And we're live from site...

These are the words of two months without electricity, running water, or modern communication. Sorry I haven't updated much (or as steevo put it, "as often as Goku beats a villain"), but I think you all will understand. We are in the bottom 1/3 of all Peace Corps countries that is classified as having no running water or reliable power in most of the country.

So the good news is that my permanent site place has been given and I am in the Western edge of the country, about 40km from the capital and 20 minute taxi ride to the beach. Those looking to see the Peace Corps life and an African adventure best come visit me, cause the trip is feasible. I will also have more regular access to internet now, so I hope to catch up on a ton of e-mails...

Thank you a ton for those of you who sent letters. It means a lot, and kept us sane during training. Jess and Rudi I got your letters but no current return address, where do you all live now? E-mail me the info.

Seeing in the dark You have to retrain your eyes here. On a moonless night the dark is indescribably restrictive. You have to learn comfort in using your hands to feel in the dark giving you a new set of eyes. Then there are the moonlit nights wher everything is lit up as if we had street lamps. It makes me wonder why we waste so much power back home with street lamps every 10 feet.

Boredom... We learned new ways to pass the time given that most of us were at least use to some access to call a friend, watch TV, read the news, or go to a park. When my dad sent me a package (thanks for that!) me and my fellow 3 village mates went crazy when we found intact the Sunday comics used as stuffing paper. Certifiably crazy by the end of training, I think we have accomplished our mission... Other things we do: chat in Mandinka, go on walks on the gambian highway (meaning 2 cars every 15 minutes), drink Attaya (sugar tea), read any books we can get our hands on, eat mangoes under a tree, watch the local kids play football, or simply taking it all in realizing we are in west africa.

Language My language skills have gotten progressively better. Nothing much to report here.


Model School As educators part of our training was to teach Gambians for two weks in a Gambian middle school. This was extremely challenging. Classroom management, language barriers, knowledge of their background, and confidence in ourselves were all big issues to overcome. The girls here are overall, very reluctant to talk.

Swearing in Speech Me and my fellow PC trainee Rachael were selected out of our group of 21 to write and deliver our swearing in speech that will be put on Gambian national television. A really nice honor, and we are excited to present it.

The Future... By mid-september we will be at our permanent sites for 3 months challenge. That is the time period when you survey your town and try to figure out how to best be of service to the community. Volunteers are not supposed to leave their sites and go to the capital during this period. It is common for early terminations during this time.

West Africa Things I have found in my house so far: ants, spiders, lizards, termites, leaking roofs, live rats on the ceiling rafters, 3 dead rats on the floor, and a lot of weird flying bugs.

Mustaches We all decided to grow mustaches for our swearing in ceremony. I look ridiculous right now...

Our motto Since philly when you are having a bad day it is common to hear, "sometimes there are snakes on a plane..."

Food bowls The food works out ok. We eat out of a communal food bowl...

Michigan?? In an odd twist of fate (for those who know my family) one of my best friends, Neil, happens to be a Michigan grad of '04. We often joke about going to the game in columbus or ann arbor when this is all over.

My name is Yaya Demba

Hey all. I am tasting freedom now as I am on my first trip alone in a tiny little internet cafe (really just a shack with some computers in it)...

Training village is good, and my group of PCT's are absolutely hilarious. We have a good time talking with the locals and simply having fun with the language (Mandinka), trying our best to communicate but when the going gets tough we pull out all sorts of random english comments so we don't get frustrated. We have agreed that because of the increasing randomness of my comments and coping strategies that I would be most likely to be named "certifiably crazy" at the end of training, in a good way.

So you know you're in peace corps when you are visited by another group of trainees, and the first thing they say is "oh hey Neil (a fellow trainee), I heard you bought a pair of sandals the other day." And that was our entertainment for the evening.

All is well, i gotta go since the generator is putting out gas fumes that are making me light headed. Best.

oh and p.s. send me snail mail, we live for it here. my address is on my first post on my blog.