"Yangee cool? Waaw, mangee cool."

The title to this post is just another funny Gambianism that I find funny. Gambian English never ceases to be entertaining. It translates to "You are cool (doing okay), yes I am cool." Love it.

I have unexpectedly gotten the chance to get online and update faster than I anticipated due to a mysterious skin rash (lovely right?) that has brought me to Kombo to get some medicene.

Quick recap on the seemingly bitter toubab post: Toubabedness has ups and downs. Sometimes it works to your advantage like when the entire country is brought to a stand still for Public Cleaning Day and no cars are allowed to drive on the street to force everyone to clean up their environments. I unkowingly decided to travel on this day and was stuck sitting on the side of the road till I got so fed up with waiting that I pimped out my whiteness and hitched a ride with a private car. Sometimes this preferential treatment for being white, like getting picked up when Gambians don't or getting moved to the front of the ticket line at the free-for-all that is the ferry terminal, is nice because it lets one bypass an annoying situation but it still feels wrong because deep down you know that you are getting treated differently solely based on the perceived value of your skin tone or foreignness, and at the end of the day-that sucks. So the whole issue is definitely an interesting one to live with and think about and one I hope that I will finally get a handle on after the end of my two years...but who knows.

Aside from the toubabedness conundrum, live in The Gambia continues to be good. Cold season has officially come and even though the sun is still hot during the day, I don't sweat constantly and actually get chilly at night. I even have to make sure I leave my water out in the sun all day so it is not freezing cold when it comes time for my bucket bath.

People have expressed interest in my daily goings on so here is a rundown of a typical day at site:
I wake up around 7 am to the crow of our annoying rooster who seems to be a clock because he crows pretty much on the hour. I force myself out of bed, trying not to hang myself on my mosquito net in the process. I quickly get dressed and go out to greet my family. A typical breakfast consists of homemade peanutbutter on bread with regular tea or bush tea (kind of tastes like spiced chai) that a teacher at school sent a small boy to fetch for me in the bush. If there is no bread in the village I eat coos (millet) and sour milk with sugar (don't cringe, it is actually delicious. Think of it as a very natural Grapenuts and yogurt.) Then I gather my things and head off to school, which is a mere 50 meters from my compound.

Once at school I greet all the teachers that have assembled around the vice principal's transportable office (a desk and a chair) that sits in the middle of the school yard and we sit and chat for a bit (it's considered really rude not to chat for just a bit). If it is Monday we have school assembly where the head teacher goes through announcements, gives a moral speech or reminds the children the importance of cleanliness and neat hair. If it is Friday, we have religious assembly, which takes up 1-3 periods. The schools 20 or so Christians head over to the church for their assembly and the rest of the school carries desks and chairs out of the classrooms to listen to one of the Ustas's (Islamic teacher) talk. School days are pretty consistent unless the school happens to have visitors (sponsors from Europe usually). I am usually in the library helping out or making teaching aids. Library is officially a class at my school (this is very rare) so I also monitor the classes as they come in and read or study. For the younger grades I also have story time - which they seem to love but I am always unsure if they actually understand me or just like the novel concept of being read to. I haven't been able to tackle the computer lab yet because even though we received the spare part for the generator, it has yet to be fixed so I am still waiting and trying to be patient. Throughout the day teachers come and visit me in the library to chat or talk about teaching aids they want to try out in their classroom, or to brainstorm lesson plans that are more student centered. During break time I usually eat lunch with the teachers in the staff room - World Food Program issued rice (I feel weird eating it, but they insist I eat with them).

After school, I sit with the teachers for a bit and chat (have you caught on to how important chatting is yet?), till I eventually walk home and relax a bit at my compound. I usually got visiting in the afternoon or to the tye and die workshop to chat and help out. And I always try and make time for yoga, which is a great stress reducer and allows for some alone time. I take my bucket bath before it gets to dark to see anything in my backyard and then chat with my family about the day. Lately I have been going to watch soccer matches with some of the teachers from school at night and it is a lot of fun to sit in a circle with 30 Gambian men and boys around a little battery powered TV and listen to them freak out about plays and joke with each other about what team and players are best.

So that is pretty much a typical day and pretty much everyday is exactly the same save for a few small details. Now that Ramadan is over, school clubs are starting up. I am heading up the Girls Club with another female teacher and have also been persuaded to help out with the Peer Health Club (students learn about public health issues then go around and share the info with their friends, usually in the form of dramas) and the Garden Club (we just planned to plant lettuce!!!! I think the teachers are doing it just for me because I always talk about veggies.) I will most likely be very busy with the clubs so that is exciting. I also want to check out another lower basic school that is nearby that might need help with their resource center.

Life is slow and leisurely here but also busy in its own way. Mostly because I thrive on being busy and find it hard to just sit around. My Gambian friends always tease me about it.

Some interesting/weird chats I have had recently:

• What is the difference between camels and horses and why is a camel okay for Muslims to eat but not a horse? (raised by a Christian teacher at school)
• The pros and cons of joining the American army or taking the "back way" (boat to Canary Islands) to Europe as career options for an 18 yr old boy in my village (his suggestions, not mine)
• Explaining racial diversity in America and Europe. "What, I thought all white people were from England and the French were black."
• Why on earth someone would choose to be vegetarian.
• When a teacher at school found out I majored in Psych in college, "I was wondering if you could teach me psychology, I am having some problems with my wife, she is very strong headed."

And I am sure there are many more to come.

Side note: 24/7 network has come to my little po-dunk village thanks to Africell building a huge tower in a nearby town. This may seem like not a big deal, but previously to get network I had to either stand by a specific metal sign and not move out of a 2X2 box or go to another town closer to the capital, now I can just sit in the comforts of my own compound and chat or text away. It really is life's little pleasures....