Written on June 1st, 2010
This past weekend I went on my first Gambian sleepover. I have spent time away from my site in other villages but always in the relative comfort of another PCV's house. This time however I was going to stay with my friend Asso in a village about a 30 minute bike ride from me. After lunch on Friday I set out, not before Yaay Sarjo and Yaay Amie independently verified that I had brought the right amount of complets for the weekends events. I was to stay over Friday night and then attend a big village religious event on Saturday and go home on Sunday morning. I predicted that the sleepover would be a test of my integration, patience, Wolof skill, flexibility and sanity, and in these aspects I wasn't wrong.
I wouldn't say that the principles of the Gambian sleepover are all that much different from the American sleepover: to spend time with friends, see a different family and how they live and escape your own life for a while, they just manifest themselves in very different ways. Here are some of my Gambian sleepover observations:
* As an adult spending the night at a friends usually includes chatting while you prepare a meal together. In this case I illuminated dinner with my head lamp while Asso killed and cooked a chicken for me--a huge honor.
* The imposed rest--while American sleepovers are usually defined by not resting/sleeping, here I was strongly encouraged/forced to rest 85% of the time. When we were not greeting, eating or drinking attaya Asso and her family were bringing me pillows, laying down mats and mattresses all in an attempt to get me to rest. Sometimes it seems the best way to show your gratefulness/comfort in someone elses home is to fall asleep on their bed/in their presence. Don't worry though, my Mom raised me to be polite, so I did take a considerable nap on the bantaba under a large mango tree. When I woke up they were all thrilled, Asso overfed me with greasy rice and then rolled out another mattress and told me to lie down while she brewed us attaya.
* Do you remember how as a kid a huge embarrassment would be if your Mom or Dad made you do a chore while you had a friend sleeping over? Asso's mom, Yaay Mattie, took this to a whole different level. Asso is in her late 30s, but like most Gambians of her age still lives with her family. At around 9:30 pm on Saturday night we were both showered and wearing our complets ready to go drink attaya and milk at the compound of our friend Mamet. (He and Asso are Wolof literacy instructors in the village and very active members of the women's skills group.) As we were about to leave, after feeding and bathing Asso's assorted children, Yaay Mattie told Asso that before we left she needed to cook the sauce for breakfast the next morning. So 10 pm found us in the kitchen hut in Yaay Mattie's backyard cooking chicken and chopping onion. This definitely makes me appreciate that at 35 I, inshallah, won't be living with my mother and even if that is the case she probably won't make me cook breakfast at 10 pm.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Dinner with Alieu
Written on May 13th, 2010
This (Peace Corps) experience can often best be described as a roller coaster in every sense that that word conjures. The most frequent roller coaster element of life here is the emotional mood swings that have become a part of my existence in a way they never were before. Today was one of those days where the best way to describe me would be "a mood swinging bitchy mess." Interactions/any venture out of my house is a an emotional minefield. A lovely morning of mangoes and attaya with fun women or an hour spent in bliss on my mat drawing with my host brothers will be decimated by one stray comment on the size of my butt or the way I speak Wolof. The pendulum swings back and forth at a break neck speed but inevitably on those types of days there comes a moment or interaction where I say--"That's it Lindsey, time to stop trying and call it a day." These moments usually happen at the pendulums extreme either an infuriating or beautiful moment. Luckily today's was the latter.
I had decided early this morning to cook dinner for myself and had bought a bowl full of bissap leaves (I was hoping they could king of imitate spinach) and some garlic and onions to make a kind of "development" spinach noodle curry. I really enjoy cooking dinner for myself three or four times a week because it breaks the monotony of rice and gives me a chance to supplement/balance my diet a little. Cooking can also however be a bit of a trying experience because like everything I do here I tend to attract a crowd of my host siblings who come in my house and all want to help/go through my stuff.
Today however was different, I put on a Bruce Springsteen based play list from my iPod and mentally prepared myself for the "kong kong" outside my door. Tonight however only my adorable and amazing little host brother Alieu showed up at my door. Alieu has become the kid who I spend the most time with, he has a great smile, little voice, pants that are constantly falling down and a killer rendition of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." Alieu came into my house proclaiming, "Ramatoulie, today I'm going to help you cook dinner because I know how." So Alieu perched on my food trunk and pet my new kitten, Biskrem, gently like I had showed him. The "help" he provided me was more mental than anything else. He poured the bissap leaves into my pot and then happily munched away on the excess ones. While we waited for it all to simmer down we danced to "Black Betty" and "Up On Cripple Creek." Alieu's smile erased all of the days frustration. When our "spinach curry" was ready I put Alieu's portion in a Tupperware and he proudly brought it outside to share. I had been able to convince him that he was instrumental in cooking dinner so much so that by the end he was proclaiming, "Ramatoulie, the dinner I cooked was very nice!" When the Tupperware was empty he licked the sides clean and handed it back to me, smiling with bissap curry all over his face.
