05/06/03
Hey everyone, first off I should note that no one will be reading this or actually the last log update till a while after the fact. I didn’t realize that I was running out of space on the website until it was too late. So I guess for now at least I’m really just writing this for myself. Anyhow, it’s good to get this stuff down before I forget it all.
Two very big events to report. First I went back to Janjang Burreh this past week. Not for any emergency training or anything. But Jakob, Tim, and I went up there for a party. That’s right, and we didn’t have any plush ride this time either. Meaning a somewhat scary 4 hour ride has just turned into an almost unbearable 8-10 hour one on public transport. BTW the bush taxis (aka minibuses) are called GelyGelys here (it’s probably spelt completely different than that though). Anyhow, it was a very good time. We left on Thursday, which was surprise, surprise yet another public holiday (worker’s day). We spent the day travelling, which wsa really quite awful. I don’t mean to overly bitch, but its just sooo dusty, and there are kids sitting on seats they haven’t paid for, and goats on the roof, peeing all over the bags on the roof. It’s really just no fun at all. Anyhow, enough of that. We made it up to Janjang Thursday evening just in time for a cultural festival that was kicking off. This festival was definitely not one of these things you’d see at a tourist area. It w a celebration of the circumcision ceremony! I know, crazy. I mean hey, circumcision is great and all, but do we really need a three day festival to honour it??? I’m really just not sure. Anyways, there was drumming and dancing, and not a white person to be seen… There was also a few guest appearances made by some of the more colourful tribal deities. (Ok, perhaps deity isn’t absolutely accurate or PC; but they’re supernatural beings at any rate). In particular the Fula’s conkerlin (sp) was pretty impressive. But at the end of the day, it was just a bit too much after a 9 hour ride in a Gely.
The next day (Friday) we went over to the North bank and to another stone circle. Jakob and I went to Wassu last week so we weren’t all that jazzed about going again, besides the fact that it’s really far (30km or so) Anyhow, there’s a single far less impressive stone circle only 1.5 km from the north bank ferry, and Tim hadn’t seen any of it so we hopped on a horse cart and headed out. Honestly it was a let down though. But that was ok too, because our next excursion proved much better.
We hooked up with another boat tour. Basically the same deal as the last time, when a few weeks ago Jakob and I went out to see the hippos only to be disappointed. Well, this time it worked out! We saw 4 hippos! Of course they were in the water and we only really got to see the tops of their heads and ears. Apparently they almost never come all the way out of the water if they can help it. But man, can they swim!!! They were right in the middle of the river, with a pretty strong current at times! I was very impressed. We saw one big one and three I think their called calves. I’m really trying to get the photos up soon, but things are a little busy right now. Soon, I promise.
Anyhow, then we headed off to the party, which was on the north bank also. It was good to get away and meet some new people. Although I must admit I mostly hung out with the Peace Corps people there. But there was a large contingent of VSO (the British version of Peace Corps that is far better managed), and the German Forestry Institute (a weird NGO that’s been here since before anyone else even heard of The Gambia). I even met a Canadian guy, a VSO, but he was somewhat annoying so I mostly ignored him. There were some very cool Peace Corps people there though; it’s a whole different scene up country, not like Kombo at all. Even though Peace Corps is kind of like a big frat sometimes, that’s ok at a party. You kind of want that release at times. I’m won’t go into all the sordid details of the evening, but we did have some fun. And, so the next day we were off. Back to Kombo and the Y. I think it was a good little vacation, especially for Jakob seeing as he’s leaving in less than a week.
The other big news is that the ICT Knowledge Bowl got started on Monday. It was very very stressful. There was a million and one things to organize, but Cyndi did a very good job overall. I helped where I could too. Anyhow, Monday was the main event, the first day of competition, and it went very well. Even if one school showed up too late to compete. We’ll let them in next round. The questions we wrote were good too. I was concerned that either they’d be way too hard or just stupidly easy. But the kids were very cool, and the questions were just tough enough. So from now on every Monday for a month will be a competition day. Very exciting.
