A long and winding journey

How does time fly! 15 years ago, I was looking forward to starting my freshman year of college at the University of Iowa. This week, I start my career at the University of Southern Indiana, College of Nursing and Health Professions as an assistant professor! As I look forward, it feels appropriate to also take a look back and reflect on my journey up until now.

My path has certainly not been direct, instead, it has been filled with many bumps and potholes, detours, long and slow drives through 25 mph school zones, and even a few U-turns along the way, but I finally feel like I have merged onto the appropriate highway and there is a long straight path ahead to explore. 15 years ago, unlike many new students starting off at the University of Iowa, I knew exactly what I wanted to be…a doctor, specifically, a medical doctor. It didn't take too long before I knew that medicine was not for me. First, I discovered that I don’t really like to see blood, which is kind of a deterrent to becoming a doctor. Second, I started working in a microbiology laboratory with Dr. Mike Feiss and Jean Sippy. Microbiology here I come! I thought I had a new path laid out and could foresee a happy life in the lab.

Then I read a book. For those of you who know me well, you might be surprised that one book, out of the thousands I've read, could be so important, but it was. I read Paul Farmer’s Infections and Inequalities. Honestly, this book changed so much of my worldview. For the first time, I became aware that there was so much illness and poverty in the world. I wanted to try and change that. And then I saw a poster for the United States Peace Corps with the motto, “Life is calling, how far will you go?” And my life plan takes yet another detour. I pack my bags and drive cross-country to Boston to get my master’s degree in Public Health at Boston University School of Public Health. Yet, I wasn't planning to settle in and stay, as the following year I was packing yet again to move to Togo, West Africa to join the Peace Corps!

Peace Corps was an experience of the lifetime. You never learn more about yourself and what you are capable of doing until you have lived in a mud brick house with a tin roof, no running water and a pit latrine! Being medically-separated from the Peace Corps after only one year was an unexpected U-turn, but that is life and had that not happened, I would never have moved to Burlington, VT.

I moved to Vermont with just the stuff that would fit into my car, and no place to live. Lucky for me, I found a wonderful place to live and didn't end up having to live out of my car! In Burlington, I worked for a lead poisoning prevention program. This job opened my eyes to the dangers of lead and helped me to learn more about health promotion and education programs. Yet another unexpected path that provided me with a valuable life experience! In fact, anytime I visit an older house, I still check out the windows and doors out of habit. And bring up the topic of lead and I may give a spontaneous mini-lecture on the evils of lead paint. Sorry, it’s an occupational hazard.

After living in Vermont for a year, I decided it was time to be an Iowa Hawkeye again. I yet again packed my car and moved myself back to Iowa and enrolled in the University of Iowa College of Public Health PhD program in Epidemiology. As I worked my way through my PhD program, I struggled with what exactly I wanted to do with my life afterwards. Did I want to go into the public sector and work for a non-profit organization or someplace like the CDC? Or did I want to go into research? Or was academia (and teaching) the place for me. I had plenty of time and opportunity to experience many different aspects of epidemiology with my teaching, research and several trips to India. Yep, India. I went to India on a 3-week study aboard program with Dr. Anne Wallis. Mainly, it had been a couple years since I traveled and I was getting itchy feet. The trip turned into so much more. I not only had the opportunity to explore India, but I discovered a dissertation project and ended up returning to India for a 3 month trip to collect data. As I wound down my PhD program, I had the opportunity to travel to the Gambia and teach epidemiology for a new master’s program at the University of the Gambia (UTG). That started a partnership that continues to this day and I hope continues well into the future. After graduating with my PhD, I dropped my cat off with my parents and flew back to Africa for a second stint with the Peace Corps. Not a conventional post-graduation decision, but one that turned out to be a wonderful experience.

In the Gambia, I was once again a Peace Corps volunteer, although this time it was as a PC Response volunteer and only for a short, 5 month period. I taught several classes for Gambia College and UTG. Many of my experiences are detailed in earlier posts in this blog. All in all, it was a busy 5 months of teaching and research. I feel like I made many friends and look forward to the opportunity to return to the Gambia in the future!

Once returning from the Gambia, my life once again took a turn with a job offer from the University of Southern Indiana. So at the beginning of August, I packed up my house and my cat and made the 400+ mile journey to my new home in Evansville, IN.

It is said that hindsight is 20/20 and when I look back on the last 15 years, I don’t feel like I was on some rough and bumpy road of mistakes, but more that I took the scenic route, full of beautiful side trips, unexpected surprises and many, many wonderful memories. As I look forward to my first week of classes, I take with me a suitcase full of wonderful experiences and hope there is room to jam in a few more. But not to worry, the last 15 years has made me an expert at packing a suitcase!

All packed and ready to go…

I don’t know what it is about taking trips, but I get really excited about traveling. Whether it is leaving on a new adventure or returning home from one, I really enjoy the moving from place to place. And the packing. I love to pack! I don’t know whether it is some kind of combination of OCD and anxiety or something else, but I tend to start packing well before a journey. And I’m not talking a day or two early, but more like weeks. Here I am, 10 days away from leaving the Gambia and I could walk out the door in less than an hour. Because I am pretty much packed and ready to go and I have been for several days…ok, probably closer to a week. I can’t help it. I usually start with a list, but the list quickly turns into a pile. Once the pile is large enough, I pull out the suitcase and it’s all downhill from there. And even though I am already pretty much packed, I’ll probably unpack everything and repack it…just for fun.

My five months in the Gambia is coming to a close and I will really miss this country, my colleagues, and my students. I have made a home here and I am already trying to figure out how to come back. I will miss the beautiful beaches and the goats. Yeah, weird priorities there. It’s just that baby goats are soooo cute! How often in the US do you get to watch a baby goat walk past you while you check your email? I’m guessing not often. One thing I won’t miss…the hot season! I have been feeling hot and sticky for the last month. Combine that with the ever present dust and it is not a pretty picture. And while I do have a fan, which I cart from room to room and turn to face me at all times, that only works when there is electricity. Of which there is none currently. I usually enjoy the heat, but not the sweating. It is no fun typing on a computer when you can feel the sweat dripping off your elbows and chin. At least I like to shower. This type of weather is definitely 2 shower a day weather. I would swear that even my hair is sweating. Seriously. And traveling by public transportation makes this hot weather even more fun. I tend to feel like a sweaty sardine when I get out of the taxi. It is usually pretty tight which means both you and your neighbor(s) are tightly packed and sweating. Let’s just say I like to shower after taking a taxi home from work.

