago with ‘the boys’. Even though travelling with Tim and Joe was great and it all worked out nicely, I do think its good to mix things up a bit. Lien’s a very cool woman too. She’s smart in a very classic sense of the word, as well as pretty street savvy, well traveled, and extremely well spoken. To top that, she’s an accomplished linguist and academic, who’s still totally cool with kicking back for a beer. Anyhow, not to go overboard here, I’m sure Lien has bad points too; but I like her. She’s just good people.
So Lien and I spent 3 nights in Freetown, before heading upcountry. It's a very cool city, and right off the bat we both really liked the vibe of the place. There was a bustling feel that you definitely don’t get here in Gambia, and the streets were alive with people. There was good food all over the place, especially the chicken, which although mostly fried was spiced excellently, even from the street-side vendors. There were ice cream parlors all over the place, which was great for Lien, because, even though I didn’t know it at the time, she is a huge ice cream addict. Even just wandering was around was constantly entertaining. We stayed at the YMCA there, which turned out ok for the most part; I mean we at least got to stay for free. And the people there were very nice to us, but I think they had the impression that we were on some sort of emissary mission from The Gambia Y to scout out how they’re doing. So while they tried at least to cater to our various whims, we still had to play politics at times, which got a bit annoying as we really were there just for a vacation. Ah well… I suppose that was a small price to pay, I mean they really did help us out quite a bit overall.
In Freetown we ate well, saw some of the sights, which granted weren’t very numerous, and hung out at the beach. That was particularly nice though, because no matter how much people tout Gambian beaches, they really aren’t world class; and these beaches really were. We went out one night clubbing, which was fun, but I got a little depressed at the state of the world, after spending an hour or so trying to get rid of a prostitute. But I guess most of the time in Freetown we really just chilled out. Lien slept a lot, she really likes to sleep :) And I mostly read. In a way it was too hot to do too much anyhow. The heat there is intense and depressing. And its just sooo damn humid. I mean I’m used to it being hot here in Gambia but this was one of those places where you would walk anywhere for half a block and you’d be just dripping with sweat.
Traveling anywhere was a complete bitch. It seemed like every time we wanted to go places we had to get up at 5 am. I’m sure that can’t be right, but somehow it seemed to be the only way. And honestly I’d have to say if there is one thing they just weren’t very good at dealing with in Sierra Leone it was traveling like a normal person. People would fight and push for seats on the buses, and it was always too crowded. Even the taxis, I mean regular car taxis would cram 5 people in on every trip. So whatever, we did it, even though neither Lien nor I were happy about the situation. We got up early and took a bus out to Bo. Bo is like the second biggest town in SL, and once again a very cool place. Bo is smallish but gave a really good vibe, people were friendly, and we got to stay in a nice hotel with A/C and a balcony. We only spent one night in Bo, but it was incredibly relaxing. We slept and read and chilled and generally speaking did nothing of any use. It was exactly what we needed.
From Bo we headed out to Kenema for two nights, while there we stayed at a dive of a hotel but did get ourselves hooked up with the local YMCA people once again. They were also once again extremely nice and showed us around a bit, even though Kenema is a smallish town and we wouldn’t have had much trouble on our own, it was still a nice gesture. Kenema was cool for a number of reasons, not the least of which being that instead of taxis people just hop onto the back of a motorbike and ride off. It's also really quite remote. The jungle around there is pretty cool, and the rebels pretty much took over the village during the war. For some reason most of the locals I talked to didn’t leave Kenema during the war, which sounds odd to me because many Sierra Leonians did leave not just their villages but the country as a whole. But I suppose it might have something to do with these villagers not having as much money as someone from Freetown thereby denying even the possibility of escape. I really never figured that out though.
Lien was kind of feeling sick for some of our time in Kenema which was too bad seeing as we only had a week time total, but she was a trooper and pulled it together enough for a trip on motorbikes out to the woods for a while. It’s really beautiful out there in the wilderness, I love the fact that Sierra Leone has hills. I mean real honest to goodness hills. I think maybe my mind has been a bit warped living in Gambia. It's like Kansas there; flat and boring.
Finally we headed back to Freetown on one of those dreaded wake up at 5am buses. And we chilled out back at the Y, doing nothing and being quite thankful for it. I think everything turned out pretty well. We’d been hoping to go see more, especially in Kenema, like going out to a diamond mine, but the country just isn’t set up for tourists yet. They’re still rebuilding the country. And while they’re doing a pretty good job of it in my opinion, there are a few things that they’re just not ready for yet. That’s fine though, I mean we got to go to a really raw place, somewhere that travel agents and government still aren’t advising visiting. And it was a totally unique experience. I’m glad we did it, for what it was, we got to see something real and that’s always good.
