I am writing to you on a notebook I scavenged . 6 people just moved out of this house leaving behind food, books, tapes, clothes and misc. Since I was cleaning I got first dibs on all stuff. I got lot's of material to get clothes made and some notebooks. Oh... I would also love some X-tra thick OB Tampons. The kind in the yellow box. Well, I gotta go. I hope I'll get this mailed out tomorrow. Dinner smells good and I haven't eaten in a long time.
Sept 20
Well, I didn't mail this down country so it must wait another week. Right now I'm at site, staying in Bill's house. God it's cramped! I hope we don't kill each other! I've begun cooking for myself. So yesterday I had bread and 1 can of beans. Today I made one glass of powdered milk. I better learn to cook before I waste away to nothing.
Baa and Ringo (Bill's cats) have gotten so big since last I was here. Baa was attacked by a dog this month and is very nervous. He moves slow.
Today we are going to Farafini to price furniture and buy sheets, food, stamps and I don't know! Busy. Also my resource center was broken into twice last month. I've gotta check out the damage.
Sept 22, (Wednesday)
I will finish this letter and get it in an envelop! Today I talked to the mason and the “plumber" (we don't have plumbing, he digs pit latrines) they are working on my house right now. I can't wait until it is finished! I did have a sad thing happen. I met a beautiful blue eyed African boy around 11. He was angelic with those eyes. I fell in love and was thinking of all the ways I could help him succeed in school and in life. Yesterday I went looking for him and the people tell me, after I left him to go home he died. I don't know why but Bill thinks it may have been Malaria. I was so sad. He was so handsome and shy and he's gone. It was a sad day.
I miss you! Write soon. I'm gonna write grandma and pa now!
Love Jarra Diba
PS When is Robb gonna write! He doesn't love me anymore.
Do you want to smack me for calling last night? Hopefully by the time you get this letter you will have forgive me! :) next time I will pay for the call. I have to give you my new phone number's. I have one Down Country and one at site. The one I gave you on the phone is for Bill's place and I will only be there until, like Oct 25. Actually, Oct 20th I am going Down Country until the 24th. My house should be done by then. It is amazing how work gets done around here. Today I got a translator and talked to the mason, latrine digger and carpenter. It is now 3pm and they have built 3 windows and extended 2 others. The pit latrine people have gone to buy materials and will set concrete by dusk! Wow! It takes 2 weeks just to get an estimate back home.
The windows cost me 80D. The toilet=200D (including materials). The carpenter is measuring right now and I will buy materials tomorrow. (Conversion rate $10 = 180D)
Right now I am listening to the BBC. That is when I feel the most isolated. I hear English voices talking about politics and I realize how alone I am. I always want to talk to the radio guy. And I think of all the ex-patriots everywhere, relying on the short wave radio to keep abreast of our own lands. You gotta be pretty lonely to listen to this crap!
I'm glad you and Barry are happy! (Are you still?) I'm still bonded to Eric but I am liking a dude names Larry. He says he will visit next week. I'll let you know what happens!
Well, the carpenter just left. He is getting 200D plus I have to go to town tomorrow and buy all the materials. Have I mentioned I'm hot and sweaty? :)
This morning 2 boys came to the house selling shrimp. I bought a kilo. Spent an hour cleaning and cooking um. Guess it was worth it :) Last time I was on the scale I had dropped 21 pounds. It is probably a little more now.
I guess this is good-bye. Can't wait for that next letter :)
Love
Jara Diba
PS I couldn't find your school address. I haven't unpacked it yet. Sorry.
Wow! Thanks! Yesterday was Mail Run and I finally got your package of Crystal Lite! Thanks! The Cranberry and Raspberry Tea are great. I'm drinking it right now! Today is one of those days I think about home and how different life is there.
I wanted to eat earlier but we were out of matches. I was scavenging forever to find a way to make sparks. I eventually gave up. I figure I eat later. I usually eat once or twice a day anyway. Finally at 2:30 Lamin brought food to the house and I sent him to get matches. I then tried to get protein by picking meat off the one fish Bill got in his lunch. It is a very small fish cooked whole, with eyes and gills and all. I picked off what I could and gave the head to the cats. They eat less Gambian food now then 11 weeks ago. We all eat as many calories as possible. I even eat the tuna fish oil. It is so good. (I brought tuna from the states) and drink the syrup from the canned fruit. However I've still lost 23 lbs and still dropping. The nurse is a little worried but we're giving it a couple of months to level off. Bill, my roommate, has lost 45 lbs this past year
Another things so different from the states is... Guess you’d call it food hygiene. After cooking and eating I rinse plates, pots, and silverware with water and use my hand or a dirty towel to rub off the dirt, then put the pots back on the floor to await the next meal. All the Tupperware is Mildewed, including the Kool-Aid pitcher. At home, well, this would be totally unacceptable, but here... There is not a lot of options. It is harder to stay clean here and the drop in sanitation in natural in this culture and environment.
