I Am Going To Make It Through This Year If It Kills Me

Mountain Goats, you read my mind. Whenever anything goes wrong here, those lyrics from the chorus of "This Year" immediately start playing in my head. At one open-mic night Kelsey and Josh sang it with Gambia adapted lyrics and it was perfect. I cannot think of a better way to describe the attitude of the volunteers here.

So it's been almost a year. I got a text from Abby this morning telling me that we are 40% done with our service. It's gone by so quickly and so slowly at the same time. I am coming back to the civilized world June 17th for two weeks and it's all I can focus on. I'm beginning to learn to truly love living here, but it's definitely time for a vacation.

Looking back to when I first arrived, I cannot believe how much I've learned. We were literally babies who couldnt even feed or water ourselves without someones help. I realize that none of what I'm about to share with you is applicable in America. So due to the fact that I've been focusing on the following, please excuse my social awkwardness when you see me in a month. So here are a few of the things I've learned in the past year, hope it entertains.

• Those tiny spiders that don't scare me anymore WILL grow up to be the monsters that almost make me early terminate every time they decide to make an appearance, so it's best to get them while they're small.
• Gambian men will ALWAYS take friendliness the wrong way.
• Cars here will not slow down or go around me, so I must move for them.
• By this point I could probably eat anything, and I mean anything, and be ok.
• Working with Gambians is really fucking hard.
• Rice and fish really isn't so bad...as long as I'm hungry.
• But I still don't like the palm oil.
• It's ok to call the apparantes "boy" or make them hold my stuff when I get into or out of a gely.
  
• Doing laundry while listening to my iPod definitely isnt a good idea. (RIP little guy)
• When I absolutely need to find power, it will be out in Brikama. When my drinking water bucket is dry, the tap won't be working so always, always have a backup plan.
• Bush rats are real, not myth (yes, I finally saw one) and they actually are the size of dogs...and Gambians EAT THEM!!!
• My host family likes me better when I come home after having had a few drinks with Katie or Lucia at Jokors (not that they know why I'm more chatty)
• It's best to do like the Gambians and try not to move between the hours of noon and 5 pm to avoid the heat.
• Adding a packet of Jumbo (MSG) to anything will make it taste 100x better.
• Every Gambian ceremony (or program as they call it) will be the same. I'll get to eat lots of food, get paraded around, and then sit for hours...and hours...and hours doing nothing but listening to chatter in a language that I still can't really understand.
  
• If I'm hungry, I just have to walk slowly past a family eating at a foodbowl. They will always eventually invite me to come and eat with them
• Bring a book everywhere. You never know when the gely will break down or everyone will show up to a meeting three hours late.
• Gin packets will always give me a wicked hangover.
  
• Avoid giving my phone number out at all costs...even to women.
• I'm convinced that the bumsters live by the moto "I will stalk you until you love me."

See you in a month!!