nerves kicking in ... ?

... or is that just the red wine in my system from yesterday? probably a bit of both! yesterday was my last day on the job. i'm not going to say much about it (i've invited my now-former colleagues to the blog) except that it was fabulous! a perfect way to end my 7 1/2 year career with EUSA - though feeling a little worse for wear this morning.

spent most of it in bed plowing (ploughing?) through the rough guide to the gambia listening to the griot music my dad got me for christmas (cheers dad!). starting now to get a little nervous about the SIMPLEST things. traveling and living in another country doesn't scare me - but what do i do when i meet someone new? do i shake hands, bow, curtsey? - and what if i'm hungry in the middle of the day - or what if i need to use the loo in the middle of the night? all the things that would be so easy for me to navigate in a familiar place...but that might be tough at first in africa. i suppose only time will tell - and i'll take my cues from those around me (i highly doubt they curtsey in the gambia!)

i'll be met at the airport on friday by the country manager and the head of the compound (he must have a different title, i'll have to figure that out). i think i get two nights in a hostel/hotel and time to do logistical things like change money, sort a sim card out for my cell phone, register with the american embassy, etc. i read in my guidebook that the first saturday of every month, the government has imposed a 'clean the nation day' (set-setal) where everyone stops for the first half of the day to pitch in and clean up their local village, picking up garbage etc. so perhaps i'll roll my sleeves up and get dirty! can't think of a better way to get involved!

more interesting facts:
* the gambia is roughly the size (not shape) of connecticut - 11,300 sq kilometers.
* population over 1.5 million, and growing - with a birth rate of between 4-5 infants per child bearing woman.
* it is one of the poorest countries in the world, with an average annual income of $370 (ANNUAL!!)
* since its independence from britain in 1965, it has been a multiparty democracy. the current president (his excellency al-haji yahya ajj jammeh) is only the second president. he ousted the first with a coup in 1994.
* it was formerly 'gambia' but added 'the' to the name post-independence to eliminate confusion with kambia (in sierra leone) and zambia.

there you go, lesson for the day!

thank you to everyone for your emails and well wishes! i'm sorry if i haven't responded individually to everyone, but i appreciate all the thoughts and positive vibes you're sending!

(posting this here mainly for my parents, but should anyone else ever wish to call the gambia, jason found a site with very cheap phone cards from the US, something around 6 cents/minute. http://www.extremephonecards.com/. not that i'm expecting calls, who knows what the connection will be like under the mango trees.)