I wish it would rain. I have been in the Gambia for almost 5 months and it has rained three times, both of those times were in the past 2 weeks. So when they say it’s the dry season, they aren't kidding. June is the start of the rainy season, but it doesn't really get going until July and August. So I won’t see a lot of rain before I leave. Which is sad. One of my favorite memories from living in Togo was lying in bed at night, listening to the rain on my tin roof.

Well, I should check my laundry…something might be dry and then I could pack it! 

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there, especially my dad, Dennis Reynolds. I can’t say enough or often enough how lucky I am to have you as my father. I know my sister would agree, we definitely got lucky in the parent lottery (and that goes for both parents)! Dad, I didn't have the opportunity to get you a Father’s Day card this year, so let this be my Father’s Day card. 

Dear Dad,

You have always been there for me. I remember you reading me Dr. Seuss’s Hop on Pop and letting me jump on you as they do in the story. Or when you would come home on your lunch hour to bring me 7-Up when I was home sick from school and to this day I still associate 7-Up with being sick and it never fails to make me feel better. Every swim meet and softball game, you was there to help celebrate a win or a good swim or console after a loss. You taught me how to ride a bike and later how to drive a car and how to check my oil. Or the fact that I still get a teddy bear every Valentine’s Day…even when I was living in the Gambia! You have always been a good listener when I need advice and while you might not always agree with my decisions, I know that doesn’t stop you from supporting my ability to choose my path in life. You are the best and I love you!

Love,

Erin

Sun burned in Africa

So the other day, I went to the beach. Which is not something I do often here in the Gambia despite the lovely beaches only a few miles away. And it isn’t that I didn’t put sunscreen on…because I did…sort of. But when you are as lacking in melanin as I am, a little sunscreen, haphazardly applied, isn’t going to cut it. Now I am aware of the dangers of sun damage. People of Irish descent are educated very young about the need to apply sunscreen or suffer the consequences. And I have been good! Really, I have. I haven’t had a really bad burn since I was a little kid. Well, I just went and broke my record. And spent a lot of time educating Gambians about sunburns and blister burns and yes, that hurts don’t touch me. While I knew my back hurt like crazy, I only have a small mirror and not a good source of light, so I really couldn’t tell just how bad it was. But when a student asked me what all the strange white dots were on my back and I realized I wasn’t just badly sunburned, but I had a very lovely blister burn. Well, that explains the intense pain associated with laying on my back, wearing clothes, letting my hair touch my back, showering…you know everything. And it also explains the reason so many Gambians were apologizing to me when they get a look at my back. Which is strange. It isn’t really their fault. I just wasn’t made to be exposed to the sun in the Gambia. But if any good could come from this burn (and I can laugh about it now because it is almost done peeling…for the third time), then it would be that at least 150 Gambians (I have a lot of students) now know that sunburns exist, that they hurt (like the devil), and that they are lucky they were born with melanin.

Which leads me to the topic of skin lightening. No, not for me! There isn’t much room for me to get lighter, although I am sporting a pretty nice tan thanks to 3 months in Africa. But African woman and their desire to have lighter skin. And some men too although that is less common. And really, it is not just Africa since I saw many, many commercials and products for skin lightening in India too. Women all over the world seem to wish for different colored skin. If you are born pale, you want a tan. If you are born dark, you want to be lighter. So some people bake in the sun, increasing their risk for skin cancer, while others apply caustic chemicals to their skin to become lighter which can lead to a number of nasty skin disorders. I like to think that I am pretty happy with my skin color. I don’t bother to go tanning and I don’t go in for the spray tans. But then I get a horrible sun burn/blister burn and I do find myself wishing I could have been born with darker skin and the luxury of not needing to wear sunscreen every time I want to spend more than 30 minutes in the sun. Oh well, that is life. 

Sweet tooth attack!

Now, I’m not going to go so far as to say it was a mistake to make rice pudding, because that would be lying to myself. But, it was a mistake to make so much rice pudding. When you have the willpower of a dust mite, you really shouldn’t have access to large quantities of a favorite dessert. And unfortunately, I love rice pudding. And it is something that doesn’t need an oven…just rice, milk, sugar, and cinnamon. The problem is that I also don’t like to share rice pudding so when I make a vat of it (which I may have done) then I end up eating it all myself. I kind of feel like a bad person when I think about having to share it and not wanting to, but since I’m not usually a bad person, I usually give in and share which is sad because then there is less for me. Which is good, because no one, and I mean no one should eat the quantities of rice pudding that I have consumed. So I was craving something sweet. It’s probably a result of coming down from the sugar high during the recent field trip. The boys discovered I like attaya which meant that I got a fairly constant stream of it during the weekend. Add that to the regular tea they served with every meal (they put both sweetened condensed milk and regular sugar in their tea) and that adds up to more sugar than I normally allow myself access to.  I try not to keep cookies (or biscuits as they are called here) in the house. In fact, other than my fake sugar crystal light and small amounts of sugar for tea, I don’t have a single sweet item in the house. Which is where the rice pudding comes into play. I saw the rice in my food bin. And started thinking it would be nice to have rice pudding. I told myself no, you already had dinner and you ate a sausage roll and two donuts (Gambian style so not exactly what you are thinking) for lunch. But, I am terrible at resisting once I think about baking…even if it isn’t really baking. And I really miss baking. The cookies, brownies, breads, and other fun treats from Pinterest…I really wish I had an oven! And this is what gets me in trouble and the only thing I have all the ingredients for is rice pudding…which I love. I am feeling a little sick now and should probably plan to take a nice long walk tomorrow to walk off the excess…but I think I satisfied my sweet tooth…for now. Too bad there is still leftovers in the fridge. 

