Cofi (Packalinding Semboo!!)

So our camera's temporarily out of use while we are looking for the charger...
Anyway, we found out the other day that Cofi was 9. I asked him why he was so small and he said that it was because wen he was really small his dad sat on his head. He's ripped, fyi. He can take you to the gun show. I was armwrestling him the other day and would have lost had Joseph not poked him in the side. When I asked him why he was so strong he said it was not his power but God's power. bahahaha.

I'm Back!

We slaugtered a pig today because we're going to the BEACH tomorrow. We are all super excited except that Sirumbai's final game is tomorrow. He made it onto the Daru Hairu team and they are really good. Today Alas's little league of our compound boys' team played at Kembujeh and little Celestine and Musa Kolley scored 2 goals so that we tied 2-2 :). Tey were all so excited and came running back to the compound singig and dancing. Meanwhile the big boys were being the men, dicing up the pig parts. Highlight of my day: it rained and teh village kids came out to play. There was this one kid who was running around buck naked doing cartwheels down our driveway. Hilar.

I'm Back! (Sort of)

If youre reading this and you're wondering what on earth has happened to me, slash if you were wondering why I haven't been emailing recently, I've just started to get over malaria this past week. Boo malaria. Boo sickness. Anyhoos, I'm just really tired all the time now, but will try and get up some updates. Today the ODPC team are coming and we're all excited!

Mango Feast

Isa and Alas and I went to Fatou's compound to pick some mangoes. Fatou is one of Isa's friends and we wanted mangoes. The ones on our compound are constantly picked at for ripe fruit (like this morning, when after running, Anna Marie and Sharon were throwing rocks to try and get a ripe one they spotted in the tree right by the field). We got a bagful of mangoes and brought it back to the center and 'chobbed' it together just before a delish beans dinner.
Alas thought it would be really funny to lock me and Kintah and Anna Marie and Jung in the kitchen, so we were stuck in there a while. On the bright side, there were lots of beans and rice, so we didn't get hungry. Later, Alas kind of put me on the spotlight, as he and Santos and Pierre and Sanna are all determined to get me to teach them a new song. I don't think they understand yet just how bad my voice is. I have been playing so much Ludo, which is a rather addictive board game. I beat Jung even though he kept cheating.

The Kembujeh Dogs

There are two dogs that live on the Kembujeh compound, and they love bread.

We gave the Sunday School kids bread with mayonnaise as a snack on Sunday and they kept giving pieces of it to the dogs.

My dad bought a goose yesterday

We are eating it.

My Kembujeh Buddies

Here are some of the Sunday School kids from Kembujeh. Since I've been rotating with the churches, this was the first week that I've been able to go to Kembujeh... which was a good thing because Arthurue (I don't think that's teh right spelling, but that's how he spells it), who used to come and help with the painting, would chatter away to me in Mandinka and keep telling me to come to church in the most earnest of tones, like he was afraid for my soul. I couldn't find a very good picture of him, but he's the one in the stripey purple shirt in this picture I took with little Kaddy:

This is AB praying. Well, he came up and covered his face with both his hands and then mumbled something really fast and quietly (all into both his tiny little palms, of course) and then ended with a loud manly AMEN. It's only his second week coming to the Kembujeh church, but he likes it better there I think because the first week he answered the question that Sirumbai asked correctly and got a free pencil. This week he aced another questino and got a piece of bread that he later shared with me.

The weather recently has been miserable, so I expect we're going to have some heavy rainstorms pretty soon. Can't wait.