The Gambia Gamble

I've chosen a risky country to cover this time, owing to the fact that I know absolutely nothing about it. I even had to look it up on the map. (Not that that's different from any other country I've done) At first, I thought "The" was an error of some sort, or perhaps there was another Gambia trying to pose off the "real" one. "Oh, you're from Gambia, you say?" "Yes, yes - the Gambia. Not that other one." Not funny, I realize, but I do find the shape of this unusually named province somewhat humorous.

According to the Bureau of African Affairs, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first president to visit an African country while in office, making two stops in Banjul in 1943 during the Casablanca Conference. The Gambians fought with the Allies in Burma.

Don't know what the hell the Casablanca Conference was? Me, either. (Is there a comma there?) So, I did some research, and found this nice, lengthy, detailed work on Churchill, Roosevelt and the Casablanca Conference. (It's actually not that long) Good reading!

A quote I liked from this article by our good friend, Winnie, speaking about keeping cautious relations with the U.S. when they finally entered the war:

"Oh, that is the way we talked to her while we were wooing her; now that she's in the harem, we talk to her quite differently!"

BFFs Roosevelt & Churchill at the Casablanca Conference

The article also mentions Stalin's fear of flying - I wasn't aware of this or how credible it was, so I did some research because it piqued my interest. Apparently, the Soviet leader did have such a phobia, which prevented him from attending the Casablanca Conference with Roosevelt and Churchill. Here's a neat article on the History of Flying: Von Hardesty's Despots Aloft. (Clever title!)

Churchill originally suggested that the conference be held at Marrakech, the capital of Morocco. (I've already secretly decided that will be my next country) This photo is reminiscent of another place that I went to last summer.

And, while we're on the topic, and while I'm getting far too distracted from actually covering The Gambia, this excerpt from Simon Appleby's project (posted above in Roos., Church. & the Casa. Conf.) really cracked me up:

The prospect of the trip excited both men enormously – Roosevelt always relished the idea of hoodwinking the press and public as to his whereabouts, while both men had great fun creating code-names for themselves: Roosevelt suggested Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, an interesting choice which Churchill, with characteristic attention to detail, rejected, perhaps lest the conference be dubbed 'quixotic'. He suggested Admiral Q. and Mr. P., noting with a typical touch that 'We must mind our P's and Q's.'

If I may, which I can because it's my blog and I'm undoubtedly the only one reading it, I'd like to offer a quote by Miss Piggy that I stole from the Cheeky Quotes gadget on the side of my blog:

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it may be necessary from time to time to give a stupid or misinformed beholder a black eye."

So wise. Continuing my reign of ADD, I'm happy to announce to myself that I won a 1937 1 Reichspfennig on eBay! And by won, I mean buy, because I lost to some douchebag bidding on another one - but, he was unable to front the money, so I did get offered a second chance, but I gave my middle to that shady scam! Good for me, good for me.

Imma shine this baby up for a collection. Oo, child.

Forget The Gambia for today. Here's something I found hilarious/interesting, taken from the Useless Knowledge gadget:

The female Adelie penguin, desperate to obtain the stones she uses to build her nest, visits the nest of a bachelor Adelie, goes through the entire courtship routine, and mates with him. But once the two have had sex, the female collects the stones she came for as a sort of payment, and waddles back home to her actual mate, who’s been keeping the nest nice and warm for her return! She then stays with him for the rest of her life. Sometimes, especially cunning females engage in the courtship ritual, minus the mating part, grab the rocks, and dash home. Luckily, the males of this species, unlike humans, do not seem to bear a grudge.

Hussy