Really hoping this works!!

Well, I am now in The Gambia; I arrived on Thursday after quite a journey. I spent a great deal of time waiting around in airports and when I arrived in Dakar, Senegal to catch another flight to Banjul, they had lost my luggage. So needless to say I arrived in Banjul, very tired and without all my stuff but the organization did remember to send someone to pick me up so that was a bonus!

Most of the people I'm working with were away on a training session up in the North when I arrived so Awa was in charge of taking care of me and she did a really good job! She took me everywhere with her on Thursday and Friday; we got the housing catastrophe sorted out. I now have a place to live; I live in a compound, my apartment is very nice, I have a kitchen, a sitting room, 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms! More space than I will ever need but it was cheaper than the other places we saw, it is in an excellent location and quite safe.

As for the city itself, it is interesting to say the least. I don't even know how to begin to describe it. It is very dirty, most of the main roads are paved but anything off the side of the road is red dirt with enormous potholes! The side roads are mostly all dirt and when it rains that is an experience in itself!! Here, when it rains it RAINS and the roads change from once "driveable" roads to small lakes in the middle of the city. When I arrived I was wondering how the taxis managed until i realized that they simply just drive through the rivers...it is something that you cannot imagine until you are able to see it for yourself but I will do my best to try and get some good pictures.

There is no public transport here, only taxis but not taxis like we would imagine. They are sort of like buses; you must stand on the correct side of the road in order to go in the direction you want to go in...they will pile in several people all going to the same location and the taxis don't take you to your exact location. Generally you must transfer several times if the place you are going is not on the street where you caught the taxi. I am starting to get the hand of it now but I have to admit the first couple of days were astoundingly confusing! But I am now happy to report that I can get from my house to West Vill (the central main town closest to me) and to the office. I know that does not sound like much but trust me...especially since none of the streets have names. Well they have names but they are not actually labeled anywhere so getting around is a bit more difficult than it should be because if you forget the landmark you are homeless for the night!

Most of the people here are very friendly, the kids either find me terribly amusing or they are petrified of me. There are very few other white people living in this town so it is not often they see white people, especially off the main roads. I sometimes hope that they will get used to seeing me come and go so they will stop with the constant yelling, "tubab"! Tubab means white person...something I have lost count of hearing in only the five days I have been here.

The weather is extremely hot; it's actually the humidity that's worse than anything else. There is no air-conditioning anywhere you go but thankfully my house has fans so that helps a great deal. I'm just hoping that I will soon start to adjust! Not much to report on for work; today was just my first day so I will write more when there is more to tell.

Well, this has been quite lengthy already so I should probably stop; I apologize for spelling errors...this keyboard is terrible and the internet at this particular cafe is quite slow. I appreciate all the emails; please keep them coming, it's always nice to hear from people from home. I will respond to all emails but it may take me a few days as I don't have internet at work as I thought I would.

I hope this updated finds you all well...where ever you are in the world!