Hey all, I know it’s been a while, but not too much has been going on. A few things are up I guess.

Eric the Red the cat that our family had for the last 15 years died. It was pretty sad. I really would’ve liked to see him again, but I suppose he was pretty old, and I’m glad he isn’t in anymore pain. Still it is sad…L

The last time I went up to Janjang Burreh I actually got down to work and wrote something pretty big. I finished the screenplay for the horror movie I want to make. I’ve mentioned this before, but just to quickly recap, it’s a short (30 minute) schlock horror film, called The Terror of Jinno Kormo (roughly translated as the lunatic devil). It’s clichéd, but still serious. Westerners would probably watch parts of it and laugh at how silly it is, but that’s ok. It’s centered around Gambian myths and folklore, but I took several liberties. I don’t want to offend anyone with this thing so I added a lot of stuff to make the folk tales my own. I’m still revising the script, but after it’s done I’ll throw a copy of it online so people can give it a read. I’m hopefully going to film it in Mandinka, although I am worried about the translation. English has so many more words, and the subtle difference between words like fate and destiny (which are one word in Mandinka) could possibly really throw the whole rhythm off. Still I’d like to try and make it as locally accessible. I’m hoping to film in August, and I’m actually thinking about sticking around Gambia a bit longer to get this done right. I’m looking for funding now, as well as fine tuning the script and scouting locations. I think the real challenge will be finding actors. For the funding, I’m going to ask around to some local businesses, but I’m also looking at the culture and tourism board. Maybe it’s not overly likely, but I’ll give it a shot. Besides I’m really not looking for too much cash. I’m planning on investing like 10 000 Dalasis of my own money, and I think I could actually do this thing for that much, but it’d be kind of weak. If I had a dream budget, I’d bump it up to 100 000 Dalasis (and that’s only like $4000 (US), still ridiculously cheap for any kind of film. But I guess I’d be pretty happy with a 30 000 D budget. Anyhow, I’m totally rambling so I’ll stop now.

Classes have ended here, exams are over. There’s no students anywhere, and not much happening. Poncelet (my boss) is travelling in the States, and Cyndi is in Seattle until next week. I’ve still got to go up to Janjang Burreh two more times, but they’ve let my buddy Rich come up and work too, so at least I’m not bored and alone. Basically though I’ve just been hanging out not working too hard. If I stay longer here, it’ll probably be until December, I’m not going to decide for a while though… Anyhow, If I think of any other wild excitement in my life I’ll let you all in on it, until then though. Stay safe, and happy. Oh and by the way, I did notice that I should be archiving this log page, but it really isn’t very full and if I keep writing at this pace I might as well switch to a three month archive rate. Alright, later all.

Hey kids, it’s time for another log update. Things have been going ok here on the whole. Cyndi went home for 3 weeks or so and is now enjoying the high life of pizza hut, new movies, the new Harry Potter book, and about a million other things that make me insanely jealous of her. She’s getting time to hang with the fam, and eat well, even if the airline screwed up her ticket; I’d say she’s pretty lucky. Geez, sorry, you know sometimes I really feel a desperate need to get out of The Gambia…

Not too many things have been going on here. I’ve been reading a lot, not doing too much teaching, and taking a break from the film world. I got offered another real paying film job though. This time for Gamcell, that’s the other mobile phone company here. They want 2 30 second commercials, but to be completely honest I don’t feel like doing them so much at the moment. I’d like to keep working on my own stuff, working at my own pace for a while. Other than that things are pretty good. Nothing unfortunately went on this Canada Day. There’s only one other Canadian that I know of here at the moment, and while he’s a good guy in small doses. One can only take so much of that small town, hokeyhead weirdness. But the 4th was pretty nifty.

The US embassy was supposed to throw a BBQ party (very Americana) but at the last minute they cancelled it because of the unrest in some of the nearby West African countries. As a policy they’re not too keen on large groups of Americans hanging out together these days. Anyhow, it was still ok, as some of my Peace Corps friends threw together an undercover as it were party on the 3rd at a local bar. It was a good time, and I didn’t even mind hanging out all night with like 50 PCVs (peace corps volunteers).

For some reason my brain is a little addled today, I can’t really think of anything else going on lately. I’m sure there is stuff, but none of it’s terribly interesting. Life here moves along as it does, at its own pace. I’ve recently started reading a really funny web comic. It’s called A Modest Destiny, check it out over at http://www.squidi.net if you’re interested. But for the moment at least I’m gonna sign off. I hope all is well with you, wherever you are. So long from The Gambia.

