Weekending, 25th September 2010

Teo's Birthday Party

On Sunday we were invited to Teo’s 7th birthday party at Cape Point Beach. Jenny had asked us to meet at the house and then we would walk round to the beach. We arrived at the house just after 2 o’clock and Paul helped Jenny load up the car as Mick is still in the UK and will be arriving back tomorrow. We gave Teo his present which was a large water blaster he was pleased and went off to fill it up with water to give it a try. It had three nozzles so we all got caught with some of the water. Whilst Jenny drove around in the car to the beach we set off walking with Teo, Mia and a few Gambian kids who had turned up. We helped unload the car and found a spot under one of the beach umbrellas. As we were getting the barbeque lit one of the staff from Calypso said we would have to move as the umbrellas were for customers only. It was a bit annoying as there were no customers as it was out of season and Jenny remarked about all the money she usually spends in Calypso’s. We moved further along the beach and the barbeque was lit. A few more children turned up then Mick and Jenny’s boss Peter and finally a young lad called Daniel who is helping them with their project. The Gambian children stripped off to go in the sea whilst Abigail, Bradley, Teo and Mia started to build a giant sandcastle. Jenny handed out some beers and then set about putting beef sausages on the barbeque for the Gambians and then pork for the rest. I helped making hotdog sandwich’s once they were cooked and handed them around with the ketchup and salad. This was followed by watermelon, popcorn and peanut brittle. After lunch we decided to all go for a dip in the sea with the Gambian children. They ended up hanging off us and splashing water at us, one little girl called Fenda at one point was going a bit too far in and Jenny had to rescue her. We then went back up for some birthday cake. Jenny put the candles on and tried to light it in our tent which we had brought. This would have been okay however all the Gambian kids decided to push there way in as they wanted to blow the candles out themselves. We eventually got them back out to the entrance so Teo could blow his candles out. We ate the cake and chatted for a while before packing everything back in the car as it was now nearly 7 o’clock. We set off walking back to Jenny’s were we unpacked the car and then she took us home.

Mia & Teo

Fenda Complete With Juju Around Her Waist

Jenny Dishing Out Watermelon

Water, Water Everywhere

On Monday I had my worst day ever, on entering year one class the floor was covered in food the children had had their break in the classroom due to it raining outside. We then had to wait for the cleaner to sweep up all the rubbish so sent the children outside as it had now stopped raining. This resulted in the lesson starting fifteen minutes late, we eventually got the children back into the classroom and Aunty Ken started the lesson. The children were still hyper and Aunty Ken was having trouble controlling them I was glad when it was 1 o’clock and I could go home however on entering the house I was in for a nasty shock. As I opened the door I could hear running water, on investigating I found the kitchen tap turned on with the plug still in, water had spilled out over the sink and onto the floor. This wouldn’t have been so bad only it had been running all morning so the water was nearly up to the second step and my knees. I could have cried I’d had such a bad day at school so this just topped it off. I quickly got into the water, sod my trousers and started to bail out the water with a bucket into the sink. Paul arrived with Bradley to the shock that it was him who had left the tap running he quickly started to help out. Two hours later after sorting through food which had also been damaged we left the room and cupboards to dry out.

Naming Ceremony

On Wednesday when I arrived home from school the compound was full of people as Aunty Lucy is having a naming ceremony for her nephews baby. At the back of the compound women were busy preparing the food in huge pots and over open fires of lighted wood. I asked if I could take some photos of the cooking and they showed me what they were making, benechin, yassa, dumplings and rice pudding. They all had there own jobs to do one was stirring the benechin with the biggest wooden spoon I’ve ever seen about the size of a boat oar. Another was taking the chicken out of a pan with a holed ladle the size of a dinner plate. I took some photos and then went for Abigail and Bradley. When we got back I sat on Lynn’s porch chatting to Tessa as she has had to come down from Bassa to do her resident permit. Whilst sat there Paul arrived home followed by Lynn. We sat discussing work as Lynn is finding it hard to find things to do at work. We had a good laugh as she explained what it is like in her office and how she keeps asking for a little project to do. Whilst sat there Abigail and Bradley were busy playing with a couple of children who were with the naming ceremony guests, and Tessa had a little girl who joined us and decided to sit on her knee. Aunty Lucy then sent one of the women over with bags of doughnuts and a bowls of benechin for us all, the benechin was gorgeous although I have the recipe it never tastes the same.

