I finally have access to email and the internet for a couple of days...
I am back in Kombo for Thanksgiving. All Peace Corps volunteers came to Kombo this year because today was t
he celebration of 40th Anniversary of Peace Corps The Gambia. The Peace Corps held Thanksgiving at the US Ambassador's House. Mashed potatoes and pumkin pie have never tasted so good.
On Saturday I leave to visit my permanent site for a few days. I am excited to finally see where I will be living for the next two years. Training is almost done. After site visit, I have a week left in Kombo and if I pass the language exam, I am sworn in as a peace corps "volunteer" (promoted from trainee).
I have been in The Gambia for two months, but it is amazing how quickly my perspective has changed. Around our dormitories here in Kombo, I was amazed at how nice the buildings looked. I remember when I first arrived, I thought the area looked a little run down and dirty. I also had a bag of fritos the other day. I like all chips except fritos for which I have a particular dislike, but they tasted great. We joke here that somethings are Gambian good. Items which normally taste bad are considered good.
I am back in Kombo for Thanksgiving. All Peace Corps volunteers came to Kombo this year because today was t
he celebration of 40th Anniversary of Peace Corps The Gambia. The Peace Corps held Thanksgiving at the US Ambassador's House. Mashed potatoes and pumkin pie have never tasted so good.On Saturday I leave to visit my permanent site for a few days. I am excited to finally see where I will be living for the next two years. Training is almost done. After site visit, I have a week left in Kombo and if I pass the language exam, I am sworn in as a peace corps "volunteer" (promoted from trainee).
I have been in The Gambia for two months, but it is amazing how quickly my perspective has changed. Around our dormitories here in Kombo, I was amazed at how nice the buildings looked. I remember when I first arrived, I thought the area looked a little run down and dirty. I also had a bag of fritos the other day. I like all chips except fritos for which I have a particular dislike, but they tasted great. We joke here that somethings are Gambian good. Items which normally taste bad are considered good.
3 comments:
Hi Alex,
it is great to follow your progress, and learning experience. As we all learn, everything in life is relative, and we often forget that...
I'm curious to see what kind of projects you'll be able to implement at you village.
Has anyone discussed some kind of energy generation (e.g., water/wind mill)?
Do children have any kind of classes? Do people know how to read and write in their native language?
Keep up the good work, we are all following your reports!
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Dindo Danny
Dindo Danny,
It is good to hear from you. I hope all is well.
For energy generation there are currently no projects that I know of. There are some villages which have solar panels to draw water from the water table. This allows the villagers to have taps instead of pumps, but this does create water shortages on days without sun.
Kids do go to school (the parents decide if the kids can go or if they can afford it), but they learn english. Depending on their skill level they can read and write in english, but the african languages are not a written one. Therefore there is no standard for writting words, and I think I could probably read their language better than most kids.
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