Well its been quite a while since my last log update. In fact, it’s been a while since an update of any kind. I guess I’ve been pretty busy. Sorry ‘bout that. Things seem to be going pretty well though. This week I’ve actually started and finished two new video projects. The big one was the Africell thing. I didn’t end up shooting the video because I had to go upcountry with Cyndi for 3 days. More Janjang Burreh fun… Anyhow, when I got back they had already shot the thing and they just needed me to edit it and produce the final versions.

It was still a fair bit of work though, I managed to get the whole shebang done over the weekend though. It was pretty fun, and I think it turned out very well. I also did the narration for the video. The marketing manager of GRTS is taking the video to DC to show it to other business people and potential investors at the Africa Summit this week. Very exciting. Getting paid was also pretty nice. They gave me 6000 dalasis for the work.

This week I’ve also been working on another video, it’s a little volunteer recruitment vid for the Y. I was thinking that we’d put it onto some CDs and send it out to the head of the YMCAs in US, Canada, England, Sweden, and Australia. We really need more trained staff here, especially with everything that’s going on these days. The video starred me, and Cyndi, and another Gambian volunteer Sheriff. I’m very happy with how it all turned out.

Not too much other than work stuff going on lately. I’ve been hanging out with this American guy Rich a fair bit. He’s staying at the YMCA for a month or two. He’s trying to get a Fair Trade NGO off the ground, and he’s designing their website here at the computer centre. Let’s see what else… Well, Cyndi was giving me a haircut last week and she went a bit too shot on the sides. So I decided to cut it into a Mohawk. Not a big sticky up one or anything, just a subtle hint of a Mohawk. It’s pretty funny. I mean, I don’t think I’d ever try to pull something like this off back home, but here it’s ok. Also the Africans love it. They have no social or political associations with it; they just see it as a haircut. Also David Beckam had one a few years ago, and of course everyone loves Beckam. Check it out by clicking HERE.

Anyhow, I think that’s all that’s been going on lately. Lots of work, not too much other stuff. So until next time, I hope you’re all happy and safe. Peace Out.

Well, it’s been a few days since my last update and a fair bit has been going on. I had thought that since the Knowledge Bowl was over things would cool down for a while, but of course knowing how this place works I was wrong.

The Knowledge Bowl itself went off very well I think. Yes things were a bit hectic. And no, not everyone we wanted to showed up. But on the whole it was good. The winning school, St Peter’s senior Secondary did really really well. Basically clobbering their competition. And on my side the video highlights reel was very well received. I’ll get to more about that a bit later though. The trophy showed up late and GRTS the tv station decided not to show at all. This of course was a problem; basically they have handled our entire situation with total incompetence. They really have no clue how to run a television station, let alone any kind of consumer based business. We’re lodging a formal complaint with their managing director, but I doubt it’ll do any good. If I can I’ll upload our complaint letter for you all to see and marvel at their complete unprofessionalism. Regardless of that though I filmed the finals myself, and then edited it myself too. They’ve got the tape and are airing the program tonight; unfortunately due to some crazy other circumstances, we haven’t had power for 3 days and probably won’t tonight, meaning no one will actually get to see the program. Yup, that’s it. That’s the whole sordid affair. Sorry, but I’ve been yelling at the people at GRTS for the past few hours. It takes a bit out of you.

