And . . .

2011-10-23T23:53:00.000-05:00

Vincent: Want some bacon?

Jules: No, man. I don't eat pork.

Vincent: Are you Jewish?

Jules: Nah, I ain't Jewish, I just don't dig on swine, that's all.

Vincent: Why not?

Jules: Pigs are filthy animals. I don't eat filthy animals.

Vincent: Yeah, but bacon tastes good. Pork chops taste good.

Jules: Hey, sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie, but I'd never know 'cause I wouldn't eat the filthy motherfucker. Pigs sleep and root in shit. That's a filthy animal. I ain't eatin' nothing that ain't got sense enough to disregard its own feces.

Vincent: How about a dog? Dog eats its own feces.

Jules: I don't eat dog either.

Vincent: Yeah, but do you consider a dog to be a filthy animal?

Jules: I wouldn't go so far as to call a dog filthy, but they're definitely dirty. But, a dog's got personality. Personality goes a long way.

Vincent: Ah, so by that rationale, if a pig had a better personality, he would cease to be a filthy animal. Is that true?

Jules: Well, we'd have to be talkin' about one charming motherfucking pig. I mean, he'd have to be ten times more charming than that Arnold on Green Acres, you know what I'm saying?

Vincent: [laughing] That's good.

If you really want to know .. .

2010-11-11T09:04:00.001-06:00

Man. Random times where Gambian want to get a picture with me.
Celebrity and village idiot in one.
I suppose if everyone had a camera, my work would never get done. I suppose that's one good thing about this country being so poor.

Here is a fellow PCV who actually has a good blog. If you want to know what life is really like here, go to her page.

http://abbyinthewhalesmouth.blogspot.com/

To have or to not.

2010-11-11T08:27:00.002-06:00

It's past Halloween.
I'm staying.
I've opened my eyes to things I hadn't appreciated before.
Village things.
Little things.
So many times I wish I had a camera to snap what is in front of me. Thankfully, I don't have one to ruin my memory of how the composition made me feel.
Even when I owned a camera, I hated using it.
Bringing it out of it's case made me feel I was creating a false picture. A false feeling. Most times I consciously left my camera in its' case and continued living the moment and letting that instant pass. That second that would never be again. That is beauty.
Understanding the emotions our surroundings create for us and realizing their importance as they are released. Yes. That is accepting beauty.

If things don't change by Halloween . . .

2010-10-17T05:12:00.003-05:00

Jaded.
I bought a ring in Morocco. A beautiful Jade ring that looks similar to a catepillar or sea urchin.
Simultaneously, I have become a jaded volunteer.
My perspective of my service (what I've been doing/not doing) is the elephant in the room.
I am truly missing America. Not the drug addict miss, like American food is, but a dull slow pull and realization that America actually is my home and is amazing.
I'm beginning to gain weight to an unhealthy amount.
The education system here is so faulty, it puts the San Andres faultline to shame. Such greed and selfish nature cause the few souls in the system who give a damn to be swallowed by the gigantic mouth of corruption.
I no longer care about those around me, when that has always been my focus--which maybe it's time to think about myself and do things for myself-I will indirectly help all those around me-it's my nature.
I wear my ring and I feel the jaded emotions pulsing through my hand and up into my mind.
I hope this ring is good for me, doesn't seem that way, for I've vowed to wear it on my left hand and will only replace it for a wedding band.
I believe the metals and stones you wear magnify and maybe alter your inner emotions.
I always thought turquoise was the best stone for me, but it always ran away. Every piece of turqouise I own is now lost to me. I thought jade was the alliance I needed alongside my quarts necklace. We'll see.

Here looks l.ike a nice starting position!

2010-03-10T11:42:00.003-06:00

Wow! I nearly forgot I had a blog.
Well, months later, I suppose I'll begin.
Thankfully (through the support of my parents), I now have a computer and thus can log info into its ears anytime I feel like it--- or whenever I have the power.

Alrigh. SO! I arrived in The Gambia July 2, 2009. Today's date is March 10th, 2010. For the past 8 months I'm sure you've biting your nails waiting for information and wiping that sweaty brow only when my mom's emails arrived in your inbox.

I'll give a little run down month by month of what I've been doing for the last hundred days or so, that way you know what life is like over here for me.

July: Defrost of culture shock. Honestly, I over-prepared and over adjusted for the beginning few months. The first few days I said "Assulaamhulaakum" to every stranger on the street because I heard it was rude if you don't. That's like a foreigner hugging everyone on a busy street in New York City. This month was also dedicated to feeling familiar around our new Peace Corps trainee family. I had 13 other Peace Corps trainees and my "older siblings" Travis Reece and Chris Chapman and then "mother hen" Anne Larson our PCVLeader. All three are not great friends of mine. Chris and Anne are leaving in a few months and Travis left a few weeks ago for medical school. Anyway, alright, those are the main volunteers that helped train us. We also had the Administration side of Peace Corps which consisted of our education "big boss" Program Manager Linda Murgatroyd from the U.K., Gisele from Benin who was the most motivating training manager and person, actually, I have ever met. We also have Mike the Country Director who is the "president" of PC/The Gambia and two other Program Managers for the Agroforestry and Health sectors but they aren't that important and they really aren't my bosses. We also have the Med Unit with Barbara and Aminata. Barbara is this women from Georgia who married a man from TG and has lived here for 30 years. Aminata is a Gambian nurse. We have many other admin that have offices in the Peace Corps office, but Patty- ''the boss's boss" in charge of pretty much all affairs and if she isn't, she becomes involved anyway- and Fatou Sowe (my favorite Gambian) are the only others worth mentioning in the July section. The weather was hot, but like before, I over estimated the heat. It rained about every 5 days.

August: I became a Fulaa!!!!! We were tested in all languages to see which one we could pronouce best. I couldn't do ANY of them . . . but didn't mess up as badly with Pulaar. Plus I was going to be in a Fulaa village and that's the deciding factor. So we lived in a Fulaa village with my only other Fulaa trainee, Evelyn Dunyeki. Our master and father of Pulaar and everything Gambian was Boboucarr Sallah. We had lessons every day on the language and he was our teacher.
September:
October:
November:
December:
January:
February:
March:
The near future:

Brand new Future.

2009-06-08T22:30:00.003-05:00

I erased my past life. Time for a new one! Yay!

Just finished some yoga. Feeling great! With the rain storms hanging around and being our friends, the weather is perrfect for a dog walk.

Countdown: Let me go check-- 21 days.

Still need to fit in the suitcase= battery powered fan, sleeping bag, Solaris charger

I wish the people in our group would talk a bit more. I would start up the conversations, but I would sound like the annoying camp counselor who never stops smiling. (Isn't that me? No, I'm the one swiping a swig when no one is looking.)

My days are filled with me being lazy and scared to do anything for the thought I might jeopardize my journey to . . . the f u t u r e.