53%

Today, I was working on editing a report by someone in the education department.  On pretty much every report there is a background section telling about the poverty statistics in The Gambia.  One sentence that is always there is:

“53 percent of the population lives below the US$2 per day.”  (Okay, so sometimes the sentence is more or less grammatically correct but this is it copied from the current report and you get the idea.)

I decided to calculate how I compare to that.  Right now, Peace Corps pays me: 

my stipend

+ they pay me a city supplement because living in the city is way more expensive than anywhere else

+ WFP pays my rent.  

All of this money added up, divided out, and converted to dollars comes to roughly $13.50 per day.

That’s pretty impressive considering the $6 a day I used to get when I lived in village. 

Of my $13.50, $5 goes to rent, which leaves me $8.50/day to live off of.  I am RICH. 

How internet here works

Solving the mystery of how I have internet at my house...

Here, the easiest way to get internet at home is through one of the cell phone companies.  You register with them and get a receiver that looks like this

 This plugs into the USB drive and picks up a cell signal, giving you the internet. The signal isn't all you need.  You still have to pay for it.  To do that, you have to buy credit.  For this, I use the same system that I use for my phones. You buy a card at any neighborhood shop or from people selling them on the street.  They come in different denominations (this one is 100 dalasis- a little under $4. One of the bigger cards you can get.)
There is a portion that you have to scratch off like a lottery ticket to get to your code.  Then you text this code to the mobile provider.





In a couple of seconds, you should get a text back telling you the amount of credit in your account. Then you're free to roam the internet until you've used up all of the memory that the credit entitles you to. Then you're done with internet until you buy more credit.

Back home

I've been back in Gambia for a few weeks now. It’s been great being back. I've really enjoyed being back in my own house. I don't even know why I'm so glad to be back in my smelly, soggy part of the city, but somehow or another I don’t know anywhere else I’d rather be. I’m going to try and be better about writing about this place.

Today’s story- Toubab I lafita denaano? (Foreigner, do you want this baby?)

A few days ago, I was walking home from work and I could hear some kids talking about me from a little ways off.  There were a few kids about 10-12 years old and one of the girls had a baby tied on her back, probably a younger sibling she was supposed to watch.  One of the boys was saying “here comes a toubab.  Ask it to buy this baby.” Then it became a song- “the toubab’s going to buy this baby.” Then I got to the group of kids and I was presented with the baby.  They were going to give it to me at a great price of 1 dalasi (less than a nickel), but I turned them down.  I’m just not equipped for a baby, but I told them maybe later.

Today, I was walking towards the road near my house and I met a totally different group of kids.  These were a little younger and didn’t have the baby they were referring to out on display, but they also asked if I wanted a baby several times.  Weird new trend.

After a long day at the office

I went walking on the beach after work the other day and I thought, you know, living this close to a beach, I kind of forget how cool it is that I can just come out here all the time.  I'm lucky.  I work across the street from the beach in a place where it is not really ever miserable weather for walking on the beach. 

I live in a pretty cool place, I'll admit it.

 There are no tourists now.  Its like there was a ban on tourists after a couple of weeks ago.  I was the only one on the beach besides a group of boys playing soccer and a fisherman who lives there.  The fisherman told me about a possible route that I could start walking part of the way home on the beach.  The route might double the distance home, but its at least twice as pretty.

You're in.

Welcome into the house. This is my living room.

I have a couch, a coffee table, 3 chairs, 2 light bulbs, a ceiling fan, a couple of outlets, and a huge set of shelves complete with a mirror! All came with the house.

This room is way bigger than my old house!

Made in China

One of the most consistently entertaining things in The Gambia is the lack  of editing on products, papers, signs, etc.  The products are possibly the most entertaining and not Gambia's fault. If you thought that everything in America was made in China, the percentage can't even compare with here. I guess Chinese companies figure that if a significant portion of the West African population is illiterate, they can put their least literate staff in the copy room to write for products bound for West Africa.

Here is a brief introduction to my collection of entertaining examples of complete lack of editing.  Two things I have bought lately:

 I needed a pair of sandals while I was in Senegal and couldn't pass up this badly edited pair.  The picture above and below came from the same shoe.  Note: In the above picture, China takes credit for their workmanship.

Got some hangers for my work-wear.  I wouldn't have thought that hangers needed a cautionary note, but how else would they have fit this many English mistakes onto the package?

Inside the Fortress

Looking out from the porch.

  From the outside looking in.

Nice place right? The old place was nice, but its just not quite like the new one.