Anyhow, onto the big news. About a month ago Gambia played Senegal in a football match here. It was a pretty big deal, the two teams (the Scorpions/Gambia, and the Lions/Senegal) were playing to see who would move on in the West Africa Cup. At that game, some bad blood passed between the two teams. But whatever, I mean, they’re both sports teams, that kind of stuff happens. Anyhow, generally speaking everything went fine. The teams tied, and it was decided that a rematch would occur later on. This rematch took place in Senegal on Saturday. And things definitely did not go as well as the last time. Senegal won the game 3-1 but the problems occurred for the most part afterwards. During the match you could see on tv in the stands the police and military were quite literally beating up the Gambian supporters. But that’s not where it ended, that night things got quite out of hand. Gambians were beaten up, cars were broken into, and general mayhem took over. The local news said up to 700 injuries were sustained, and 4 Gambians were killed. This did get picked up by BBC Africa, and they reported only 50 people injured and no fatalities. Of course the truth is probably somewhere in between. As you can imagine this caused some serious stuff to go down in The Gambia once word got out. The following morning Sunday, many Gambian people (mostly youths) took to the streets in protest. They blocked roads, demanded to see identification from everyone, assaulted Senegalese business men, looted and burned down Senegalese owned stores, and generally speaking ran riot. There were reported outbreaks of violence in Banjul, Serekunda, Lamin, near the airport, and throughout most of the Kombos. It was a little scary, but not so bad for me personally. Cyndi was out that morning and she said she saw people with sticks and rakes walking towards the market area of Serekunda. Tim said he got up and was going out for breakfast when a Peace Corps SUV pulled up and demanded that he get in. Following that every Peace Corps volunteer in the Kombo was rounded up and taken to the guarded Peace Corps offices, and forced to stay there in lockdown. I personally missed most everything. I’d been out drinking on Saturday and consequently missed most of the violence due to a lazy Sunday hangover. But we too were instructed not to leave the YMCA by Sam Thorpe, the head of the Y.

The rioting went on all day, but by the evening the police had a modicum of control. There was a national curfew imposed for yesterday and today, from 7pm to 7am. Although even though the police seemed to have it under control there was still some violence and rioting on Monday morning, in Banjul and around there. Then again that might just be people who were upset that they didn’t think to get anything good during the looting of the day before. A lot of the local stores were destroyed, or looted but I don’t think too many were burned down. I’ve only seen a small bit of the destruction so far, but I think it’s pretty much ok now. Schools have been closed for the past two days because of this, and they might be all week. Also the power station was tampered with so there’s been no electricity here for 3 days. At the end of the day though it seems to be getting better now.

If I can just voice one thought about this though, I’ve got to wonder why the hell all this had to happen. None of it makes sense to me. I mean, the Senegalese and the Gambian peoples are the same. Mandinka are Mandinka, Wolof are Wolof, no matter which side of the border you live on. It seem like they have so much in common that I don’t understand this radical hooliganism. I know that it’s football and people love football, but seriously, is that a reason to riot, to assault people? No, there’s no excuse for this kind of needless violence.

Aside from that the entire West Africa seems to be going off right about now. Attempted coup in Mauritania, fighting in Guinea-Bissau, rebel activity in Sierra Leone, and of course the coup attempt in Liberia that is still ongoing… Maybe it’s just time for this. I’ve heard it explained that it’s all cyclical. These countries have put themselves in position whereby they can’t really escape to, or create a better life for themselves without violence. But once the people/army put someone in power that they want everything starts again. The corruption runs just too deep for the power hungry to abandon it. And soon enough people are upset, angry, ready to fight for whatever they have left to them. The cycle begins again.

Today I’ve been dealing with the incomprehensibly thick people at GRTS, trying to get things organized. It’s really been quite a struggle. But Guess what, some very surprising news today too. Jegan, one of Poncelet’s friends is the managing director of Africell one of the two phone companies in The Gambia. Africell donated the trophy to the Knowledge Bowl and made some t-shirts for the participants. So Jegan was at the Finals ceremony. He liked the Highlights reel a bunch, and today he offered me a job. And I mean a paying job. He’s going to this Africa Summit in Washington at the end of the month and he’d like me to film and edit a 20 minute industrial video for Africell to be screened there! Crazy eh?! Anyhow, the script has already been written, So I’d just need to shoot and edit. And I’d get paid!!! Ok, I do actually understand the concept of working and getting paid, but it’s still pretty exciting. I really do think I should do it. Poncelet says I shouldn’t ask for anything less than 15000 Dalasis payment. So I’ll decide for sure by tomorrow. But I’d really like to take it. This is something I’d be doing independent of the Y so I’d be spending my own time on it, but what a great opportunity. Anyhow, I’m going to look at the script and decide tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll have time for it.

Tomorrow is my birthday, I’m turning 25 years old. It’s pretty weird, I mean I’m actually getting older. Not that it’s horrible or anything, I just would really rather stay young forever. I don’t regret anything in my life, in fact, I think I’ve really made a good go of it so far. But it’s just odd to think that I’ll never get a chance to be properly young again. Baaah, enough reflection. I don’t really need to wonder about that stuff, I’m really pretty young still. Anyhow, I’ve got to go up to jan Jang Burreh tomorrow until Friday with Cyndi. I’m honestly not looking forward to it. Jan Jang is basically pretty boring, and I really don’t feel much like hanging out with Cyndi these days. It’s just that the more time I spend apart from her, the more I dislike her… there’s really nothing I can do about it though. I just need her to get the hell out of my life.