And so today, I’m sitting at the computer again, burning CDs for Jakob and trying to get a camera problem I’ve got to sort itself out. There’s really just so much stuff to do, it’s a little daunting. I’ve decided I’m going to go to the International Jazz festival with Tim, up in St Louis, Senegal. It’s at the end of the month, and even though I’m not the biggest jazz fan, I think it’ll probably be pretty amazing. Catherine if you’re reading this, I’ll try and pick something up for you while I’m there. Anyhow, I’m off; work, work, work. Later all.
Hey everyone, well I've just gotten back from another fun filled trip up country to Janjang Burreh. It was stupidly hot there. I'm not honestly sure why I wanted to go again. I mean you don't get any good food, you can't sleep properly because of all the sweat pouring off of you and there's really nothing much to do. If the power company could keep their generator running just a little bit longer it might be ok, but a 1am shut off is just too early. I can't imagine what it'd be like to live up there. Or even worse, stuck somewhere without any power at all. I know, I know, I'm seriously spoiled here. But I just don't know if I could deal with it any other way. Oh, but when Jakob and I were in Janjang Burreh we did get out and see the Stone Circles at Wassu. Yup that's right Gambia's very own druidic-esque stone monoliths. Not quite Stonehenge, but hey, it's something right? Besides, I got some really good ideas for this horror film I want to do. I've also got about enough photos together for a new photo page, which I know I haven't added to since Cyndi and I broke up two months and change ago. So keep your eyes peeled kids.
On another note, Jakob is leaving in two weeks. It's pretty sad, I'm going to miss having a guy to hang out with whenever. But Tim and I have decided that we should definately hang more. Besides, how else am I going to get my act together and meet some women? No, no, I joke sorry. Its really just too bad Jakob's leaving. I don't really even think he feels like he's accomplished what he wanted to here. Not to say his work wasn't fun or anything, 'cause I think he's enjoyed himself, but everything here just moves sooooo slowly. It's really hard to have any sort of lasting impact. I kind of think the same goes for everyone here though. I suppose that's just life though, kind of boring sometimes, definitely difficult to manage, but ultimately whatever you can manage to make of it. The smaller impact is what makes things worthwhile, finding the fun in everyday life. That's what I try to do at least.
Anyhow, what else has been happening? We had the Knowledge Bowl launching on Monday, and for the most part I think it went well. Even though the Hotel where we were hosting it bumped us to a smaller conference hall, and the Secretary of State was forced to wait for 45 minutes; things seemed to work out in the end. Still a few glitches to work out, but the actual competition doesn't start for another week so there's some time yet. Also, Poncelet has gone travelling for a long while. He left on Thursday for Botswana and will come back here for maybe one or two days in two weeks, and then he's off to the States for another week and a half. He's not around until after Jakob leaves in fact. I guess there's really not too much else to talk about. I've been out drinking with Tim and Jakob probably more than I should be lately. I'm also really enjoying my Jimbeh, that's the drum I bought. Although, to be completely fair I kind of suck at it. Well maybe it'll just take some more practice eh? Alright that's all there is for now, things have been pretty hectic over the last while but I think it'll calm down at least for a bit now. Stay cool people. Later all.
Hello, and welcome to another exciting log update. I'm pretty excited because there's lots of fun in store for today. But before I get going today I just wanted to start with my heartfelt CONGRATULATIONS !!!This shout goes out to Cyndi’s sister Lisa and her family for just having a baby. Jonathan Niva, good name. I’m really happy for you all. That's just fantastic.
