The Gambiaaaaaaaaa

Greetings! I was trying to post up pictures, but realized that I did not bring the cable to load pictures onto the computer. So pictures will be posted up after I get back to the states. :\ If you guys could post up your address in the comment section or email me your address that’ll be awesome! I can mail postcards! :D (email: johnminsookim@gmail.com) So here’s a little update of what I’ve been doing these past few days…

June 21, 2009 (Continued…)
Like I said we headed toward the market at Brikama and there I was able to spend some time at the internet café. So whenever you travel in the market, kids from all over gather around us and start yelling “tabu tabu!” meaning “white, white!” They run towards us and grab our hands. After taking care of some business at the market we travelled towards Jamanjelly. This was a small, remote village. We ate lunch there and then attended their village meeting. It was really cool to hear the elders of the village speak and attend a town meeting. They welcomed us and were really happy to see us there. There is so much to take in whenever we travel in Africa - the environment, the people, the food, etc.

June 22, 2009
We spent the day at the hospital. We familiarized ourselves with the hospital surroundings and then did our laundry. Washing our clothes with bare hands was a big work out! Transporting water, rinsing the clothes and drying them by hanging them on strings was some tough work especially out in the heat... After we were done w/ out laundry we attended a baby ceremony in the village. So apparently every time they have a baby here in Bwiam, they celebrate by hosting a week long ceremony. We went there and the happy family greeted us by giving us the most delicious food ever. Afterwards, we played some basketball with some Gambian kids and then I went to bed.

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There are so many things to do here in Africa. Just spending the day walking through the village is an adventure in itself. I'm starting to get closer to the people within my group and am adjusting quite well to the environmental settings here. The one thing that I cannot stand is the nights here. It is so HOT! Without any AC on, the night is an absolute killer. I sweat so much. As soon as I wake up I drink a gallon of water just to rehydrate myself... Tomorrow we will officially start working in the hospital from 8:00 am - 2:00 pm. We will be doing rotations our 6 weeks here. (maternal care, ER room, eye/dental care, lab, pharmacy, etc.) On saturdays, surgeons will come to the hospital and we are able to watch them perform surgery! I'm really excited about that. I really like the fact that we end things at 2:00pm so that we have enough time to go to the village and interact with them. It's always a pleasure meeting new people and getting to know more about the culture in Africa. Well... it's time for lunch so I'll talk to you guys later.