Field Trip HNDII

Well it appears that I have been remise in updating my blog! The last time I wrote, I was on trek with my HNDIII students. Since then, a month has passed during which I have traveled to the US for the wonderful wedding of my good friend Miss Kat and her new husband Jimmy in beautiful Miami Beach. It was an opportunity to catch up with old friends and meet new ones! See the beautiful picture Derek took of me at the wedding!

I came back to the Gambia even busier than when I left! I have spent the last month preparing lectures, giving lectures, and more than anything else…grading assignments. It always seems like a good idea at the time to give homework and then I receive a giant pile back from the students and regret that decision to the extreme. One of the fun things I have been working on was my second field trip. This trip was for with the second year students and would be going to the same location as before, but discussing childhood mortality and diarrhea. I was determined that this field trip would be different than the last one were we were late to everything we planned. This was the trip that we would be on time. The trip where we would do all the things we said we would do. I started bugging P.S. about the arrangements more than three weeks ahead of the trip. I asked about the transportation. Was it arranged? Was there fuel? What there enough space for all the students and the faculty? What about the sleeping arrangements? Was there enough rooms, enough mattresses? And then I took over the scheduling and time arrangements. I threatened the students with point deductions for any late arrivals to the planned activities. They all agreed to pretend they were American for three days. I even made an itinerary! This trip was going to be different.

But it wasn’t. We left one hour and fifteen minutes late. Not because any of the faculty were late. Not because of the students. Not because of the vehicle or the driver. We didn’t have the keys to the campus where we were staying in Bwiam. We had to wait for the person with the keys to come from Banjul to deliver the keys. So not really within our control. So we finally get started, 4:15 pm rather than 3:00 pm and right away, we have to stop…just a few kilometers from the school to pick up the generator for the film show that we planned for Friday evening. We stopped in Brikama, all the students dispersed to try to buy last minute treats for the trip…luckily, we stopped next to one of the toubaab mini-markets run by Indians. Diet Coke!!!!! I bought all that they had…all 5 cans. As you can see, Diet Coke makes me happy.

Then the second piece of bad news…the generator doesn’t work. So, film show is canceled. Oh well. Guess we will just plan to have a fun evening once we get to Bwiam…or so we thought. We get about 30-40 minutes down the road and the driver stops to look at one of the tires. Never a good sign. But he says we will drive a little further and stop to put air in the tire. This is starting to reminded me of the ill-fated trip Anne Wallis and I took from Mysore to Madurai last April….the one where we had a flat tire (1.5 hours to change the flat), then we got hit by a truck (another hour or so stopped to assess the damage), then we stopped for a couple hours at a police station, then we get transferred to a government bus and what started out as a 10 hours trip ended up taking 17 hours.  I tell this story to Amadou W. Jallow, one of the other faculty, and no sooner do I finish the story and boom….flat tire. I should probably refrain from telling these types of stories in the future since I appear to be lucky! Well, it turns out that we don’t really have a flat since our bus has those big truck tires that lose layers. But still not good that a large chunk of the outer tire is missing. By the way…we are currently limping along the road in order to get to a place where we can get a spare and I was just handed a glass of attaya. My students apparently took the opportunity of the stop to inspect the tire to start making attaya.

But when we decided to keep going further, they just transferred the charcoal stove, hot coals, and boiling teapot to the slow moving bus in order to continue making attaya. Yep, they are brewing tea on the bus. Have I mentioned that Gambians love attaya? Not that I can complain, since I not only enjoy it, but look forward to opportunities to drink it…even if it is on the bus en route to our destination. So not only have we canceled our evening plans, but we will be lucky to get to Bwiam before dark. More updates to come….

We make to the village that supposedly has spares. We were told it was 10 km away…30 km later we finally arrive. It is quickly becoming dark. We will either get a spare or continue to slowly drive down the wrong side of the highway till we get to Bwiam. Yes, we drove 30 km on the wrong side of the road. The roads here aren’t really flat, they are slightly convex. Since the bad tire was on the right side, we drove on the far left of the road to help take weight off that side. So Amadou spent the whole time hanging out the front door signally to oncoming vehicles that they needed to go around us. We had a few exciting moments. Right now, we are sitting on the side of the road in yet another village and I am watching them stand around discussing the tire. I wish I was better at languages, then maybe I wouldn’t feel so lost about what is going on. At least I have a good sense of humor. I keep telling the students that these things happen. That no field trip is perfect and you have to be flexible…within reason that is...being late because students take too long in the shower is completely different from being late due to a flat tire. So this doesn’t mean I won’t be a time Nazi tomorrow during data collection!

Hopefully we figure the tire out soon and get back on the road!

Well, the decision was made to continue with the tire as is and continue to make our way slowly to Bwiam. Since night had fallen by the time that we made this decision, it made for an interesting ~15 km. All in all, we ended up driving 45 km with the tire in what could be described as less than ideal conditions. After dark, we didn’t dare stay on the wrong side of the road since it would be too dangerous, instead we just drove down the middle of the road. Getting over when needed. It was a fun time. Sort of. Anyways, we arrived in Bwiam at 8:30 pm, 4 hours and 15 minutes after we set out from Brikama. It should have taken 1.5 hours. I arranged for the food to get to the kitchen, asked one of the girls to inform the cooks that we hired as to what to make and then started to get the students settled. 45 minutes later, I went to check on dinner and the cooks were just sitting there! They said they couldn’t make what we had planned! I ran back to grab the class captain, Jomma. She quickly settled the problem but now it is after nine pm and dinner hasn’t even been started. It is going to be a late night. We eventually ate sandwiches with boiled eggs, potatoes, onion, mayo and salad (lettuce) for me and the addition of sardines (gross) for the rest of the group around 11:00 pm. Needless to say, it was a late night, and with three to a room (sharing two beds pushed together), not the best night’s rest I’ve ever had.

