Santa

This morning we were up early washed the bedding and were on the beach by 9.30 as it was national cleaning day so we decided to be tourists for the morning. We met Adam who was pleased to see us as we haven’t been in touch since Tobasky. Felix and Georgia were on the beach which was a surprise as Georgia should have been in England her flight was at 6.00pm Friday evening along with Amy and John. Apparently the flight had been delayed until 6.00pm tonight as on landing the undercarriage had been damaged so they were waiting for a part to be flown out and repaired. They had all been put up in the Kombo Beach Hotel at Kotu on hearing this Paul sprinted off to see John and Amy, when he got back he said Amy was sat around the pool in her bra and knickers but they seemed cheerful enough. We packed up to leave at around 12.30pm as the Diana Mariam school was having their Christmas presentation party this afternoon which we had been invited to also it was Cathy, Emily and Greg’s birthday party which was being held at the Sand Plover from 5.00pm so we will be very busy for the rest of the day.

Diana Mariam Christmas Presentation

We arrived at the school for about 2.00pm an hour later than it was said to start I was very impressed with how they had transformed the grounds very festive with garlands and baubles in the trees. I introduced Paul to some of the teachers and then I showed him around whilst Abigail and Bradley went off to play in the reception area. Paul and I took a seat underneath a tarpaulin out of the hot sun and waited and waited and waited. Eventually at around 3.15pm Aunty Alberta announced that food was available for sale so at this the parents and children lined up to be served returning with various dishes. One young boy was sat next to Paul eating and spitting chicken bones out onto the floor which was annoying and others were just leaving empty foil containers around on the floor. Then Aunty Alberta welcomed everyone and a Christmas carol was sung however the children sang this sat in their seats instead of up on the platform whilst munching on food. By this time it was nearing 4.00pm so we had to excuse ourselves and make our way home to then pick up the car and drive to the Sand Plover.

Sand Plover

At the entrance to the Sand Plover we pulled of the main road along a very bumpy road and parked up in the small car park. We then had to walk over a very rickety bridge made out of wooden planks which lead towards the Sand Plover. The building was a little shack with an upstairs lookout area and benches and tables outside looking out across the beach to the sea. Cathy, James Emily and Robin were busy blowing up balloons and putting up party banners, we were introduced to Robin, Emily’s boyfriend who is staying out here for a week. We decided to leave them to finish off the party decorations and take a walk along the beach towards cape point, on the way we passed a small lagoon and on the bank was a two foot long crocodile as we approached it scurried off into the water and hid among the reeds. Further on we could see the eyes of another crocodile submerged just under the surface of the water bearing in mind the lagoons were separated from the sea only by the beach. We headed back towards the Plover by this time Emma, Sukey, Greg, Andrew Paul and Courtney had arrived we ordered some drinks and sat chatting until the buffet dinner was served. We ate a meal of chicken, beef, vegetarian curry rice and salad, we then handed out the presents for the birthday girls and boy to open rounding off the evening with chocolate cake. We then left at around 8.30pm carefully making our way across the rickety bridge which was unlit however the restaurant staff did shine a torch for us to pick our way across.

Croc Pools

This morning the children came with me to the school it is open day for the parents so they were very excited to see where I worked. I introduced then to Mr Jadama and a couple of other teachers and then they went off to play on the swings, trampoline and slide some of the parents brought in their children so they played with them in the school grounds. By 12.00pm they were getting a bit bored so they sat down and did a bit of drawing, eventually we left for home at 1.30pm, some of the parents didn’t turn up so their reports will be kept for later. On the evening I invited Tom and Lynne over for dinner they are staying in John’s house as he has gone back home today to spend Christmas with his son. I decided to cook pasticcio, garlic bread, salad followed by water melon for dessert. Tom and Lynne arrived around 4.30pm I made a cup of tea and we sat talking for a couple of hours before we sat down to eat. To my horror Tom was allergic to cheese so I quickly had to think of something to cook him the only thing other than frozen food were eggs so Paul quickly fried them along with some beans not my idea of a dinner party but what could you do. It was lovely to catch up with them as being in Basse which is the furthest point within The Gambia they don’t get down to the Kombo very often they are planning to stay here over the Christmas period though.

