Since I've not been able to go to the Gambia I've been stuck here at BCS all week doing the normal stuff. I realised on Monday after the girls left that I probably wouldn't have had time to get all my jobs done had i gone with them. That's a very bad situation actually as it reveals that I'm generally trying to do too much work during the holidays. I'm allowed to take two weeks of holiday over Easter and so far I've taken maybe 4 days in total. That leaves another ten days I could take but that would take me up to the start of term and I would arrive there with no lessons planned and several jobs still to be completed. That's a lesson to learn for the future!
Several people have taken pity on me and invited me to join them on trips out which has been fun. On Thursday night I went with the Baarsens (Falcon dorm parents) and their two young children to camp in our neighbour's mango plantation. We borrowed two of the school's new tents and went over there about 5pm to have a BBQ and then slept there in the tents. It was really good. I'd forgotten how much I enjoy camping and it was a good opportunity to get to know the Baarsens better.
In the morning we returned back to BCS and after showering and eating I headed down to Eagle dorm to start moving the furniture out of the bedrooms in preparation for the biannual anti-cockroach spray (a government requirement).
On Friday afternoon I was invited to join the Auers (Kingfisher dorm parents) going to a swimming pool in Saly for a bit of relaxation. If that sounds a bit too normal for you I can make it a little more Senegalese; when we set off I was told we'd be carrying two long pieces of metal down to the welder in Sindia on the way. We did this by putting them on the roof and then Jens and I sticking our arms out of the car windows to hold on to them so that they didn't fall off. When we set off from the workshop with the metal on the roof the car wouldn't start so we had to push start it. Then when we got to Saly Jens took a look under the bonnet to find that the battery connection had come loose. Spotting a guy walking along with some pliers he inquired as to his proffession to which the man replied that he was a mechanic. Jens then showed him the problem and he immediately offered to take a taxi to nearby Mbour and find the missing part needed and bring it back and fit it all for the equivalent of £5. Jens decided this was a good deal and so the mechanic went and did as he said. When he returned and fitted the part we tried to start the car again but with no success. The man then offered to take the car to his workshop in Mbour and fix it, bringing it back in two hours time. Being understandably hesitant about letting a stranger take his car away Jens had to think about this one. The man then introduced us to an old French guy staying at the hotel there whose car he had fixed earlier that day. After talking to this guy Jens decided to give the mechanic a chance and so he got the car started again and took it away. Meanwhile we went back to the pool and relaxed for a while and enjoyed a plate of chips on the beach. when the time came for the car to return we went back to the car park to see if it was there. The mechanic phoned to say he'd be there in 15 minutes. half an hour later he arrived and we inspected the work, payed him his money and gave him a lift to the Mbour junction on the way home. It was all a very strange experience that would of course never happen at home.
Jens and Coni's car is now with another mechanic that we know and trust, having failed to start again once we returned to BCS (£20 poorer).
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