Today was a Day with Awa. I love Days with Awa-- they're never quite what I expect. I figure I might as well love them, or else I would just be annoyed.

At about 9:00, Bill handed me the phone and said Awa was on the line. She asked me whether I was free at the moment. I said yes, I was free whenever she was. I had no other plans for today, so she could come over at her earliest convenience. She said, "yes, I will be there. But first I need to go to the market. I will come to you after the market, okay? Okay. Around 11:00."

I spent my morning reading The Culture of Make Believe. Around 11:30, Awa shows up in a huge, white SUV with FAWEGAM painted on its side. FAWEGAM, if you'll recall, is the Forum for African Women Educationalists, Gambia Chapter. I think it's where Awa works when she's not teaching us/Peace Corps volunteers Mandinka. Anyway. She rolls up in her SUV and asks what I want to do today. I tell her that I want to go to Sanneh Kunda in Bakau and get their family tree written down, that I would like to take pictures of the family members, and I would like to get a map of the compound.

"Okay, we will do that. But first I need to go to the market." What? I thought she already went. Whatever. Everything's great. It's a Day with Awa.

And so we rolled though the narrow, muddy, potholed streets of Serekunda market in our huge SUV. She bought two big bags of rice, which landed in the trunk with a thud that made the whole vehicle shake.

"Okay. Now, before we go to Bakau, I need to go to a school." What? What school? Why did we just buy rice? I don't understand. Whatever. Everything's great. It's a Day with Awa.

And so we rolled through the narrow, muddy, potholed streets of some outlying area in our huge SUV. We came to a school, the kids shouted "tubab!" at me, and I was ushered inside.

"I need to meet with these women." Day with Awa.

The meeting was all in Wolof, so it was completely over my head. Not that it would have been much better in Mandinka, but then I could at least pretend. It took somewhere around half an hour, I think. I caught something about plastic chairs, but that's about all I got. We left the rice with them.

"Okay, now we go to Bakau. But we need to go to Kachikally-- the crocodile pool-- to meet the administrators." Everything's great. Day with Awa.

Oh. I didn't tell you. Joanne Goldwater, Laura Bayless, and Jane Hambell are here. They're checking out the program St Mary's has in The Gambia. This afternoon, they were at Kachikally. We met them. They took pictures of Awa and me.

And then Awa took me to Sanneh Kunda! Tida wasn't there, so I was doubly glad to have Awa with me. She got one of the younger men of the compound to go over the family tree, which I jotted down. I got pictures of a few more people. Another man in the compound invited me to drink some attayah, and Awa convinced him to draw me a map of the compound. At least, I hope she did. We'll be going back on Tuesday (another Day with Awa!) to pick it up, get a bit more information, and say goodbye. They've been really good to me; I'll have to think of something to give them. Awa said that if I mail something to her for them she will deliver it, so I think I'll get prints of some of the pictures and a copy of the family tree made and send it off once I'm back in the States.

And now I'm back at Happy Camp. I took some fabric to the tailor a little while ago to get some pants made for me-- I hope it comes back as pants that fit. That would be great. I'm not sure there's time to send them back for adjustments before we go. Also, I really like this fabric. I almost got it made into a dress, but I think I'll wear it more as pants. There's just so much more room for disaster in tailoring a dress. Cross your fingers-- pants that fit.

We all forgot it was the 4th of July until today, so we aren't doing anything special. David wants to put together some Molotov Cocktails and call them fireworks, but we're pretty sure he's joking.