Escaping the heat

Hello again,
Nothing much new to report here..Moriba and I took yesterday to escape the heat of Brikama. We went with Peter up to Bakau for some Kartong Festival business. This included stops at a restaurant in the Senegambia tourist area, and a school titled "Banjul American Embassy School", which is attended by mostly American expatriate children. Here, they were having "Africa Day". The environment reminded me much of the cultural festival that occurs every February at the Olympia Center..many craft vendors, although I didn't see any performers. Stepping into the school grounds, being surrounded by fellow Americans, only a half hour drive from Brikama, felt quite strange! Peter did gather the interest of many vendors to come and display their goods and artwork down at the festival in Kartong, which will be occuring in two weeks time. The Senegambia tourist area- hehe...if you remember one of my previous posts talking about stepping into Fajara avenue in Serrekunda, and how it felt like a somewhat U.S. tourist trap....the Senegambia is even more extreme in this respect. It is just a couple of roads that intersect, in Bakau, and are flooded with shops, boutiques, and bars...the type of environment I often avoid back home! We stopped at one of the restaurants to meet with a woman who is doing some form of promotional work for Peter in Bakau. Here, I met a girl from Maine- about my age, and also doing some work through a school back home- for their theater department in partnership with the University of the Gambia. She's been over here for two years, and is hoping to live and settle down here. The theater department at the U of G that she works with is preparing to run a sitcom on the national television station...
I don't think there is anything else to report right now...I will check in again soon.

I hope all is well!

Sean