----------Well, that's it folks. Sierra Leone was a trip alright. But once I got back things were just totally crazy. It was like once I returned to Gambia I suddenly realized that I only had like 5 day before I had to leave. It seemed crazy to me. Not enough time. Besides the fact that laving really hadn't hit me yet. I raced around trying to get things done as fast as possible, and somehow I actually made it. I was pretty stressed though for a number of days. But then I did finally in the end get a chance to spend some time with friends... ;) Which was well needed.
Now I'm back, and this place is a bit of a head trip too. I'm not one of those freaks who goes through crazy creverse culture shock. I mean I grew up in the western world, I'd be really pretty disgusted with myself if I actually forgot what a supermarket looked like. But then again I wasn't living in a village, I wasn't living in a hut somewhere totally remote. I went clubbing on the weekends. So maybe Gambia wasn't overly isolated or anything... but I never claimed it was really. Anyhow, here I am, living large in San Fransisco. Ok, ok. Its not San fransisco, it's San Mateo. Outside, south of San Fran... its almost over by Oakland actually. I'm staying here with my parents now and trying to get my game together. Being back is nice but everyone expects you to work sooo much. I was very content getting only one significant thing accomplished a day. Now it feels like I need to get 15 things done. Is that really right?! I mean is our society better off for our stressing about every little thing. I sure don't think so. I've gotta say I wandered around for the first few days here feeling like there was some small yet vital piece of American culture that I just didn't get anymore. I still feel it sort of, just like I'm a little lost. Or like I just don't get it... not that I'm even sure what 'it' is but I just don't. I am here though and I think that's good. Yes I was sorry to leave gambia in ways, but this is a good move for me. My time was really done there a while ago, now I'm finally here starting something new. Life can be pretty exciting if you let it.
Ok, this last, and long Log entry will be my final forray into online journaling for a while. I'm closing down this site for good now. My trip to Gambia is finished, its been a totally crazy, wild ride but its really over now. And I think this site has really served its purpose. I thank you all for reading my blog or looking at my pjotos when you did. I'll probably start something new up again once I get to Ireland... hehehe. Hopefully that'll be somewhere around October to December of '04. Until that time I'll say 'Jerrajef y' and 'Be bennah yaun.' Adios.
Contact me be clicking HERE.
I'll still be running my 'other' webite on a possibly more limited basis. If you'd like the address send me an e-mail and I'll let you know. Later all.
Well people, another big trip is afoot. No, I'm not talking about my homeward journey upon which I embark in two weeks. What I'm talking about is my trip leaving tomorrow to the fabled nation of Sierra Leone. Yup, that's right, tomorrow morning Lien and I take off for a week long jaunt to the jewel of West Africa. I honestly don't know very much about SL. Only the tidbits I've read in the Lonely Planet, however most of that information is quite out of date. Sierra Leone as I'd hope you all know has just come out of around 10 years of bloody civil war. There are stories of monstrous atrocities committed by all involved in this conflict and its only now, after two years of semi stable peace that people are slowly returning to the country. I won't speak on the conflict because I'm definitely not well informed enough to have an legitimate opinion, but I have met some Sierra Leonians here in the Gambia, people who escaped the fighting, with money and luck. I hear that foreign investment and tourists are slowly coming back to SL, which was at one time a budding tourist destination. But there is still a long way to go. Peace keepers and reconstruction teams are working hard to put this country back on its feet, and I am very excited to see some of this action first hand.
I'm speaking from hearsay here so don't just take my word for anything here. I'm fascinated by the very idea of this place though, even though I hadn't planned on travelling somewhere like this but Lien managed quite aptly to convince me. SL seems raw still, it's real. There are virtually no tourists there, it’s a country putting itself together and if there really is anything The Gambia leaves you wanting it's true visceral experiences. So tomorrow Lien and I get on a plane to spend one week in Sierra Leone. We're planning on spending three nights in Freetown, a night in Bo, and then two more nights in Kenema. A bit of the country and a bit of the city. I know it isn't a lot but hopefully, just maybe we can get a taste for what the country is really like. Wish me luck people. For now, I'm out.
