Brikama …. Or Bel-Air?

I finally was able to move out of the Peace Corps transit house in Fajara and into my new house in Brikama two weeks ago as of this past Wednesday. It was a bit of an ordeal trying to actually get into my place (had to wait outside with all my stuff in a pile for about two hours until the land lady came to let me in), but once it was all worked out it was totally worth the wait. So my new place is kind of amazing. The University definitely did an excellent job finding me a place… and it might be the poshest Peace Corps house in the country… I actually feel a little guilty…

When I was in training village I was in a small hut with no water or electricity in this small village, and now I am in Brikama working at the University and living in this much bigger apartment which has running water about 80 of the time % (still not sure why it goes away on occasion) and electricity about 40% of the time (Usually it is better but the electric company has been having a lot of issues recently. I think one of the generators went out so they are only supplying electricity to certain areas during certain times of the day. That is a totally different story.).

I have taken a few pics so you can see where I live! As a heads up, I don’t really have any furniture so there is a ton of empty space. I am however working with UTG to provide me with some couches and chairs and shelves etc. When I get these, one way or another, I will take a few more pictures so you can see how it all turns out… Here goes…

This is the road outside of the entrance of my renters compound (the entrance is to the left). There is a bitik (general store) at the end of the road where I can get bread, onions, pop drink, soap etc. That is where everyone is hanging around outside.

This is the actual entrance to the renters compound. So much pink!

This is the inside of the compound. There are three total and mine is in the middle. To the right is the house of the host family that makes my dinner and washes some clothes for me. They are who I go to with any issues or questions etc. PS That is a grapefruit tree to the right.

This is the first entrance of my apartment and a few trouble making kids that like to dance for me and try on my shoes when I am not looking. This is also my veranda…

This is the second door of my house.

Welcome to my living room. Lots of space. Oh, that is my second bed frame that I want to move into my second bedroom when I get another mattress and some shelves. This way I can host visitors :)

The rest of my living room. Potential dance floor? Who knows….

The entrance to bedroom one and bedroom two. To the left of the living room.

Bedroom two. Where I keep all my stuff right now.


Bedroom one. Where I sleep.


My bed and mosquito net in bedroom one.


My wall of pictures and drawings that I receive/brought from The Americas. Made me sad at first but now it makes me happy. If you send me something it will end up on this wall.

My bathroom. Sooooo amazing. We even had cash power when I was taking the pics! It of course went out as soon as it got dark.

The rest of my bathroom. Still need a mirror.

The door out to the back of my house.

My back yard. To the left. To the left.

My back yard. To the right. Take note of the water pump where I do my laundry outside and the laundry line where I hang my clothes to dry. The window looks into my kitchen.

My back yard. Further to the right and on the way to the kitchen (the door that is open leads to my kitchen).

The inside of the kitchen. Please note my double burner stove, propane tank and water filter.

My kitchen to the left with my amazing sink and moldy cupboards. I am hoping the mold will go away in the dry season. It makes my kitchen smell funny which makes me sad.

Leaving my kitchen and looking back towards my “yard”. Entrance to the house is to the left and water pump is to the right.

The entrance back into my house. I sit out here A LOT after work and when eating dinner and hanging out etc. It’s really amazing.

I would like to emphasize that this is NOT how most Peace Corps volunteers live in their villages. I am a special case because I am working through the University so they provide me with housing as opposed to Peace Corps providing it directly. When I travel around to visit some friends you will see how the other 95% of PC lives…

I intend to live forever… or die trying

Soooo….. Quick note. Yesterday (actually day before yesterday, but I wrote all of this yesterday and was not able to post until today) was my first African birthday :D and now I am officially 26. Oh good lord. Not sure when that happened, but it certainly is not happening any slower.

My birthday was however very amazing. I was able to talk to my Father, Mother, little Sista, Grandma, Aunt Christine and Emma on the phone! I love phone calls to The Americas (Though the delay is a little strange and it is always a sort of difficult to figure out what to talk about because there is so much to say you can’t really decide what is most important). I got a lot of texts from my Peace Corps friends and I even had a small birthday party… I was also really productive at work for the first part of the day. Less cool, but still very nice.

The birthday party was extra amazing because several of the Brikama ladies came over to help celebrate AND Lily, Erin and Kim coordinated their trip down from up country to be able to surprise me for my party :) Caroline coordinated with them and I definitely had no idea. They even put together a birthday card in the gele gele on the way down (see exhibit below). Talk about crafty! Speaking of birthday cards… Caroline not only coordinated with Lily, Kim and Erin she also painted me an awesome bday card and gave me some delicious sour life savers…. Which I am saving for a rainy day when I will eat them all at once and be super happy about it (see exhibits below). A few additional highlights were 1) Kane came over early and had a drink with me (made with some supplies provided in the mail by my lovely Mother) while I made guacamole in country for the first time (It was not bad. The avocados were sub par. Not my best showing.) 2) Mbosse, one of my neighbors, came over and sang Happy Birthday to me (Fatou)! and 3) We made a delicious spaghetti dinner with garlic bread at my house when everyone arrived.


Birthday card painted by Caroline… we always get lost together as we both have a terrible terrible sense of direction. Not a good pairing. Often times when we are lost we get stuck in the rain. It is not sweet.


Birthday gifts from Caroline. Please note the wrapping paper that she has reused and that I also plan to reuse at a later date.


This is the card from Erin and Lily. It was craftily made on the gele gele on their way down from up country. I am told them also made a birthday crown, but forgot it at home. Maybe next year?


Inside of card from Lily and Erin… looking forward to my Gambian gift on the beach….