The 4th of July

Pablo the taxi driver

Yesterday Keemba surprised us and gave us bracelets that he had made as a present for us being in The Gambia. The bracelets had our names on them in the colors of the Gambian flag. They were really nice, in fact I have since asked him to make more for my family friends, but of course that came with a price. This evening we went to a beach party that was a 15 minute drive away from our hotel. We had a tough negotiation with the cab driver who wanted too much for where we were going, but we worked it out. When we got to the beach it was completely dark and we

The only Americans on the Beach

could barely see where we were walking. The DJ was playing African music and it was great. I watched as the young teenagers popped their bodies and compared it to the way young people dance in the US. They dance more defined and it isn’t as much shaking but more of a body tick. They faced each other when they

She was getting it

danced and the girl moved her hips while the guy moved his feet. I was taking pictures when it wasn’t awkward of the people dancing. Then one African song came and even one just started yelling, I could tell it was one of everyone’s favorite. All the people put their hands up in the air and one Gambian even put his lighter up. They were so hype, even our taxi driver Pablo was jamming with Keemba.  I started walking around taking pictures and then I saw some young Gambians get mad and they started fussing in their language. Keemba tried to play it off and say the flash was bothering them, but they were dancing underneath a bright light so I knew it was more to it than that. I told Keemba that I was great at reading body language and I knew exactly what the guys were saying even if I didn’t speak their language. After basking in the ambiance of the experience, I was hungry and ready to leave. I was also ready to leave because the Gambians lack manners when it comes to being in a crowd. The people here are really nice, but that doesn’t keep them from stepping all over you and pushing you. I had one girl hit my twists with her arm and she nearly knocked my head over it was so hard. She never turned around to look or apologize, so it was definitely time for me to leave. 

At the Beach Party

We went to Senegambia and I was hoping that we wouldn’t run into the same issue that we had two nights prior to tonight.  We ate at a restaurant titled “Queen Africa,” but strangely enough it was owned by white people. I ordered a pan-grilled chicken dish cooked with sweet curry and mango sauce. It tasted a little bit like the chicken afra dish, but it was a little more tolerable. After dinner I wanted to stay and listen to the reggae band playing at the restaurant next door, but I was a little tired for the night. Today wasn't too bad of a day. We went out to the dental clinic for a while  and to lunch in Senegambia. At lunch we met two couples from Scotland and England. They had moved down here for the weather, but the wives absolutely hated living here. the man named Hugo was really funny, he told me to tell the Gambian cab drivers to "fuck off" when they try to rip us off. I was laughing the entire time.

4th of July Fireworks

We also met three American soldiers that were here to train African soldiers. It was great to meet them on the 4th of July, they even invited us to a firework show with other Americans to celebrate our national holiday. At the firework show we met 4 British women and it was pretty cool to talk with them. The firework show was cool, but the African security shut it down. Overall it was a chill day, but I enjoyed it.