Children aside though, I’m going to get on with an update of my life lately. Now, one might think that just because I told you all last update that we had a few days off coming up that my life might chill out a bit. You know, get some time to kick back, maybe go to the beach. But NO… life just doesn’t work that way. Cyndi and I have been especially busy lately. Jakob spent the entire week off in Dakar with a local YMCA guy who’s going on an exchange to Sweden. They went up to get the whole visa, passport thing sorted out at the embassy. So Cyndi and I were left to our own devices back here. But there has been a whole lot of work to do. We, the Y, hosted a pretty big workshop this week. On gender equity in the classroom, ICT and, income generating activities. I know, weird combination. Anyhow, everyone’s been very stressed running around trying to get this thing to come off, and thankfully while Cyndi and I weren’t directly involved in teaching we both got somehow caught up in it at times. For example, I ended up filming both the opening and closing ceremonies for the nightly news. Which, to be honest, is actually kinda cool. And for most of the week I had to sit around in the computer lab supervising the ICT part of the workshop. Or, at least being a YMCA presence there. It was mostly run by Peace Corps trainers. But that’s not the only thing that’s been going on by far.
We’ve had a ton more work to do on this ICT Knowledge Bowl. Well, ok, Cyndi’s actually been doing most of the work; it’s pretty amazing. I know she wasn’t too thrilled with her work here over the last few months but I really have been very impressed with the way she’s pulling this thing together. In theory there’s a number of other people who are supposed to be assisting in this organization. But, really, they’re not doing jack. Although it wouldn’t surprise me terribly if they took some of the credit. Regardless, Cyndi’s been working her butt off at this Knowledge Bowl thing. The opening ceremonies are tomorrow morning, even though the quiz itself doesn’t start until May 5th. It’s going to be very big though. Honestly trying to organize a huge event like this is so mind-bogglingly complicated. But I think it’ll all come together ok at the end of the day. We’ve actually got to go off to work this afternoon too, even though it is Easter. I’m not actually convinced that GRTS (that’s the tv station here) actually have their act together. Ok wait, I know they don’t have their act together, what I don’t know is if they’ll actually show up tomorrow morning. We’re still negotiating the rates with them. It’s really very silly though. Stuff like this is actually news here. They should come on general principal. The Knowledge Bowl itself, if you don’t recall, is a high school academic quiz. We’ve got 20 schools from all over the country coming here to battle it out for 10 000 Dalasi. I know back home this is totally community television, public access fare but it’s pretty cool, especially for here. In theory it’s designed to promote education, and particularly IT awareness. I think it’ll be pretty fun overall.
I found my dream job online a few days ago, it’s writing content for the various Lucasfilm websites. And as far as I can tell, I’m at least not terribly under qualified. Besides, if you’re talking Star Wars or Indy, I’m definitely your man. I think I’ll probably need to go through this web-site with a fine toothed comb first though, make sure I don’t look too silly anywhere. Really though, I am learning a lot about web design these days. My learning curve has slowed down a bit lately, but I think that’s really just because I’ve been so busy doing other stuff. Anyhow, everyone cross your fingers for me, wish on a star, kill a goat, whatever it takes… just let me at least have a shot a an über cool job like this.
I’ve been thinking about shooting a movie here. Nothing big mind you, just maybe 30 minutes or so. I’d really like to do a cool Gambian horror film. I know, its crazy, they don’t do horror films here. But that’s exactly why it needs to happen. Maybe it’s some weird sort of perversion, but I’d love to be able to scare the hell out of Gambian children. Anyhow, I’ve got a few things kicking around in my head, most of them involve the local version of the Wood Faerie, or Leprechaun. Here he’s called the Conkerin, wears a crown made of the calabash fruit, and as per usual in these situations, causes trouble to no end for the villagers. There’s a few things to work out with this whole thing though, so this probably won’t really start coming together for a month or so.
