Spring Break in Gambia

So, after that exciting night and after a brilliant night's sleep, we got up and went to breakfast, the one included in the 800 Dollarsis (Gambian currency equal to about $40) we paid for our room. We asked some questions about what to do in the area and then started walking to the market. On our way, someone started walking with us, wanting to show us around. We were a bit skeptical, but that's just kinda the way things are done around here. Modou took us through a short-cut which led us right by his family's house, so we met his brothers Falli and Abdoulie, and his nephew Mataro, the cutest 5 year old ever. We said hello and then went about on our way. We were half way to the market when his brothers pull up in a little beat-up red convertible with bright yellow interior. They offer to drive us there. They also wanted to show us their land where they were planning on building a house. So, they drove us out into the boonies of Brufut, the next town over from Serrekunda, to see their land. On the way, we stopped at another brother's house. He'd just returned from Germany, where he lives and works as an electrician. We stayed to chat for awhile, and then we actually got to this land. There were a bunch of kids out there picking fruit. They offered us some... and it was extremely hard to choke down. Melissa made it through; I sneakily passed mine off to some kids to share. Abdoulie started cutting down some of the tall grass with machetes. When they're finished out there, we head back to his brother's house (one of the biggest houses I've ever seen) and we have some lunch: yassa. Surprise, surprise. It was delicious. We just hung out there for awhile and then they took us to the beach. On the way to the beach, however, the car runs out of gas. Falli just smiles and says, "He's my little brother," summing up his relationship with his forgetful younger brother. He runs to get gas, and then we make it for a bit longer and then something happens to the axel of the front wheels. We pulled off to the side of the road where there just so happens to be a band of mechanics waiting to help. Knowing that it was going to take too long, we called a taxi to take us to the beach. The beach is gorgeous. And covered with toubabs! The number of tourists here is amazing. I couldn't believe it. No one in America even knows about Gambia! There weren't too many Americans, but there were lots of Dutch, German, and English tourists. After saying goodbye and being dropped off at the hotel, we took a break (and a hot shower... which isn't very welcome anymore on my part) and gave Moussa a call.

We met up with him and took him out for dinner. We went to Ali Baba, apparently a chain restaurant in Western Africa, and had a great big dinner with appetizers and a full entrées. Melissa and I split pizza and chicken curry! How exciting! There was a man playing cheesy (read: BAD!) American 80s pop hits on the piano... and I couldn't help but sing along. After dinner, Moussa took us to meet his family. Which was really nice but really quite awkward as none of them spoke English and our Wolof is atrocious. Luckily there was a francophone woman there who could translate a bit for us. It was important for Moussa for us to meet them, so it was nice. We stopped by his friends' house before we were going to head to the club. We walked in to the room full of pot-smokers and chatted for awhile. They asked if we were students, etc, and when we returned the question, one of the guys said, "Well, I guess you could say that I hustle." We were with the cream of the crop in Gambia... the ones who hustle innocent, naive toubabs out of their money. After spending some time there, I wasn't feeling too well, so I called it a night, but Mel still went out with Moussa.

The next morning, we got up, got a cab to Diouloulou and started the next leg of our journey in Abené, a small village in the middle of nowhere without electricity or running water, with Dr. Barry's nephews.

More on that later.