My new school is called the Banjul American Embassy School (but is a little bit outside of Banjul in Fajara where we live) and all my friends are very nice. I am in the kindergarten class. It is not a nursery class, but just that the American names are different. There are only five children in my class and they come from the United States, Gambia and the Lebanon. My class has its own playground with a slide, swings and a climbing frame. My teacher is called Mrs Sohna and she is from England. She is very nice and never puts anyone in “time out.” We have a raffle every Friday where we can win prizes. Every time we do something good we get a raffle ticket and Mrs Sohna picks the winner each Friday. So far I have won a game of snap and a big, shiny dice.
At the moment we are learning a lot about fish and have a tank with goldfish and a tank with guppies in our classroom. We have to help look after them, feed them and change the water each week. We got to name the goldfish. The girls chose the names “grace” and “nemo” and the boys chose the name “Ben Ten.”
I have a lot of the same lessons as at Manorside. We learn letters, reading, maths and music. I have some new lessons like golden time (playing) and French. I have PE lessons, but the games are different. We play Chinese football and dodgeball. In Chinese football you have to hold you hands out in front of you and try and hit the ball with them (like in volleyball). If you miss and the ball goes through your legs you have to put one hand behind your back. If you miss again you have to put both hands behind your back and then I am not sure how you are meant to hit the ball. This week we did gymnastics and I learned to do forward and backward rolls.
The best thing about my school is that every Friday is a half day!
Things that are the same:
1) We do reading, writing, maths
2) We have computer lessons
3) We have PE
4) We go outside for playtimes
Things that are different:
1) We do not wear a uniform
2) There are no school dinners, you have to bring a packed lunch
3) School starts very early (just before 8am)
4) There are swings in our playground
5) We can win a prize every week in the raffle
Friday, 24 September 2010
Amelie’s medical adventures
It appears that topics covered by five year olds have moved to a new level in the Gambia as Amelie spent her last trip to the swimming pool discussing experiences of rapid malaria blood tests with friends. She lasted about an hour at school last Friday before rapidly developed a temperature. Given the location and the appetite local mosquitoes seem to have for female Cunningtons we thought it wise to run a quick test – at last Aubrey’s contacts came good a hidden stash of kits became available and an expert slide reader offered his services to check that Amelie’s blood film wasn’t swimming with parasites. She was absolutely fine, if only all was cured so quickly by a spoonful of strawberry calpol.
This was Amelie’s second medical story in a week following on from her concussion. That episode has consigned me to the house FOREVER given what happened during a two hour absence. Some of the girls from Aubrey’s lab had taken pity on me and invited me out for dinner. During that dinner, Elise chose to have a complete meltdown about my leaving (that’s what two months out of nursery does for you!). She had shown her disdain for her dad by weeing all over him. Her aim wasn’t exactly perfect so a lot ended up on the floor. Amelie found this hysterically funny and decided to show her excitement by running round, but unfortunately slipped in the wee and hit her head on the hard tiled floor. Everything calmed down initially, but about an hour later she woke up complaining of a headache and started vomiting. In the UK this would be grounds for a CT scan, but given the lack of CT scanners in our local area we just had to hope for the best! Again she was absolutely fine, though the story aged my mother several decades!
Other than various medical traumas; our main news is that we finally moved into our permanent house on the compound. It was worth the wait as the house is great – very spacious especially as we have a minimum of belongings to clutter it up with, hot water on tap (as long as you remember to turn the water heater on), an oven that works though we have yet to master (the gas kind seem very tricky), garden with swings to fight over (and a trampoline once the rain stops). We are right on the edge of the compound and the garden on all sides of the house gives a nice feeling of seclusion, unusual for compound living. At the same time Amelie has several friends from school living on our road and the distance is such she can literally pop round on her own without any worries. We are on the side of the compound where all the houses are very long and thin – excellent for diffusing fights and sending children to opposite ends. It also means it seems very easy to lose a child as there is quite a distance to cover end to end.
The move came at a good time: For the past two weeks we have had a break of only a couple of days from continuous heavy rain. The combination of sandy ground and tarmacked roads around Fajara means that we haven’t had too many practical issues with the rain other than some associated cabin fever, though up country there has been some serious flooding and people cannot wait for the end of September when the rains should abate. We moved over the Koriteh (end of Ramadan) holiday weekend which combined almost four days of holiday closures with continuous rain and so proved a welcome activity for all.