Aside from that, Cyndi and I have been out partying a whole bunch lately. I’m not exactly sure why, because neither of us are huge party animals. Maybe it’s just all the work during the day. I know, that I at least feel like a whole lot of our friends are leaving. Really, most of the people we hung around with (which granted wasn’t that many) are going back home. The Canadian girls are gone, Jakob is leaving on May 12th, even Chad the drinking machine from Salmon Arm, BC has gone. I personally, don’t really like the idea of having no one to hang out with but Cyn. And I don’t mean that in any negative way. We just hang out, a heck of a lot. Anyhow, I’ve been spending some time out with Tim Brinker. I’ve definitely mentioned him a few times. He’s a Peace Corps psychologist, and a very cool guy to boot. Also been hanging with Sarah, Bonnie, and a few other nifty Peace Corps folks. It’s weird this thing with people leaving. It just seems like the NGOs all fill up in the Fall and let everyone go in the Spring. What the heck about Summer though??? Anyhow, we went to a party at this Peace Corps house called the Fishbowl on Friday. It was pretty cool. Seriously, you wouldn’t think meeting the 100 or so Peace Corps in country would be all that difficult, but I honestly just keep meeting more and more. It’s like their a spreading virus or something. The Fishbowl was a pretty funny place though, it just screams for an edition of The Real World. Pretty fun though.
Finally, I just thought I’d mention that I bought a Jimbeh yesterday. That’s one of the mid sized local drums. It’s very cool, and cost me about $30 US. I felt bad that I never bought a Didgeridoo when I was in OZ ‘cause I really wanted one, so I figured I’d just bite the bullet and get a cool drum. I’d like to find someone to give me a few lessons, but I think mostly what it takes is practice.
Oh yeah, one more thing, we found a really nice restaurant yesterday, The Butcher’s Shop. It’s right by the beach, cheap, not like pre-tourist season cheap but still decent, and extremely good. Cyndi had spaghetti carbonara and I had the quiche. Both we’re delicious. But the really really exciting part was getting a fantastic Iced Coffee. Cyndi raves:
It’s actually been quite a while since my last update and I guess I should at least try to let you good people in on what’s been happening in my life lately. Although this might be a rather short update seeing as the keyboard I’m typing on seems to have a very sticky spacebar. Ok, well lets see... Last week Cyndi was doing exams for her students and I don’t really think I got up to all that much. I’ve been editing a little home movie for Dawn and Gail. It turned out really good. Even if it is like 25minuteslong. It was cool, I’ve actually got a lot of footage of what Gambian life is like for us. Anyhow, so that worked out pretty well at the end of the day. Jakob and Poncelet went up to Janjang Burreh and returned last night. We also have been having serious power issues. It’s crazy. Back home I think we really just take things like power and water (which has been out for the last two days) for granted. What else really happened??? I’m sorry I really can’t think of too much; really we’ve been pretty chill lately. A lot of the Peace Corps and other ex-pat volunteer types are leaving nowadays. It’s kinda lame, not many people to hangout with. We’re taking on a new workshop at the Y that might just prove to be incredibly annoying. It’s not finalized yet, but we might end up having to teach every night from like 5 to 9 pm for three months!!! We’ll see what becomes of that though. We’ve got a holiday for the next two weeks! No classes at all. It’s very cool. We’ve also got a lot of work to do getting ready for this ICT Knowledge Bowl. The opening ceremonies are in a week and a half. Anyways, the break is sort of a combination Easter holiday and some time for everyone to go back to their villages, it’s a census year here and I think that takes a fair while. Ok, I absolutely have to stop now. This is waaaay to annoying. The spacebar hereonlyworkslike1 out of every 4 times. I’m having to go back and fix everything. That’s it though, enough. I’ll try to catch you all up more later, if I can find a better computer and if I remember anymore juicy tidbits of the last little bit. Stay cool everyone. Later.
Well, it's been a pretty interesting week for me. I just got back from Janjang Burreh last night. It was for the most part pretty good but not exactly what I was expecting. Jakob and I left on Wednesday afternoon, and managed to make it to Janjang Burreh in 4 hours and change; which in itself is pretty incredible consideing when Cyndi and I went to Basse (only 1 hour away from Janjang Burreh) last Christmas it took like 9 hours to go the same distance. Anyhow, the Y provided a car and driver for us. Which from what I understand is a pretty common thing. So we got up there and I've got to say it was honestly like an oven there. Just sooooo hot. I really didn't think it would be that bad, but it was probably somewhere between 35-40 degrees the whole time we were there!
