The last few months . . .

Hard to know where to start since the last entry. Been quite a lot going on here! To summarise things at the moment, Paul and I are now (sadly) living in different places – separated by the River Gambia and about 4 hours of travel – due to our jobs, my placement is in full swing, Paul seems quite happy in his work, our friends are finishing their placements and leaving and the rains have started.

Alright – that sums it up!

Ok . . . a few more details . . .

My new place in Kombo is great – quite a bit more comfortable than our Kerewan set up – it’s just lacking my only essential! Thankfully, Paul and I are getting to visit one another every weekend, but that may become more difficult now that my research trek has begun. We have had a few weekend breaks recently – one to BoiBoi (nearly to Southern Senegal) and one to JanJanBurreh (quite far upcountry). It’s been great to see a bit more of the country. I am almost certain I’ve never spent so much time in such a small place in my adult life! I’ll get some photos up.

Traveling here is tiring, but certainly has its amusements – how many people can fit in the vehicle before the Gambians start to complain? what does it take for a goat’s legs to break when being hoisted on top of a van (amazingly, I still don’t know the answer to that yet!)? will the bottom fall out of the vehicle while it’s running (surprisingly, I have never heard of this happening!)? Today I waited for nearly two hours for a gelly gelly (public transport in the loosest sense of the word) to get back to Kombo (after having waited for nearly three hours the day before – until it was too late to leave so I had to stay the night). Luckily, I had the company of a sweet little girl (about four years old?) who just wanted to sit with me – well, actually, I think she wanted to come along, too.

As for my work, I’ve started in with the field research. It has certainly not been without challenges, but it’s incredibly interesting stuff. The trek schedule is one week field research upcountry and then one week back in Kombo writing up and preparing for the next week upcountry, etc. So, this week I’m in Kombo going through all the data gathered last week and trying to analyse it. I’m also making arrangements for our next week upcountry. I can’t say too much about the findings right now, but watch this space as I can assure you it will be very interesting.

Paul is still working in the same placement at the Ministry. He’s also done some work with the curriculum development department – who have been quite keen on him. He really seems to love his job and they seem to like what he’s doing – having made his project the focus of their current monitoring trek. I’m really proud of him.

Sadly, most everyone we’ve come out with and nearly everyone who was here before us is leaving or has already left. Most notably, the last of our Kerewan crew – Emma Shannon – who is leaving at the end of July. The new batch (who arrived in February) are lovely and I’m sure the new August group will be as well, but I’ll miss these guys loads!!

The hot, dry days and cooler dry nights are now behind us and the rainy season is upon us! So far I’ve been in two fairly decent thunderstorms upcountry – they haven’t hit Kombo yet. It’s exciting to have the rain and fascinating to see how quickly it changes the environment, but inconvenient at times, no doubt!

Well, I feel like this entry has been rather dull and I do apologise for that. I’ll try to do more interesting things more often in the future.