Gambia day 1

Welcome everyone!

I am in Africa at the moment, Gambia to be exact, and today my adventure here has officially begun! It was a very rough but beautiful day today. It started at 2:00 last night when my alarm went off. My mom and dad drove me to Schiphol airport and dropped me off. I can describe this in very much detail, but it was basically the same as when I went to Japan with my dad, the only difference here is that my dad stayed home this time. My airplane was supposed to fly at 7:00 in the morning, however due to some technical difficulties we had 2 and a half hours delay, which sucked, because we were not allowed to leave the plane… When we finally departed, I had the feeling that I had been flying for 2 and a half hours already, but in reality it was only five minutes. It took the plane some more than 6 hours to arrive in Dakar, where we had a to stop first. After almost an hour the plane was up in the air again and within 40 minutes I arrived at Banjul Airport.

First of all I want to tell you my experience in the plane, because wauw. I don’t know if any of you have ever seen Africa in top view but basically what it comes down to is only one thing; sand. Sand sand and even more sand. It was so fascinating tho, because when I think about Africa I think sand, but like, also with houses and roads and some trees or any sign of human existence, but there was literally NONE. Until we reached Dakar Airport of course. I freaked out a little bit because Senegal was so empty and I was really worried that Gambia would be the same but SURPRISE Gambia is really fcking amazing!

For example: there are people EVERYWHERE. And not just regular people, NO, really super interesting people! There are a lot of children, super cute, playing soccer on the roads, there are teenagers, especially male teenagers, and this is going to sound weird but DAMMNN they  are so handsome <3 and not only are they handsome, they also talk to me, want to take pictures with me, they smile or stare at me when I walk by and I feel like some gorgeous princess out here lol. And then there are middle aged woman, dressed in beautiful, colourful clothes and with really pretty cloths wrapped around their heads carrying baskets like the powerful woman they are! And last but definitely not least you have the elderly, full of rumples and grey hairs but are still walking so far everyday with so much energy and they are always smiling.

Another thing I want to say is that everything is real. The things you see on televisions about Africa, it´s all the truth! There are really old but very colourful cars covered in dust, mostly stuffed with far more people than it was originally designed for and on sometimes the roofs are even carrying piles of stuff (including people)  that could not fit the car anymore. And yes, on the roads it is safe, because the asphalt is good and the people don’t drive so fast, but when you get off the big roads, the roads become sand. And with sand I mean very very uneven sand. When I was sitting in the car with Alhagie and Petra who picked me up at the airport, I got tossed around in the car like a milkshake and for some reason that made me really happy. It is such a nice experience only just to see Africa and feel it.

When we arrived at the compound where I am staying with 5 other volunteers, Petra, Alhagie and a bunch of other African people that have jobs on the compound. I dropped off my bag and went to change my clothes because it was very very hot outside! We picked up Connie and Anja and together we drove to the famous fish market. Our original plan was to buy sim cards so that we had internet but it was too late because the shop was closed. We walked around the market instead and it was such an experience! There were people EVERYWHERE and a lot of boats and fish and handsome guys. On our way back to the car, we came across a group of boys and of them walked up to me and asked if I wanted to take a picture with him. I did, and then suddenly another boy joined, and other, and another, and I was surrounded with boys! I did not mind :). Sad part is is that I do not get a chance to see the pictures, but I would have loved it if I could show you.

We went back to the compound and had dinner together with all the guests at the compound. We had chicken, salad, carrots, fries, cucumber and tomato and for desert was watermelon (which made me so very happy, I have been craving for watermelon for weeks now) and let me tell you it was the best watermelon I ever tasted! It was so full of flavour and it was very juice and I loved it so so much! When we finished eating Alhagie joined our table and started to introduce all the Africans that worked and lived in the compound and it was a very social evening. However it did not last very long for me, because I was very tired from all the traveling and the impressions from Gambia.