The girls are both doing really well. Amelie seems really happy at school and her class and teacher are just wonderful. I am in heaven, as the neurotic parent, as with only five children in the class I can accost her teacher for a nice long progress report every single day! Elise is just finishing her second week at her new nursery and absolutely loving it, so much so that yesterday she told them that when she grew up she wanted to be Kris (the nursery’s owner). The funniest thing about Elise at the moment is her hair – it is completely crazy with the humidity and so, so curly (which she is very proud of especially as it is so different from Amelie’s which remains without a kink) – have no idea what to do with it, but an interesting experiment to watch.
We are feeling very unadventurous at the moment, having down very limited travelling at the weekends. However, given the rain we think any upcountry adventures will be better appreciated once the rainy season is over – hopefully in another month we will have some more interesting stories for you!
This was Amelie’s second medical story in a week following on from her concussion. That episode has consigned me to the house FOREVER given what happened during a two hour absence. Some of the girls from Aubrey’s lab had taken pity on me and invited me out for dinner. During that dinner, Elise chose to have a complete meltdown about my leaving (that’s what two months out of nursery does for you!). She had shown her disdain for her dad by weeing all over him. Her aim wasn’t exactly perfect so a lot ended up on the floor. Amelie found this hysterically funny and decided to show her excitement by running round, but unfortunately slipped in the wee and hit her head on the hard tiled floor. Everything calmed down initially, but about an hour later she woke up complaining of a headache and started vomiting. In the UK this would be grounds for a CT scan, but given the lack of CT scanners in our local area we just had to hope for the best! Again she was absolutely fine, though the story aged my mother several decades!
Other than various medical traumas; our main news is that we finally moved into our permanent house on the compound. It was worth the wait as the house is great – very spacious especially as we have a minimum of belongings to clutter it up with, hot water on tap (as long as you remember to turn the water heater on), an oven that works though we have yet to master (the gas kind seem very tricky), garden with swings to fight over (and a trampoline once the rain stops). We are right on the edge of the compound and the garden on all sides of the house gives a nice feeling of seclusion, unusual for compound living. At the same time Amelie has several friends from school living on our road and the distance is such she can literally pop round on her own without any worries. We are on the side of the compound where all the houses are very long and thin – excellent for diffusing fights and sending children to opposite ends. It also means it seems very easy to lose a child as there is quite a distance to cover end to end.
The move came at a good time: For the past two weeks we have had a break of only a couple of days from continuous heavy rain. The combination of sandy ground and tarmacked roads around Fajara means that we haven’t had too many practical issues with the rain other than some associated cabin fever, though up country there has been some serious flooding and people cannot wait for the end of September when the rains should abate. We moved over the Koriteh (end of Ramadan) holiday weekend which combined almost four days of holiday closures with continuous rain and so proved a welcome activity for all.
The girls are both doing really well. Amelie seems really happy at school and her class and teacher are just wonderful. I am in heaven, as the neurotic parent, as with only five children in the class I can accost her teacher for a nice long progress report every single day! Elise is just finishing her second week at her new nursery and absolutely loving it, so much so that yesterday she told them that when she grew up she wanted to be Kris (the nursery’s owner). The funniest thing about Elise at the moment is her hair – it is completely crazy with the humidity and so, so curly (which she is very proud of especially as it is so different from Amelie’s which remains without a kink) – have no idea what to do with it, but an interesting experiment to watch.
We are feeling very unadventurous at the moment, having down very limited travelling at the weekends. However, given the rain we think any upcountry adventures will be better appreciated once the rainy season is over – hopefully in another month we will have some more interesting stories for you!
Saturday, 4 September 2010
Amelie's first impressions
We (mummy, daddy, me and my little sister Elise) moved to the Gambia at the start of August. The Gambia is a very small country in the west of Africa. It has a long river (with crocodiles) and lots of lovely beaches.
We are living in a big compound with houses, fields, a playground, a hospital and all the offices where mummy and daddy work. The best thing about where we live is the bakery round the corner which makes delicious baguettes and the owner lets me go behind the counter to choose my baguette and croissants. We also have great neighbours: three boys (aged 8, 5, and 3). The boys all go to the same school as me and have been helping me to settle in. I love playing in their garden which has an amazing tree house and a tyre swing. There is another playground opposite my house, but there are lots of biting mosquitoes there so my mum does not like me playing there for too long.
The best thing about the Gambia is that it is very hot so we go to the swimming pool a lot. There are lots of different swimming pools to go to, most belong to hotels. I prefer the swimming pools to the beaches as the water is deeper helping you to cool down more quickly.
I also like going to the markets where I have bought some African dresses. I love all the different patterns and colours. I did find the market in Banjul (the capital of the Gambia) a bit scary, though, as there were lots of people and strange smells (mainly from the smoked fish) and insects.
Here is a list of what things are the same as living in England and what things are different:
The same:
It rains a lot (every day)
I go swimming a lot
We get a lot of our food from a supermarket (though fish and fruit from the local markets and bread from the local bakery)
We are friends with our next door neighbour and go round to play.
