HUGELY FRUSTRATED.

This is my reaction to today.

Today was the worst Day with Awa yet. All I wanted to do was go with her to Sanneh Kunda to pick up the map that the guy (hopefully) drew and say goodbye. I expected this to take, perhaps, the morning. Liam was also going to go to Sanneh Kunda to administer a survey about bed net usage and malaria prevention. He expected this to take, perhaps, the morning.

Awa told me to meet her at FAWEGAM at 9:00. We showed up around 9:10. She showed up around 10:15.

Not a big deal. I had Liam to talk to. Everything's great.

Awa had to go to a couple schools again. We crammed into the same white FAWEGAM SUV and headed out. Liam and I stood around awkwardly for a couple hours while Awa did her thing.

Okay, time for Sanneh Kunda now, right? Wrong.

Awa decided she had a few things to do before she could translate for Liam. She suggested/insisted that he adminster the survey at her compound, where a few people speak English, while she ran her errands. She would return by 2:00, at which point the three of us would go to Sanneh Kunda. This was sometime around noon.

It took Liam maybe half an hour to thoroughly conduct his survey of Njie Kunda. We waited around, played with kids, and sat in the shade. We ate lunch with the family. We waited some more. We took naps while kids climbed on us. We talked about life, research, and post-graduation plans. At 5:00, we left.

That's right, folks. I just pulled a 9:00-5:00 day waiting for Awa. I had planned on spending this afternoon writing my paper, a draft of which is due tomorrow. I had planned on spending tomorrow finishing my paper and packing. Instead, today was thoroughly unproductive and I'll be cramming everything into my last day here. We leave The Gambia early Thursday morning.

But it's okay. Everything's great.