Well, a lot of things, and nothing seem to have happened over the last week or two. I got pretty depressed for a while, but I’m getting over it now. The thing was I really wasn’t happy with things here, I wanted to get out and I could just feel these last few weeks I’ve got left in Gambia crawling along at a snails pace. There were a lot of things that seemed to be piling on top of me at once though. Obviously I’ve been pretty dissapointed about my work situation here. Nothing is or will come together while I’m here, and I think I had a legitimate claim to being upset about that. Also I’ve been kind of lonely here. I mean its always kind of lonely here, but I was feeling more lonely than usual. I’ve only got a couple of real friends here and while I’m really happy that I do have people, sometimes, I don’t know… it just doesn’t feel like enough. Tim thinks that people need to be alone more, that it’s a good thing to learn what you want on your own, what really makes you happy. And I agree, I know he’s right; but Tim and I are like different ends of the spectrum. Tim often doesn’t need anyone around him. He really seems very happy doing the loner thing, maybe too much. Me on the other hand I want people around me a lot, I get upset when I don’t have people in my life. Not that I need so many friends , but some. I take it too far sometimes though. Why do I need people around me? Am I just scared to be alone? I don’t think that’s so healthy. What I need is some happy medium of the two ways. Finally, I can now actually see the end of my time here coming. I’ve seen a lot of people come and go here and many of them, like me, kind of crack up just before they leave. Gambia is an easy place to live physically, but emotionally it can be tough to deal with. Once you see that exit, that escape after so long, I think I, like a lot of others, just want out. But there’s still time, and that’s whats hardest to deal with.
So I was moping around for a while. I guess its not such a bad thing. I mean everyone’s got to be depressed sometimes. But I wasn’t enjoying myself, and to be honest, I was wasting my time. A few days ago I decided to turn over a new leaf, and get a better attitude towards the whole thing. I’m leaving Gambia, that’s good, but in some ways that’s sad too. I may never come back to this part of Africa, I’ll probably never come back to Gambia at least. And through the good and the bad I’ve learned a lot, I’ve grown a lot. This place is important. And I think, I hope that in the end when I look back at my time here I’ll be happy with the things I’ve done and seen. I want to remember the good times, and the bad too I suppose, but I want to remember and cherish it. This is a pretty amazing place in a lot of ways, and this is a pretty special time in my life. I don’t honestly know how many more opportunities I’m going to have to travel and live like this… like I said Gambia is pretty important.
So I’m not doing that anymore, I’ve decided that the best thing for me to do is to enjoy my remaining time here. Try to soak up as much of the goodness, the things that make me happy as I can. I’m going to try to travel a bit more if possible, hopefully with Lien somewhere cool. But more on that once I get things sorted out better. I’m also going down to Cascamasce again at the end of the month. I’d like to try and relax, but also to see some of the stuff I’ve missed along the way. I’ve been here a year and a half, and I’ve seen most of what there is to see in this country, but there are still a few spots I’d like to visit before I go. Cartong and Gunjur down the coast, Jinak Island off the North bank, I’d like to go to the nearby reptile house. Small things really, but they mean something too. I went and saw Vivianne (a Senegalese musician) in concert last week, and while she’s not my favourite artist it was still an experience I’d never had before, and that’s cool, that what I want. Something new but still here. I’m not going to waste my time anymore, I don’t need to go through the motions during the week, go out to Senegambia on the weekend, and do the same old boring stuff. There’s no reason for it, but it’s a pattern, and its so easy to fall into a lethragy here. So that’s not what I’m going to be doing from now on, I’m going to be enjoying myself. My time here is what I can make of it, why shouldn’t I sieze it and make it worthwhile…
Lien’s gone off to Dakar for the week with her friend Amanda so Sheriff (another Y volunteer and a good friend) and I are taking her classes. I’m actually glad to get one more chance to teach here, its been a long time since I had a class and it’s a good feeling in a way. I’m probably not going to ever teach again, at least not in a structured way like this and I think this has been a good experience. I’ve also started getting ready to go. I’ve got waaaay too much stuff here so its going to be tough. I’m gonna ship a bag full of stuff home first and that’s been almost as tough to organize as I imagine going itself will be. My folks have gotten my ticket organized for me (thank god), and I’ve been starting to look at jobs online back in San Fran. Although as of yet I haven’t seen too much I’m actually qualified for. But there’s still time yet. Other than that I’m just chilling out and doing things that make me happy. I’m reading a lot of comic books, and trying to get to the beach, listening to good music. Its nice. I know my life here is like a vacation in lots of ways, and once I get back to The World I’ll probably really miss this time. Time is the most precious comodity back in the western world and although we have such a self-rightous attitude about our high standard of living and consumerism, we’re so stressed about when things will happen. Gambia and Gambians are like that though, and I don’t need that kind of stress in my life either, I don’t need to work, work work, to meet the deadline. That one of the things that’s really special about this place. Gambia has taught me a few things here and there. And I’m gonna enjoy it now. I don’t intend to stop having a good time until I go. So for now, I’m off. Later all.