I was up early Saturday morning due to the fact that everyone else was also up and I am unused to so many people being around in the mornings. My goal for today was to get the day started on time! Breakfast (according to the itinerary posted on the doors and with each supervisor) was scheduled to start at 7:30 am…when I went to the kitchen at 6:30 am, not a cook in sight. Slightly panicky, with my entire day’s schedule hanging in the balance, I make Fatajo call the cooks. Call the bread guy. Call again. The girls save the day and start getting the beans cooking and cutting up the onions. The cooks arrive and I start haunting the kitchen, asking how long? When will it be ready? They keep saying almost. People always say almost when they don’t want to tell me how long it will really be. I ask, can I help if it will go faster? No. I start sweeping, just to do something. They take the broom away from me. I get it, I’m not allowed to help and since I do not have the power to make the beans cook faster, nothing to do but wait. We eat a little after 8:00 am and it was like a plague of locusts descending on a field of crops. They ended up eating so fast that we actually ended up ahead of schedule! We break into groups and head out to canvass Bwiam on foot. I took a picture of my group in the hopes that I would be able to recognize them and maybe, just maybe learn their names. 

The original plan was to head out to some rural village, the same that we visited during the first field trip, but without a vehicle, we had to alter our plans and remain locally. Data collection goes well, even faster than expected. The students finish early, having done all the assigned surveys during the first data collection period. Which is good since we needed a vehicle to get to the village where we planned to do the afternoon data collection so that wasn’t going to happen either way.

Now we get to kick back and relax after a wonderful meal of chicken benechin. I saw dinner and it also involves chicken, so I am looking forward to enjoying that meal too! The students organize a football tournament among the four data collection groups and it was fun to watch the impromptu game with rocks for the goal, a tree in the middle of the pitch, and elevated rock path in the middle. I’m always amazed at how well Gambian’s play with whatever they have available. Some play in flip flops, others in their bare feet. Which doesn’t stop the ferociousness of their play at all. A dance party is planned for after dinner so it should be a fun (although not an early) night! Out transport back to Brikama in the morning is still up in the air, so it will be interesting to see how we get 46 students, 4 faculty, and one bus driver back home on a bus with a bad tire…still not fixed.

Sunday was a nice rest day. We verified all the questionnaires and had breakfast and then headed back home to Brikama. The driver had the two bad tires rotated so that they were on opposite sides and he thought that would be good enough to get us home. The trip involved a lot of singing, dancing, and of course…attaya. How could a trip on a bus be complete without attaya!

I arrived back on campus, tired but feeling great about how this teaching trip went. I hope the students got as much learning from the trip as they did entertainment. I’ll have to put my foot down the next time they decide to have a dance party till 2 am! This girl needs her sleep! As we pulled up to the building and exited the bus, the bus driver promised me that the next trip will have good tires, a spare and a tire iron! So one more field trip to go…let’s see what adventures that one will bring!

Field Trip!

I recently had the opportunity to explore at little more of the Gambia! The Gambia College, School of Public Health took the group of 3^rd year students on a research trip to Bwiam. Bwian is about 2 hours upcountry (East) of Brikama. This field trip was an opportunity for the students to take the concepts they have been learning in class and implement them in the field. I got to spearhead the project and designed a water and sanitation survey for the students to use for this service learning project.

First, let’s talk about getting there. Traveling outside of Brikama was a huge step for me and would be laughed at by many of the other PCVs in the Gambia. I typically only travel between my house in Youndum and the College (located just outside Brikama proper). So I rarely even go into Brikama. Despite the small size of this country, the poor road system makes any travel outside the major populated areas difficult. So, it’s not like driving from Davenport to Iowa City where you can drive 70 miles per hour and have no stops. That being said, the road from Brikama to Bwiam was a good stretch of road. The vehicle is another matter. Not that it was a bad vehicle, more the number of people we crammed in to it. I believe the bus was meant to hold about 36 people. We had 38 students. And 6 faculty. So, we ended up having students sitting on other student’s laps. Students also ended up standing next to the door, surely a safety violation of some sort. And one poor student had to sit on the engine. That gives hot seat a new meaning! Well, we eventually arrived in Bwiam, safe and sound, although I’m sure a few people were lucky to be able to feel their extremities.

 Our lodging for the weekend was a small campus belonging to the Gambia College, School of Nursing. There was a dormitory building with a “girl’s side” and a “boy’s side”. A set of classrooms and a kitchen. Mattresses were handed out, and we proceeded to our rooms. Turns out there weren’t enough rooms on the “boys side” and all the faculty (5 males and 1 female) had to take rooms on the “girl’s side”. I am putting these in quotes because none of the doors locked, the male faculty stayed on the girls side, and I frequently found several of the boys going back and forth between the boys side and girls side (something that made the camp counselor in me cringe), so that definition of girls vs. side didn’t really mean anything. But the students were on their best behavior and I really didn’t have to worry about any ‘field trip babies’ developing from the trip!

Sleep ended up being something to be just out of reach during this trip. As soon as we arrived, speakers were set up and loud music was pulsing through the campus. In fact, I’d be surprised if anyone within a 5 mile radius slept before 3 am on Friday and Saturday night. Considering we had to be up bright and early the next day to start our data collection...let’s just say it was a rough morning for me. By Sunday night, I was exhausted but that didn't mean I got any more sleep. I may have to enforce strict time limits on the loud music on the next field trip!

The data collection went really well. We drove out to some very small villages near the Senegalese border. Most of the villages had fewer than 15 households. They were lucky to have one water pump and a single latrine. I know that it is hard for many American’s to picture, but one village, maybe about 50 people, all sharing the same facility. And by facility, I mean hole in the ground. One village was lucky enough to have an improved pit latrine which meant that they had a nice porcelain insert in the floor and four walls. The other villages I visited mostly had cloth or sheet metal privacy screens around a cement slab. Not the most conducive to doing your business. The student’s took the data collection seriously and I look forward to seeing what the data analysis shows regarding the water and sanitation in that area.  

Busy as a Bee

Sorry for the delay in updating! It’s been a busy few weeks, and I am just now getting caught up with lectures and marking homework assignments. I was briefly back in the United States for a wedding, although I really spent most of my time in airports or on airplanes. It was amazing to celebrate with Katleen and Jimmy! I also got to catch up with my Peace Corps friend Derek and meet many new people who I have heard so much about over the years from Kat, so it was a wonderful, if exhausting trip! I was lucky enough to experience one of the few cold spells that the Southern United States occasionally gets. Which I was completely unprepared for since I did not bring any clothes with me to Africa that are appropriate for weather below 70 degrees. It made me all the more happy to return the sun and warmth of the Gambia!