On other news, my house is coming along. I went to town yesterday and bought wood, nails, screen, but I ran out of money. I will go again tomorrow to get molding plus more food! I've go enough Crystal Lite for a while!
School starts Monday (2 days away) and as I wonder what I will wear and how to get the wrinkles out I realize I have not seen a mirror since I swore in on Sept 17. That was a week ago. Wonder who I look!? I know my hair is growing!
Bill is not here with me. He took his bike and went to visit Ted. I am lucky to be here with Bill. Other volunteers are all alone. Bill has been checking up on them all, making sure they are OK. And they are. Some of my friends have electricity and fans! Sometimes I get jealous!
I haven't heard from Robbie. Can you send me his address and phone number?
I am still confused with what I will do when I get out of here. I will take the GRE in a couple of months. I am looking into Grad schools, International Careers, teaching in N.E.Ohio and nursing school! Something will work out.
Did you know my boyfriends here is a Notre Dame graduate. He played rugby. He's super nice like Robbie, but I don't know if we will last for 2 years. We are very far apart and will see each other once every 1 or 2 months!
Oh well... Things are going OK. I'm getting 2 kittens soon (I hope) and I'm still alive (for now!)
Thanks for the letters and the Crystal Lite! It means a lot!
Love
Wendy
Hi! Thanks! I received your package Sept 23 in my first mail run to come to site. I loved the hair stuff. I am wearing the Mickey Mouse right now in a pony tale on the top of my head. About half of my hair is in it. Plus the paper and Crystal Light. It was all great. I got a package from Dad and a letter from Brandy. (Still no Robb)
So, today is Tuesday, yesterday was the big day. 1st bill left me for about 3 ½ weeks and it was the first day of school. So let's review my day:
I awoke at 7:30 am and Bill left. He sent the Headmaster by to see me. (The Headmaster has been away and we had not gotten together yet). Headmaster Fadora told me to be at school by 8:20. So I was. I walk there, it is a 4 minute walk. But it was not really in session. The students moved furniture from storage into classrooms. They finished in 40 minutes and spent the morning watching me stain the resource center furniture. At noon I realized I needed a drink. I walked home, had some Crystal Lite and went back to school. Most of the students had gone because I left. There were just 5 girls from grade 3 with minimal English skills. I stained the bookshelves and they helped me move books. After another 1 ½ hours, I locked up and I checked on my house. The carpenter was there and was complaining about stuff I had not bought yet. I asked him to go with me the next day to Farafini. He wanted to go right then which it is kind of a big deal. A trip to Farafini is best done early in the morning. I didn't think we’d ever catch a taxi, but I agreed. Luckily it rained real hard giving me time to finally eat something. I mad eggplant in oil with garlic and tomato paste over pasta. The eggplant is cooked until really mushy and mushed into the sauce. It turns out this dish I "invented" is a native Indian dish!
Anyway, we still left for Farafini. A bush taxi came by pretty full, but we jumped on, I had to sit on the back gate. It is like sitting on the back gate of a pick-up truck. I was smiling thinking how freaked you would probably be. But it is the normal mode of transportation here!
So we get there, find the shop, but we needed wood cut and the cutter was gone for the day. The carpenter told the man what I wanted and I sent him home. I stayed in Farafini overnight (Abhijit, my friend is stationed there). So my first night alone, wasn't. I stayed with Abhijit.
We ran into 2 boys from the Peace Corps, Senegal. They were in Farafini for the dentist. He is the dentist for both countries. They had to visit Kombo (Down Country) and gave us news of other friends. We went to eat together. (I had meat and onion sandwich) and we played cards. Abhijit has a nice house (well, not really) but it does have electricity at night. He has a fan! We stayed up gossiping all night.
So, morning came. I rushed to get my wood and foolishly did not buy food or kerosene. (Luckily I remembered toilet paper). But now I am out of food until Sunday. (I go to Farafini every Sunday). There is a market and all the volunteers in an 90 minute radius visit. Tomorrow I will ask Bill's guardian for some rice. They are required to feed me when I ask because Bill pays for 3 meals a day.
I spent the rest of the day reading, getting my stuff together and napping. Tomorrow I will white wash the center.
I am going to try and remember to take paper and a pen with me when I travel because that is the time I always think about what I want to write.
Like about the African sky. The clouds and sunsets are amazing, unlike anything at home (though I don't know why). Bill says come the dry season (very soon, couple more weeks) I will not see another cloud, ever, until next July. When there are no clouds, the moon shines so bright you can see as if it were day.
