RISE AND SHINE IT’S TIME TO EXPLORE

This morning I woke up to a free buffet breakfast. I was wondering why everyone was staring at me during breakfast, but I soon figured it out. In America, we tend to eat until we are STUFFED, and our portions are enormous. While in “The Gambia”, they eat until they are satisfied, and their portions are smaller. So after going through the line twice, I decided that was enough. After breakfast, I took another nap because I was still suffering from Jetlag. Upon awaking, we had the opportunity to tour one of the villages near our hotel as well as the markets. I have only been here for two days and I can honestly say that I am already humbled just by what I saw today. The country is very underdeveloped, and poor. Many of the compounds (villages) are surrounded by dirt, trash, wild and domestic animals, as well as many bugs. Many of them travel via donkeys and goats; some people do have cars. However¸ every single family I came into contact with had a huge smile on their faces. This showed me that many of the issues that we experience in America are absolutely nothing compared to the Gambians. They are strong, happy people who make do with the situations that they have been faced with. One boy told me that I was his sister, and that he was happy to see me back home. This allowed me to feel very comfortable in this country. While walking through the villages a child yelled “Touba” and pointed at me. This meant “white”; the child was calling me a white woman because I was lighter skinned. All I could do is laugh, because I am far from light skinned in America, however, many Africans are darker skinned so I can understand her mindset. A guy named Keemba works for the hotel as a tour guide and he happily showed us around. He is so helpful, and has no intentions on using us for money. He stated “money is not everything, happiness is”. This was really inspirational coming from a man living in poverty; it really puts things into perspective for me. Keemba took us to this place called “Neptune Bar” for dinner because it was much cheaper than the hotel’s restaurant. For dinner I had Chicken Afra and it was 175 Dalasis, which is about 6 U.S. dollars, and it was not good at all. After dinner I went to the market and got some potato chips to compensate for my hunger. After returning home, I searched the channels and found the movie “Bad Boys”; I felt right at home. I watched TV until I fell asleep.