Speaking of which Cynthia has gotten a job and decided to go to Bangladesh next year. Yup, that’s right…. Bangladesh. The greatest place on earth. Actually, I’m sure it’s a pretty cool city to be in, and you might as well go there. Especially if there’s someone there waiting for you. But it basically just makes me kind of nauseous. Yup, that’s just life though; and maybe this is what Cyndi needs right now. Maybe she’ll figure out where she’s going with her life, and what her problem with men is.

Incidentally, I’m only trying to be a little bit mean here, I honestly hope Cyndi figures out what’s up with her. I know I’d sure like to figure out my ridiculous women problems, and I do have a number of them. Whatever though, I mean we’ve all got problems, and trying to get the opposite sex to understand them is virtually impossible. I don’t think I could ever even get with someone that wasn’t a head case to some degree or another…. But maybe that’s another one of my problems. Anyways, Cyndi’s off in September to teach in Bangladesh, and I’m off to San Fran for a while. That’s life, eh, always changing.

Hey folks, I’m back from St Louis. It’s Monday now, and everyone here at the Y is getting ready for the big Knowledge Bowl Finals this afternoon. It’s pretty exciting, and I’m reqlly going to be glad when its over. This has really been an awful lot of work; but I suppose it is the biggest project I’m going to be involved in while I’m here. I’m really pretty happy about how everything’s turned out, even if things did get a little bit too stressful especially at the end. But more about that in a bit. First I ought to tell you about the Jazz Festival.

Before I left for the Festival on Tuesday morning, I stayed up most of Monday night working on editing the highlights reel for the Knowledge Bowl. It’s basically exactly what it sounds like. I filmed every competition and have slowly been compiling a 25 minute long selection of highlights. Sort of like a sports recap. I even put colour commentary and scoring graphics in it. Problem was, I had to wait untl after last Monday’s Semi Final round to finish. I didn’t know who was going to be in the finals before that. Which ment that I had to work my butt off on Monday night to try and get it done for the final competition today. The plan is to show the highlights reel to the audience before the final competition, and to show it on the TV next week before we air the actual finals. It’s really been a heap of work and the technical problems involved didn’t make things any easier for me. In fact I didn’t get the job finished on Monday evening, even though I stayed up working on it until 4am. I won’t bore you all with the technical problems, but there were a number of them, and Adobe Premiere, which is usually a very stable editing platform decided to start acting up on me. So I left for the Jazz Festival more than a little stressed out.

But regardless of my neurosis I went on to the Festival and really enjoyed myself. My travelling companions (Tim and Joe, both Peace Corps guys) and I were planning on taking the brand new high speed catamaran, but at the last minute they ended up cancelling the voyage. It was to be their maiden trip and apparently they didn’t get all of their paperwork sorted out, and consequently couldn’t go. But seeing as we’d already bought tickets, they gave us a full refund and a promise of a FREE round trip business class ticket when they do get going. So I wasn’t really too upset about the whole thing. We took public transport and it wasn’t so bad. Mostly because the bulk of the travelling occurred in Senegal, and everything is just so much better there, from the roads to the cars, to education, construction, and food. It really doesn’t make much sense to me, I mean I know Senegal doesn’t have the highest GDP or anything, they’re not doing that great. But they seem to take pride in doing what they can do well. We arrived safely in St Louis before darkm which was very nice and I think only happened because we wisely decided to avoid Dakar traffic, and bypassed the city.

I was staying at a reather nice hotel downtown, the Hotel du Palais. Decent place and fairly reasonably priced. Tim and Joe were sharing a room at a hotel a block and a half away, but they paid almost double me. It didn’t matter that much though because we didn’t spend too much time in our hotels other than sleeping all day. The city itself? Well, it’s definitely not as nice a place as Dakar, the streets are dirtier, the restaurants aren’t as nice, and the bumsters are annoying. Not that they weren’t in Dakar or anything, but I was still pretty aggravated. Still I didn’t really come there to explore the town too much so it didn’t matter a lot.