If that's not enough to make you smile than I don't know what is.
This (Peace Corps) experience can often best be described as a roller coaster in every sense that that word conjures. The most frequent roller coaster element of life here is the emotional mood swings that have become a part of my existence in a way they never were before. Today was one of those days where the best way to describe me would be "a mood swinging bitchy mess." Interactions/any venture out of my house is a an emotional minefield. A lovely morning of mangoes and attaya with fun women or an hour spent in bliss on my mat drawing with my host brothers will be decimated by one stray comment on the size of my butt or the way I speak Wolof. The pendulum swings back and forth at a break neck speed but inevitably on those types of days there comes a moment or interaction where I say--"That's it Lindsey, time to stop trying and call it a day." These moments usually happen at the pendulums extreme either an infuriating or beautiful moment. Luckily today's was the latter.
I had decided early this morning to cook dinner for myself and had bought a bowl full of bissap leaves (I was hoping they could king of imitate spinach) and some garlic and onions to make a kind of "development" spinach noodle curry. I really enjoy cooking dinner for myself three or four times a week because it breaks the monotony of rice and gives me a chance to supplement/balance my diet a little. Cooking can also however be a bit of a trying experience because like everything I do here I tend to attract a crowd of my host siblings who come in my house and all want to help/go through my stuff.
Today however was different, I put on a Bruce Springsteen based play list from my iPod and mentally prepared myself for the "kong kong" outside my door. Tonight however only my adorable and amazing little host brother Alieu showed up at my door. Alieu has become the kid who I spend the most time with, he has a great smile, little voice, pants that are constantly falling down and a killer rendition of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." Alieu came into my house proclaiming, "Ramatoulie, today I'm going to help you cook dinner because I know how." So Alieu perched on my food trunk and pet my new kitten, Biskrem, gently like I had showed him. The "help" he provided me was more mental than anything else. He poured the bissap leaves into my pot and then happily munched away on the excess ones. While we waited for it all to simmer down we danced to "Black Betty" and "Up On Cripple Creek." Alieu's smile erased all of the days frustration. When our "spinach curry" was ready I put Alieu's portion in a Tupperware and he proudly brought it outside to share. I had been able to convince him that he was instrumental in cooking dinner so much so that by the end he was proclaiming, "Ramatoulie, the dinner I cooked was very nice!" When the Tupperware was empty he licked the sides clean and handed it back to me, smiling with bissap curry all over his face.
If that's not enough to make you smile than I don't know what is.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Village Matrimony
Written on May 7th, 2010
I just made it through 36 hours of wedding/engagement celebrations in KJJ. The past two days have been all but consumed with Gambian matrimony and it has been a truly fascinating cultural experience. It all started yesterday afternoon. Baay Saney--a relative/close family friend--was sending his daughter Amie to her husbands compound (which is half way across the village). In the Gambia there are many different stages of marriage. First is the giving of the kola nuts which is basically an engagement, next is the "tying of the knots" where the two family heads/representatives finalize the bride price and the couple is then married. After the tying of the knots is the "chit" or wedding ceremony which is when the bride moves to her husbands compound. Years can go by between the tying of the knots and wedding because it can take a while for the husbands family to fulfill their bride price obligations and this must happen before the bride will be permanently given to the grooms family. Before that however the bride can be given on a "loan" to perform certain wifely duties so often, such as in this case, the bride moves to her husbands compound having already given birth to their first child.
But once the wedding ceremony actually happens that's a whole different experience. The brides family and friends will bring all manner of compound essentials (mainly laundry buckets, food bowls and fabric) and money to the brides compound. This is followed by a loud display of all these items. The griots (praise singers) and drummers come and all the women dance like crazy in celebration. After the gifts are displayed everyone eats a lot of cherey, bena chin and drinks attaya.
The attaya is essential because that night is the sabara--which is a whole night of drumming and dancing. Last night I headed to the sabara at around 10:30. At around 11 they started preparing the area, putting together a circle of benches and splashing the ground (and participants feet) liberally with water. At 11:30 they dug a hole in the ground--stuck a big stick in it and suspended a cheap camping lantern from it. Aside from the stars this was our source of light. Around midnight the band--a few standing drums, an under the arm talking drum, calabash guitar and man with a scratchy voice and scratchier megaphone was set up and got started. To my untrained ear every song sounds exactly the same but the women cheered and clapped at the different praises sung in each one. Women and girls ran up to the center of the circle stomping their feet, shaking their hips and moving their butts in ways I never thought possible. Bathed in the starlight it was breath taking and I tried to sit back and absorb the amazing energy. Of course I went up to dance a few times but the best part was in their joy and excitement they really could have cared less if the toubab danced. By 1:30 I could barely keep my eyes open so I joyfully stumbled home in the dark. But the dancing continued until at least 3:30.