Now I am back to preparing lectures, delivering lectures, marking homework, grading exams, and preparing more lectures. I am also starting to design the next field trip research proposal (for the second year students) and working on a road traffic injury study with one of my colleagues here. So when people ask what I do during my free time, my answer is what free time! I am going to start trying to carve out some time on the weekends to visit some of the closer places and some of my colleague’s home villages. A few of my students have volunteered to take me on day trips to various places, so that should be fun! I’ll try to do better with the updates!

On a side note, as a follow up to the earlier letter to the small rodent in my kitchen. He did not take my advice. The war escalated. I ended up putting out glue traps and was unfortunate enough to actually catch something. As it turns out, I can put out traps, but I cannot remove an occupied trap. I went to enter the kitchen and heard a noise near the refrigerator. Now, I tend to be a little jumpy at night, ever since that first encounter with a rodent. My own pony tail scared the bejesus out of me a few nights ago when a strand of hair unexpectedly blew in my face. So when I looked over to see a long tail coming from behind the refrigerator and saw the glue trap was now occupied, my natural reaction was to run back into the house and slam the door. I may have squealed. I know, not the most logical of reactions. It was not as if the rat would free itself from the trap and chase me, but logic was nowhere to be seen that evening. I tried to go back into the kitchen to assess the situation, but I heard it move and ran away again. So, onto plan B. Plan B was to stay away from the back courtyard until the occupant of the glue trap died. However long that was going to take. I would figure out later how to dispose of the body. The downside to plan B was that I have to go by the kitchen to get to the bathroom and the fact that the kitchen was now off-limits. So no food, drink, or bathroom until that rat expired. Seemed like a good plan at the time, but like I said, logic was long gone at this point. But then the rat started to cry. And that made me sad. I tried to block it out with loud music. I tried earplugs. I couldn't handle it. So I went next door and asked the neighbors for help. I am sure my neighbors think I am ridiculous. They followed me back to my house, laughing. I pointed them towards the kitchen and went and hid in my bedroom. Turns out I’m scared of rodents. Since the incident in the kitchen, I haven’t had any more visitors. But I put out another glue trap, just to be safe. With the knowledge that even if I do catch something, it won’t really help since I can’t actually do anything about it. 

Transport in the Gambia

Transportation in this country has been an interesting experience. I live a few miles from the Brikama campus and take a ‘bus’ to work every day. The word bus is a little misleading. Really, it is a minivan which holds about 15 people, including the driver and his aprenti. So each morning, I walk out to the main road and wait until I see a minivan bowling along. If there is a young man hanging out the window shouting, I put my hand out and indicate I would like to be picked up. No young man hanging out the window lets me know that the bus is full. If there is space, the minivan careens to a stop. Sometimes on the road, sometimes they pull part of the way off. Did I mention the condition of the roads? The roads are mostly paved in the Gambia, but they are really only two lanes. They are typically built up from the surrounding areas, so there is a bit of a slope. The drop off from the road to the dirt slope is usually several inches. This makes pulling off the road to pick up passengers...a bit interesting. And remember, we aren't talking top of the line, off-road capable vehicles with wonderful tires and suspensions to handle rough roads. These are vehicles which reached the end of their useful life in some other country and came to the Gambia to retire. So the vehicle might pull part way off the road to pick me up. So I had to learn how to enter a vehicle that was tilted about 20 degrees, which is similar to climbing a cliff in my opinion. I then have to climb over other passengers who will just lean out of the way to let you squeeze past, all the while carrying my backpack which weights more than a large toddler. I am not a graceful person. I watch Gambians entering and exiting buses and just wonder how they do it. Picture a baby elephant trying to enter a minivan and you would be pretty close what I feel like entering and exiting the vehicle.

Now that I have covered the difficulty of entering the vehicle, let’s discuss the driving. Typically, there are streams of buses working the main roads. All in search of passengers. So this is a competition in which the bus in the front of the line is most likely to get the next passenger. This creates a frog-like game of bus jumping. One bus pulls over to pick up a passenger, all the ones behind it try to pass in order to get to the front of the line and get the next passenger. The one that stops will try to get back on the road as quick as possible, usually not even waiting for the apprenti to get back in the bus. It is not unusual for the apprenti to have to run and jump into the moving bus. So if you are one of the people sitting on the end by the door, the vehicle is typically moving long before the door is slid shut. It is shuts at all...a few days ago the door fell off went the apprenti tried to shut the door. I was sitting right next to the opening so that was interesting. And this is all before we start moving. While there are driving schools in the Gambia, that doesn’t mean you actually have to go in order to get your license. So I’m not too sure about the level of training that bus drivers receive. Typically, I am more worried about whether the vehicle will actually make it to my village rather than the driving capability of the driver. Although I do worry about the goats since they seem to step onto the road without looking both ways on a frequent basis. Maybe I could do some kind of traffic safety class for the goats in this country? Anyways, with the crazy, competitive line of buses driving at ridiculous speeds, going around vehicles that abruptly pull over to pick up passengers...I am not surprised that my colleague Edrisa is interested in doing a traffic injury study.