We bought full festival passes from some guy I met in the pub. Apparently he stole them from the tourism office so we got a pretty good deal on them. So for the five days of the concert series we had the big ticket. Every evening starting around 9pm and going till 2am or so there were two official programs in town, the ‘On’ program aka the high roller expensive ticket program, and the ‘Off’ program, aka the suckie program. There was also a whole lot of free concerts going on at all the bars around town, lots of jazz everywhere. And most of the bars and nightclubs had smaller bands, focusing on African jazz, or more traditional African music with jazz influences. Tim, Joe and I though spent our evenings at the On program for the most part. It didn’t really matter though because the music at the clubs went on until 6am or so every night, so we just went out to the clubs afterwards. The official program was pretty good overall. The styles were incredibly different throughout. There were two bands per night at the on program and they were at least theoretically all the big bands. Some were old and boring, some were very traditional jazz, most were pretty funky, there was one group from Belgium that played bizarre jazz influenced rock with really heavy bass distortion the whole time, there was even a Vegas style lounge act (which was fantastically annoying). But I think the best one was this great South African group. The woman who was the lead singer had an amazing operatic voice, just phenomenal. Even though some of it was kinda lame, on the whole it was really very good, and just about everyone had some good moments, or good songs.

One thing I will say though is that there were tons of Peace Corps there. 17 from Gambia, and something like 14 from Senegal, people from Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, and even Mali. I was blown away by the American vibe there; very heavy. For the most part it was cool though, some of them are really nice people, and I had a good time hanging with them at times. I guess for the most part though I just did my own thing. Anyhow, that was good too. No point in complaining, I honestly do feel kind of bad that I always seem to be ragging on the Peace Corps. So I’ll just stop now.

After the on show we went out bar hopping until around 5, 5:30 every morning. It was fun, good people, good music, good times. I even ran into a really cool German veterinarian, and a cute Swiss girl, that I met last week in Gambia. I won’t go into all the details of my evenings but they were definitely fun. I think if I went back there I wouldn’t stay downtown though; the city was kinda boring in the daytime. A few people I knew were at the nicer resort hotels just out of town. I think it might be nicer to chill out by the pool during the day as opposed to fighting off hustlers and trying to find a decent shwarma.

I unfortunately had to come back from the festival a day early, on my own. Thank god I wasn’t here for it, but Cyndi had a really stressful week here. Basically I needed to get this video highlights thing done by today (Monday) or there’d be some sort of hell to pay. I had left pretty elaborate instructions for Cyndi, but it was really a pretty weird technical problem that even after fixing I don’t really understand. Soooo, I came back on Saturday missed the final day of the festival, and dealt with this work thing. Cyndi was really great over the week though. She tried really hard to make it work and even stuck up for me in a few arguments that occurred. But as much as I was disappointed to leave early, I am glad I did. I really never would have been able to get this video thing done in time otherwise. And now things are a bit more chilled out. We’re heading off to the Hotel Kairaba this afternoon for the Knowledge Bowl, and I’m excited. I think this’ll be a good time too. GRTS will be filming, so I really won’t have too much to worry about. Yeah, I guess that’s about all that’s happening with me now. A good time in St Louis, I managed to finish my work in time,... everything is pretty much working itself out. So I guess that’s my cue to sign off too. I hope everyone’s good, happy, and safe. So long until next time people.

Hey everyone, I thought it’d be a good idea for me to do a quick log update before I head off to Senegal tomorrow. A few things have been happening. Firstly, I just wanted to mention that a really nice man, my former headmaster at high school, has just died. I know that no one reading this web site probably knows him, but Mr Latimer was a pretty amazing man. He gave me more chances to redeem myself than I deserved. He was a fantastic guy to talk with, and I’m really just very sorry he’s gone. It’s pretty amazing when you meet someone who honestly helps you grow up. And yes, he was a jerk sometimes, but by taking his advice over the years I knew him, or throwing his advice out the window; I really learned a lot. I don’t really know what else to say… he was a great guy and I’ll miss him.

Onto another note, I’ve been working very hard lately. Our Knowledge Bowl is coming to an end, and we’re trying to get ready for the big finals on June 2nd. Problem is, I just realized that I’m gone from tomorrow until June 1st to Senegal. So all my work that I needed finished by the finals actually has to be finished today. I’ve been filming the competition so far, and have now been editing it together into a 20 minute long highlights reel. We’re getting an hour of air time on GRTS and showing the finals. This highlights reel is going to be the first part of the program. I think it’s coming together very well, but it’s really tons and tons of work. That’s actually kind of the thing. I don’t think anyone really realizes that filming and editing is a heap of work. That’s not their fault or anything, but I do feel like people are starting to take advantage of me. As soon as this Knowledge Bowl is over though I’m going to get my priorities sorted out properly. I’ve still got to finish the YMCA commercials. And I really want to get started on my own personal film. I’ve mentioned it before, but it’s a short horror film in Mandinka (that’s one of the local languages). Anyhow, I’m sure it’ll all come together, but it’s just a lot to do.

