Fig newtons on Grandma's patio and other such reflective thoughts

If I were Bill Watterson this strip-in-progress would be hilarious. As it stands I must be content knowing that I am learning an art skill and it all has to start somewhere. There are 3 revisions, the last being the closest to what I would have wanted if I had sketch paper and more talent.

So what is this? Early sketches in my head of the oddly funny moments that we live here in The Gambia. Sketches later visualized through pencil in hand, albeit with limited talent, but I hope you get the idea.

This particular strip was built from a story my friends Rachel and Carson (See Blog link to the right) retell about their experience in training village. In village they once saw a father terribly beating his young boy with a thick tree branch for who knows what. After the beating the child, who was still in diapers, somehow had the courage and mischievous impulse to sneak up and snatch the branch out of his father's grip. The next thing Rachel and Carson knew was that all hell had broken loose, and this little baby was running blissfully around the compound in his new found power. Not too far behind and in pursuit was the angry father who had clearly been caught off guard. The story, as they tell it, ends there as the child ran out of sight most likely to hide, but you have to hope that the bravery displayed by the child somewhat eased the resulting punishment the father would surely give out.

Funny story? Probably not for those back home, but the absurdity of it all would make any of us laugh in disbelief and awe of the child's actions. Defiance like that only comes about so often. The scene was simply too perfectly exaggerated, and I couldn't resist an attempt at my own caricature.

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Buba is transitioning from a infant or baby to a child. When I first arrived at site he was taking his first steps and only capable of mumbling incoherent grunting or wailing sounds. Over the past few months his Mandinka vocabulary has grown considerably to a few dozen words and everyday he adds to his repertoire. Even more telling of his transition is the look in his eyes. Just the other day, for the first time I saw something different in the way he was looking at the world. Focused and discriminating his eyes display new thoughts like, "I want that object to do..." or "I want to go over there because..." It's a neat period in his development as you can literally watch his eyes as they go in and out of infant and child mode. At times the transformation appears extreme enough to make even Dr. Jekel blush. All you have to do is pay close attention to those eyes.

This time of year we are being hit with winds and sands from the Sahara. Every morning from about 4am to 11am we are bombarded with heavy winds that are just shy of anything truly fearsome. The winds exist as more of a nuisance, blowing sand in your eyes as you try to make your way to work, school, the market, etc. Worst of all is the dust that blows inside of my home. A perfectly clean home at 7am is covered in a thin layer of dust by twilight. Daily cleaning turns me into a real life Cinderella (more fitting in the original German: Aschenputtel) as I sweet soot, ash, and dust off everything from bed sheets, to clothes, to pots and pans. On the bright side it is quite the sight to see the moonrise or set shaded orange in a dust filled fog.

My host family consistently gains my respect for their willingness to try new things. Kaddy's parents recently paid some outrageous amount to put some poles in the ground, electrical wires strung, and meters installed; they now have power in their compound, and I think everyone in a 2km radius is envious. Daboe and Kaddy had a fine idea of seizing the electrical opportunity and buying a refrigerator. Every other day or so Kaddy goes to her family's compound and makes "Iceys" which are more or less small plastic bags filled with a slushy-esque treat. She will then go to our school and sell them to hungry sugar deprived students, coming home with a solid profit from the whole enterprise. The upside is that Kaddy is consistently bringing home a decent profit and in addition, bringing home a few extra Iceys for all of us to enjoy.

School has restarted after a long Chirstmas, Tobaski ('id al-adha), and New Year's celebrations. Most of our students went home for the holiday break, and as is custom here have slowly reported back to school anywhere from 3 to 5 days late. Fun fact from my Tobaski celebration: I witnessed my first live slaughtering of a ram. I would put it at an 8 out of 10 on the disturbing-o-meter, 4 for the actual slaughtering of the animal and another 4 for the way the kids were mesmerized by the violence on display much like a child in the U.S. is enchanted by on screen violence. Or in the horrible lure of a oncoming train wreck, but that's all best reserved for a psychologists Blog; Laura I'm looking in your direction.

Let us close with some words derived from a green-is-good mentality. I hope these words are not lost when I return home to the States, so someone please remind me. One of the most common topics that Daboe and I have been talking about recently is the convenience of travel, specifically with a car. He longs for the ability to easily travel and show his family places around the country, but the cost remains prohibitively high. At times I forget that I was privileged (Or perhaps from this perspective, spoiled) enough to have had the luxury of an automobile during the last six years of my life. Returning home I hope I can still appreciate automobile travel, and be glad that my family has vehicles at all. Perhaps McLuhan's, "The Medium is the Message" can also be applied to transportation as well. My experiences in Vienna and in The Gambia do feel very much tied to the means in which I was/am able to traverse distance and time. On that note, get out and do some walking, bicycling, riding, and driving in varying amounts. Start to see the world in multiple temporal and spatial realms; you'll enjoy the trip I know I have. (Regards to Professor Robinson; Paul Virilio might finally make some sense.)