Happy Camp laa deka

When coming to the Gambia, I knew I was going to be living at Happy Camp with 4 other girls, Jevi, and myself. I honestly didn’t know what to expect, but I wasn’t expecting much. It’s always better to not expect anything, so that when you do get something you’re surprised. Well I got just that.

After we got off of the ferry in Banjul, I know I passed out for the 20 minute drive to Kanifing. When I was woken, I looked outside and saw beautiful flowers and decently big houses. A couple shops here and there and several people wandering about. When we pulled up, I was in shock.

Happy Camp is surrounded by this huge yellow fence topped with spears and huge red iron gates. As I looked up, I saw three floors at least of yellow building. As the gate opened I walked on to a beautiful white tile that lined the courtyard area. I hung a right into the shaded area, saw what looked like classrooms, and made another right into the screen door. I dropped my shoes as the girls started running down the steps to greet us. I walked into a huge living room area with a table that could sit about ten people if you really wanted it to. We were offered some doughnuts which looked like deep-fried nugget balls. They were delicious. Yamai gave us cell phones with our numbers, and sent us upstairs to get some rest. About a half hour into being in the house, the power went out.

There are 3 floors of Happy Camp and a fourth floor which is just a roof. The first floor contains the living room, the kitchen, a computer room, and the room where Bill stays when he visits. The second floor has a total of 5 bedrooms which can sleep about 13 people. The third floor has a bedroom and a bathroom and sleeps about 4. There are countless balconies that over look the streets and the neighbors below. Our balcony has a mango tree hanging over it  too bad they aren’t ripe yet. There’s also a huge balcony which is basically the roof. There’s another door if you hang a right up the stairs that leads to a beautiful spiral staircase leading to a beautifully decorated caged in roof. I love it there the most. It’s absolutely gorgeous, and it’s typically where we go to hang out when the power goes out.

According to Gambian standards, this house is a mansion. Heck, according to my standards, this house is BIG. It’s very spacious, although I can assume and imagine how crowded it would feel with 20 people living, eating, and sleeping under one roof. It’s a beautiful place where I feel at home. I constantly feel welcomed and loved.

It is a bit different from MD just in the sense of environment. There’s red dust/sand everywhere; the sky is always hazy, the temperature is so hot it is sometimes unbearable, and dogs and cats roam the streets instead of houses. Families live in compounds, where everyone takes responsibility of everyone else. We won’t even go into marital status and Muslim culture because that’s a whole new ball game. There are no lines on the pavement, taxi drivers drive like they’re mad, goats are just hanging out in the middle of the road, and there’s a lot of little shops everywhere you walk. As for the similarities: there’s always loud music playing, the sound of car horns echoes through the streets pretty much all day, kids are playing, laughing, and crying, and people are conversing. It’s been pretty interesting so far, and I can’t wait to see what the rest of my stay brings.