True Ease in Writing comes from Art, not Chance, As those move easiest who have learned to dance. - Alexander Pope

Ida

Jollof Holiday (Part 1)

By Teneng Camara in Fiction, Oxford, Gambia, Germany, Person Career, mine Me, Ban Bizzle, Business, Channel AKA, dom, driver, Duma, fateh, food, forward, Hai Bizzle, Hai Dega Korr, Hana Bizzle, head, Human Interest, Ida, Jack Daniels, Karim What, National Institute of Health, OMZ, Omz, One, player, porter, Technology, Vybz kartel

 

When I stepped out of the plane the first thing that hit me was the hot air blowing gently across the runway, the sweet smell of culture and the dusty aroma in the air filled my nostrils. That's when I knew I have reached home. I could not wait to pass through the endless and tiring security checks I had to go through before being allowed out of the airport. After an excruciating hour which felt like eternity, I was finally allowed to exit the arrivals lounge and into the crowded waiting area where my family stood eagerly waiting to welcome me.

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Mar 18, 2011

A Glossary of Gambian Terms [FICTION]

Posted by amrangaye | Tags: Live From the Gambia, Fiction, Europe, Gambia, food, Ida, Labor | 0 Comments

 

Ida: a common first name, in Gambia. (After I met Ida, I began to notice other Idas in my life. I have counted six, in total, since then - always I have stopped to speak with them. And it strikes me now that I have never seen an Ida whose smile was not beautiful). 
 
Allarba: Olof for Wednesday, a corruption of the Arabic. Allarba lies at the middle of the week, and the days turn about it, as if it were a fulcrum - the worst is over, the weekend is visible over the horizon. Everything is not so bad after all, Wednesday announces. (I met Ida on a Wednesday evening. I received the call on a Wednesday night, an almost-Thursday). 
 
Hong-ha: red, in Olof. The color of Ida's favorite kaba, that she wore as much as she could, when she went out. (Ida's skin was a beautiful shade of brown, a rarity for one of her tribe.

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She Jollof

By Fatou Joof in Essays, Person Career, Binta, food, Housewife, Ida, Jollof, Kumba, Kumba, Labor, trader

When I look at them, yes they are all women from the same corner (Jollof) yet one can’t help but notice the subtle difference in the way they live their lives. This of course is not their recent choices but of earlier choices. So this taxonomy, can I say it’s choice-based? A part of me (called wowleh) disagrees and accuses me of being unfair! And I defend myself: hey! Not ‘choice’ as picking it out among the lot as the best, but being what you are now due to your behavior and reaction in certain situations.

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