My Trip to The Home Depot (sans donkey cart, unfortunately)

26 September 2007

So my adventure today:

You know when you start a home improvement project (ahem, Mom and Dad) and don't realize that you've forgotten something until you're in the middle of it? So you stop what you're doing, get in the car, and drive the 20 minutes to The Home Depot and find all the other ninnies who've forgotten something too on a Saturday afternoon (my case, a Wednesday)? You buy what you need and find something else that you didn't need, but figured you might need eventually. You get in the check-out line and head to the parking lot and drive home. Your small home improvement project is soon done (unless you're my Dad and then it's not done until it's 'perfect' and that may take 10 years---love you, Papa!)

Anyway, today was kind of like that but with a twist---

My ceiling in my sitting room was made of rice bags, sewn together. My second-floor tenants (THE RATS!), were starting to build sizable nests and I was becoming afraid that the second-floor tenants would soon become my roommates. For this reason, I decided to replace my ceiling with cardboard and wood slats.
So after three trips to the thriving metropolis of the town in which there is a lumo every Saturday to purchase nails and wood the week before. (I had to transport the wood with the assistance of my Gambian friend, who hired a horse cart for me, so the wood could be taken 10 km to my village on a day when I was at the hospital, seeing that a malnourished, malaria stricken child was being care for properly.)

Anyway, my host brother said that he already had cardboard to replace my ceiling and I just needed to purchase the wood and the nails. However, my brother traveled and instructed my host uncle, who happens to be a carpenter, to fix my ceiling. After tearing down the rice bags, my uncle inspected the cardboard and realized it was no good, as the rats had chewed through it in the storage room. I immediately told my host uncle that I did not want to use rat-chewed cardboard for my ceiling and told him I'd venture to the hardware store to pick up some more. Here is where my experience, similar, yet not really, to every one's Saturday at The Home Depot, begins:

My host cousin, who speaks limited English and is enrolled in Koranic School, and I traveled to previously mentioned lumo town. I wanted to take a donkey cart (my family's )because 1) I didn't want to pay the equivalent of $2 to have the gele-gele driver load it on the roof for transport and 2) I still haven't ridden on a donkey cart and thought this could be my chance. Nope...shot down because it's 'too slow'. Hello...we're in The Gambia...SLOW is relative!

So...we took a gele-gele because it's faster. Surprisingly my cousin and I didn't have to wait long to catch a vehicle. We dropped at the town's 'car park' and then headed to Sala's and Sons Shop (i.e. MY Home Depot). If anything, I think PCVs in the area keep this guy in business. The owner of the shop, with whom I befriended, traveled to Senegal and some young punk kids were manning the shop (much to my chagrin). We bought cardboard after bargaining down (not by much), and flagged down a relative of mine, who is a gele-gele driver, to carry my boards to the car park.

My relative's vehicle was not yet ready to go when we arrived back at the carpark, so we switched vehicles and while unloading the cardboard panels off the one vehicle and onto the other, I realized that the 'manager wannabe' of the car park asked if my cousin was my husband. We both replied with a big NO. A large discussion as to why I haven't yet found a husband in my village ensued. Next came bargaining for the price of my cardboard a top the vehicle. Even though I paid 2 fares (me and my cousin), it was though I paid for 6 as they charged me the same price of fare for each piece of cardboard. BOO.

So we finally moved back to my village, once my gele-gele driver was able to have his door stay shut. We dropped the cardboard at the main junction and headed towards my house (all the way at the back of the village). We came to collect the donkey cart, but much to my chagrin, sans donkey. Needless to say, I didn't get to ride on the cart as my nephews were the ones pushing it. Donkey boys!

Once we arrived, work got underway and now my ceiling is up. Rats still renting, but hopefully, I won't lie awake at night, thinking tonight might be the night they become my roommates.

Random Journal Entries of Strange, Funny, Amusing, Frustrating Encounters

All entries are random and in no particular order. Deal with it.

25 September 2007
approximately 3:15pm

Police officer and man get in Fulabantang ambulance on my way back from Bansang. It is not until 15 kilometers when we stopped at the police Post that I realized the man being accompanied by the police officer is HANDCUFFED and sitting right behind.

The ambulance driver laughed at me when I discovered the silver bracelets fastened upon the man's wrists.

20 September 2007
Listening to BBC-new reality show on CBS-children have to build their own society. It's called under question for child exploitation and I say----COME TO AFRICA!

23 August 2007 (an angry day---they happen on occasion)
1. Don't stare at me. I may be white, but I don't live in the middle of nowhere here in The Gambia. I know you've seen others like me before.
2. When I ignore you for 10 minutes, that's a sign that I 1) am busy; 2) don't like you; 3)have anything to say. (ie. SCRAM!)
3.If you tell me I can't speak Mandinka, just remember that you've been learning English for 8 years and you still can't speak it properly.
4. When you're in my house and my phone beeps, I know I have a text message. You don't have to tell me 3x that I have message.
5. Heaven help me if I pick up the habit of burping aloud and not saying excuse me, or farting and letting everyone know it was me (I'll still stick to not revealing that I did it.)
6. Heaven help me if I interupt other people when they are speaking or continue to greet even though there is clearly a discussion taking place.
7.If you stare at me, I will time you with my watch that I'm STILL not giving you, even after you've asked me 20 times for it. I still haven't changed my mind.
8.Again, Europe and America are not the same place. They are not synonyms. There's a big (freakin') ocean that separates the 2 continents.
9. If you have your bed nets treated, don't bring your small 6 year old child to carry three poisonous dipped nets home.
10. Your 6 year old child is clearly not strong enough to carry your 1 year old.
11. If your child is sick with malaria, don't let them sit outside so more mosquitoes that are possibly infected with malaria can bite them.
12. Yes, there are flies in America and weeds and rice.
13. I can't emphasize enough---learn your pronouns.
14. Don't say an English curse word if you don't know what it means.
15. Don't destroy my things...or else I'll just want to hit you and I'll resent you more. (Parents, if I give you something for your children to play with...remember I gave it to them through you. It belongs to me.)
16. Just because you see something on my couch, it doesn't mean you can do what you want with it. Instead, ask, "May I look at this?" That's polite.
17. I am not free labor.
18. A child under 10 should NOT carry a 20L jug on her head.
19. Don't say let you go after you've sat in my house for ten minutes, and I've ignored you. I'm, by no means, keeping you hostage; I don't want you here!

14 September 2007
Please tell your child that peeing where we eat dinner is not okay.

Approximately around 5:15pm yesterday, I was bathing after having a rest during the many sessions I had at the latrine (I had a bout of gastritis). A few boys on a horse cart, a high horse cart, rode by and I was in lala land (thinking of America) and after they passe (after making loud hissing sounds that I must have blocked out), I realized they passed and I pray that they didn't see me completely naked over my concrete wall.