The Fixer

Bloggitty, blog, blog, blog. Things to write about: vacation with the fam, good days, and I am sure I will think of something else, I talk a lot.

Vacation with the fam

It was AWESOME. Shannon, Jeremiah, and Kelly (or Kumba, Yahya, and Maimouna as we dubbed them) showed up early to Dakar by an hour so we were a bit late finding them. I know that I miss home (where ever that may be) and that is a reoccurring theme in my adventure, but seeing them brought it to a sense of reality that was stark and in my face.

We walked and walked and walked through Dakar, the Ile de Goree, the Kombos, and lastly Essau. They were able to show us the beauty and wonder of Senegal and The Gambia that had faded a bit for us. You always get used to your home and it somehow become less astoundingly beautiful. We translated, haggled, laughed, ate, and drank.

There is a lot of wildlife here in Gambia that we had not become familiar with. We seen a billion monkeys, a bush buck antelope, a bunch of crocodiles, amazing birds that I could never remember the names of, hyenas, and even a random snake on the side of the road.

We happened upon a Jewelbrew promotion and entered a competition where we made a great effort, but took a loss to guys who have been practicing for longer than we have been alive.

Before they left they showered us with gifts and we put them on a taxi going to a country where they didn't speak any of the languages :)

Good Days

It's not easy, as they say and I couldn't agree more. I have to force myself to step back and grab hold of the good days. The moments where in my daily life I stand there staring at the horizon filled with mango trees being cooled by a ocean breeze and realise that I am knee deep in a wonderful adventure that has changed me.

I woke up recently to hooting and peeked outside to see owls just outside of our home, this is the second time I have gotten to see wild owls ever (both times here). Owls are becoming more and more rare here, they are believed to be a sign of witchcraft being practiced and are hunted because of the bad omen they bring.

One of the kids in our compound has recently stopped being afraid of me and now lights up when she sees me with a heartfelt "g" which is the name the family calls me. Ironically the letter g does not exist in the Mandinka alphabet.