Today was the second half of the wedding ceremony where the bride goes to the husbands compound. If she is going to another village a group of older women will usually go with her but because this was all within KJJ we all escorted her to her new compound. This took the form of a cross village procession of singing, drumming and dancing. At the husbands compound all of the gifts from the brides friends and family are unloaded and given away to the grooms family and friends. This is of course accompanied by more singing, dancing and drumming.
An added element to all of these wedding shenanigans is the ashobe. Think bridesmaids dresses on crack. Groups will all buy the same fabric and get outfits made out of it so you look out at a carpet of fabric. It always reminds me of the scene at the beginning of Garden State when he puts on the shirt that matches the bathroom wallpaper. For this wedding we all (myself included) were visions in orange. The older women (like my host moms) had one print and the young women (me and my host sisters) had another but they were both bright orange. Just consider it one more ridiculous and hilarious experience for Lindsey in The Gambia.
I just made it through 36 hours of wedding/engagement celebrations in KJJ. The past two days have been all but consumed with Gambian matrimony and it has been a truly fascinating cultural experience. It all started yesterday afternoon. Baay Saney--a relative/close family friend--was sending his daughter Amie to her husbands compound (which is half way across the village). In the Gambia there are many different stages of marriage. First is the giving of the kola nuts which is basically an engagement, next is the "tying of the knots" where the two family heads/representatives finalize the bride price and the couple is then married. After the tying of the knots is the "chit" or wedding ceremony which is when the bride moves to her husbands compound. Years can go by between the tying of the knots and wedding because it can take a while for the husbands family to fulfill their bride price obligations and this must happen before the bride will be permanently given to the grooms family. Before that however the bride can be given on a "loan" to perform certain wifely duties so often, such as in this case, the bride moves to her husbands compound having already given birth to their first child.
But once the wedding ceremony actually happens that's a whole different experience. The brides family and friends will bring all manner of compound essentials (mainly laundry buckets, food bowls and fabric) and money to the brides compound. This is followed by a loud display of all these items. The griots (praise singers) and drummers come and all the women dance like crazy in celebration. After the gifts are displayed everyone eats a lot of cherey, bena chin and drinks attaya.
The attaya is essential because that night is the sabara--which is a whole night of drumming and dancing. Last night I headed to the sabara at around 10:30. At around 11 they started preparing the area, putting together a circle of benches and splashing the ground (and participants feet) liberally with water. At 11:30 they dug a hole in the ground--stuck a big stick in it and suspended a cheap camping lantern from it. Aside from the stars this was our source of light. Around midnight the band--a few standing drums, an under the arm talking drum, calabash guitar and man with a scratchy voice and scratchier megaphone was set up and got started. To my untrained ear every song sounds exactly the same but the women cheered and clapped at the different praises sung in each one. Women and girls ran up to the center of the circle stomping their feet, shaking their hips and moving their butts in ways I never thought possible. Bathed in the starlight it was breath taking and I tried to sit back and absorb the amazing energy. Of course I went up to dance a few times but the best part was in their joy and excitement they really could have cared less if the toubab danced. By 1:30 I could barely keep my eyes open so I joyfully stumbled home in the dark. But the dancing continued until at least 3:30.
Today was the second half of the wedding ceremony where the bride goes to the husbands compound. If she is going to another village a group of older women will usually go with her but because this was all within KJJ we all escorted her to her new compound. This took the form of a cross village procession of singing, drumming and dancing. At the husbands compound all of the gifts from the brides friends and family are unloaded and given away to the grooms family and friends. This is of course accompanied by more singing, dancing and drumming.
An added element to all of these wedding shenanigans is the ashobe. Think bridesmaids dresses on crack. Groups will all buy the same fabric and get outfits made out of it so you look out at a carpet of fabric. It always reminds me of the scene at the beginning of Garden State when he puts on the shirt that matches the bathroom wallpaper. For this wedding we all (myself included) were visions in orange. The older women (like my host moms) had one print and the young women (me and my host sisters) had another but they were both bright orange. Just consider it one more ridiculous and hilarious experience for Lindsey in The Gambia.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Culinary Musings
Written on April 27th, 2010
Oh food. Here in the Gambia it is both my enemy and my best friend. It sustains me, it makes me violently ill, it makes me feel happy, it makes me want to scream and vomit at the same time, it is a constant reminder of my "outsiderness" and a great comfort when the going gets tough.