And then the fuel. On Tuesday, I show up at my junction to catch a bus. There seemed to be an unusual number of people waiting. Normally, if there is more than one other person waiting within 50 feet, I am surprised. There were more like 30 people waiting. Odd. It took 20 minutes to get a bus when I normally don’t wait more than a minute or two. And there seemed to be fewer buses on the road. I come to find out that there is a fuel shortage. For the whole country. I felt kind of luck to have gotten to work! Later on Tuesday, I had a meeting in Banjul with Edrisa which since Edrisa has a car, we didn’t have to worry about taking public transportation. Without thinking anything about it, I asked him to drop me off in Fajara so I could stop by the Peace Corps office. Mistake! Huge mistake! You would think that the taxis/buses would be running from the major intersections to the larger cities (like Brikama). Nope. I learned a lot about price gouging while waiting for two hours to get on a bus that afternoon. I tend not to be a person who likes crowds...thus I found it difficult to join the group of 30+ people that would mob each bus that pulled over. I kept thinking of the people that get trampled on Black Friday and how easy I would go down in a crowd of people desperate to get home. I made friends with a young student who had been waiting an hour when I showed up. We eventually left Westfield to try our luck at Serrekunda market. It was a good 15-20 minute walk, but it felt good to be doing something other than standing and waiting for a bus to pull up. I did eventually get on a bus (one that was only going part of the way toward my home) thanks to my new friend, Bakary. He pushed me through the crowd and onto the bus and didn't even make it on himself. I didn’t even get to thank him in the craziness of getting on the bus. So thanks Bakary! I got halfway, where the bus stopped, made up all pay and get off. Then they let us get back on to continue to Brikama...paying an additional fare. So what normally costs me 15 dalasi ended up costing me 22 dalasi. And then I remember that 22 dalasi is still less than a dollar. But still...taking advantage of a fuel shortage to overcharge!

This morning (Thursday), I left very early for school, not knowing how long it would take to get a vehicle. I approached my junction, happy to see only a handful of people waiting. A minute or two later, an empty gilly gilly pulls up and we all jump on. I think the fuel shortage is over. Yeah! Now I only have to worry about whether I am risking life and limb, not whether I will even have the opportunity to risk life and limb. Everything is back to normal!

Tomorrow I head to Bwiam with my HND III students for a field trip. Very excited to see more of the country! Then I travel home for an interview and wedding! Going to be exciting two weeks!

To the large mouse who sauntered out of my kitchen the other night

 Dear sir or madam,

When we met unexpectedly last evening, I was startled to see you. I had been under the assumption that you confined yourself to the drop ceiling and had not be in the habit of visiting the actual kitchen proper. I promise that there is nothing for you in my kitchen, as I keep all my food in a large metal box. I do not believe you possess the opposable thumbs or strength to lift the lid, so please don’t bother trying. 

After an extensive survey of the grounds, I believe I have identified your access points.  This oversight in compound security has been repaired. 

I think you will have more luck with the baker next door. If I see you again, the situation will escalate quickly. I swear to god I will adopt/capture a feral Gambian cat and make it live in my courtyard if you make me, and really, nobody wants to see that happen. Let’s not meet again.

Sincerely,

Erin

A life full of sugar

Gambians have a very strong sweet tooth. One only has to watch them make tea to see the truth of this statement. Whether it is Fatajo (my office mate) and his three spoonfuls of sugar in every cup of tea (and he is constantly drinking tea), or the family in my compound making and drinking their many small glasses of green tea, the sugar is not lacking. So, for a girl who is used to artificial sweeteners, my life is now overflowing with real sugar! Cups of sugared tea and wanjo will be the death of me! Whether this is good for my own sweet tooth or not is going to be the question!

When talking with the director of the Epidemiology Control Unit, or any health professional in this country, one of the first health problems they mention is the increasing rates of diabetes in the Gambia. I am no longer surprised by this, but now wonder how difficult it would be to change the behavior of an entire country and their love of sugared tea. It is not only the drinking of the tea that they enjoy; it is the interaction with friends and family. It is the tradition of making and sharing the tea and conversation which the community revolves around. So if you remove the tea, will the social fabric of the country have to change? While watching my neighbors make tea yesterday evening (see the picture of Amadou to the left), we talked about the process of making the tea. When I commented that the glasses were very small and wouldn't you want more, Alfu told me that is the point. You take your time making each tiny pot of tea and it means that people will visit longer and you will have a better chat with your friends. During my first lecture for my class on risky health behaviors, we talked about behavior change and the various stages of change. I asked the students if there were any behaviors they were attempting to change and two students spoke up. One mentioned drinking too much green tea and the other staying up to late with friends. Both were aware of the health outcomes of drinking too much tea or not getting enough sleep, but faced strong social barriers to change. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for this country of sweet-tooth’s and whether the health risks associated with too much sugar will be recognized or a society centered around a tradition of drinking sweet tea wins out in the end.

You may call me 'The Destroyer'

I moved to my new home on Saturday and got settled right in...after declaring war on the population of spiders currently calling my kitchen and bathroom home. War was waged and I am going to declare myself the victor. It took many a spray of Bop, the local version of Raid, but I survived. The same can not be said of the spiders. Next on the agenda? Death to the cockroaches. It would be best for them if they raise the white flag and move elsewhere, because I will find them all and destroy them! Lucky for me, they are not in the the house, but in the patio area between my house and my kitchen/bathroom. But it doesn't matter to me...they must die. Once the area was free of spiders, I spent some time unpacking and becoming familiar with all the goodies left to me by Hanna. I am very happy with my new (spider free) house!

On a side note, as it turns out, I actually live in Youndum. I have been saying Busumbala all this time, but I was wrong! I am right on the border and I guess I fall on the Youndum side. Life in Youndum is pretty much the same as in Busumbala. Really, there is not much of a boundary between Youndum, Busumbala, or Farato. Together, they are quite large. You would think that life in a village would be quiet? You would be wrong! Youndum is probably too big to be called a village, but even so, I was surprised with the level of activity on my street. While my compound is very quiet, just outside, there are people talking, babies crying, goats crying, cars, airplanes (I live right near the airport), and the baker next door with his bread dough. It doesn't really bother me, but it is interesting just how much there is going on all around me.

