How does one describe Gatorade?

But seriously…how do you describe Gatorade to someone who can barely speak English? I tried really hard today to explain to Musu what I was drinking that was neon purple, but I don’t think that I succeeded. I think she experiences the same thing with me a lot- I ask a lot of questions about food, trees and people and I think she has a hard time trying to describe things that I have never seen or heard of before.  While it may be frustrating at times, it is a good learning experience.

In the past week, I think I have had over a dozen marriage proposals (not to worry, Parker- I said no to them all). It’s absolutely absurd that men (and even little boys) come up to me and quite seriously ask me if I will marry them and be their partner. It’s more about money than anything else, but they always try to convince me and the best I can do is produce a weak smile, wave and tell them that somebody is expecting me. At least they aren’t afraid of me though…I approached a little girl in my neighborhood today and she started hysterically crying and ran away. All of the women just laughed but I was taken aback, I couldn’t believe a little girl was that scared of me!

Today I began my research at the National Archives and Records in the capital city Banjul. It was a lot more organized than I thought it would be and everyone there was eager to help me find what I was looking for. I spent about three hours there before heading into town and finally purchasing a phone and a data card for my computer. Now that I have my data card, I can show you all what I’ve been doing!

This is Musu’s compound, aka where I am living. She has the top left floor, as well as the roof above it where she hangs all of the clothes to dry. There are some great views from up there.

This is a picture I took at the beach around sunset. The most popular time to go to the beach here is around sunset because it is too hot during the day.

This is my sunshine in Africa, Mari. This is in the living room

Annnnd this is me with a monkey. It’s taking about 15 to download each picture so this will be my last!

Musu just served me dinner. She is so thoughtful, she went to the store and bought spam because we have spam in America. It’s not bad to be honest, she fried it up nicely and put ketchup on top. I must go and attempt to shovel down all this food to make her happy. I will be in touch again soon!