2013 highlights

2013~ What a year full of changes! 

So many milestones: graduating with my Masters Degree from Florida Institute of Technology, rocking out at the first Tortuga Music Festival & driving to Key West, swearing-in as a Peace Corps Volunteer, moving to Africa... 

So many memories: going to my cousin's high school graduation, driving to Birmingham with my parents to visit family & friends, participating in a manatee workshop at MOTE Marine Lab, watching fireworks from the top of Stone Mountain, assisting with a sea turtle release, attending a childhood friend's wedding, chopping off my hair...

Looking forward to 2014! Happy New Year :-]

Grandparents

Paw-Paw

Humble prayers of thanksgiving, the calming effect of listening to the front door wind chime or looking for birds, the wisdom of “measuring twice and cutting once”, the importance of family, personifying how giving truly is better than receiving, and being bold in one’s faith.   

Maw-Maw

Hospitality goes a long way, the prudence of “better safe than sorry”, how Christmas is every day {and not just because the tree is still up}, the joy of a favorite meal shared with family, clever craftiness, and balancing seriousness with silliness.      

You both opened the world to me: my first plane ride to Washington D.C., blackberry picking and planting a garden, attending countless shows at The Fox Theatre, helping me purchase my first car.

These words do not do justice for how much I love and appreciate you!

Happiest of Birthdays! 

Fula Scars

I want to commemorate this life experience but tattoos are not my cup of tea. 

Scars have a more fascinating, hidden story and capture a more candid memory. 

I love my American names and what they each mean: 

Melissa {Greek for Honeybee} Quinn {Five} Daniel {Hebrew for God is my Judge}

"As God is my Judge, I am the fifth honeybee" 

MQD 

Margaret Awa Willan Samba Bah is my full Gambian name and I love it as well. 

This design of five marks encompasses all of my names.

I, God, will never forget you. Look here. I have made you a part of Me, graven you on the palms of my hands. Your city walls are always on my mind, always my concern. 

Isaiah 49:15-16

Christmas in Kombo: Christmas Cards

       My Peace Corps cohort, Team ExTreme, and I have been in Kombo for our InService Training (IST) which conveniently fell close to the Christmas holiday.  I knew I loved Christmastime but I didn’t realize just how much until we started talking about our favorite traditions.  One PCV said, “I like putting up Christmas lights with my dad…mainly I just love to hear him complain about it the whole time”.  Likewise, I love signing Christmas cards with my family for many reasons but mainly I enjoy hearing my brother complain about it the whole time.  Deep down I think he enjoys himself.  My mom made a photo Christmas card so there will be no signatures this year {you’re welcome, Bubbie}. 

            
Musa’s class was the last to come to the library before I left for IST.  Instead of checking-out books, I shared a few of my favorite Christmas activities: reading about the birth of Christ, singing Christmas carols, and making Christmas cards!  The joy on their faces was priceless as they sang “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” and colored pictures of Christmas trees, nativities, and shepherds.  The students were gracious enough to let me have their Christmas cards in order to give them to fellow Peace Corps Volunteers.

Christmas in Kombo: Secret Santa

I cannot keep a secret…at all.  The only exception is Christmas secrets. With those I am super stealth {or at least try to be, anyways}.  When Team ExTreme decided to have a Secret Santa to celebrate our first Christmas together, I was beyond excited.  Scavenger hunts, piñatas, coupons for pest removal, gift baskets full of favorite snacks, poems, spontaneously performed raps, were some of the gifts given. Oh, and a chicken! Yes, someone received a live chicken {complete with a bow} as a present!! 

I hit the Secret Santa jackpot and received Cat, our Peace Corps Volunteer Leader {aka Mama Hen, best friend extraordinaire, dilemma dissolver, newsboy, supreme giver of hugs, an overall amazing person that I strive to be like}.  Cat is COSing (Close of Service) at the end of January so I wanted to incorporate a proper “see yah later, thanks for everything” tribute to her.  Along with pictures and captions of lessons she has taught us I had each member of Team Extreme give a personal shout out.  My gift wasn’t quite a complete secret but the finished project was an overall success and Cat was surprised! 

