Bansang - Day 194

Date: February 28th, 2010
Distance: None
Country: The Gambia
Song of the Day: Fireworks - The Tragically Hip

Headed into Bansang proper today. There was a place there where I could get a bit of internet. A bit was right. It was incredibly slow. If it took a while, at least It did get there eventually. Still not fast enough to do a major post. I also helped out the owner with a little computer problem. I feel like I could run a cyber here, no problem.

Also while waiting for stuff to load I could eat an ice. This is pretty much like what it sounds. It is a frozen bag of flavored water. May not sound that amazing, but when it is hot, these things are amazing. Each one is only about $0.04. I don't know how they don't loose money on them. Not my problem I guess. I only care that they are tasty and cold.

Afterwards I went to meet up with Chris and Melanie who I had met the previous day. They are a couple in VSO. I guess it is a bit like the Peace Corps, but mostly for British and Commonwealth citizens. Also Taiwan if I have my facts right. Chris and Melanie are from Canada themselves. They are working here as physio-therapists at the hospital in Bansang. I guess they have a tone of work here. There are all sorts of people with mobility issues. I guess the worst part is most of them don't get seen until it is way to late. It was neat talking with them about all the work they do.

I was over because the day before Tom had mentioned setting up a rope swing into the Gambia river. I wasn't going to miss that. So when he and his wife came over we all headed on down to the river. I guess the tree Tom usually sets it up in had been hit with a barge though. It was pretty mangled and the normal branch was bent out of the way. Still, we got it all rigged up. Actually, Tom did all of the work. I was impressed with his ability to climb that tree. I thought I was pretty good, but he put my tree climbing skills to shame.

So we spent the rest of the afternoon swinging out into the water. Didn't get eaten by crocs or hippos either. Actually it was a pretty fun time. I must admit my form was a bit off. My feet kept hitting the water and I would flail my way into the water. The one time Tom tried to coach was a disaster though. They kept saying to keep my arms at full extension so I wouldn't jerk my arms at the bottom of the swing. That was never my problem. Instead with my arms full out that only put my feet farther into the water. Fantastic face plant. The last time of the day I got everything right. Perfect swing and release way out into the river. Felt great.

Afterward Chris and Melanie invited us over for dinner. Actually, Chris had arranged to watch some of the Olympics on a TV at the hospital. It was the last night and Canada was playing the US in the hockey finals. So we had teams all set up to root for are respective countries. Marnie and Fern came back to fill out the US cheering section. It was going to be a great night with some good natured rivalry between the countries. It really would have been too, if the only channel that was showing the olympics wasn't an Arabic news channel. Funny thing, ice hockey isn't big in the middle east. Go figure. They showed part of the first period. Then the game shrunk a bit so they could show the commentators. It kept getting smaller until it was only the commentators. I don't understand Arabic, but it seemed like they must have been saying what a weird sport this was. That was the end of that. They switched to a re-run (I kid you not) of a soccer game from 2001. Thanks guys. Soccer from 10 years ago apparently gets better ratings than the Olympics in the middle east. Well, Winter Olympics anyway.

Still, it was a fun night. I don't really have any complaints. Chris and Melanie even let me camp out on their back patio. Frankly I think I got the better end of that deal. Everyone else was on a bed or a couch inside. In a cool climate that might be kind of a rip. But here, it stays hot inside way too long. I was nice and cool in my bug net under the stars.

-Dravis