Thanksgiving

So my Senegalese name is Momadou Saliou Diallo, our families here give us names to help us integrate.

So im feeling a little better now, my dose of some lovely little African bug has left my head and just has remnants left in my nose and throat. Details i know. Anyway to catch up on the last week, we've done a lot really. So on Monday i had my french class with Jibby, my tutor for Pullar. I have class at his and Assana Hendricks apartment. Jibby i guess was friends with some peace corps volunteers about 10 years ago or so and they were visiting him. So i got to talk to a another RPCV about her service and all that jazz. The french was ok, basic stuff as it was the first time we had a session. That was the only thing of note that i can remember.
The next day on Tuesday Thomas and i went out to the rice field that my host dad has to help cut rice. That was really interesting. Its probably a good 10-15min bike ride away from the city. Thats on a bike, and I'm pretty sure i've seen my dad multiple times hoofing it out there on foot. Its just Africa and he had to get out there. It must take quite a while to get out there on foot. So the field is nice and around other fields. While I'm saying this its not really a American field, but a African one. No neat rows and isles, just a big section of rice running up the middle of the field. We Got to cut the rice by hand too, that was fun. We were using a hand sickle to cut the rice and then pile it up in little piles all over the field. It was fun and we did this for a little while until my host brother said he was heading back to the house and my dad said he would be coming along in a little while.
So we head back to the house and hang out for a little while until i fall asleep for about an hour. I get woken up by a phone call from Matt at the regional house requesting my presence for a swimming adventure down the Gambia. This is fun we swim around for a while and then get the idea to lazy river down the river a while. We find a cool tree thats hanging over the river and use it as a jumping pt. it was really fun. We get out of the river a little bit further on down and walk back to where our stuff is. It was fun, and everyone really seemed to enjoy it.
The next day, Wednesday the 25th Thomas and i have our pullar class with jibby. Between the french and the pullar ive got alot of 'classes' to go to. Im pretty sure no one else has this sort of arrangement. After class, thomas and i go to the market to try and get our beds so that the 35 people who are coming to the regional house will at least have two extra beds to sleep on. We first go to Thomas's host dads boutique to see if he can help us with the process. hes a nice guy and has a nice boutique. He was able to help us get mattress for our beds and then help us find the one remaining bed at the spot where they sell beds. We got everything loaded up on our bikes and the guy we bought them from said he'd get the bed to the regional house. We both figured he meant on a cart or something, but he just bends down and puts it on his head in true African style. So we walk the 20min it takes to get back there while this old man is hoofing it along with this bed on his head. Truly something to witness.
So Today as well, it is decided that we should go drifting on the river again. This is with a bunch more people as more people have shown up for thanksgiving. So now weve got about 16 people or so to go. This time we bring rope and a air tight bucket to put our stuff in. We also decide to try and float all the way down the river to where a restaurant is that we always go to, and can see the river from. Its really fun, and we end up making a rope swing and jumping into the water. After we do this for a while we float on down to the restaurant and have some nice warthog sandwich's. When we get back to the regional house yet more people are there and the place is starting to get crowded. I have dinner at the host family compound and then head back to go to bed as my head snot feeling too good.
Thanksgiving, what a hypocritical holiday, i cant think of a group of people weve treated worse, well maybe one, that we celebrate as if we didnt. For those who dont know we pretty much systematically wiped out the Indians from the north east, mid Atlantic, south, mid west, west and pacific north west. You name the area weve prob been pretty nasty to Indians there. But hey we give them this holiday as a little joke cause they saved our asses when white people first got to America. My thanksgiving sucked. I was sick all day. Not vomiting sick, but flu-ie feverish sick. I ended up with a 102 fever and was stuck in bed cause i wanted to fall over when i got up. I took a bunch of aspirin for the dinner and was able to eat a little bit of dinner but really didnt have much of an appetite. Ah well ill have another Thanksgiving next year and ill just have to make it that much better.
Friday was better, i was still a little sick but no fever and was able to eat some warmed up leftovers for breakfast. Unfortunately i missed the desert the night before and that was long gone. So i dont end up doing a whole lot Friday either as im just trying to get better. Thats basically what ive been doing up untill now, minus the few meals ive had at the family compound and the regional strategy meeting we had on Sunday. While at the compound on Saturday though, i walk in to it and right when you walk in theres a large 10x20ft shade type structure 10ft off the ground that has loads of corn on it. Ever since ive been there the corns been drying out. When i came in Saturday my uncle is sitting on top of it with about 5 little kids beating the corn. Now i wasnt really sure what he was doing until i remember that thats what they do to get teh corn off the cob. it was really interesting to see. They usually do this at a smaller scale with a bag, but they had a big tarp set up underneath it and he was swinging away at it. The kids loved it.
The regional strategy plan is roughly based on the millennium development goals outlined by the UN. It basically gave us a better platform to stand on to clearly define what it is we are trying to accomplish here. The meeting took 5hrs as we went over the entire doc, and the action plans associated with each of the 8 sections. It was interesting to hear everything.