It is weird to know this letter will not be sent out until the next mail run (Oct 14) and I will not get any mail until then either. It is lonely. But Abhijit will visit me next Friday and Larry may stop by this week. Plus, one boy who ET'd (Early Terminated) gave me his short wave radio. So I can listen to the BBC. I enjoy that. I feel connected to "people" that way. All this Mandinkan is driving me nuts :)
Abhijit has found some kittens and is giving me them both after they are weaned. How is Mike?!
I end my letter here but I will probably write another one before mail run! Now is the time it is important to number your letters! I will number mine by batch. So this is #1 of October batch. And my gift wish list is powdered sauces for pastas or rice and a tone of AA batteries. (The short wave takes 6!) But like always don't worry about it unless you are in the mood. Please tell Grandma, Grandpa and Robb I love them and share my letter with Dad.
Love
Wendy
PS the carpenter told me I must return to Farafini again tomorrow. 7 out of 10 days! Geez!
What's up? Me? Well, Bill left for America for 3 weeks vacation leaning me and the cats alone. I have spent the week going to town to buying wood and materials for my house, working with the workmen, staining furniture, white washing the resource center, dusting the books and trying to get them in some kind of order. Sounds like a lot of work, but not really. Just a couple of hours a day.
2 nights ago a stray cat snuck into the house and got into a terrible row with one of the kittens. I took my poor, wounded baby to Farafini to get her patched up. We spent the night at Abhijit's (fellow volunteer) and made the trip back today. Now I must watch for rabies. Abhijit is going to Kombo this weekend and will bring me the rabies vaccination for the kitties (which I will have to administer myself!) The kitties and I are still a little shell shocked. When we here noises we jump. We're "nervous" is the word. I am taking steps to prevent another intrusion. However, I do have bats that live on the bedroom ceiling. They don't bother me much. They just poop on the wall, floor and mosquito net and make noises at night.
It's weird to think Bill just left me, but by the time you get this letter he'll be back and I'll be living in my own house.
AS I write I hear a child screaming and wailing bloody murder, which is very common. Children are beaten here, usually with sticks, I see it every day, but the sound grates on your nerves.
I just had a visitor, which is OK but they always go through my stuff and everywhere I go people ask me for whatever I have, especially food. It is hard to say "no" especially with the food because this is a sharing community (country) and they offer their food to everyone else. The problem is, being white, everyone wants to try what I have and it disappears in seconds. I must hide food if visitors come because you must offer food to a visitor or else... you will make no friends. It is very rude. Anyways, I will end it here.
Write soon,
Wendy
Dear Peg,
This will be a sloppy letter because I have a wounded and shell shocked cat in my lap & I'm trying not to disturb him (the red pen was the only one I could reach). Also, don't share this note with my folks or anyone who would be genuinely worried about me.
I'm gonna skip a lot of details but the most important are these: Well, first let me say "That which does not kill me makes me stronger." So if I live through this week I should really be strong!
Anyways, Wed night was my first night alone and I was terrified! I had a migraine, stomach cramps. nausea. Every noise scared me to death! I even bolted the front door closed. But I lived through it. SO night #2 comes, I am much more relaxed. I hear noises and would tell myself "That's just the bats (they live on the bedroom ceiling), that's just the lizard that lives on the roof, just the cats, the wind, the shutters. So I fall asleep. Early morning, hell has broken loose in my bedroom. Animals are running around the bed screaming, hissing, fighting, growling. And I freaked. It was like my nightmares come to life. Then it was silent except for a deep growling from the other room.
What would you have done? I didn't know what to think because one of the cats had been bitten 3 weeks ago and both have been acting funny. SO maybe one had rabies and attacked the other, or maybe an outside animal (reptile maybe) came in.
So I managed to escape the house terrified. The headmaster checked out the situation (thinking I was crazy). One cat was wounded pretty bad, the other was missing and there was "shit", literally, all over the room. We speculated an animal had gotten in and took the other cat away. So I went hysterical. The thing had been in my room! But we eventually found the other kitty, it had hurdled the fence and was up a tree, unharmed.
I took the cat (after much debating, I still was thinking "rabies"- don't touch it, hope it dies.) on a bush taxi ride from hell, 40 minutes, walked around for another 40, found the vet how said no rabies but possibly punctured intestines. I spent the night at a friends and now me and kitty are back home (the healthy kitty is missing). And I am about to spend the night. I'm pretty freaked out but what choice do I have? Other volunteers have had cobras in the rafters, lizards that drop on them in the middle of the night from the ceiling, lots of other snakes, of and rats. This was likely a wild bush "house" cat. And the kittens may keep it scared off (I hope). Anyways, I gotta get some work done.
Love ya (PS don't be too freaked, by the time you read this it will be long over and I'll be fine!)
Jara Diba
October 1994
End of August 1994
To my PC Table of Contents