Hey if you're wondering where I've been for the last month or so check out my page dedicated to my trip to Mali by clicking HERE. Now onto the current log update...
Things here haven’t been as good as I’d hoped they would be when I came back from my trip. I mean it hasn’t been terrible or overly unpleasant in any new way. But everything here is the same as when I left. I know that nothing really happens here, or if it does it happens very slowly. And I know I shouldn’t expect things to be different here. In fact I don’t honestly think I was expecting Gambia to be different or better when I returned from Mali, I guess I was just hoping. But of course, it isn’t any different. Gambia is exactly the same only now that I’ve gotten some perspective on the situation its just more depressing. My work isn’t coming together the way I’d hoped. The Digital Studio isn’t going to get done in time for me to do much of anything. I won’t be able to shoot my film, I won’t be able to do a documentary for CPA, I won’t get a chance to use the equipment at all. What I might, might get a chance to do is install the equipment into the lab. Which was never something I was particularly looking forward to anyhow seeing as that’s not at all my specialty. But that’s it. I leave here on March 10th. And I can’t bring myself to stick around here anymore. I’ve spent the last 4 months doing practically nothing. Ok, I know I have done a few things around here, but I haven’t done anything big. I haven’t done anything exciting.
I know I’m being negative here. Its true that I have done a few things that are good. I’m really trying to look at the bright side of the situation here, but its hard. The reason I decided to stay here in Gambia longer than September was threefold. I wanted to help get the YMCA Digital Studio up and running. This was more or less just for my resume. And screw it if I don’t put it on anyhow. Second, I wanted to shoot my horror film. This is not going to happen as I might at the most have the equipment in my hands for 2 weeks. And third I wanted to go to Mali, which worked out great. But still only accomplishing 1 of my three goals is depressing. I know there’s nothing I could’ve done to make these things happen, but its frustrating that I stayed here and didn’t get the things I wanted to done.
The final thing that’s got me kind of down lately is that one of my best friends here Gillian left a few days ago. Its weird, and I realized something. As you know everything is the same here. Things don’t really change; there is a monotony that can be a bit daunting if you aren’t ready to deal with it creatively. But its not just work or whatever that gets monotonous. Its everything, my life has become fairly monotonous too. That’s not to say its bad, I enjoy myself regularly, and I really try to have fun. But in a way, maybe on the grander scale or something, its all the same. I really like my friends here, but every few months I’m hanging out with an entirely new crew. People come and people go, that’s how it is here. My friends are always fun interesting people. I wouldn’t hang out with them if they weren’t good people. But there’s a level of monotony to that to, or maybe its just a pattern that I’m tired of. Maybe monotony is a bad word here. Anyhow, my friends might all be new people but there’s elements that are always the same too, especially what we do together. The same bars the same beach, the same drinking and dancing. I’m sick and tired of it. And so a few months ago, I’m really not sure when, I stopped caring when people came in and out of my life here. I care about my friends but only a few of the people I’ve met here are close enough to me that I’d miss them if they left. Tim has really been the only constant here, and I wasn’t even a really close friend of his until Cyndi and I broke up! What I’m saying is that I haven’t really cared about people coming and going for a while now, so its kind of been a wake up call with Gillian leaving. Suddenly I’m actually upset about something. I really miss her. It’s weird but good. I don’t want to have friends of convenience. I want to care about the people I hang out with? Why the hell haven’t I been??? Or have I been, and its just this place? It’s confusing and a little disturbing to realize you’ve grown callous.
