Nen Bally Ceesay and a crocodile named Charlie

Monday - Today we were told that we would have to be out of the house by 10 am. We woke up, bought three chocolate tapalapas, and then Muhammad announced that the cab driver had arrived. We were then taken to Bacau, the area where Baboucarr lives. We hopped out to meet him and then walked over to Kachikally the crocodile pool. When we arrived, there were several women and tons of children already circled around waiting for our naming ceremony to take place. There were a couple of vendors hanging out and several tourists walking by. This crocodile pool is very well known and is a major tourist spot apparently. Baboucarr asked me to write our names down on a piece of paper. An older man (the man who would be playing the role of our father) came over and took the piece of paper over to the group of women.

We found out that the group of women that we would be named after were performers. They found out some time ago that they were not able to have children and have formed a performing group that travels and plays for a variety of people. They are extremely funny and very caring. Jevi and I talked about this later in they day...we thought it was really cool how they formed a group and speak about their inablities to have children. In the U.S., women are typically ashamed and try to hide it from the World because they feel as though they are worthless as women. These Gambian women formed a support group and told people of their stories. I admire them for that.

Our father, came over with our names and showed them to Baboucarr. With his approval, the ceremony began. One by one we were brought to a blanket where one woman was already seated. We were given a cloth to put over our heads. Our father figure came over and began to fake shave a piece of our hair from our heads. He then said a few phrases that I didn't understand, and then announced our names. A huge roar of excitement came from the group with music and dancing not too far behind. We were then pulled up to dance and sing with the women. This ceremony is pretty neat. In the Gambia, they don't name their children once they are born. They wait 7 days and then choose a name for their child in a ceremony which the community attends. Today marked our 7th day of being in the Gambia. It was really cool! I was given the name Nen Bally Ceesay. Ceesay is my surname, indicating that I am from the Mandinka tribe. After each of us was granted our names, a woman came up to tell us the story of the women that we were named after. My woman is well respected amongst the community. She brings people together, is energetic, outgoing, and is a natural born leader. I was honored to have a name that represented all of these traits. She then came over to me and gave me a huge hug! I asked if I could have a picture with her and I got one. This was just an awesome experience all around.

After the naming ceremony, we toured the museum. The museum offered a lot of the same history that we discussed in the national museum in Banjul. We saw a variety of instruments, ceremonial garb, traditional tatooing and piercing, as well as information on World War II and the Gambian impact. We then walked a nice little path through the trees behind some compounds. There was an amazing tree that was hundreds of years old that we had to take a picture of. We turned a corner and all of the sudden, there were two crocodiles just chillen in the path. Holy hannah. Talk about intimidating...there were signs everywhere that said: "As a pool guide's advice before touching any crocodile." That's when I knew I was going to be touching one of these huge, intimidating creatures. We were introduced to Charlie and Julia was invited to touch him. They showed us that we could touch him along the back and that we could even grab his leg fat. This was SO SCARY! My heart was pounding like you wouldn't believe. I went last and I had Jevi take a picture for proof. Here it is...dun dun dun!! Apparently we could've kissed Charlie. I totally wish I would've done that. I may have to go back....to be continued ;)


After that crazy experience was over, we walked back with Baboucarr to his compound to wait for the taxi. We walked through a large gate into an area that had about 7 houses (all conected like single floor apartments) in two rows that were facing each other. This was where Baboucarr's entire family lives. In the left corner, he's building a new house with two rooms, a kitchen, a living room, and a kitchen area. He has three children, two daughters (14 and 7) and a young son (4). We walked through another gate into the back yard where there was a mango tree and a sheep that I named Jack. All of the children of the compound were surrounding us holding our hands. They were so adorable. We went into his current living room where we continued to hang out with all of the children and eventually met his wife. We talked for a bit about life in the compound and the children. Jevi and I told him that if he ever wanted a babysitter we would totally be down. The taxi showed up and we left to head home. We went straight to bed...we were soooo exhausted. We slept on and off until dinner. We ate, went back upstairs and skyped for a bit before again going to bed. Today was the first day that we really could relax. This whole trip so far has been a complete whirwind!