Joe is doing everything he can to prove that there ARE actually old white women who come to The Gambia to find young black men. It is really quite amusing. We have an older white guy staying next to us who came out of his room with a really young black girl. He looked at Joe and Joe gave him the head nod, in which case the guy quickly turned around and walked away. Joe couldn’t wait to come tell me.
I had my first meeting with the EU today. It went really well; it was a young woman who really didn’t have many question, we just ended up asking her a ton. It was very helpful for us and we finished in an hour.
Breezed through 3 full grocery stores today! That’s almost like the survey is half over. Wahoo! While in one of the grocery stores, 4 little girls in uniform came up to me and touched my hand one at a time, while I was bent down. It was such a strange thing, but so cute. I think that maybe it is a Muslim tradition? A few other Muslim girls asked me for a donation to repair furniture at their school (first touching my right hand) and I gave them 25 dalasi which is like 1 USD. But, this is a lot of money to them. They looked at each other wide-eyed and kept watching me and saying “bye bye!” as I went into the cab.
Muslim is the primary religion here, so I have been trying to remember to use my right hand for everything, but it’s tough.
I have killed at least 20 bugs tonight and have captured 3 crickets the size of golf balls in my room. My room Is gorgeous but the amount of bugs is killing me. I got a weird bite on my leg today and it really puffed up. No idea what it is, but it kinda freaked me out. It rains all the time, and my room is located with the door right outside my room so there are bugs constantly getting in!
We went into a grocery store today, asked permission, and everything was fine. The manager told me later that he had seen me at my hotel the night before (I was standing outside my room and just waved at a couple guys walking by). Well, he recognized me so he asked, do you like me? And I was like… uhhhhh, and THEN he said, want me to come to your hotel? And then I was really like… uhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Sooo akward. I tried to play it off like I was here with Joe. There are so many Indian people here. I am a bit surprised by this. For some strange reason, whenever I catch someone staring at me it’s always an Indian person. Creepy. So then, grocery store manager man tracked me down via the front desk and CALLED me, once at 1130 at night to see what I was doing, and if I wanted to get together sometime while I was there, and I said I would let him know if I had any time. I was hoping not to hear from him again. But then, he called me AGAIN the last night before I left, as 12 am and asked if he could come to my room. Please. Just for 10 minutes. Ummm hello, NOOOOO. So sketch. I double locked my doors that night.
Here, everyone sounds like a Jamaican! Well, I think they do. The official language here is English but all the other Gambians speak other languages amongst themselves, these are the tribal languages. There are about 4 major ones.
I saw a sign that said, “buy this cell phone plan, win 3 free tractors!” That kinda sounds like the sign I saw in spain – “buy this cell phone plan, get a ham leg for free!”
While I was in a car dealership today, a girl probably my age at the Xerox counter says to me through the window: “Hi, what’s your name? You look beautiful I like you.” Such a strange, yet flattering thing to hear from someone!
Instead of pigs roaming the streets, it’s goats. Lots and lots of them in herds running all over the place, including in the middle of the main streets. There are many stray dogs here as well, and I have seen some cats. Streets are much better quality here than in Bissau, there is actually one main paved road of very good quality.
People are also very friendly here too, though they are more use to tourists. The young girls seem much more in awe of me here than they were in Bissau. It sure is a strange combination here of tourism and dirt poor, while Bissau is strictly just dirt poor.
The second you say hello, someone will respond with a “how are you today?” This type of greeting is just as important is a: “What’s your name?” I really wish everyone in the world was as friendly as they are in this part of the world. Even in crowded streets, I will frequently get a hello from the random street vendor, person out on a stroll, etc.
Speaking of numerous Indian people, we went to a recommended Indian restaurant today for lunch and it was definitely up there for the best Indian food I have ever eaten (Jenn, I guess you gotta make it here some day!) Apparently the Indian guy also owns a Chinese restaurant in our area – (where the hotel is). But we asked for the bill, twice. After the 2nd time, the two guys were in conversation and kept talking, talking talking for another 10 minutes before giving us the bill. Though, I made it back here again for dinner (Joe insisted) and I had a close call with nuts. I ordered Nann that did not claim to have nuts, but I noticed the little green pistachios and did try a little in disbelieve before quickly chewing on some benedryl (that stuff is amazing). Joe got upset, especially when the manager mentioned that the menu said there were nuts when there really was no mention of nuts on the menu for this item, so we got our dinner for free.
Meals here at the hotel are excellent. For dinner, you get a complimentary appetizer courtesy of the chef. Then your meal. Then they provide you with delicious complimentary tea and cookies. It’s amazing. And for breakfast, (which is ALL complimentary, if you are a guest at the hotel), you automatically get fresh juice, coffee/tea, fruit cup and a huge basket with pastries and jam/butter. THEN, you get a menu of breakfast options (really, really good stuff) which is still all for free if you are a hotel guest. (Do you really want to eat more after all you have already been served?) And, it’s quite fancy; one person will place your napkin on your lap, the next will give you coffee, then someone will give you juice, someone else will provide you with the menu – one after the other after the other. Cool experience! If only you could get rid of all the bugs…..
Sleeping with towels under my door tonight. Goodluck to me!
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