The place, Janjang Burreh, (on Mcarthy Island) used to be called Georgetown. It was at one point the colonial captial of Gambia. And remains a pretty big up country trading place. But really I think it relies on tourists mostly. Which was funny considering I saw none. Then again, I hear the season is just about ending. Anyhow, I had probably the worst nights sleep of my life that first night. The power company on the island has a tight schedule, we had power every day from 9am-1pm, then again from 8pm-1am. So basically that means that at 1am you start sweating and sweating and sweating... Actually I don't really think I ever stopped sweating. But it was hell without even a fan. Ok, enough bitching.
The training itself went pretty well. The workshop was for up country Health Department workers. We (the Y) are going up there for three day ever two weeks for training. We were just doing MS Excel this time though. Yup the wonderful world of absolute refences, if functions, and graphs or charts. At least that's what we focused on... And it went pretty well, at least they were all educated people to begin with.
At night we went out for a few drinks on the town, but really it was kinda depressingly quiet. But we worked it so that on Friday, early evening we got to go on a little boat cruise. I had really wanted to see a hippo, but I guess it wasn't meant to be. We met some very nice American students from Dakar. They we're on spring break and they came on the boat ride with us. It was a very nice boat ride anyways even if there wern't any hippos. At least I saw a few baboons in the trees.
Yesterday morning we taught and then hit the road to come back. Which was a little bit scary with our driver. We even fishtailed the car once or twice, going 120 k/ph over massive potholes. When we got back cyndi, Jakob and I went out to the Sushi place in Senegambia. It was expensive, but really very exciting to have sushi again. The fried noodles were excellent too.
Cyndi seemed to get some really good work done over the last few days too. She's been trying to organize a number of very complicated projects for the Y that aren't really defined very well. But she went out for a few drinks with Poncelet on Thursday, which from my experience is actually the best way to figure out what's actually supposed to be happening around here. Anyhow, things are pretty good overall. I'm gonna head back up to Janjang Burreh not next time but the time after that with Jakob. Hopefully next time we'll get to see the Wassu Stone Circles. They're some sort of weird Druidic stone formations up there. I guesss the only other news is that today is a very crazy day here. There's a really huge football match about to happen this afternoon. Gambia is meeting Senegal. It's totally nuts here, there are tons of Senagalise supporters here now. And from what I understand this is the first time the officals feel it's necssary to seperate the crowd into their supporting factions at the stadium. Should be a good game. But Cyndi and I are going to go to the beach instead. I'm not sure I need to be a part of all that insanity. Also the tickets costed an arm and a leg. Ok, well that's about all for now. I'll catch you all later. bye.
Well, this'll be a rather short update, because other than the war there hasn't been very much going on here this last week. And really most of the simple little things don't seem to matter very much in light of how screwed up the world is right now. This war is completely fucked up. I just don't get it at all. And what is this attitude that I'm hearing now, it's like now that we're at war there's no point opposing it. That's utter nonsense. Screw this patriotic propoganda; I mean, I love my country, but I sure as hell don't always agree with policy. That doesn' make me unpatriotic; that just means I use my brain... I'm really just pissed off about a whole lot of things. This war is more than just unecessarry, it's likely to provoke more anti-american aggression... Alright, I'm just going to stop there. I don't want to overly rant about this. It is what it is. And for my part right here and now; I can't do very much about it.
