We Did'nt Start The Fire

Wow what a whirlwind experience! We left Mauritania and we are in The Gambia (notice the, "The", that's right not just any Gambia but The Gambia).

Kristy and I are going to have very similar jobs but with new focuses, the descriptions and opportunities are still not concrete but we hope that they are fantastic as they sound. No details until I can work them out.

We are going to live in a villi age called Essau and we are currently learning to speak Mandinka, not a skill that will get us much in the world but more languages means a higher awesome factor. We will probably be able to speak English for work purposes so that is a lot of stress off of our daily routine and the French (we scored Advanced-Low on our final test- WOW)has already come in handy and will again in the future.

This country is gorgeous, if you were holding out to visit us you hit the jackpot, this place is gorgeous 9 months of the year, it rains a lot the other 3.

The interweb is not as fast or reliable here so that means this as a contact medium is not going to be as frequent, sorry.

We have new phone numbers mine is 011.220.700.2098

We have a new address it is:

Brian Sisco and Kristy Smily PCV's
PO Box 582
Banjul, The Gambia
West Africa
Par Avion / Air Mail

That is all I have for now, more as we know it.

Changes

Today, is our last day of PC-RIM.

We are accepting this as we have no say in the issue, we will say goodbye to volunteers we know to be more than friends, our family who lived much as we do and will be connected to us for the rest of our lives. Some are going to Rwanda, Mali, Morocco, Senegal, Jordan, and or course The Gambia.

I want to thank the people who have been supportive of Kristy and I through our time in RIM and we hope you will still support us if we are able to transfer our service to The Gambia. Nothing is certain yet, we could still be home next month or next week, but we have hope.

You will know more as we do. Please, continue to keep us in your hearts and minds as we move from one phase to another we need the support.

Africa

Tears flowed freely as were told that PC RIM will be suspended.

We left home without saying goodbye to many of our friends and colleagues, many of our personal belongings were left behind because were were only leaving for 10 days, it is amazing how much can change in such a small amount of time.

The future is so unclear right now and we can not foresee what shall come of our situation. We are sorriest for the people whom we made promises of prolonged projects that shall go unfinished.

There are options that shall be discussed over the next few days, we are not sure if we will be home in a week, a month, or a year as planned. I am sorry for the lack of real news but it is what we have, more will come as we have it.

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

An event happened in Mauritania, we are fine, we were not even in Mauritania. Don't worry, if you want to read about it there are links on the side of the blog or you can follow this link http://www.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUSL8672694._CH_.2400

If you want to talk to me directly my number Senegalese number is 011221776223651 if this doesn't work we have had a lot of rain, email me. Rain knocks out the interweb from time to time but I will get your messages.