This past weekend was a bit crazy for me. Cyndi was up in Janjang Burreh; training. And I spent most of the time editing. Friday though I managed to take a few hours off. And although I only half regret it, I got myself involved in some pretty despicable American nonsense. You see, Peace Corps has intakes every few months, consequently they have a group COSing (completion of service) also every few months. This weekend a group of AgFos (agriculture and forestry) were finishing up, so everyone and their friends were all in town. Also, Youssou N’dour was here playing Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. So basically it was a huge party weekend. Seeing as the US government has just raised their alert status once again though, and the Peace Corps are part of the US State Department, the big planned party was cancelled. Large groups of Americans hanging out is discouraged. Anyhow, it was still pretty impossible to avoid all the PCVs (peace corps volunteers). The part that I really am ashamed of was on Friday afternoon my participation in a very disturbing American ritual. It might not sound so bad to you, but I actually played football, American football, on the beach. Two problems with this: 1. I’m not really too big on exercising and so my muscles have been screaming at me for two days since then, and 2. It was just a little too American apple pie, or maybe Frat party, for me. Don’t get me wrong people, I like Peace Corps, especially on an individual basis, but every time a large group gets together it’s just appalling. I just get a huge overdose of Americana. It’s just feels kind of dirty somehow. Is that wrong? Friday night was also a night filled with debauchery, but that’s not the kind of stuff I want to print here so you’ll just have to be left wondering. It was fun though, if not a little painful.

Ok, well, I don’t have too much more to say. I’m going to the Jazz Festival in St Louis, Senegal tomorrow. I’m taking the new boat from Banjul to Dakar. It sounds very good. A high speed catamaran, with a restaurant and everything. Whatever it is, I’m sure it’ll beat the Gely Gely. Anyways, that’s all I’ve got to say, so I hope everyone out there is good, and that I hear from you all. Oh, and BTW, why don’t you go sign my guestbook if you haven’t yet. No one ever signs it. It’s depressing. So long everyone. I’m back next Sunday, and I’ll bring photos of the Jazz fest. Later.

Hey folks I’m back. I was going to write this a few days ago, but ran out of time before I could get going. I hadn’t realized that I needed to restart the log page. Time flies, I’m sure you all know how it is. Anyhow, hings have been pretty good lately for the most part. Last week the big event was the sad departure of Jakob. He left on Monday evening, after the Knowledge Bowl round two. We all went out to the airport with him and saw him off. Well, at least got a chance to have one final drink with the guy. Anyhow, it’s too bad he’s gone, but at least he’s getting to enjoy the benefits of Western civilization to their fullest. It’s funny. I know I complain often about the lack of facilities here, but honestly, I could be up in some hut somewhere in a random village. Things in the Kombo are really pretty sweet. But Jakob is gone now. And then there were two… Yup, Cyndi and I are all that’s left for a bit now. Of course Poncelet and Cecilia are still around, but I mean from the intern team. Anyhow, it looks like we might just be getting a new intern in late June or early July, a British-Chinese girl that’s friends of friends of Ponce. We’ll see if it actually comes together though.

Last week we had the second round of the Knowledge Bowl, and I think it went well, except we had all the tough schools competing, and they can be really mean to each other. I really didn’t get much of a feeling of good sportsmanship there. Whatever, it worked. Cyndi and I have been working hard to get a PA system together for this coming week though. Africans, well maybe just Gambians have a real issue with talking loudly. It just isn’t done. Anyhow, it looks like it’ll all work out. Also, it looks like the finals are going to be held at one of the really nice hotels here, the Kairaba. Very cool. It’s a really very big project. We’re also trying to secure funding and what not for live, that’s right LIVE tv coverage. I’m producing a little highlights real of the competition so far to screen for the first 15 minutes of the broadcast or so. Which is actually a fair bit of work on it’s own. Hopefully it’ll all come together ok.

