Day 8

Saturday, January 13, 2018

            I had an excellent night of sleep and I am feeling a lot better. My stomach is hurting a bit though. I had eggs benedict for breakfast and actually finished the whole thing. After breakfast, we went on the bus and headed towards Banjul, which is a major city in Gambia. We first stopped to explore a famous gate. We got to climb to the top which provided us with beautiful views of the Gambia. The stairs were inside one of the pillars and were spiraled. I was afraid that I was going to hit my head.

The gate and views from the top of the gate

            We then went to a local market. We walked through the food and craft market. I was a bit grossed out by the food market. It smelled awful, there was raw fish laying out in the open, rotting, with bugs crawling all over them, and we had to walk through swarms of bugs. I have so many bug bites now. The craft markets still have the same products. These vendors were a bit more aggressive than the other craft vendors in the Gambia, but are still not as aggressive as the crafters in Senegal. I like bargaining with the vendors. According to Buba, we are supposed to offer 1/7 of the price that is given to us. I cannot do that mentally, so I just say a number that I think the product is worth. I bargained for some of my friends and got them stuff for really cheap.

We then went to a fabric store where Buba knows the owner. There are fabric stores all over the place and there are so many colorfully patterned fabrics. A few girls picked out some fabric and a tailor came and sketched dresses for them. They will pick up their dresses in a few days. We had to wait a long hour for this though. I noticed that these fabric shops and tailors were so different from clothing culture in America. Americans go to large stores and spend hundreds and even thousands of dollars on multiple outfits. In Africa, each piece of clothing is meaningful and thought out.

            We finally went to dinner at a place called the Butcher House. For dessert, we had vanilla bean ice cream and I could not have been happier. It tasted so good. I asked Buba during dinner, How do Africans celebrate Christmas? Between him and the waiter, I have a great understanding of this. On Christmas Eve, families stay home and converse and celebrate with each other. In the morning, they will go to mass. Most are Muslims in the Gambia. Christmas Day is a giant street celebration. Families will go from house to house, visiting all their family and friends. The children do what is similar to Trick-or-treating during this. Presents come in the evening which is quite different than American culture where children anxiously await under the tree to open presents at 5 am. They usually will have lamb for dinner instead of ham too.




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