Last night, most of the tubabs headed up to the top patio thing to have ourselves a party. I provided music. A local shop provided really, really cheap whiskey. 69 dalasi a bottle. That's about $3.50. I hear it was like drinking turpentine. As always, at the end of the night I was the sober one making sure that people had water and didn't fall down the stairs. I got to bed late by standards here, on time by college standards.

And then we all woke up at 6:30. Ouch. Quick shower, fast breakfast, and head to Abuko Nature Reserve. The Makasutu Wildlife Trust folks gave us a long presentation about biodiversity, which would have been more interesting if I'd gotten enough sleep. If anyone out there is looking for an NGO in need, the Makasutu people could really use some help. Evidently, they haven't been able to pay themselves salaries since July. The reserve itself is run by the government, so admission fees go to the government and Makasutu relies entirely on fund raising. I gather that raising funds hasn't been terribly successful.

From the presentation, we took a nature walk with depressingly little wildlife. I think we missed the best part of the morning because of the presentation. By the time we got out there, the day was starting to get hot and most of the animals were out of sight. There were some baboons and monkeys in enclosures in the back, of which I took lots of pictures. There were evidently also some hyenas in an enclosure, but I managed to miss them. Bummer. The enclosures themselves were also pretty much a bummer. Seriously, primates in cages are some of the saddest things I've ever seen.

We stopped by a wood market and I bought more than I should have. I also paid more than I should have, but still way less than I would have here. I don't want to talk about it. I really like the things I bought. I might take pictures of them later.

Finally, we headed to Tumani Tenda. It was pretty cool. I feel like I built it up much more than I should have, but that's life. For language class today, a few Mandinka speakers chilled out with us for an hour or so while we struggled to talk with them. Stephanie and I talked with a very nice woman whose name I have forgotten. I was very frustrated by how difficult it was to understand and be understood. Thank goodness that Awa was there to translate when we really needed it, or at least to answer our questions of "how do you say...?"

After running through the usual greetings, we managed a few typical questions about family and work, but then we were pretty stumped. Not only did I not know how to talk, I didn't even know what to talk about. She was a total champ and kept the conversation rolling, asking Stephanie and I about what we wanted to do after we graduated. Do you want to get married? (I tried to tell her, "if I find the right man," but I don't think I succeeded in expressing more than "yes.") Which country do you want to marry a man from? (Doesn't matter, as long as he is the right one.) How many children did we want? (This one was so hard! Stephanie just rolled out with "four," but I had to be fancy about it. I tried to tell her that I only wanted one when I was in America, but the big families in The Gambia have made me want more. I ended up confusing her, so she asked me a question. I, of course, didn't understand the question. Awa eventually intervened and straightened things out.) What work did we want to do? (I told her I want to join the Peace Corps.) Did I want to be in The Gambia for my Peace Corps service? ("Yes. But the world is big. The Gambia is nice, but the world is nice." Not quite as eloquent as I would have liked, but I think I got my point across.)

That was so hard. Oh man.

After that, we visited the alcalo of Tumani Tenda. The alcalo is the head of the village, traditionally a respected elder of the village's founding family. We each greeted him to show respect and it felt like a pop quiz. He talked to us about how we are all the same, and that seeing and speaking with each other is the best way to teach us that all people are the same. Awa translated for us. There were at least 10 kids around him, and they were all so colorful and full of life. I wish I had had my camera, but I think it would have been rude to snap pictures of him while he was greeting us. It was beautiful.