So, you may be wondering, what exactly am I eating here. As far as Gambian food goes its rice, rice and more rice. My family eats rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner. On a handful of days (like the Prophet Mohamed's birthday) we've substituted rice for cheray which is a cereal called coos, pounded and milled into a flour like substance that's then sifted and cooked. Both cheray and rice are served with a few different kinds of sauces. My family rotates through two most consistently.
The first is called "chew" and its basically rice with fish cooked in an oil (vegetables or palm) sauce with vegetables (egg plant, cabbage, carrot, bitter tomato), onions, tomato paste, salt, pepper, Jumbo (an MSG cube) and hot pepper. Some days I like chew but it is by far the most common dish in my village so I get sick of it pretty quickly. The women love to cook it because it shows that they have enough xalis (money) to buy oil.
The second dish is called "mafe" or "domada" and this is rice with peanut sauce. The peanut sauce is made with peanut butter (which is made from the ground nuts they harvest each year), tamarind, tomato paste, hot pepper, Jumbo and sometimes dried salted fish. Mafe is definitely my favorite because a) the rice is not dripping in oil and b) I can feel all the protein seeping out of my body with every bite of peanut sauce I take. Mafe however is usually the Plan B meal for when the "Yah Boy" fish man doesn't come or there's not enough money for oil.
Another much less common meal is "sauce farine"--flour sauce--which I detest because it is a very watery version of mafe, though I do like the fish meatballs that are usually in it. For special occasions in village we get to have "bena chin" which is very oily spicy rice with meat and vegetables but because of the vat of oil it requires its to expensive for every day meals.
For breakfast we alternate between sweet and savory. Either it is some version of "mbaxal" which is spicy rice with pounded peanuts and green onion, spicy rice with fish or, my breakfast favorite, "churay gerte" which is a porridge of pounded rice and peanuts, salt and sugar.
When my mind or body just can't take Gambian food I have a trunk full of slightly more familiar alternatives. These can be found when I come into the city, in the form of yogurt, egg rolls, hamburgers, falafal, pizza and chwarma. Or in KJJ I have a trunk full of slightly more familiar alternatives. For breakfast I usually make oatmeal or cereal and tea with powdered milk. For lunch I always eat with my family but because we eat the same thing for lunch and dinner I can decide if I want to eat with my family for dinner or cook for myself. My "development cooking" experiments have so far been very successful. I've made curry a few times, macaroni and cheese, ramen noodles with vegetables and egg, tuna and my personal favorite, spicy creamy tomato sauce which is tomato paste, milk, hot peppers and whatever vegetables I can find. I am still trying to figure out what to do with the bags of dried beans I bought after swear-in.
When traditional meals aren't enough to quell my appetite I also have the comfort of cookies and candy sent from home as well as whatever fruits and snacks (salted peanuts, panketos-which are like donut holes, fish pies, oranges, cashew apples and mangos) I can find in village.
So for all my Jewish aunties out there--I am eating enough--and (most) of it is delicious.
Oh food. Here in the Gambia it is both my enemy and my best friend. It sustains me, it makes me violently ill, it makes me feel happy, it makes me want to scream and vomit at the same time, it is a constant reminder of my "outsiderness" and a great comfort when the going gets tough.
So, you may be wondering, what exactly am I eating here. As far as Gambian food goes its rice, rice and more rice. My family eats rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner. On a handful of days (like the Prophet Mohamed's birthday) we've substituted rice for cheray which is a cereal called coos, pounded and milled into a flour like substance that's then sifted and cooked. Both cheray and rice are served with a few different kinds of sauces. My family rotates through two most consistently.
The first is called "chew" and its basically rice with fish cooked in an oil (vegetables or palm) sauce with vegetables (egg plant, cabbage, carrot, bitter tomato), onions, tomato paste, salt, pepper, Jumbo (an MSG cube) and hot pepper. Some days I like chew but it is by far the most common dish in my village so I get sick of it pretty quickly. The women love to cook it because it shows that they have enough xalis (money) to buy oil.
The second dish is called "mafe" or "domada" and this is rice with peanut sauce. The peanut sauce is made with peanut butter (which is made from the ground nuts they harvest each year), tamarind, tomato paste, hot pepper, Jumbo and sometimes dried salted fish. Mafe is definitely my favorite because a) the rice is not dripping in oil and b) I can feel all the protein seeping out of my body with every bite of peanut sauce I take. Mafe however is usually the Plan B meal for when the "Yah Boy" fish man doesn't come or there's not enough money for oil.