Brie, giver of South Dakota strong hugs and member of Team Woo, was my Secret Santa. For my gift she rewrote The Night Before Christmas set in the Gambia and read it out loud in between one of our IST sessions.

Meet Musa

Musa is the teacher I look forward to working with the most. He greets me each morning with a warm smile and kind words.  I appreciate how welcome he makes me feel and his willingness to work with me in organizing and maintaining the library. 

Upon discovering the library had one of my favorite books, If You Take a Mouse to School, I could not wait to read it with Musa.  He enjoyed it so much that he read it to his students that same day~ I was thrilled!  I am thankful for the friend I have found in this fellow teacher.  I am thankful for him teaching me Wolof in a way that I understand and enjoy.  I am thankful that he makes the bad days better and the good days even greater.

Happy Birthday, Musa!!

Commitment

Commitment is what transforms a promise into reality.

It is the words that speak boldly of your intentions and the actions that speak louder than words.

It is making the time when there is none.

Coming through time after time after time, year after year after year.

Commitment is the stuff character is made of; the power to change the face of things.

It is the daily triumph of integrity over skepticism.

I’m not going to lie, most days I want to quit, pack my bags, and go home.  When my poop is anything but solid, when my language skills are nonexistent, when my headmaster and I butt heads…a plane ride to America seems irresistible.

But I do not quit. I push aside my pride and I persevere.

I call Bonnie, my dear friend just 5 km away in Farafenni, and talk it out with her and Jesus. I go outside and sit with my family under the mango tree while I make more flashcards and let Samba’s sweet smile melt my heart. I look up from my pit latrine and take in all those glorious stars.  I remember my students’ joyful faces as they checked out books from the school library for the first time.  I replay lunchtime conversations filled with laughter between my teachers. 

Most of all, I remember the inquisitive eight year old who dreamed of Africa and the starry-eyed idealistic eighteen year old who after hearing about the Peace Corps decided then and there she would pursue it one day.  I am now the twenty-eight year old Peace Corps Volunteer serving in The Gambia, West Africa. 

This dream is a reality, a reality that is dreadful.  Sometimes.  Yet still totally worth it. 

Wacky Wolof Words

Learning Wolof has been both fun and frustrating.  Communicating effectively and cutting up with people in my village and market have become sources of humor, pride, and confidence for me.  These words caught my eye while studying. The italicized words are in Wolof.

  

Some are ironic:

Be content = Beg

Be quiet = Mukus… I’m anything but quiet when blowing my nose

Bought, give thanks, & last name = Santa

Corpse = Niiw (pronounced “new”)

Cow = Nag

Have to = War

Iguana = Bar… Popular restaurant in Saint Simon’s Island, Georgia.

In a bad mood = Say… This song comes to mind.

Businesslike = Tëstës… Umm, ovaries are just as fierce in the workplace.

Think = Fog

Some make sense:

Be fussy = Sob

Be lucky = Jig

Busy = Xat (pronounced “hat”)

Carpet = Tape

Start = Door

Tooth = Bon (pronounced “bone”)

Some are easy to remember:

Belly = Koola (pronounced “cola”)… My treatment for tummy aches.

Bedroom = Kabinet… My family often uses cabinet drawers as makeshift baby beds. 

Can = Pot… Synonyms for toilet in my family.

Cloth = Piis (pronounced “piss”)… My little siblings often pee on me when I hold them.

Garden = Tool… There so many tools to use in a garden.

Small = Sew… Sums up my skills in this area.

Some are just funny:

Axe = Sémeñ… Could this lead to an advertisement change?

Blind = Gumbo

Breast = Ween (pronounced “when”)… Things get awkward when talking in English, oops!

Cat & wise = Muus (pronounced “moose”)

Defecate, pool, lie, & whisper = Day

Laundry = Póot (pronounced “poot”)

Month & moon = Weer (pronounced “where”)

Slice = Dog… Will have to try this one out at Pizza Hut!

To do laundry = Fóot (pronounced “foot”)