Hello everyone! sorry for not blogging for a day but we lost internet connection and need to travel into the market to find internet. We are safe and sound and have set up all the supplies at the school. Hmm, well where to start?

Well, yesterday was nearly pure travel time as we woke up at the ungodly hour of 5 am. and drove from Senegal to the actual country of Gambia on a grueling 10 hour drive. I won't cut corners or lie to you guys...it was awful. They of course don't have the snazzy stuff like air conditioning or bus suspensions, so what followed was a bone jolting, sweltering, ride during which we all tried our very best not to kill each other from the mutual air of crabbiness. The highlights of the trip however, were that we saw our first baboon!! We also managed to get a full tour of the African landscape which consisted of bustling markets, giant salt mounds, herds of cows with arching horns, and the glowing African skyline.

Once we had arrived with nothing worse for the wear except extremely sore backsides, we were greeted by the children and teachers in a beautiful welcome ceremony. Smiles were everywhere and the childrens voices filled the air. Im not going to mention any names...cough, but a lot of us were so touched by their excitement and the realization that we were finally here that we burst into tears (no there will be no pictures, due to respect of dignity). The welcome songs continued all the way to the school, during which many of us quickly made friends with the children and by the time we reached our destination, many of us had a child in our arms. Entering the courtyard, we were seated, and then had the opportunity to watch the children perform multiple songs for us...then came the dancing. Heres the thing...when an African drum enters the scene, it is not just impossible but just wrong to remain in your seat. All of us, including Dr. Jarvis, got up into the whirling and stomping group of bodies and danced till we were a giant mass of color, laughter, and song. Arms swirled the air and our feet kicked up large clouds of dust from sweeping and kicking them across the ground. I am beyond thankful for such a unique experience, which my limited knowledge of the English language has difficulty in justly describing.

    After the dancing, we were introduced to the staff and leader of Sajuka School Mr. Babocar Jouf. He thanked us for coming and said he looked forward to what knowledge we had brought to share with Sajuka. A bit more pleasantries commenced, followed by more dancing, and we then sat down to an awesome meal prepared for us by the teachers. Alright, I'm not a huge fan of rice, i mean, its rice, its not like its super cool, but paired with the right Gambian touch it becomes a feast. We stuffed ourselves on foods we had no idea what we were eating but it tasted fabulous, so who were we to question? Getting a quick tour of the school, we filed upstairs to our rooms and found that the staff had prepared a beautiful room for us, each with our own mattress, pillows, and mosquito nets, some of which were hot pink (apparently they knew we were all girls).  Exhausted from dancing and our evil ten hour drive, we netted ourselves in and passed out, ready for the first day of preparation the next day.