Another much less common meal is "sauce farine"--flour sauce--which I detest because it is a very watery version of mafe, though I do like the fish meatballs that are usually in it. For special occasions in village we get to have "bena chin" which is very oily spicy rice with meat and vegetables but because of the vat of oil it requires its to expensive for every day meals.
For breakfast we alternate between sweet and savory. Either it is some version of "mbaxal" which is spicy rice with pounded peanuts and green onion, spicy rice with fish or, my breakfast favorite, "churay gerte" which is a porridge of pounded rice and peanuts, salt and sugar.
When my mind or body just can't take Gambian food I have a trunk full of slightly more familiar alternatives. These can be found when I come into the city, in the form of yogurt, egg rolls, hamburgers, falafal, pizza and chwarma. Or in KJJ I have a trunk full of slightly more familiar alternatives. For breakfast I usually make oatmeal or cereal and tea with powdered milk. For lunch I always eat with my family but because we eat the same thing for lunch and dinner I can decide if I want to eat with my family for dinner or cook for myself. My "development cooking" experiments have so far been very successful. I've made curry a few times, macaroni and cheese, ramen noodles with vegetables and egg, tuna and my personal favorite, spicy creamy tomato sauce which is tomato paste, milk, hot peppers and whatever vegetables I can find. I am still trying to figure out what to do with the bags of dried beans I bought after swear-in.
When traditional meals aren't enough to quell my appetite I also have the comfort of cookies and candy sent from home as well as whatever fruits and snacks (salted peanuts, panketos-which are like donut holes, fish pies, oranges, cashew apples and mangos) I can find in village.
So for all my Jewish aunties out there--I am eating enough--and (most) of it is delicious.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
"Cocastic"- Better than Fantastic!
Written on April 18th, 2010
So last night Fern, Erica and I, along with some other PCVs went to a beauty pageant--yes a Gambian beauty pageant. It was so ridiculous and amazing I don't really even think I can do it justice in writing. It was one of those times that I was sitting in equal amazement and shock that I had found myself experiencing this and I was eternally grateful that the stars had aligned for me to be able to witness this.
The pageant was called "Queen of Companies 2010" and claimed loosely to be a fundraiser for kids education, mostly it was an excuse for each of the sponsoring companies to get women who work for them to strut their stuff and show their knees.
There were two very Gambian hosts, a male and a female. The male host had some great one liners and hit relentlessly on his female counterpart. She spent the evening scowling and looking confused. The male host started the evening by declaring "Tonight I am going to be the king of all queens," and very clearly stated, "I was informed by an informant that information has been shared." I wasn't quite sure about that one.
The beauty pageant's opening consisted of the eleven contestants participating in a five song opening dance number which consisted of much arm flailing and confused dancing. They moved from the stage to the runway all the while competing for attention and strutting with a combination of grace and awkwardness. At one point the competition for the coveted spot at the end of the runway got to be to much a a girl fell down. After the awe inspiring opening number was the traditional dress portion where each of the girls danced their way out onto the runway and then introduced themselves. Most of them were between 18 and 20 and almost every ones interests included reading (something I've never seen a Gambian do) and surfing the net. They also often mentioned people they admired, popular options were "my mom" and Kofi Annan but the best was a women who stated, "Michael Jackson is my hero because of his love for children." She went on to express the aspiration, "I want to be a surgeon so I can help my people like Michael has helped our people with his music." I took this to be an indication of the lack of news accessible to Gambians--apparently MJs trial didn't make it over here.
After the introductions while each Queen changed into her "fashion" outfits we got a stunning performance by some rap group who lip synched to a song that was blasting over the speakers at a deafening volume while the back up dancers sulked around in their saggy pants and swung around weird yellow towels. After the stunning musical performance an executive from Youki, a Gambian soda company, came up and expounded, "If you try Youki today, your tomorrow will be very different." Seeing as Youki grapefruit has vastly changed how I consume gin packets I would say that is definitely true. After this the Queens did a brief runway show of their Western "casual" outfits. It started out in a very lady like manner with each Queen getting her chance at the runway. By the end however it devolved into women running into each other and bumping shoulders down the runway.
