Well who would have thought that I'd actually be using the French i
learned while in school. The Gambia is an old British colony, hence
the English as the national language, but Senegal, completely
surrounding The Gambia is a former French colony, and there has been a
great deal of migration between the two over the decades. As a
result, in the compound we are staying in, there are a number of
French speaking Senegalese nationals here, so I've had a few really
good conversations in French during our stay. It's actually a
sufficient buffer language, as I don't speak Mandinka/Fula/Wolof/Jola
very well, and they don't speak English too well, we've found French
to be a happy medium. Who would have thought.
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Hooray for French! So are you going to learn Fula? It makes my heart warm when thinking of Aminata Diallo and her Fula/Baminikan languages. I hope the home sickness is starting to level out.. I found that it comes in waves, whenever you have too much time to sit and linger on the comforts of home and family. I am sure you will make some deeper connections soon, and that will make it all worth while, and the time will pass a lot less slowly! I am jealous of your adventures Justin, and also incredibly proud of you! Look what Tanz has done for this travel newbie - you are an expert! :) I can't wait to see you again soon, and hear all of these stories. Make sure you safeguard them all, and become the ancient story teller, to pass on all of your knowledge and insights to us!
ReplyDeletexoxo Love you roomie!