I’ve been hanging with Tim a fair bit since Jakob’s left. It’s been good times. I always got along with Tim but I know Jakob especially needed time away from Cyndi and I sometimes so it was good that he had someone to hang out with. I feel bad, like I know sometimes Cyndi and I made Jakob and Tim feel awkward, being in the middle of a break up and all that, but considering the situation it’s pretty hard for Cyn and me not to be completely screwed up sometimes. Even still… Ah well, I don’t really feel like talking nonsense like that, I’ll just tell you about my trip up country this weekend.

While Cyndi was busy partying it up this Saturday at Poncelet’s birthday party. Which sounded very very cool; they rented out a restaurant and had free beer. So while that was happening, Tim and I hopped on a Gelly Gelly (bush taxi) and headed up country to President Jammeh’s village, Kanilai. He was having a week long cultural festival there. It’s a pretty big deal and although he’s just been running it for two years now I think it’s going to be a big annual event. There seemed to be a lot going on. Bands from all over came in to play, there was a huge wrestling tournament, which I really wanted to see, and weird other stuff, like naming ceremonies, marriage ceremonies, and a guy that swallows snakes! Anyhow, this was pretty much the end of the deal, tonight, Sunday night is the end for good. And while it was good on the whole up there, Tim and I sort of dropped the ball on the festival timing. We’d heard that it started really late, considering it runs until 5 am every night, so we didn’t head up there until after 5 pm. Unfortunately, we arrived just after dark at 8 or so and things were chilled for a while. We wanted to go to see the program, but we also didn’t have anywhere to stay, there is only one hotel there and it was full of ministers and foreign dignitaries. We might have camped but there was a really high military presence there, so we thought better of it. Instead we went over to the hotel and tried to sort our situation out. And we actually got hooked up pretty darn well. You see, everyone here is all about the side deal, that extra couple of Dalasis that you can slide their way, especially if it can go right into their pocket. Anyhow, this hotel was really nice, like 5 star, costing D 825, a night. Our deal basically involved getting the chef to move out of his room for the night, and we got to sleep in the staff quarters. We paid D 400, and got treated very well. They gave us a very good complimentary breaky this morning, and totally tried to help us out with the festival stuff. So at the end of the day we did get a very good deal, especially considering the alternative of staying up all night. The program itself, kinda sucked. I mean, Jammeh was there and all, but the wrestling seemed to have ended, whicvh was all I really really wanted to see. I even got permission from the military security to go up and join the cameramen journalists filming the event. But alas no wrestling. We stayed out listing to ok, music, except for the fact that it was being directed, appropriately of course, at the VIPs and we somehow got placed behind the stage. Anyhow, we were out till like 4am. Truly disappointing. Still it was a good hook up with the room, etceteras.

The real problem with travelling up country is the travel. If they would simply do some actual road work here, I mean the Taiwanese government gave Jammeh the money for this like 10 years ago, things might be a lot better. As it is it took like three and a half hours to travel 100 kilometers on public transport. Just depressing, and so so dirty.

Another really weird thing was Jammeh’s village, Kanilai. It’s like another planet. The streets are paved, he has street lights there, and there’s a 5 star hotel! It doesn’t even make sense. I know their his people and all (Jammeh and the village are both Jola), but it’s just so nepotistic. Foreign dignitaries are flown into Banjul in the evening, and driven up to Kanilai at night, taken to a great resort hotel, and then treated great. I’m sure they think that Gambia is all like that, but man is it ever not. It’s all image, really just ridiculous stuff.

So not too much else is happening, I mean big times are definitely afoot here. There’s a lot of stuff coming up. I’m going to this amazing sounding Jazz festival in St Louis, Senegal at the end of the month, and the Knowledge Bowl is taking a lot of time. I’ve also got some other plans to travel around a bit. I’ve actually really stepped up my lifestyle here a notch lately, and although it is costing more money, I think I really need it. There’s also been a lot of things I just needed to do. I bought a new mobile phone. Jakob left me his SIM card, so I only had to buy the unit. I also really needed some new clothes, pants especially. It’s good, but just a bit pricey to live the high life here. Anyhow, I really should try to keep everything in check, I really don’t have too much money here, but why did I actually come to Africa if not to see something of it. In a way I really need to be doing cool stuff like this Jazz festival. Am I ever going to get a chance to do things like this again in my life? Probably not. I guess it’s just about making the most of the time you have here. Enjoying it, cause now will never come again. And on that rather poignant note, I’ll leave you all until the next time we chat. Stay happy everyone. So long.