Salaam Alaykum

Well I guess it has been a couple of days since I have last written...the last few days have been crazy to say the least! Well I guess I will start by saying that I am moving yet again! My landlord is being quite ridiculous in wanting 6 months rent up front; at first I thought maybe that was normal because I had just arrived so I had no idea! After speaking with my boss (who wasn't too sure about the arrangement) and some friends that I have met through last year's intern, I have decided that I will not pay him all that money up front and he is totally unwilling to negotiate so I am moving out. It is somewhat unfortunate because I really like the place and it is very spacious but it did take them nearly a week to fix the plumbing in my bathroom and it STILL doesn't even work properly. But the good news is that I have a new place to live!! I found it today through a friend of a friend. It is still a very nice place; fully furnished with only one bedroom but a nice big sitting room and quite a large kitchen. The landlord will put a tv in if I want it and it has an internet hook up; unfortunately I didn't bring my laptop with me but still nice to know it's there. The landlord is very friendly and is very flexible so I feel very good about the arrangment we have come to.

The family in my compound also have a son who is probably about my age and he is very nice and his English is excellent so he is going to teach me Wolof. I really want to learn some of the language and the people at the office have been teaching me some but it will be nice to learn more.

As for friends, I was finally able to meet up with one of the girls, Louise, who worked for CPA last year. I met up with her and one of her friends Charlie, who lives upcountry but is down visiting for the month, on Friday for drinks which was definately needed after my banking meltdown (so irritating I will rant about it later). It was really nice to get out an meet some people, especially after the frustrations of the week. On Saturday Louise took me around so I could get a mobile phone and showed me one of the big markets. In the afternoon I had to attend a meeting at CPA; what I thought would be a bit of a slow day ended up being quite a busy and exhausting day! Today I've been helping Louise move houses, I checked out the place I am now moving into and then Louise, Charlie and I spent the day at Safari Gardens; it is a guesthouse that has a restaurant and pool and Louise has made friends with the people who work there so they let us hang out and use the pool. Now I am at the internet cafe watching the rain come down. So I'd say all and all it was a pretty good weekend but back to work tomorrow; hopefully there will be more going on this week and not just me sitting around the office twidiling my thumbs hoping that someone will soon find something for me to do!

So now, quickly with the rant about the banks. The banking systems in communist countries are better run than those here in The Gambia. You cannot go to a bank teller here with your debt card nor your visa card and get money. You can ONLY get money from international cards through the ATMs; the only bank I have seen that has ATMs is Standard Charter which I'm sure you all know. However, at Standard Charter, the ATMs are constantly down; they are either without money or their international system is down. So you cannot get money from the teller and the ATMs are down; how are tourists, let alone expats who live here supposed to get money...especially if you need a large sum (like I did)?!?! So one of the girls at the office suggested that I open a bank account with one of the banks here and have money transfered from my account at home. I thought, great! So she took me to the bank and they tell me that I cannot open that type of account if I do not know anyone else who has that type of account at that specific bank...WHAT KIND OF RULE IS THAT?!?!?! So anyway, the girl I was with had a different kind of account so I was able to open that account...finally! So that afternoon I call my bank and they refuse to transfer the money without a written note from me....LIKE I HAVE TIME TO WRITE YOU A NOTE FROM THE MIDDLE OF SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA!!! So...then I called my mommy and she wired me money from my account. So the problem has been resloved but I have never had such difficulties with banking anywhere in the world and here, people just tell you it can't be done but no one actually provides you with any possible solutions...bloody ridiculous!! Anyway, all is well and that is the end of my rant and my story for this week. Now I go to pack.

I bid you farewell for now, from the Smiling Coast of Africa!