Ummm....

Hello all. Sorry I haven't updated in a little bit but I have been busy/lazy/sick. Here is the current state of affairs.

Well I was a bit sick last week still not sure what it was or is(still lingering the slightest bit). On Monday I had a fever all day and proceeded to lie in bed for approximately 36 hours. That sucked rather badly. I think the worst part was the sore neck and back I got from laying down for that long. But after that I was pretty much better except for some lingering stomach issues which I think might be getting better. Not to worry though I am confident that I have not seen my last days. I would like to give a big shout out and thank you to Lydia for taking care of me as she always does why I was out of action. In addition to her my host family all stopped by at various times to check on me. My counter part from work as well as some other people we know all checked in on me as well. You don't have to suffer alone in the Gambia. If someone is sick there are always concerned people close by. I also observed an interesting result of the Gambian tradition of greeting. Pretty much every time you see someone you know or even that you don't know you go thought what Americans would consider a rather long greeting. "Peace be upon you, how is your family, how is your wife, are you at peace, how is the day, ect..." Some people find this annoying but I kind of enjoy it personally. So anyway when Lydia would go out to the market or where ever while I was sick she would surely get asked "how is your husband" and she might mention that I was sick. Some would assume that that was the end of it but some would be mistaken. So fast forward a few days and Im better and headed to the market/work/local shop/wherever. On they way there walking down the street, in the market, at work everybody is asking me if im better, how im doing, ect. Everybody seem to remember to check on my health which was quite impressive I have to say.

Work update:
Work at the college is going along slowly. Im trying to work with my counterpart on developing a machine image that we can use to easily manage the desktop PCs at the school. Normally that would not take too long to come up with but dealing with limited resources and going slowly to make sure everybody understands the process takes up a bit more time. Our other goals in the not too distant future are roaming profiles, Internet access, user server side storage, varying levels of group policies for students, teachers, staff, ect.

Work at the beekeepers has been of the physical type the last week or two. Were trying to get some areas cleared for the tree nursery and get the two buildings on the site ready for their various uses. Soon we will start to design the irrigation system as well. That should be fun. Right now were waiting on the well diggers to finish which is going pretty slowly because they hit a layer of rock. I went down in the well the other day which was pretty fun to check out and ride down on the rope but I would not like to the the dude digging that rock out by hand (yes i mean by hand like with a shovel and a pick). Its a long process and were going on a month and 3 weeks now since they started digging. For the irrigation system we plan to build/install some type of manual pump, where not sure what type yet, and then run that out into various basins around the property for watering the plants. One of the many interesting projects there.

So I finally learned how to take a chicken that was running around the yard and turn it into something you can make for dinner. I feel like most people probably think im a bit crazy that this is one of my goals in life but It seems like something that everyone ought to know just in case they find themselves surrounded but lots of potential tasty chicken sandwiches. Anyway its not really that difficult... WARNING (possible disturbing material follows, skip the rest of the paragraph if you want) Chase and Grab chicken better yet get your little brother to do the running around. now hold chicken down and cut the neck just enough to let all the blood run out. Chicken is now dead. Let chicken lie on ground for a bit while boiling some water. Take chicken and stick in boiling water for a few seconds to loosen feathers. Now pull out all feathers. Cut off head, feet and neck. Now cut off the legs and wings. Cut open the body cavity and clean out the guts making sure to keep the kidneys, liver, heart, and gizzard (after cutting open the gizzard and cleaning). Wash all the above with water and rock salt to get the remaining blood or whatever off. Rinse one last time. Bam!! You got dinner. I skipped a few steps as this was not intended to be an instructional article but you get the idea.

The next interesting animal event should be in late December when Tabaski comes. Tabaski is a Muslim celebration that takes place about 3 months (or moon cycles?) after the end of Ramadan. Everyone who has the means should buy and slaughter a ram. And they everyone feasts for 3 days. Im thinking the last few weeks of December are going to be ridiculous with the food and celebration which will include Tabaski, Christmas(yes, it is celebrated here), and New Years. Party time!!

Hope everyone is doing well back home. Talk to you soon.