After the fashion portion there was more horrible lip synching and a very strange comedy routine. It was in English but you couldn't understand any of what they were saying. Basically it was two men in skin tight leggings goofing around on the runway and shaking their butts/clenching their butt muscles. They had a field day with all the toubab presence and proceeded to make jokes about us that we couldn't understand other than the brilliant lines, "Toubabs speak out of their butts and kill your mothers." To add to the annoying nature of their performance they stole the lollipop I was sucking on to stay awake. The next section of the beauty pageant consisted of the Queens giving presentations about the companies they were representing. Ms. Africell (a cell phone company) bribed us all with free lanyards and holders for our cell phones. Overall however whatever sales talents these women had was minuscule at best. They mostly just stuck out their boobs to emphasize the company name on their skintight T-shirts. By the time the product presentations were done it was probably close to 2:30 am and we had talent, Q & A and evening gowns remaining. The three of us took quick power naps on sofas in the lobby and were able to stay awake long enough to see half the talent section which consisted of the Queens lip synching to dated American pop and hip hop; think Whitney Huston, Toni Braxton, Beyonce, Cassie, J-Lo etc. They all forgot about the mic they were "singing" into after the first thirty seconds and then proceeded to dance with moves commonly seen in close proximity to a stripper pole. After a rousing number by Ms. Africell with a guitar as a prop it was almost 4 am. As the sun rose over the Gambian beauty pageant we made our way home exclaiming the whole way about the glorious ridiculousness of what we had just seen.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Kerr Jarga Jobe: A Planners Perspective
Written on April 8th, 2010
Dedicated to the past and present staff of The Planning Commissioners Journal
[In a recent email it was brought to my attention that I haven't really described the village of Kerr Jarga Jobe (KJJ) yet for all of you. So here comes my attempt to paint you a picture of a small Gambian village.]
KJJ is a small-ish village of between 60-65 compounds. Compounds can have anywhere from 5 to 35 residents and their respective houses. Houses are usually either square one room grass roof huts, like mine, or row houses with multiple doors that lead into 1 or 2 rooms with separate or communal backyards. Inside the house is used mainly for sleeping resting and seeking shade/temperature relief while doing work like shelling peanuts. I would say that 80-90% of socializing and 95% of work takes place outside. The backyard serves as bathroom, bathing area, kitchen and laundry room. The front or communal space in the center of the compound is used for socializing, working, eating, resting, fires for light and/or warmth, attaya brewing and sleeping under the stars.
My living situation, i.e. the fact that I have a house and backyard of my own is not the norm--usually only the head of the compound has this luxury. For everyone else their days, nights and even beds are shared with their mothers, children, brothers and sisters etc. It becomes easy to understand why American notions of privacy and personal space are not really understood here.
Now imagine yourself standing on Gambia's North Bank highway (a two lane road), your coming from the west and on your left about 1/4 of a kilometer off the road beyond the spindly trees and dry grass you will see the beginning of KJJ. The village center with the grand mosque is probably 1/2 to 3/4 km from the NB road but with time and growth the village has moved from the center out towards the main road. My compound is on the outskirts of town and my compound as well as those around ours represent the most recent settlement in town. There are already compounds being built beyond mine closer to the main road so eventually the village will probably start at the NB road rather than 1/4 km off of it. I suspect because the village has slowly expanded towards the road village resources--water taps, communal sitting spaces under large trees and bitiks (small variety stores essential to Gambian life) are spread out to all corners/sections of the village.
About 100 meters from my compound is the KJJ cooperative which is basically a huge parking lot with a high concrete wall around it where all of the peanuts grown by this and surrounding villages are stored until they are bought en masse by the government. Next to the cooperative is the tap my family uses and next to the tap is the village market under a big tree where every day about six women sell ingredients and vegetables to make lunch. On the left of the cooperative is the "main road" which runs from the NB road all the way into the center of town. On this road is the skills center, small mosque, small school, milling machine, my favorite bitik, the big tree where the guys who sell fish come in the morning, the district chiefs compound (with electricity) and finally the road ends in the town center.
The town center is only notable because of the large mosque with a domed robins egg blue roof which faces a large covered bantaba (a bench on steroids). Now that I think about it the "village center" is historically where the village started. The alkali's (village leader) compound is on the opposite end of the "square," but for all practical purposes it represents the norther edge of the village. Beyond the "square" and mosque the village gives way to an open savanna dotted with baobabs and one dirt path/road leading to our neighboring village, Torro Alhasan.
Aside from the hug bantaba in the center of town, the water taps and to a certain degree the skills center there are not any other public spaces in town. But at the same time even private space is public. To get most places you walk through peoples "private" compounds. The blurring/lack of distinction between public and private space is also assisted by the fact that basically everyone in the village is related in one way or another. The two most common family names are Jobe (as in KJJ--the family that founded the village) and Cham. Here, as it is everywhere else in the country, people don't move somewhere unless someone they know and are related to already lives there. My family is a fairly new addition to the village hence why we life on the edge of town, but my host father moved here because his sister is one of the district chiefs wives. This coupled with the fact that most marriages are arranged means that people move between compounds through marriage. Many who live in the village were also born here and the women who have left have left because they were married to people in other villages. Since my village is fairly close to the city there are a fair amount of people who move back and forth but this is mostly men seeking work and kids whose families send them to live with relatives in Kombo to go to school.
