Merry Africhristmas!

Merry Africhristmas!! Africhristmas was celebrated on the 21^st of December at Fatty Kunda. I explain to my family a few days before what my christmas’ in America are like and that I wanted to celebrate one with them. They were so excited, my mothers’ declared that it was an official holiday and they were not going to the fields, they worked of course, washing clothes by hand and cooking but there was no field work or cracking of peanuts on africhristmas. We woke up and greeted each other, wishing one another a ‘happy Christmas!’ Bori started dancing because she was excited that she got the day off. They made boiled yams for breakfast, and were sitting around enjoying one another’s company when I brought out a dish of ‘american breakfast.’ I had cooked oatmeal and added local peanut butter and sugar with cut up bananas on top….we all sat down on the mat crowding around this bowl and passed our 3 spoons between 10 people each taking turns, teasing one another about who took the most slices of banana. The bowl was empty in no time. We relaxed for the morning, sitting and talking with visitors who came by the compound, each asked ‘why we were just sitting?’ which started the whole conversation about American Christmas and why we bring a live tree into the house and put lights on it. My American mom had sent me a Christmas ornament to make my Christmas a bit brighter, the Gambian Family was so intrigued by its beauty; they keep asking to see it. We played with the kids and listened to some Gambian radio. For lunch, I surprised my moms’ with 2 packages of spaghetti, a half kilo of onions, yams, and bread. So they made a spaghetti, onion, yam, maggi, and oil sauce which we enjoyed by breaking off little pieces of bread and soaking up the oil and using the bread as a scoop. They were teasing everyone that the meal was so good, because oil was dripping down the length of their elbows- this is a sign of wealth, prosperity, and celebration- but the World Food Program gives my family all of the rice and oil that we consume, so it’s a different type of wealth- international food aid prosperity. Then I brought out my little gifts for them. The kids got a brown bag with some ‘mintis’ in it, they each got to reach into the bag 3 times and pull out a surprise candy- one thing I treasure about Gambian children is their ability to share. Tia, the 3 year old, got a whole bag of biscuits and he went around and shared with each person until the bag was gone- and they do this without being instructed. Each of the women got a black plastic bag with an American necklace, a Gambian bracelet and some soap. Nymandin did a whole dance for her soap and started talking to Isatou, the baby, that she now had soap when she took a bath. Baboo, got a can of condensed milk, attaya, and the monthly contribution of money that I give to my family a few days early, he was so happy that he had to go around the corner to see everything that was in his bag. A new sister, Nyamdin’s oldest child, Kaddy came from the city and she got bracelets, a necklace, and a new t-shirt, she immediately went to take a bucket bath so that she could put it on and show everyone.  A Happy Africhristmas, it was a moment of perfect simplicity, joy, peace, and family. 

Seasons of Smiles

My best friend in village with a cute baby. The leather and rope necklace around his neck is a  spiritual protection jewelry that's called a juju, it protects the child/adult against evil spirits. 

Bintu

Isatou (Mom, she's coming home with me- gosh look at those dimples)

Hibiscus flowers 

Jelli, my wolof neighbor

Brother and Sisters with Baobab fruit 

The Thanksgiving Days

I can't believe this but....Africa got cold. I don't know when it happened exactly, just one day I woke up and the thought "I'm cold," crossed my mind. And when I say cold, I mean that this morning around 7am it was a low of 68 degree. But seriously that feels pretty cold compared to the highs of 105 that were from April to August. It feels so cold that I sleep under a flannel sheet, a doubled up sheet, and an airplane blanket, and I even sleep in a t-shirt and pajama pants. Its the cold were you wake up in the morning and debate getting out of bed to go to the bathroom- and by bathroom I mean hole- but the cement walkway on my feet feels like the linoleum of my bathroom in MERICA-  because its so chilly. I'm not saying that it still doesn't get hot. During the middle of the day, I still sweat, but sometimes there is this nice breeze that cools everything off and the sweat drys. I even wear long sleeved shirts, what is happening to me!! Its a really nice change, the sleep is so much better and I am much more active, getting work done and going for more runs. My families pretty funny though- they crowd around a bon-fire during the evenings and even skip there daily shower saying they are not brave of the cold water. I have to admit that I've also skipped a bucket bath here and there. Think about it, this water is coming from deep in the ground and its freezing, which feels really nice during the hot season, but during the cold season you really are not brave of a cold cold bucket bath. I know some fellow volunteers that have even boiled some of there bucket water to heat it up.... silly kids. 

An update on Thanksgiving, it was a really fun and well messy day. A few volunteers gathered in Ferefenni, a river side town which has through traffic from Senegal so it has some nice convinces like, electricity and a daily market, fruit, and egg sandwiches. A volunteer that lives near the Senegal border, husseled a real live turkey  to bring to our party. So he shows up with this huge turkey tucked into a half of a plastic container, tied in there with some bungie cords. He tells us the story of how he got this turkey, and how its been living at his house for a week, and how it tried to hang itself over his fence. I have to tell the truth here and laugh alot at my slip in reality. We had talked about getting this turkey for thanksgiving meal and for some reason, I don't know where my brain was but I had imagined one of those nice like 15 pounders that you could buy in Stop and Shop all packaged in plastic and ready to go in the oven. So not a live turkey, all breathing and looking at me and having to get it ready for supper. But were hungry volunteers and there is no way we were going to pass up on some turkey which we haven't had in 8+ months. So with some laughing, some shouting, some beating wings, some discussion of feather headdresses, lots of blood, some nausea  and a huge dull knife, because that's how knives come in Gambia, the boys went to work and we then had ourselves a dead turkey. 

Now is the time I would like to thank Art and Sally of Brown Farm for educating me on the ways of cleaning and preparing chickens. Honestly, without having worked along side them this meal might have been a complete disaster. (Reference the blog, Farm Oasis to learn more about the farm). Anyways, Daniel, Ryan, and I went to town with some hot water boiled on some coals and a large basin and plucked this turkey from neck to butt of all of its feathers. Next, came the part of cleaning out the inside. And having had the experience at the farm, I sucked up all of my dedication to thanksgiving and my want for some good turkey meat and went elbow deep into that turkey...and get this Sally and Art, I cleaned the whole thing out without breaking anything!! Honestly, I was impressed by how it went, it could have turned out so badly, I could have ripped the bowels or the stomach or something and then we would have had to clean more nastier stuff out of the turkey, but no this turkey cleaning went completely smoothly. Then the turkey meat was cut up and grilled by grill master Peter! For sides we had wonderful fruit salad with oranges, bananas and watermelon, a cabbage veggie salad, garlic cheezy mashed potatoes, grilled butternut squash, creamed canned corn, soo much goood good food! My stomach was full for days! And I will always appreciate meat in a way that I never had before. Its too much work sometimes to butcher and clean meat, and now when I do have meat in my food bowl I am thankful for the cook who took the time to clean the chicken. I will never again look at packages of meat in the grocery store the same way- we are truly spoiled by the ease in which we consume and cook meat. It was a very wonderful thanksgiving, thankful for things I had always taken for granted and although far away from friend and family, I was surrounded by PC family. A thanksgiving I will always remember!