Different:
There are lots of ants and termites
There is a family of monkeys where we live (in the same compound)
When it rains it always rains really hard
When it is not raining it is really hot and sunny (which is most of the time)
The names of the classes at school (as I go to an American school).
We are living in a big compound with houses, fields, a playground, a hospital and all the offices where mummy and daddy work. The best thing about where we live is the bakery round the corner which makes delicious baguettes and the owner lets me go behind the counter to choose my baguette and croissants. We also have great neighbours: three boys (aged 8, 5, and 3). The boys all go to the same school as me and have been helping me to settle in. I love playing in their garden which has an amazing tree house and a tyre swing. There is another playground opposite my house, but there are lots of biting mosquitoes there so my mum does not like me playing there for too long.
The best thing about the Gambia is that it is very hot so we go to the swimming pool a lot. There are lots of different swimming pools to go to, most belong to hotels. I prefer the swimming pools to the beaches as the water is deeper helping you to cool down more quickly.
I also like going to the markets where I have bought some African dresses. I love all the different patterns and colours. I did find the market in Banjul (the capital of the Gambia) a bit scary, though, as there were lots of people and strange smells (mainly from the smoked fish) and insects.
Here is a list of what things are the same as living in England and what things are different:
The same:
It rains a lot (every day)
I go swimming a lot
We get a lot of our food from a supermarket (though fish and fruit from the local markets and bread from the local bakery)
We are friends with our next door neighbour and go round to play.
Different:
There are lots of ants and termites
There is a family of monkeys where we live (in the same compound)
When it rains it always rains really hard
When it is not raining it is really hot and sunny (which is most of the time)
The names of the classes at school (as I go to an American school).
Will we ever move?
We have now been in the Gambia for a month (well me and the girls) and we are still in our temporary accommodation. As nice as this is, and as much as the girls adores our neighbours (for Amelie her new 8 and 6 year old playmates and for Elise their dog as she tends to fight over bikes with the 3 year old), the itch to more somewhere permanent is taking hold. I am simply yearning to hang something on a wall and Elise is yearning to bake a cake (as our current oven does not work ) – strangely baking seems much more attractive to me as well! The Gambia may not be known for its desserts and baked goods, but we may yet pick up some tips as the girls have been invited to the local bakery for a cookery lesson. At first I thought the owner was just being polite – they love children (and the smaller the better it seems) here so Elise gets a lot of attention – but after the third invitation I am ready to hand the girls over for the morning with the expectation of picking them and a tray full of chocolate croissants up later.
We were hoping to move into our permanent house on the compound at the end of this week, though this is now moving into next week. I think we are on the home stretch, though in my enthusiasm to test everything out I may have shorted all the electrics on a visit earlier this week – I may not pack quite yet!
The main news is that Amelie has started school. Her school is a lovely space - large play areas and roomy classrooms. The head teacher greets you every morning and afternoon, and it is a genuinely personal greeting - for example today a conversation about Elise’s mosquito bites and our experience of heat rash - though with only 50 pupils (aged 3-14) personal attention is much easier. There are only five children in Amelie’s class and she is certainly enjoying all the attention! We are only a week in, but it doesn’t seem too claustrophobic and the classes all mix at breaks and for PE which means she has a wider pool of friends and there are older children from the compound whom she knows, can see at break and have helped her settle in.
School has also been good for meeting the neighbours. Amelie’s school appears to have three main groups of clientele: MRC, diplomats and other. People appear to like to identify their own kind and so I have been approached by several people whom I had no idea lived on the same compound opening the opportunity for some more social interactions – after a month of solo childcare in a foreign country during the holiday months I am fairly desperate for some adult interactions.
Elise is completely desperate for her nursery to begin. Every day she trails after Amelie into school and has taken to carrying an empty lunch box or school bag as well. Unfortunately for her she has another week of mummy’s company until she can start nursery. I feel slightly unadventurous in having chosen the most British of the nurseries that I visited, but the facilities seem so good and Elise fell in love with the place immediately (I had to work through a large list of bribes to extract her). The nursery is run by a British lady and her daughter who came highly recommended (and I think you need a recommendation to get in which the family network at MRC luckily provided). They are both artists so the nursery is beautifully and very colourfully decorated and I am hoping to pick up a batik or two which seems to be a side line. From the start, both Kris and Katie completely engaged with Elise and did this so successfully that she talks endlessly about her new “friends” (if Elise doesn’t know a name the person is automatically called “friend”) and when she is going to see them next. It is a very small place and only takes 15 children aged 2.5 - 5 years. They only do morning sessions so our wonderful maid is going to turn nanny to give me some extra working hours in the day (see below).