On Sunday, I have explored my village, met the akalo, and spent an evening with my host family. I feel like my first weekend in village was a success with one small misstep. There was a slight problem with my village tour guide. When he introduced himself to me as Alagie, I assumed he was Awa's son. Awa is the head of my compound, a very motherly woman. This Alagie took me on a rather long tour of of Busumbala and only eventually showed me to the akalo's house like I had asked. I was not very happy since he kept saying it was just a little further, and after walking around for two hours in the hot sun, I wasn't terribly happy when it was actually very near my house. I think he really just wanted to be seen in the village showing me around. When I arrived home, no one in the compound knew who he was and I actually met Awa's Alagie. The volunteer who had the house before me was robbed once when she was in the house. She was in the back doing laundry and someone walked in and packed up her computer, phone, camera, and backpack and left without anyone knowing. So my host family was very worried when this person who they don't know came around saying he knew me, waited for me to get up in the morning and then introduced himself and volunteered to show me around. It is hard to know if his intentions were sincere or if he was really just waiting for a chance to have access to my house and belongings, but I will definitely be more careful in the future. Most Gambians I have met have been wonderful, opening their homes and lives to me. So it is sad that I have to be so on my guard in my own village and compound.

This morning was my first day of teaching. I wanted to be on campus bright and early on my first day, so I set my alarm early. When it went off at 7:00 am, it was still dark! I know, I know...many of you scoff at that being early...but for me it is quite the change. Something in me just refuses to arise before the sun has risen. So I hit the snooze and decided that a shower was not that important after all. As it turns out, it was really too cold for a shower and I am glad I didn't take one. It must have been 65 degrees when I got up, brrr! Very cold! Typically, it is up into the 90's outside during the day, and down into the 60's at night. Inside my house, it ranges from a high of 85 degrees to maybe as low as 75 degrees at night. I have a fan so it is not too bad.

I was on campus by 8:15 am and had time to settle into my office, have a cup of tea, and start to figure out my internet situation. I think I have it worked out, now I just need to see if it will work at home too. Otherwise, I might be spending a lot of time on campus in order to have access to the internet. Class went well, although I didn't feel prepared as I would like since I didn't have print outs of the assignments and wasn't sure how to go about getting assignments to the students. I have worked that out and it should go more smoothly in the future. This first week will be an adjustment, as I learn how to fit in and work within the established system.

Tomorrow is the opening of the University of the Gambia's (UTG) GeoHealth Center at Faraba. This is my friend Edrisa's project in conjunction with the University of Iowa, School of Public Health. I will have a chance to say hi to the three visiting faculty from Iowa before they head home.

Congratulations to Sam and Erin on the birth of their son, Owen!

It's Official!

Today I officially became a PCV for the second time! Something I never thought would happen after being medically separated with one year to go the first time around. The swearing in ceremony took place at PC Headquarters with the PC staff as witnesses. The top picture is me receiving official swearing in document from my Program manager for health, Gilbril. I wore my Friday outfit that I had made on my last visit and asked one of the women to help me tie my head scarf. She told me I looked like a Princess with a crown! I certainly felt dressed up! After the ceremony, I walked to the medical unit (to pick up my mefloquine) and was amazed by the number of compliments I received in just the couple blocks it took to get there. The Gambians really love seeing us make an effort to fit in, whether by dress or language. My final language and culture lesson was a trip to the Serrekunda market. This was to help me practice transportation, numbers, and market words. While I would normally draw attention for being a toubab (person of European desent or white person), today, it was for my Friday dress. The ladies all told me how beautiful I looked and how pretty my dress was, while the men called me beautiful African lady. By responding jerejef (thank you in wolof), that allowed them to open a conversation. How are you? What is your name? Where do you live? All of which I can answer in wolof! I have really enjoyed my language classes and again, something I never thought I would ever say...I wish I could go through the whole three months of PST so that I could become more fluent in wolof!


To the left is a picture of me with my county director, Leon.

As I was finished with my very short training and will be moving into a furnished house (thanks Hanna!), I asked PC if it would be possible to move to my house in Busumbala a day early. I am anxious to get settled and start teaching. I visited my house and site (Gambia College) yesterday. I met my host family, the local akalo (sp? village leader), and introduced myself to the local police. I definitely want to be on good terms with the police! And since they are right next to the Farato market, I can stop and chat with them on a regular basis when I shop for food. I also got my teaching schedule! I teach Writing Skills on Monday and Wednesday, Epidemiology on Tuesday and Thursday, and Risky Behaviors on Wednesday. The Gambia recently went from working a half-day on Friday to no work on Friday. It is a little uncertain how this will change the school schedules, but as of right now, UTG and Gambia College are extending the hours on the four days M-Th. But, they may end up having to start working on Saturdays. I don't think this will change my schedule since I am not scheduled to work on Friday, but I am a little sad since no one will get to see my Friday dress if I don't go to campus! Several people asked why I was dressed up and my response of, "It's Friday!" got delighted laughs. Most Gambians dress up on Friday since that is the day most people go to the larger mosques for afternoon prayers. When I said, "It's Friday" to one lady, she broke into song. I had not realized that Rebecca Black's viral youtube video had made it all the way to the Gambia, but that song is now stuck in my head...and I hope yours too. Misery loves company and if I have to hum that song, so do you!

Last night I reconnected with the family Ganzell for dinner at a restaurant on the beach. It was lovely to see them again and I look forward to seeing Lucy and Emad in the near future. It's amazing how relaxing it is to be near the ocean. Kicking off my sandels and walking in the surf is the perfect stress relief. It doesn't hurt that there is a great view..and I'm not talking about the ocean. Late afternoon/early evening is when all the young men descend onto the beach to exercise. And potentially attract the eye of a older, European woman. So while I won't be taking the bumpsters up on their offer of a 'local guide', I'll admit, it's fun to watch them do pushups on the beach!

Be ci kanam! (Till later!)

A funny thing happens when the lights go out

In the US, being without electricity for any period of time can be a huge hardship.  So much of our lives are entirely reliant on electricity...TVs, computers, internet, microwaves, electric stoves...My goodness, I know people who could potentially go crazy if the internet is down for just a couple hours! The West Coast region of the Gambia is well on its way to becoming reliant on electricity, but down time is still somewhat common. But like Americans, outages are greeted with a similar response. Last night, the electricity went out at the PC transit house. I was walking to toward the bathroom to brush my teeth, several PCVs were in the living room, others were in the bedrooms, as the darkness descended  one giant aah arose in chorus while we all froze in place, waiting for the generator to kick in so life could resume. When I move to village, there will be no generator and my electrified life will be punctuated with breaks. In Togo,  adjusted to a simple life of kerosene lanterns and candles. A battery powered radio my only link to the outside world. Here in the Gambia, there is an odd halfway there feeling. I will have electricity...most of the time. I will have internet...even if it is sometimes so slow as to be nonexistent. I will even have a refrigerator which feels quite a bit like a luxury item to me! In some ways, I am one of the lucky PCVs. I haven't been up river yet, but from what I have been hearing, most of the volunteers outside of this heavily developed West Coast region, are not so lucky and their daily lives are much more similar to my life in Togo. In some respects, I wish I could live that simple life again, but then again...a refrigerator and grocery stores with diet coke...I am a lucky girl...as long as the electricity stays on!

