Mango Season

Its been three months in Makumbaya now and Im fitting more and more into the Gambian way of life. I can make good Attaya now and Im speaking a bit more Mandinka!

I cooked for my hosts at the weekend though which is not very Gambian. Gambian men dont cook at all. It was good to have something with meat in it and NO RICE! My family all seemed to enjoy it so Ill cook again before I go hopefully. It was a bit weird and a complete mess eating Spag bol out of a communal bowl with my hands, but it tastes just the same! Everything that Ive learnt from when I was a child about table manners and food hygiene all goes out the window! I dont worry about it though. Even though it sounds a bit gross, I actually quite like the communal bowl. Eating together is a very important part of Gambian culture and the family will often invite people passing in the street to come and eat with them. I never go back from the school without an invitation from a stranger to go and eat with them. I wish we had the same sort of community in UK. The kids happily run any errands for me, so outside of projects I dont have to do a thing!

At the nursery, the new ideas seem to be working OK but Im not been able to implement them much due to exams. (Why do 3 and 4 year olds have exams? Ridiculous!) Unfortunately, I can see problems for the nursery in the future as the money from Mondo is running out. I want to set up the garden but not if the nursery is likely to close in a year. They need new funds for a new site and for teachers salaries so Im going to try and help find them new sponsors. I wont let it disrupt my current work too much! Theres is another English volunteer in Makumbaya now which is a plus and she is working on the same projects as me, just at seperate times. Its good to see that an experienced teacher finds teaching Gambian nursery children impossible and not just me! We are rival football supporters so watching Arsenal V Man U European semi-final was a must for both of us! Weve luckily been able to watch the big European football matches which I thought wed miss. Theres no electricity in the village but several families have TVs which they run off car batteries. Its a unique experience watching the champions league under a mango tree with 20 or more villagers shouting at each other and not having a clue what theyre saying!

Working during the day is getting harder and harder with the increased heat and humidity. Rainy season is approaching. O Great! We re getting lots of ripe mangos now though. Theres two huge mango trees in the Jammeh compound so i get to eat about 5 or 6 each day. They fall onto the corrugate iron roof which sounds like a bomb going off! Its great not having to buy them as there so expensive at home. I want to export them!


Here are the links to my photos that Ive taken so far. Finally been able to get them up online! Ill keep adding more photos to these as time goes on.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2289281&id=61108717&l=1a4565c44a
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2289297&id=61108717&l=544068f58a http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2289268&id=61108717&l=63163fd82a