Anyway, nothing really's been going on here this week. I went out and did some more filming on Wednesday, and will again next Wednesday. Checking out the YMCA projects upcountry. Our satellite tv got fixed, just in time for the bombing to start. Cyndi's been preparing for exams next week. It's a little bit confusing when exactly school is ending this year. It's a census year here, so everyone has to go home to their villages in a week or two. Let's see, also pretty excitingly, we got some presents this week. Dawn and Gail left The Gambia, for Bangkok, and left some really nice presents for us. I think most of it was Special Olympics stuff Dawn had brought. But they left a Canadian flag, which Cyndi has got up on here wall now (to fully complete the lie she tells everyone about being Canadian...), and they also gave us a book of some sort, a Canada rain parka, a heap of canada flag pins and temporary tattoos, and a little Canada bag. Very nice. Also I got a package from my dad which was very very good. It had some magazines for me, Cinescape, and a weird Anime one. The package also had some CD-Rs I burned last year with episodes of one of my favorite TV shows; Samurai Jack. It's very good. I guess the only other thing to report is that our server at the lab seems to have crashed. It's off being repaired now. But that did hold us up from sending some birthday photos we took for Cyndi's dad. Anyways, that's all I've got to say for now. I hope everyone stays safe and happy. Let's just pray for peace. Later.
Well another week gone by, and a few things to report. Firstly, and I think most importantly someone stole our satellite antenna on Tuesday. Very, very distressing. So we've been without any form of decent entertqainment for a while. But then again, I guess we managed for a few months so far. They're planning on getting a new one. also, it'll be a while though.
Dawn and Gail our Canadian friends are leaving the Gambia on this comming Tuesday. It's sad, Cyndi and I really got along well with them. They're very cool girls. Yesterday I burned a couple of CDs for them, and this morning we all went out and shot a kind of home movie. It was really fun. We went around to all the places we visit and talk about but can't really explain to people back home. Video works very well for that kind of thing. Anyhow, we went into Serekunda market, and although it was a bit dicey (people aren't on the whole totally cool with a camera around them, even if you're not filming them) I think it turned out pretty good. I'm gonna edit a little something together for them and post it back to Vancouver for them. Anyways, it's too bad they're going, I'll really miss them. And I know Cyndi will too. Hopefully we'll get to hook up sometime in the future for a drink or something. I guess that's just the life of a traveller though.
Today I also shot the second YMCA advertisement. I think it went very well. And it didn't even take very long. Than again 30 seconds is a pretty short spot. This one was Commercial B. If you really want to know about it, check out the Commerical Proposal. I'm also heading out this Wednesday with Sam Thorpe, The Gambia YMCA's National Director, to go on a tour of some of the Y sponsored projects around the country. It should be fun. I've also really got to get these commercials shot. I've been using Jaskob's camera, just so I don't have to deal with the whole NTSC vs PAL thing, but Jakob really isn't here all that much longer.
They've also started finally building the Digital Studio this week. They've been making bricks all last week, but they're actually starting to build stuff now. It's good, although I'm not sure I'll actually be here for it all. I don't know, I mean, if I were to stay on all summer, I might be able to find stuff to do; but how am I supposed to know if this Studio will be ready by then??? Anyways, I suppose at the end of the day, I've just got to decide one way or the other. I do really think though that if I were here there might be opportunities for me. I've been talking with someone at CPA (Child Protection Alliance) and they might want me to do some sort of video project for them... we'll see.
Cyndi had a pretty slow week. She says her biggest event was preparing for examinations next week. Also, our exercise filing cabinet is stuck locked on us, so we don't have any papers for our students.... yup, thrilling stuff I know. Ok, well I think that's about it. Now that I've got this second commercial shot I'll really work on trying to get some video online this comming week. And that's all folks. Have a great next week. See ya later. Bye. Oh and by the way, there's no spell check on this computer so there are probably mistakes in this weeks log. Sorry, but you'll just have to deal with it.
