Learning to dip a bed net in insecticide
Learning how to make local insect repellent from neem leaves
We all worked very hard on the Thanksgiving meal, which came together wonderfully. We had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sauteed carrots, candied sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, corn bread, peanut butter rice krispie treats, apple crumble, and puppy chow/muddy buddies (using rice krispies instead of chex, so we dubbed it “goat chow”). It was a true team effort and as we ate, we went around and talked about things we all are thankful for. Almost everyone mentioned how happy they have such a great training group. After dinner, we all hung out and played cards. While, of course, we all missed our families, it really did feel like Thanksgiving...mission accomplished!
This weekend is Tabaski (also know as Eid Al Ater), an important Islamic holiday celebrated around the world. The holiday commemorates Abraham's sacrifice of a ram in the place of Isaac. Every Gambian family that can afford a ram slaughters one, and those who can't slaughter a goat or chicken instead. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look it), we did not get back from Tendaba in time to see the village praying or the rams being slaughtered, but we did get to take part in some of the celebrations last night. Next year we will make sure to be around for the whole thing. One perk of the holiday is we got to meet some of the older children of our host parents who no longer live at home. Everyone has been very nice and welcoming. We don't have class until our trainer returns on Tuesday, so we are looking forward to catching up on our studying, digging a couple more beds in our garden, and riding our bikes to the lumo (market) tomorrow.
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