I was standing at the bow of a ship, entirely alone, and the ocean spread endlessly before me. The ship was white and the water was full of foamy waves. The sky was crisp and cloudless, the sun was high, and a strong breeze cooled my skin. With the wind in my hair and a smile on my face, I shouted “I’m naked and beautiful!”

And that’s all I remember of my dream last night. That’s definitely the best one I’ve had here.

In the morning, after watching a bit more of Harry Potter, I got in the car with Bill to go to the garden. It turns out that Mr. Jatta’s mother passed away, which both explains his absence and makes me much less angry at him. According to Baboucar, he won’t be back until Monday. Bill waltzed into the garden and started greeting the women, who seemed pretty thrilled. After the greetings and the introductions, there wasn’t much time left to the morning, but I did manage to get some gardening in. (Awesome!) I drew water from the well, watered a couple beds, and weeded a bit before the women I was with decided to call it a day.

But wait, there’s more! I was invited to go back to their compound! I ended up spending most of the day in Sanneh Kundah in Bakau. The fun began when they had me help cook. By “help cook,” I mean...

1. Pound peppers into a paste.
2. Slice onions without a cutting board. With a dull knife. So, basically, holding an onion in my wet hand and hoping that I don’t slip while forcing a dull blade through it.
3. Pound the sliced onions into the pepper paste.
4. Pound a little bit more to mix a tomato paste into the onion-pepper paste.
5. Watch the women do the rest of the cooking.

At some point during or after Step 5, I had a baby plopped into my lap. Her name was N’de and she was remarkably happy. I don’t know exactly how old she is, but her smile is pure gum. I asked one of the English-speaking women N’de’s age, and the most specific answer I could get was, “Less than a year. Some months.”

Eventually, the baby got bored with me, and then I think the women didn’t know what to do with me. They sent me to take a nap. No, I’m not kidding. They looked at me and said, “It is time for you to sleep. Go there.” And so I went, half-sleeping on a random bed. I wasn’t sleepy, but, to be honest, I didn’t know what else to do with me, either. Eventually, one of the women came to tell me that lunch would be coming soon. Her name was Tida, and she was 19. She was very pretty, and I think she was well aware of it. She told me about a certificate she had earned, even going so far as to fish it out of her closet. I didn’t really get how cool it was until I asked her what work she could do with her certification. She teaches people how to write in Mandinka.

I ate lunch twice: once on my own in the room they had sent me to nap in, and immediately after with the rest of the family. Both times, I was told to eat more. We had chicken cho. Yes, I ate chicken. Guests are supposed to have the best of everything, and the meat is considered to be the best part, and it would have been hugely disrespectful to push away the meat they put in my section of the bowl.

After lunch, I was stared at by children. I watched the women braid each other’s hair. My inability to help mystified them; perhaps I will learn before we leave. I had expected one or more of the women to return to the garden in the afternoon/evening, which is partly why I hung around so long, but this was evidently not the plan. Eventually, I headed to Baboucar’s compound to ask for directions home. One of the kids fell in love with me, Baboucar drew me a map, and I had a good walk.

And now, several of my peers are enjoying cheap vodka and fruit cocktails on the roof. Excuse me, I can only be an unsociable blogger for so long.