Raindrops on roses? Whiskers on kittens? Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens? No, these are not a few of my favorite things but I will tell you some other things that are on the list!
Lucia's Favorite Things re: The Gambia
1. Bean sandwiches - aka, street food. aka, the best thing to eat in the morning! For only 6 dalasi (about 25 cents), you can have a delicious, semi-nutritious bit of heaven. Smashed black eyed pea beans + Onion/Oil and Jimbo (MSG with Vitamin A!) sauce + french bread = AMAZEBALLS!!
2. 5/5's - Taxis that take you from pre-determined Point A to Point B for only 5 dalasi. To the unsuspecting tourist, they will charge 100 dalasi, but for everyone else in the know (pretty much everyone), its jut 5D.
3. Bargaining - Sure, the salesguy says that meter of fabric is 150 dalasi but you know it should only cost 15D/meter and tell him so. Then you accuse him of not being a good Muslim in Mandinka and he starts laughing and says you are funny and gives you the real price. Both parties leave satisfied.
4. Cell Phone Ringtones - Why put your phone on silent/vibrate when you can alert everyone that you are receiving a phone call with the latest reggae jam, a Rihanna song from 2 years ago or a recording of an Imam doing prayer call? It is Ringtone Central here. My personal favorite ringtone? A recording of a woman calling for a taxi. I was so confused when I heard it during a workshop. "Who the heck is calling for a taxi in the middle of an AIDS and poverty conference?!" I thought, "Oh, its just that guy's phone..."
5. GMT (Gambian Maybe Time) - So you think that meeting is going to start at 9 am huh? Ummm...how about 10:30 am? And when the meeting starts, let's all introduce ourselves and then break for breakfast. And then after a 45 minute breakfast we will get started. And then after that, we can get started. What's that? The power went out? Oh, okay no worries. Okay, power is restored, let's start. (One hour later). Okay, time for lunch! And that's a meeting here. Kind of frustrating and kind of cool. Depends on your mood!
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That bean sandwich sounds freaking AMAZING!! though hard to digest? keep writing, guapa! :-)
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