Re: Holidays

Thanks Ash. I also posted that to show how many holidays we're having this week. You were saying the uncertainty surrounding the announcement of public holidays is due to the lunar calendar. But then how come in other Islamic countries the dates for the public holidays are set a few months in advance? In other parts of West Africa the celebrations were already scheduled so people could organise themselves for getting to them. Here we could only know a few hours before- if we have a radio- if not, it depends on where your name in your nearest radio-bearer's address book. Some people here say that the decisions are made last minute for political reasons; others say it is something to do with GMT (Gambia Maybe Time). On Wednesday we had a great laugh telling the moon to appear or not to appear, depending on each of our situations at work (some of us have lots of work to do and don't want these holidays and some of us need a chance to have a lie-in). And when we'd finished coaxing celestial bodies we decided that whatever happenned the holiday would still probably take place even if it wasn't announced because no-one would turn up to work anyway.

Still, I don't think the festvities here have sufferred. We were out dancing till three last night (rather, trying to learn the moves from the rhytmic locals) and that was called leaving early.

Although I've enjoyed my stay in The Gambia, it would've been much better to come at a time of less restraint (ie: when they're not fasting) so that I could experience more of the jovial aspects of the culture- they really know how to have a good time!