Well things have been moving along as they do here. I’m sorry if I gae the impression that I was super down last log update. I suppose the truth is that sometimes I really do feel pretty bad; but I think that’s normal. I don’t like feeling like I’m hiding my emotions. I probably just shouldn’t write log updates when I’m in that kind of a mood. Anyhow, this week has been somewhat uneventful. We worked as usual, it was fine. I finally finished post production on my first YMCA commercial. I’ve really got to start on the next one. I’m sort of scheduled to shoot it on this coming Tuesday, but I don’t even have a script yet. Then again, I’m sure everything will work itself out ok. I have faith that last minute planning will pull it all together.
Jakob’s still away in Guinea Bissau. He’s supposed to be coming back either tomorrow or on Tuesday. He wasn’t sure about the buses. I’ve been trying to think about what I’m really going to get up to next year. And it’s really a bit confusing to be honest. I’m as of now thinking that I want to go to either Ireland, England, or Sweden for a six month stay. But before I do any of those I’ll probably need to go make some money somewhere. Maybe I should go to San Mateo and stay with my parents for a bit, make quick cash then get out. I did that last Christmas and it was fairly profitable. Then again, who’s to say my parents want me there… I could maybe go crash with Catherine (my sister) in Vancouver, but I don’t think she’d really be too thrilled about that… Also, I really never want to go back to being a PA. It’s just not worth it. And I figure that if I want to work in the film industry, and not do that kind of grunt work, I’m going to have to broaden my options. I figure if I can spend the next few years working in different jobs, not necessarily actually in the industry; but so long as I’m learning like I am here then I’ll be in a good spot to make something happen for myself. I don’t want to just float around and wait for a break, or inspiration. I am willing to work for what I want, right now though I’m just not too sure what that is… I think I’d like to go back to Toronto for a bit too. West coast life is nice and all, but I really miss proper seasons. Anyhow, it’s a lot to think about. If anyone has any suggestions and /or knows people involved in the film industries anywhere in England, Ireland or Sweden I’d love to hear about it. Anyhow, I’m going to stop rambling about my future now, it’s just confusing.
We have a satellite now at the Y. It’s pretty exciting, we get 12 channels or so, and even a movie channel! I just watched ‘Jewel of the Nile’ this morning. Very cool. I also got to watch an episode of DS9. Well, you’re probably not too excited by that, but I am. It’s very fun. The only issue now is that there’s a football game on almost every day of the week and we pretty much have to let them watch it. I like it in small doses myself, but jeez, every day… I can’t handle it. But that’s ok, just so long as I now have the options of watching Fear Factor, and reruns of Growing Pains my life is complete.
We went out with Dawn and Gail (the Canadian girls) last night. They’re leaving The Gambia next week. They’ve decided to pull out of their commitment here early and I can’t say I blame them. It looks like the Special Olympics is in a fairly sorry state here. It doesn’t look to me from everything I’ve heard that anything is really sustainable. Then again that’s kind of the problem with all the NGOs here. I mean, people (westerners) come here to set great programs up with the best of intentions and while they're ’here it works, whatever it is. But as soon as these volunteers leave everything falls apart again. Is it apathy? Is it just cultural? I think a lot of it just has to do with lifestyle. But really, The Gambia is a tiny country, that’s all river! It should be doing well. I guess I’m just saying its kinda sad.
Cyndi’s parent’s were planning on coming here during July, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen now. Cyndi it seems is now going to head home for three weeks I July. Absolutely nothing will be happening here. I think I’ll probably go travelling too, if money and the political situation permits. I’d really like to go to Morocco, but it might just be too pricey. I really feel like I need a break from all this though. I’m also thinking a little bit about pulling out of here early. As in June or so. The only thing would be if the Digital Studio is actually up and getting together. But that seems highly doubtful at the moment. Although they are well on their way building the bricks for the building now, I just don’t see anything actually coming together until a lot closer to the ends of the year. And what the heck am I supposed to do until then. I don’t want to be here that long. Anyhow, as you can see, I’ve somehow gotten back onto my future. It’s just frustrating. Anyways, I’m gonna head off now. So long everyone. Stay cool.
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