I’m leaving somewhat soon, 7 weeks to be precise. And I think that’s probably the best thing I can do for myself right now. Gambia has been good, there’s no doubt about that. But there has also been some troubling times too. I’ve sure learned a lot about myself, and my life has pretty drastically changed in the last year and a half. I know I’m sounding pretty bad right now, I’m not trying to, I just need to get through this here and start planning something new for the future. Its weird, I’m pretty freaked out about starting fresh again; maybe I shouldn’t be. I don’t know really, I’ve done it a few times before, but I think now I’m actually starting to think about my life, where I want to go, and what I want to do. Am I on the right path here? Am I going in the right direction? I don’t really know. Is this something about being an adult, or just something about being an organized person? But do I have a plan? And do I want to have one? There are a lot of questions here. It feels like I’ve learned so much about myself in the last year and change that I’ve discovered I really don’t know anything. Does that sound about right???
hey kids, tomorrow morning I’m hitting the road. I’m pretty stoked. Yesterday I started packing and al of a sudden I realized that I’m actually getting the hell out of this place for a while. To be honest this past week all I’d been thinking is that I really wanted to leave, and not for Mali, but home. I’m frustrated here most of the time. There’s nothing for me to do. I mean I’ve got some work, you know just small things but really I just pretend to be working, and not even that very much anymore. I hang out, I go to the beach, I spend time drinking with friends, which mind you is great and all, but its just so much of the same. I’ve been here for like 15 months now and I’ve really had enough. Gambia isn’t going to be teaching me anything new. At least I really doubt it. I’m just biding my time so that what, my resume can look a bit better?! That’s just how it feels sometimes... sigh
Whatever, I’m leaving for a month tomorrow morning. It’s going to be crazy. Hey wanna see my schedule? Click HERE to check it out. I’m excited to leave both to get out and to see Mali. I really don’t know too much about Mali yet, but what I do know I’m happy to hear. Nothing really has been happening this past few days, just getting ready, and trying to finish up any last minute work for the Y. Life in The Gambia can be kinda boring a lot of the time. Ah well, at least I’ve got good friends here, eh? Anyhow, I’m off. Sorry I couldn’t get any of those pictures up I kept promising, Geocities was giving me some problems with their FTP program. I’ve got a bunch of stuff to get done though so I’m going. And although I’ll try to say hi once I get to Mopti, I might not have internet access for the next month, so basically I’ll be dropping off the face of the earth. Very cool. See you all later, and wish me luck. Merry x-mas and happy new years. I’ll be in the desert, with the Tourags... probably wearing a turban of some kind. Peace out all.
Hey people, I know its been a while since I’ve updated but things have actually been getting a little busy around here lately. I’ve been getting ready for my Mali trip and I all of a sudden realized that I actually should probably try to get some work done here at the Y before I go. I feel like all of a sudden this trip has snuck up on me and I wasn’t really prepared to go. But that’s good I think, in just over a week I’ll be outta here for a month! It’s pretty exciting. The fourth part of our party going on the trip EJ had to pull out due to some personal reasons so the final rooster for the Mali trip will be Tim, me, and Joe. A good crew if I do say so. There’s a lot of things to get done, even though I’ve left most of the actual planning up to Tim, there are still some decisions to be made. Then again, we’re going to try to be flexible with the plans too. This is a pretty big trip and we don’t want to screw things up. I’m a little bit concerned that as soon as I go I’ll be basically dropping off the map for a month, but maybe that’s for the best too.
Around here I’ve actually realized that I might not be here when this Digital Studio equipment actually arrives, this is exasperated by my guilt that I still actually haven’t told Poncelet how long I’m going to be gone for. I sort of let him think that it’d be more of a 3 week trip than a 4 week one... hehehehe. Anyhow, I know I’m gonna have to come clean with him soon but I’d rather be able to tell him I’ve gotten a bunch of preliminary work for the studio done before I do. So I’m trying to get together a list of the NGO and other organizations that we’ll be approaching to try to produce some small corporate films or documentaries for. I know for sure that we’ll be doing something for CPA (Child Protection Alliance) they’ve been after me to get something off the ground for them for a few months now; so their on the top of the list but other than that, I’ve got to figure out a way to promote this Studio in the way we want. The only real problem I’ve come across so far is in the YMCAs attitude towards the whole thing. Basically I see the way to sell this place as relying on the training we’ll be offering. We’re going to have a totally unique place in the country. A sound proofed recording studio, and top of the line computers. This’ll be a great place to learn a very specialized trade. But the YMCA has shifted their offical stance from focusing on training, which is in my mind where it rightly should be, to income generation. They want us to start right off the bat by renting out our services to produce, start to finish, these small video projects for people around the country. In my opinion that is a bad move. We quite literally do not have the trained staff for that kind of work. And once I leave there will be practically no one here. Just Cecelia, who in theory will be running the place, but as of yet she doesn’t really know how the equipment works; very frusterating. The YMCA really needs to understand that this place will be good, it will make money, just not right away. Does anyone in their right mind really expect a new business to make money in its first year or two of operation? Of course not. But the YMCA doesn’t see it that way.