I have completed my second week at school and they have been busy preparing for the Christmas presentation which is to be held on Saturday so each morning they have had an assembly mainly with the songs which they are going to sing on the day. I myself was asked for a contribution so I sang the See Saw creep through the door song which Abigail and Bradley have sung whilst at Westgarth very embarrassing however I had already taught it to the reception children with Aunty Alberta so they all joined in. It has proved to me this week how passionate the Gambians are for their music and dance as Aunty Alberta was really getting into the swing of things as she got the children to sing along to the Christmas songs. I would say that Tuesday was by far the best day so far as I managed to do some phonics and practise writing the letters with grade 1 children whilst Mr Jadama filled in the exam reports ready for the parents open day on Friday. I also saw the baton being held by a school girl who was running down Kariba Avenue towards the traffic lights as I was leaving school to go and pick up Bradley.

Zenith Christmas Presentation

On Wednesday it was Zeniths parent open day, Christmas presentation and party, we had been told to arrive at around 8.30am first dropping Bradley off at his class we went to see Abigail’s work and chat to the teacher. The teacher was pleased with her progress she just needs to talk a bit more as very quiet which is the norm for Abigail. We then went to see Bradley’s report which again was very good. Paul then left to go to college whilst I went back home to get their party clothes to wear after the presentations which were supposed to start at around 10.00am. After a lot of waiting the presentations finally started at around 11.30am surprise, surprise nothing is on time here, first up was the school choir then a group of children playing the recorder then Bradley’s class did some reciting of the alphabet and a couple of songs. Abigail’s class was next with a song and play Three Foreigners came from Timbuktu. After this there were poems and another play eventually the performance finished at around 2.00pm.

Abigail and Bradley quickly got changed and by now the music was blasting out with some children dancing along to it. We were then told that the children’s party food would be served and they had to go back to their class for a head count. Thirty minutes passed and eventually Abigail’s class were ushered upstairs to get their food. The younger children then had to do the same with me holding Bradley’s hand I was asked to wait by his teacher who took him and some others upstairs. Whilst I waited myself and another teacher stopped anymore from going upstairs as there was not enough room. During this time young children aged three and four were trying to come down the steps with a can and foil container of food in hand. The steps are very deep so it was an accident waiting to happen in the end I was picking them up and carrying them down with a couple of other teachers talk about bad planning.

Christmas Crafts

We all had a lie in bed this morning after last nights party celebrations and decided to spend the day at home. Abigail and myself made a few of the Christmas crafts Auntie Lynne had sent over for her, the 3D paper Christmas tree seemed straight forward but I am not sure about the Reindeer and Santa Claus they look a bit more tricky I will leave them for another day. We then made and stuck up some paper chains which Emma had given us last night the lounge is looking a bit more festive.

Brufut Marathon

This morning Paul has entered the Brufut marathon which was starting from the traffic lights. walked over to check out the timings of the race and pay his entry fee he returned with a t-shirt with his entry number written on in black marker pen. Just before 9.30am Paul left to join the other runners at the traffic lights, myself and the children set of walking towards the golf course and headed through the farmers fields only to be met by three little piglets trotting along the path when they saw us they made a slight detour and then continued on their way. We continued on passing the ghetto and then saw one of the palm wine tapers up a tree I did manage to discreetly get a photo as they don’t like you taking their photo. We exited the fields onto the main Senegambia highway as we thought this would be the best place to see the race. After waiting a while we decided to start walking towards the traffic lights as we could see Paul walking towards us, he said the bikers were to start first. At 10.00am the bikers started with a police motor bike escort. We waited and waited eventually word came that they had set of the women runners who were starting further on down the course and the men would have to wait for the ambulance to return. When 11.00am came and went the runners were getting very annoyed and surrounding the organisers car, I decided to leave at this point as I was making sausage rolls for tonight’s party and Abigail wanted to put up the Christmas tree which Jackie had borrowed us. Paul then turned up shortly after us he and some others had asked for a refund. Paul was later told by a guy that he had seen him on Gambian television as they had highlighted the race and disagreements