Blogs at Kings Road Primary School

Hi, I am writing this from my office in Banjul in an area called 'Half Die'. When I asked why it was called this, they looked at me as if I were stupid! It is because, at one time, half the people who lived there died from the plague. My office is on the second floor and I look down on a street which leads to the ferry that crosses the River Gambia. A couple of weeks ago there was great excitement as the cars taking part in the Plymouth - Banjul challenge arrived. It was very strange to see so many 'toubabs'! This is what anyone who is not a black African is called - the children call it all the time.

One of the different things here is the number of public holidays. There are some, like Christmas and New Year that we know about, others are announced by The President for a variety of reasons. The last Public Holiday we had was for his first son's naming ceremony! There is a local election tomorrow, so, there might be a holiday, we do not know yet.

In any case, I am going to Dakar on Friday for a long weekend. Dakar is the capital of Senegal. Some of you might be following the football - Africa Cup of Nations. Senegal qualified and are playing tonight. Senegal is french speaking and surrounds The Gambia.

So, I might not be on line again for a week but I look forward to lots of questions on my return from Senegal.

Alison