"Since it's the rainy season this country is green and gorgeous. Other volunteers have warned that the dry season is not nearly as scenic, so I'm trying to soak in the landscape while I've got it. Other than the greenery, and the fact that it's mango season, there doesn't seem to be too many positives about the rainy season -- it's also the hungry season because families are eating the last of last year's harvest and don't get to harvest again until the fall -- it's hot and humid so you're skin pretty much never dries..."
Peace Corps volunteer Katie Hofstetter reports from The Gambia
Peace Corps volunteer reports from The Gambia
- Sentinel staff report
Posted: 10/04/2009 01:30:39 AM PDT
Caption: Fellow Peace Corps volunteer Mike, Katie's language teacher Bakary and Katie on the day she was given her Gambian name, which is Sariba Sammateh
Katie Hofstetter, a graduate of Harbor High School and the daughter of Rick Hofstetter, is now serving with the Peace Corps in The Gambia, West Africa. She keeps family and friends posted on her experiences, which they have generously shared. Here is an excerpt of what she says in her latest report:
"Living conditions: I have my own two-room pad complete with bed, table and chair, oh, and a mosquito net, which is pretty much my best friend. The mosquito net covers my entire bed so I feel completely safe from all sorts of critters while I'm deep in slumber. Thank goodness for that net, too, because the other day, I woke up from a nap and a nice little bat had attached itself to one side of the net -- better the net than my face. A lizard and a myriad of insects have also stopped by my sweet crib for some short visits. And there's a fatty spider living up on the inner lining of my roof, but I think we've brokered a silent agreement where he rules the top half of the house and I rule the bottom half, and we don't overlap -- ever.
"My house is within the Sammateh family compound, which is headed by Mr. Boma Sammateh, my host father, and his three wives. Between the three wives there are about 15 children, and then Boma's brother also lives in the same compound with his two wives and their children, so there are a heck of a lot of people to keep straight.
"I still haven't figured out the whole family structure, but everybody has been super nice and very patient. Most of my host family speaks little to no English and it's funny, because as I pick up more and more Mandinka the language that my host family speaks and one of the six main local languages in The Gambia -- the smallest country in Africa I'm beginning to pick up on the different personalities within my host family.
"One of my host sisters, Mamjara, is about 2½ and she screams bloody murder every time she sees me. The other kids and some of the adults in my compound think it's a really fun game to pick up Mamjara and bring her as near to me as possible before she wails -- this game does wonders for my ego. ..."
Katie goes on to write:
"Since it's the rainy season this country is green and gorgeous. Other volunteers have warned that the dry season is not nearly as scenic, so I'm trying to soak in the landscape while I've got it. Other than the greenery, and the fact that it's mango season, there doesn't seem to be too many positives about the rainy season -- it's also the hungry season because families are eating the last of last year's harvest and don't get to harvest again until the fall -- it's hot and humid so you're skin pretty much never dries..."
She reports what happens during the month with journal type entries, such as: "It's Aug. 10 now, and I saw a troop of baboons yesterday while on a jog in the African bush!! It is now Aug. 19, and I have a few little teaching-related updates. I failed miserably in teaching 9th graders about the water cycle and states of water. I was surprisingly successful in teaching 10th graders exponents, and multiplying exponents with variables."
Katie then traveled to Brikama to work in the Regional Education Office and be sworn in as an official Peace Corps volunteer. She will work there for two years.
If you'd like to write to Katie you can reach her at Katie Hofstetter -- PCV, C/O Peace Corps, P.O. Box 582, Banjul, The Gambia, West Africa.