Jaama ngaam?

Today I started to learn a tiny bit of wolof. While Brikama is a mandinka area, I am living with wolof family and most of the taxi drivers are wolof speakers. As long as the everyone sticks to one of my 5 standard phrases...I should be able to pass as a local in no time at all! I can ask whether you have peace (Jaama ngaam)? How you are (Nanga def)? How is your family (Ana was ker ga)? How is the work (Naka ligey bi)? What is your name (Naka nga tuda)? I was able to practice on the Peace Corps staff and might start to try my very much beginner skills on everyone I meet.

In other news, despite the fact that the Gambia is in the middle of it's dry season, there are still plenty of mosquitoes  As per usual, I already have a handful of bites. Lucky for me, I have anti-malarial drugs to keep my safe-ish. I'm adding the -ish since it's not impossible to get malaria while on anti-malarial drugs. But it is certainly a much lower risk than without the drugs. I'm starting on doxycycline and will transition to mefloquine after two weeks. I am lucky to not have the major side effects associated with mefloquine (I don't have the horrible nightmares, but I do sleep walk) so I don't mind taking it, especially since it is just once a week compared to every day for doxy and malarone. And luckily, there isn't dengue nor chikungunya in West Africa ..yet. I know this will come off as a bit strange, but I kind of hope that chikungunya comes to the Gambia while I am here. Not that I want to get chikungunya or really even for other people to get it...but it would be kind of cool all the same. And for once, I wouldn't have to travel to the chikungunya since it would come to me!

While tourists are more at risk to malaria due to a naive immune system, that doesn't mean that locals are not at risk. I asked my language teacher how often he gets malaria and it turns out that he gets it on average, twice a year. Every year. And each time it lasts about a week. Most people only think about the effects of malaria on the health of the person who is sick. But when you miss at least 2 weeks a year with malaria, that can add up. Lost wages for the family, and loss of productivity for the employers. And even with an extended dry season, malaria is year round in the Gambia so there is no relief from this endemic disease. And for such a small country, the costs, both individual and societal, can add up quickly when you consider the population level effects.

So despite my love of mosquitoes, beware of the yoo (mosquitoe in wolof)!

Arrived safe and sound...if a little tired!

I arrived safely in the Gambia at 12:30 am on Tuesday morning! Quite a bit later than my scheduled arrive due to a mechanical issue in Brussels. I was actually lucky to even make the plane in Brussels since my flight out of Chicago was 3 hours late getting left due to the freezing rain. We sat on the tarmac in Brussels for four hours. It was not my favorite way to spend a delay, but hard to fault the pilot for making our safely a primary concern. Except for the man that did find fault...and made sure everyone in the whole plane was aware of his discontent. This was the first time I've ever seen someone escorted off a plane by security. It gave us a little excitement in an otherwise very boring 8 hour flight. I'm not usually much of a chatty person on planes, but I ended up sitting next to a nice guy from Chicago who was on his way to Sierra Leone to film a local NGO working with disabled women. It was nice to have someone to talk to as we waited...and waited for the plane to take off.

Arriving at the Peace Corps transit house in the middle of the night is not the best way to introduce yourself to the local PCVs. I managed to wake up several of them trying to figure out which room to sleep in. Opps! I got a quick couple hours of sleep and then onto the Peace Corps headquarters to be introduced to everyone and sign a whole bunch of paperwork. I have a little bit of language training and other meetings and then I will be released to my village (and teaching responsibilities) on Sunday. Can't wait to meet my students (I have 48 in my writing skills class!) and get this semester going!

Pleasant surprise...the PC transit house has a hot water heater! So at this for this first week, I'll have the luxury of hot water! Feeling very lucky!

What will I miss?

People often ask me what I miss most when I travel overseas to low-income countries. The most obvious answer is my friends, family, and cat. But really, who are we kidding...the answer is always hot showers. I love water. Whether its swimming or taking long showers or baths. I need water. While I will actually be living in a pretty nice place in The Gambia (I have running water and electricity!), I won't have hot water on tap. Most Americans don't realize that hot, running water is a luxury. I haven't even left yet (I'm waiting in Chicago for my flight to Brussels) and I already miss hot showers! I may end up taking bucket baths just so I can add a pot of boiling water and have a hot bucket of water!

But i don't want you to think poorly of the Gambia! Hot water heaters do exist and I was lucky enough to have one at the house I stayed at while I was a visiting professor in December. But the majority of people don't have that luxury here. So just think of how lucky you are to have the opportunity to take a nice hot shower tomorrow morning! And know that I am super jealous!

Now to get ready for my flight. I hope Brussels Airlines give us those lovely waffle snacks for breakfast like the last time I flew through Belgium!

And the lucky day is...

A week from today, I'll be trading in my fur-lined boots for a pair of flip-flops! I can't wait to trade in the cold Iowa winters for the warm Gambian weather! I guess I would say I ready...especially since I've been packing since early December when I got back from my first trip to the Gambia. It's harder than I thought to pack for six months. I hope I have enough crystal light!

I'm looking forward to teaching and have been trying to prepare as much as possible in advance for my classes. Although I am nervous about teaching writing skills, it will be fun to teach epidemiology for a second semester in row. I've been thinking up more ways to teach epidemiological concepts in a fun, interactive method. I have games to show the various types of study designs and I've been thinking about a way to teach herd immunity. I am looking forward to getting to the Gambia and being able to hit the ground running! Busumbala here I come!