Whatever, I’m going to Mali, when I get back I’ll hopefully be able to shoot my film, and then everything will be right with the world. I’m really starting to think that I’m not going to be able to go to Ireland or England when I leave here. I really just do not have the money to start somewhere new. Its so frustrating because I really really don’t want to go back to America, but I’m thinking that I just might have to. I don’t know how to make it happen in Europe. I don’t have any start up money. And I guess I only have myself to blame. Gambia doesn’t have to be as expensive as it is for me. I just like spending money... I guess everyone does, but its still aggravating.
I know it might sound like I’m bitching. I’m really not trying to. Things are good on the whole, I’m having a good time here, I’m about to go on a super cool trip to Mali, and I’ve got some really good friends here. Speaking of which, I’m gonna be pretty sad to see Gillian go away. She’s leaving in January like 2 days after I get back. At least I’ll get to see her before she goes. I’ve really had a great time hanging out with her, despite all my stupid head problems, which by the way haven’t particularly gone away. Really I feel like I’ve connected with this girl who I’ve really only known for a month or so more than anyone else I’ve met here. No matter how screwed up I am about her, or how screwed up she is about life, I feel like I understand her better than most people I’ve known for far longer. Maybe that’s wrong, but I think our mutual screwed-upness has made it easier for us to relate to one another. Whatever, I guess I’m rambling now. My real point was that I’m going to miss her being around. She’s become one of my best friends here.
I’ll try to hit this site up again before I go to Mali. It shouldn’t be a problem. Everyone should wish me luck on my trip though. And I’ll make sure to get these pictures up that I’ve got ready in the next day or two. Stay cool people. Later.
Hey people, happy holidays. Yesterday was Koreteh and seeing as I don’t expect people to hunt through my old logs and find my impressions of it last year I’ll give you a bit of a scoop on it now. This is the end of Ramadan (that’s the Muslim holy month if you happen to be living in a cave). People here have been fasting including water for around 40 days. Its pretty crazy here now that things are over. Last night once people saw the moon and Koreteh was officially over everyone flooded the streets, they had huge feasts and went out to visit their neighbors and relatives. People exchanged small gifts and the children run rampant spending their Koreteh salabu (gifted money). We, Lien, Jesper and I went out to Gillian’s place in Bakau last night and walking down the street was absolutely insane. I’d honestly forgotten how crazy people are. Literally hundreds of kids running around screaming with firecrackers. Although I didn’t see it this year, I’m sure that last year I saw small groups of kids gambling with coin games on the street. Something I’m sure is not approved by the quar’an. But I suppose kids are kids everywhere in the world, eh?
Because of all this madness, this week has pretty much been a write off. There seem to be a lot of things going on but they all revolve around fun free time. Which is ok with me, even though I’ve been enjoying my fun free time for quite a while now. I did get one really important thing done though, I picked up my mask from Brikama for my horror film. I got this very good Senegalese wood carver to custom make it for me, and it turned out great, not exactly what I’d envisioned but that’s the whole point of having an artist make it not a schmuck like me. I’ll definitely get a picture of it up as soon as possible. Actually just so you know I am really getting two more pages of pics up, but this week the labs been closed so I haven’t really had any opportunity. Besides the fact that FTPing anything from this country is pretty ridiculously slow. They’ll be there next week I promise. Anyyhow, back to the week though. I’ve been chillin for the most part, getting out to the beach and hanging out with Gillian. Tim had his birthday on Tuesday so we had a pretty fun night out at the bars. And even though we didn’t actually make it out to Senegambia I think that’s probably good. Considering the state I was in last time I was there… let’s just not talk about that though.
