Thursday 9 April – Day 17

I finally managed to get a photocopy of Danko’s Mandinka course book, in the town Bignona yesterday. I first went to Kafountaine, much closer to Abene, just one taxi ride away at 400 CFA, but they charged 100 CFA a copy, making them on a 3 in 1 copy, scan and printer. But in Bignona, where there is a cheap and speedier internet connection too, copies were 25 CFA, a lot cheaper. Bignona impressed me with it’s internet facilites compared to Abene, still a far far cry from the broadband wifi I’ve been used to at home in London. And so much cheaper than in Abene too! But the town is cramped, and noisy. I got out of bed to clean my teeth at the tap by the fence, virtually in front of the whole street, walking around the rubbish pile to go to the loo in the night, beside the tea stall in the street. I felt no sense of the relative privacy I was used to in the compound in rural Abene. A culture shock again. This time in Bignona I was woken by the call to pray at 5.30 in the morning and the squawking hens and cockadoodledooing cockrells at my door.

It took three ‘taxis’ to get back to Abene from Bignona. I’ve read them being referred to as bush taxis I think. Not hackney cabs! The one from Bignona to Diolulu, an hour’s drive at a slow pace, that I preferred to the mini-bus sized vehicle that was jam packed also going to Diolulu, was on it’s last legs. It begrudgingly chugged to a start. The drivers door worked it way open during the journey, the fabric covering was barely holding on the car doors and drivers seat. I couldn’t find a way to close the window, and didn’t dare investigate for fear my door could swing open too if I did. My travelling companion recited a Muslim prayer as the car set off. He tells me he does this every time he travels. The second ‘taxi’ was in better condition, but the back seat was up in the air and smelled of fish.

Back in Abene I am looking forward to a chance next week to get stuck in to meeting people after the schools go back at the end of their Easter holidays and also having more time to myself to study without the company of friends in the compound. I will miss them and hope not to get lonely, but it will give me a chance to get into a pattern of keeping more in touch with the outside world and my mum.

I hope to make contact with Unicef in Gambia soon, who haven’t yet responded to my email. I will follow that up. And also make contact with the women’s association I saw in one of the nearby villages on my trip here in December with Samba.

The sea was lovely this morning, windy with big choppy waves I love to jump over. First day I haven’t worn factor 30 sun block. I think I may be paying for it on the back of my neck. I’ve got my first proper African dress – made for me yesterday in Bignona. It’s blue with white swirly, snail-ish like patterns, a skirt and top. I’ll post a picture on here soon to show you. And also one of me as a ‘Rasta Woman’. My short-lived period with long red and back braids. My scalp as recovered from the ordeal at last! So painful.