Adding Abergines To The Benechin

Taking The Chicken Yassa Out Of The Pot

Saturday was cleaning day and it proved to be a very hot and sweaty day. After lunch we decided to have a couple of hours on the beach. The water was lovely and the children played with their body boards in the surf. We were back home for 6 o’clock and ready for our dinner of pizza, salad followed by the yummiest water melon as they are now in season. The mango season has been a bit disappointing this year as when we have cut into them they have been bad so we have given up buying them or picking them from the tree.

Weekending, 18th September 2010

First Day Back At School

Monday was my first day back at work I arrived on time and then spent the next four hours looking for something to do. The teachers had not been issued with a lesson rota so they just sat chatting whilst the children got disruptive, no wonder they must have been so bored. I ended up sorting out the children’s exercise books by writing their names and class subjects on the front cover. I then went into year 1 and did the same anything to keep myself busy. A new English teacher has started called Rosemary, she is a retired secondary teacher who now lives out here and is running a hotel business. Due to business being poor this year she needed to get an income so decided to go back into teaching for a while.

On Tuesday morning the school rotas were issued, I will be working with Aunty Ken who is the sister of Mary who owns the school. We will be covering year two and year one or grande section as they have been called. As for Rosemary she is working alongside Mr Jadama who I was with last year. I spent the day very much as yesterday trying to keep busy.

On Wednesday after two boring days the teachers finally started to actually teach some of their subjects. Some of the pupils were still absent from school however over the coarse of the week they started to turn up. I spent my first lesson in year one with Aunty Ken gosh have we got a job to do. The class has about twenty two children who are aged about five years old and it became obvious from the start that they are a very disruptive group.

On the afternoon we took Lynn to Wishes Gift Shop. Whilst Paul and the children looked for a present for Teo we went to have a look around upstairs. It is like Aladdin’s cave full of lovely vases, candles and wooden mirrors. We then did some shopping in Kariba before setting off for home. We decided to walk via the path way at Palma Rima. The fields on either side were very flooded with water due to all the rain we have been having for September. When we arrived at Kotu bridge the mud flats were free from the stream and looked quite dry so we decided to take a shortcut across to the golf course. It soon became apparent that it wasn’t as dry as we thought so we ended up with very sticky, squelchy shoes and feet. Lynn didn’t seem bothered I think she now knows what Paul’s walks are like so once home we quickly washed our feet under the outside tap.

On Thursday it was the children’s first day back at Zenith. They were both a bit grumpy about going however Paul took them off whilst I went to Diana Mariam. When I picked Abigail up she said she had done nothing all day so was very bored and didn’t want to go in on Friday. On the afternoon me and Lynn had a treat we went off to take a look around Coco Ocean Hotel at Senegambia. The hotel is one of the poshest in the Gambia and very Moroccan in appearance with white washed walls and outside gardens. We took a taxi to the entrance where we walked down a short driveway and through security into the grounds. There were lots of pathways leading off in different directions with lush vegetation of fruit trees dotted about the grounds. We arrived at the reception and Lynn enquired about looking at some rooms as her sister and husband are looking to come over in February. The receptionist took us by golf buggy around the resort to look at a couple of the rooms. The rooms were very luxurious with sea views one of which had a huge covered terrace area with wicker settees. He then dropped us off outside the hotel spa. We entered the spa and were greeted by a small Asian lady, we enquired about treatments and prices. The lady gave us a brochure and directed us to a seated area beside a plunge pool and then offered us something to drink. On enquiring about the hair salon we were told the hairdresser was off and would be back next week however we were given another brochure to look at. I was surprised at the prices of the treatments very reasonable compared to the UK. As for the salon the highlights were cheaper than what Sewell charges at Yok Hair Salon so I might just treat myself before Christmas.

A BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MICHELLE!

On Saturday I had to attend a workshop at the school to do with lesson planning. As usual it was supposed to be 9 o’clock start however we didn’t start until thirty minutes later and there were still a couple who turned up late. Aunty Ken explained the format we would be using in the primary section and the importance of having some visual aids for the children. We then saw a lesson plan which Mr Touray uses in reception it was agreed that this would be trialled by the other reception teachers. We broke for breakfast for fifteen minutes and were provided with bread, beef luncheon meat and tea. After break we were split up into groups and had to devise our own lesson plan around one of the subjects, our group chose English comprehension. Each group then had to present their lesson plan to the others. Aunty Alberta ended up teaching us an actual nursery Maths lesson instead of the lesson plan. At 1 o’clock the workshop came to a close much to my relief I felt we could have completed the workshop in half the time if only some of the teachers hadn’t waffled on about how they teach.