On Wednesday and Thursday (today) this week practically everything is closed so there isn’t that much to do. Yesterday (Koreteh) Lien, Tim, and I went over to a friend of Tim’s place and had a really great Koreteh meal. Tim’s friend Babacarr is a really great guy, and a language instructor for Peace Corps. We went out to his compound in Bakau and had two huge plates of food. Honestly, sometimes to local dishes are really very good. I think a lot of it depends on who’s preparing it. Also, most people use Palm Oil to cook with which is pretty gross if you’ve ever had it. But the food yesterday was excellent and we all had a very good time. Then last night Lien, Jesper and I went over to Gillians, made dinner and watched a film (The Thing). It really is a nice thing to have a friend with a kitchen, you don’t realize how much you can miss preparing your own food until you can’t do it for over a year. Gillian dyed my hair last night too, although the results were not quite expected. I really do seem to have bad luck with hair dye here. Last time my hair went bright orange from this Lebanese crap, and now that I buy some Dutch stuff or whatever it turns out to be black instead of blonde. So now I’ve got this jet black mop on my head… sigh, its just annoying. I mean not terribleor anything, just annoying that everything here seems somehow not quite right.
I’m gonna stop my rambles here and head off to the beach. I’ve gotta rest up for this weekend. Tomorrow the local beer company, Jewlbrew is coming out with a new beer. Its pretty exciting, and they’re throwing a very cool party at the factory with free beer and everything! Really those must be some of the two best words in the English language: Free, Beer. Just great. Anyhow, there’s that and then on Monday night (I know Monday weird…) there’s a huge Peace Corps party for a bunch of the new people swearing in, and a bunch of the old people leaving. It should be a very goodtime. So I’m going to go soak up some sun. Stay cool people and I’ll make sure to get those pics up ASAP. Later all. Peace.
Hey people, there hasn’t been too much going on lately. For the most part I’ve just been hanging out. I did make an effort to apply to VSO, but apparently I don’t have the qualifications for NetCorps (that’s the IT sub organization that Gillian is here on). They did say I’ was welcome to apply to regular VSO, but I’m really not sure if I could actually do any film work for them. Besides do I really want to spend the next year or two living in another 3rd World country. Not really. VSO was going to be a bit of a back up plan anyhow. Regardless of which they did say that I couldn’t even actually apply until I was living back in Canada. Silly complications. I’m still trying to work out the whole Ireland thing. I’ve written SWAP to see if the4y can make any sort of exception or whatever for me, but they haven’t written back yet… we’ll see.
What have I been up to lately. Well, not working that’s for sure… no actually I have done some work on my film. I’ve started a rewrite on the script, I figure I’ve honestly got the time considering the stupid equipment really won’t be here for a while yet (no matter what they are saying). Anyhow, I’ve ordered the mask from a wood carver in nearby Brikama. I also done some art design work on the costumes and started thinking about the actors I want. Sheriff, another volunteer here, and one of the smartest kids I know here, is going to be helping me with the script; making it more Gambian in flavour, he’s also gonna do the translation into Wollof for me. And even though I haven’t told him yet ‘m gonna get him to be my 1st Assistant Director. I think it’ll all be really good, except for the whole timing thing. I’m honestly pretty concerned that I’m not going to get a chance to shoot this thing before I go to Mali. I guess there’s nothing I can really do about it. But its still pretty annoying.
I can’t honestly think of any other real news. Things here are kinda slow right now. I’m starting to get bored with not working I think. I am really quite good at doing nothing, but still sometimes you need something… it looks like John Warren, the Peace Corps guy who was here helping me get some of the Digital Studio stuff together is gone back to the States now and probably won’t be coming back. I think he had some issues with Peace Corps, but I guess that’s none of my business. Anyhow, effectively what that means is that I’m gonna have to try to figure out all this new equipment on my own. Sigh, which is far more complicated than having a guide.
We had a pretty good visit from a group of Swedish YMCA kids a week or so ago. They we’re actually here last year, well one of them anyhow. They come from some really small Northern Sweden town that I’m not going to try to spell, cause I’ll get it wrong. Anyhow, other than a few group dynamic problems they all seemed very cool and to enjoy their time in Gambia. I got to know one of the girls somewhat. A really sweet girl named Hannah. It was just nice having some more people around for a bit. Of course Lien and Jesper are here doing well. Even though it seems like Poncelet is working both of them a little bit too hard. I suppose they’ll find their place eventually. Lien’s settling in actually pretty well, even though she doesn’t seem to be sleeping at all. And Jesper is really more than a little stressed out these days. But then again I‘d probably be stressed out too if someone asked me to teach Visual basic next week and I’d never used the program before…
Anyways, I don’t actually seem to have to much to say at the moment so I’m gonna sign off from my rambles. I’m gonna try to get some new photos up, so check em out. Later kids.