So there's a snapshot of KJJ, I hope I did The Planning Commissioners Journal justice! If you're dying to know more come visit!!
Dedicated to the past and present staff of The Planning Commissioners Journal
[In a recent email it was brought to my attention that I haven't really described the village of Kerr Jarga Jobe (KJJ) yet for all of you. So here comes my attempt to paint you a picture of a small Gambian village.]
KJJ is a small-ish village of between 60-65 compounds. Compounds can have anywhere from 5 to 35 residents and their respective houses. Houses are usually either square one room grass roof huts, like mine, or row houses with multiple doors that lead into 1 or 2 rooms with separate or communal backyards. Inside the house is used mainly for sleeping resting and seeking shade/temperature relief while doing work like shelling peanuts. I would say that 80-90% of socializing and 95% of work takes place outside. The backyard serves as bathroom, bathing area, kitchen and laundry room. The front or communal space in the center of the compound is used for socializing, working, eating, resting, fires for light and/or warmth, attaya brewing and sleeping under the stars.
My living situation, i.e. the fact that I have a house and backyard of my own is not the norm--usually only the head of the compound has this luxury. For everyone else their days, nights and even beds are shared with their mothers, children, brothers and sisters etc. It becomes easy to understand why American notions of privacy and personal space are not really understood here.
Now imagine yourself standing on Gambia's North Bank highway (a two lane road), your coming from the west and on your left about 1/4 of a kilometer off the road beyond the spindly trees and dry grass you will see the beginning of KJJ. The village center with the grand mosque is probably 1/2 to 3/4 km from the NB road but with time and growth the village has moved from the center out towards the main road. My compound is on the outskirts of town and my compound as well as those around ours represent the most recent settlement in town. There are already compounds being built beyond mine closer to the main road so eventually the village will probably start at the NB road rather than 1/4 km off of it. I suspect because the village has slowly expanded towards the road village resources--water taps, communal sitting spaces under large trees and bitiks (small variety stores essential to Gambian life) are spread out to all corners/sections of the village.
About 100 meters from my compound is the KJJ cooperative which is basically a huge parking lot with a high concrete wall around it where all of the peanuts grown by this and surrounding villages are stored until they are bought en masse by the government. Next to the cooperative is the tap my family uses and next to the tap is the village market under a big tree where every day about six women sell ingredients and vegetables to make lunch. On the left of the cooperative is the "main road" which runs from the NB road all the way into the center of town. On this road is the skills center, small mosque, small school, milling machine, my favorite bitik, the big tree where the guys who sell fish come in the morning, the district chiefs compound (with electricity) and finally the road ends in the town center.
The town center is only notable because of the large mosque with a domed robins egg blue roof which faces a large covered bantaba (a bench on steroids). Now that I think about it the "village center" is historically where the village started. The alkali's (village leader) compound is on the opposite end of the "square," but for all practical purposes it represents the norther edge of the village. Beyond the "square" and mosque the village gives way to an open savanna dotted with baobabs and one dirt path/road leading to our neighboring village, Torro Alhasan.
Aside from the hug bantaba in the center of town, the water taps and to a certain degree the skills center there are not any other public spaces in town. But at the same time even private space is public. To get most places you walk through peoples "private" compounds. The blurring/lack of distinction between public and private space is also assisted by the fact that basically everyone in the village is related in one way or another. The two most common family names are Jobe (as in KJJ--the family that founded the village) and Cham. Here, as it is everywhere else in the country, people don't move somewhere unless someone they know and are related to already lives there. My family is a fairly new addition to the village hence why we life on the edge of town, but my host father moved here because his sister is one of the district chiefs wives. This coupled with the fact that most marriages are arranged means that people move between compounds through marriage. Many who live in the village were also born here and the women who have left have left because they were married to people in other villages. Since my village is fairly close to the city there are a fair amount of people who move back and forth but this is mostly men seeking work and kids whose families send them to live with relatives in Kombo to go to school.
So there's a snapshot of KJJ, I hope I did The Planning Commissioners Journal justice! If you're dying to know more come visit!!