I know that some people (who will completely know who they are) were very interested in staffing matters so here is where we are at. We currently have the most wonderful maid, Perinne. I hate the word “maid” as it really doesn't do Perinne credit and she certainly does not need anyone to tell her what to do. In England I often gave up asking a cleaner to do various tasks (mainly dusting) as it just seemed beyond them to work out how to do it properly. Perinne is the complete opposite and usually comes to me telling me what needs to be done and regularly turns up with a new implement needed for the smooth running of the house – my birthday present was a laundry basket! She really is a star – she can cook (has been teaching me some classic Gambian dishes), can iron a mean shirt, is wonderful with the children (having six of her own) and so babysits and speaks 5 languages. We are currently plotting how we can entice her home with us! This week we also took on a gardener. I am hoping Alex will also show a lot of initiative as I am completely clueless as to ideas for landscaping a garden in this or any climate – my only vision is for a tree house for the children which are popular around here. My other concern is that he has picked up that I speak French and being originally from Senegal now will only speak to me in French - I am not quite sure my gardening vocab is up to scratch though. Elise is completely mystified and keeps asking me "what are all those strange sounds coming out of your mouth - speak properly mummy" - just as well I didn't send her to the local French school!
We were hoping to move into our permanent house on the compound at the end of this week, though this is now moving into next week. I think we are on the home stretch, though in my enthusiasm to test everything out I may have shorted all the electrics on a visit earlier this week – I may not pack quite yet!
The main news is that Amelie has started school. Her school is a lovely space - large play areas and roomy classrooms. The head teacher greets you every morning and afternoon, and it is a genuinely personal greeting - for example today a conversation about Elise’s mosquito bites and our experience of heat rash - though with only 50 pupils (aged 3-14) personal attention is much easier. There are only five children in Amelie’s class and she is certainly enjoying all the attention! We are only a week in, but it doesn’t seem too claustrophobic and the classes all mix at breaks and for PE which means she has a wider pool of friends and there are older children from the compound whom she knows, can see at break and have helped her settle in.
School has also been good for meeting the neighbours. Amelie’s school appears to have three main groups of clientele: MRC, diplomats and other. People appear to like to identify their own kind and so I have been approached by several people whom I had no idea lived on the same compound opening the opportunity for some more social interactions – after a month of solo childcare in a foreign country during the holiday months I am fairly desperate for some adult interactions.
Elise is completely desperate for her nursery to begin. Every day she trails after Amelie into school and has taken to carrying an empty lunch box or school bag as well. Unfortunately for her she has another week of mummy’s company until she can start nursery. I feel slightly unadventurous in having chosen the most British of the nurseries that I visited, but the facilities seem so good and Elise fell in love with the place immediately (I had to work through a large list of bribes to extract her). The nursery is run by a British lady and her daughter who came highly recommended (and I think you need a recommendation to get in which the family network at MRC luckily provided). They are both artists so the nursery is beautifully and very colourfully decorated and I am hoping to pick up a batik or two which seems to be a side line. From the start, both Kris and Katie completely engaged with Elise and did this so successfully that she talks endlessly about her new “friends” (if Elise doesn’t know a name the person is automatically called “friend”) and when she is going to see them next. It is a very small place and only takes 15 children aged 2.5 - 5 years. They only do morning sessions so our wonderful maid is going to turn nanny to give me some extra working hours in the day (see below).
I know that some people (who will completely know who they are) were very interested in staffing matters so here is where we are at. We currently have the most wonderful maid, Perinne. I hate the word “maid” as it really doesn't do Perinne credit and she certainly does not need anyone to tell her what to do. In England I often gave up asking a cleaner to do various tasks (mainly dusting) as it just seemed beyond them to work out how to do it properly. Perinne is the complete opposite and usually comes to me telling me what needs to be done and regularly turns up with a new implement needed for the smooth running of the house – my birthday present was a laundry basket! She really is a star – she can cook (has been teaching me some classic Gambian dishes), can iron a mean shirt, is wonderful with the children (having six of her own) and so babysits and speaks 5 languages. We are currently plotting how we can entice her home with us! This week we also took on a gardener. I am hoping Alex will also show a lot of initiative as I am completely clueless as to ideas for landscaping a garden in this or any climate – my only vision is for a tree house for the children which are popular around here. My other concern is that he has picked up that I speak French and being originally from Senegal now will only speak to me in French - I am not quite sure my gardening vocab is up to scratch though. Elise is completely mystified and keeps asking me "what are all those strange sounds coming out of your mouth - speak properly mummy" - just as well I didn't send her to the local French school!
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