Hot hot Gambia makes mangos delicious!

I have arrived safely in Gambia and am having an amazing time so far. Myself and 20 other fellow Gambia PCT's are doing our best to get used to the amazingly intense heat and humidity here - we are just constantly telling ourselves we will adjust but who knows. The group is awesome and from all corners of the US. Ages are pretty spread out and range from 21 to 44, the 44 old is a 3 time Peace Corps volunteer so I am sure he will have some great insights for the rest of us. We also have a young married couple. My training group only has 7 girls which makes it pretty unusual considering the Peace Corps is 60% female.

We are stayinging in Kombo which is in the greater Banjul area till July 14th when we will get split up into much smaller groups to head upcountry to our training villages where we will be for the next 10 weeks to undergo intensive language and cultural training. I am learning Wolof which I am really excited about. Wolofs are a larger minority here but the language is spoken widely and even in Senegal. The name of my village is Sara Samba and is in the middle of the country very close to the Senegal border. We have already started some basic language class and it is going well but is very difficult. I feel like I am speaking Chinese half the time because the letter groupings are so strange. I am excited to pick it up more quickly once I get to my training village and I am forced to us it on a more regular basis. There are two other guys, Evan (South Dakota) and Jim (Montana) that will be with my in Sara Samaba and having language classes with my everyday from our fabulous Wolof teacher, Haddy.

I don't think it has totally hit me that I am in West Africa and will be for the next two years. The area reminds me a lot of La Entrada in Honduras. I am sure once the van drops me off with Evan and Jim in our village next Friday with all of our stuff and we are thrust into village life and host families it will all become a lot more real. Till then I am enjoying Kombo, internet, the beach, getting to know my training group and massive amounts of the most delicious mangos ever. We meet for training class every day under a mango tree - can't get any better than that!

Milestones for the week:
#1 Adam and I rode a bush taxi with 15 people crammed into it and didn't get over charged or die.
#2 I went to church this morning and it was a very interesting cultural experience if not quite what I am used to back in West Chester.

Off to watch the World Cup! Love you all and talk to you soon hopefully!