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
The Compost Pit
Written on April 5th, 2010
About a week ago Wells was visiting me. Inspired by al of his Ag-Fo-ness while we were biking to Kuntair I stopped and with the help of my tall friend collected some moringa seeds. Since I now have seeds sitting on my table waiting to be sown I decided that I should probably get to digging that compost pit I've been meaning to dig since about my first day here. On Sunday I was able to spend the morning on some preliminary digging/hacking at the ground with my machete but blisters, lunch, attaya and dancing at a wedding ceremony forced me to postpone pit completion until today. After a morning of weighing screaming babies and stuffing my face with rice and greasy fish I started finishing what I started. As usual everything I do here attracts a crowd. Pretty soon I had Bakar Jeng perched on my plastic lawn chair overseeing the work and Alieu my five year old, three foot tall shadow friend/host brother wielding a shovel because whenever I touched it he exclaimed, "Ramatoulie, you don't know and I do."
So we shuttled piles of dirt from by the compost pit around the dividing fence to a sunken in spot by my bathing area. Next we swept all the dead leaves and grass which I had been avoiding cleaning up from my backyard into the pit, next went in all of the food scraps I had saved in a tomato can and finally a bowl of foamy kidney beans from a failed attempt at chili. On top was some top soil I saved from Alieu's shovel wielding. As all this was going on Alieu kept reminding me that when we were done I should say thank you to him. So after top soil were we done?
Of course not--we were left with the piece de resistance--animal poop. Something that cannot be found in my backyard but abounds everywhere else in my compound. I went outside to consult Yaay Amie and Baay Waly and was told that everyday Yaay Amie sweeps goat and chicken poop out of the kitchen so if I just give her a tomato can she'll fill it for me--everyday. Judging my work complete I turned to Alieu to say thank you when Alieu asked--"Ramatoulie can I bring you cow poop?"
Never one to pass up that offer I agreed and Alieu and my other host brother Ous scampered off with my shovel and a big tray to collect it. I sat on my stool in the shade waiting and soon enough they were back with Alieu balancing a heaping tray of dried cow poop on his head. Just picture a three foot tall person with a 6 inch circumference tray plate heaped with cow poop on their head, wearing pink stripped saggy gym shorts that were once probably owned by a Florida retiree and an enormous proud smile. We carefully transported the tray through my house and into my backyard and dumped it into the pit. Then I turned to Alieu and Ous and said thank you.
Let the composting begin!
About a week ago Wells was visiting me. Inspired by al of his Ag-Fo-ness while we were biking to Kuntair I stopped and with the help of my tall friend collected some moringa seeds. Since I now have seeds sitting on my table waiting to be sown I decided that I should probably get to digging that compost pit I've been meaning to dig since about my first day here. On Sunday I was able to spend the morning on some preliminary digging/hacking at the ground with my machete but blisters, lunch, attaya and dancing at a wedding ceremony forced me to postpone pit completion until today. After a morning of weighing screaming babies and stuffing my face with rice and greasy fish I started finishing what I started. As usual everything I do here attracts a crowd. Pretty soon I had Bakar Jeng perched on my plastic lawn chair overseeing the work and Alieu my five year old, three foot tall shadow friend/host brother wielding a shovel because whenever I touched it he exclaimed, "Ramatoulie, you don't know and I do."
So we shuttled piles of dirt from by the compost pit around the dividing fence to a sunken in spot by my bathing area. Next we swept all the dead leaves and grass which I had been avoiding cleaning up from my backyard into the pit, next went in all of the food scraps I had saved in a tomato can and finally a bowl of foamy kidney beans from a failed attempt at chili. On top was some top soil I saved from Alieu's shovel wielding. As all this was going on Alieu kept reminding me that when we were done I should say thank you to him. So after top soil were we done?
Of course not--we were left with the piece de resistance--animal poop. Something that cannot be found in my backyard but abounds everywhere else in my compound. I went outside to consult Yaay Amie and Baay Waly and was told that everyday Yaay Amie sweeps goat and chicken poop out of the kitchen so if I just give her a tomato can she'll fill it for me--everyday. Judging my work complete I turned to Alieu to say thank you when Alieu asked--"Ramatoulie can I bring you cow poop?"
Never one to pass up that offer I agreed and Alieu and my other host brother Ous scampered off with my shovel and a big tray to collect it. I sat on my stool in the shade waiting and soon enough they were back with Alieu balancing a heaping tray of dried cow poop on his head. Just picture a three foot tall person with a 6 inch circumference tray plate heaped with cow poop on their head, wearing pink stripped saggy gym shorts that were once probably owned by a Florida retiree and an enormous proud smile. We carefully transported the tray through my house and into my backyard and dumped it into the pit. Then I turned to Alieu and Ous and said thank you.
Let the composting begin!
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