Day 1

Well that wasn’t at all the plan ! So there we were, just me and the boys, whilst Anja was waiting in Munich. Well that wasn’t at all the plan ! So there we were, just me and the boys, whilst Anja was waiting in Munich. The last flight was relaxing, the boys and I got to watch own own choice of movies and eat some warm food. Banjul airport was a little different from Munich and quite stressful, but Bakary’s cousin (who is an immigration officer) met us as soon as we came into the hall and really helped us through the system.

Outside Amadou was standing with Bakary which was really nice, as the boys had met him virtually in Berlin when we discussed the White Crocs Football Academy, so it was nice to see familiar faces. The boys fell asleep pretty much most of the hours drive to the compound, then we all pretty much all sloped off to bed. In the morning we got to know Obama a little better, he told us he was a Tiler and had done all of the tiles in the house. We started to get things, a little organised and comfy in the house in between playing games. Obama washed all the plates and glasses, we left them in the sun to dry and then the boys helped put everything away in the cupboards ready.

I’m writing this sometime after the event, with some time to reflect and now that she is here it did all work out in the end. It really didn’t feel like that at the time though, I mean traveling here without Anja was bad enough, but worse was the uncertainty as to if and when she might be able to come. I kept telling Vincent she’ll be here in a few days, not really knowing if that was going to be the case.

The first day we walked around a little, nearby the house but not far as Oskar said he wanted to wait till Mummy got here to see it with her. Obama was a super star, the kids warmed to him instantly, he showed us round,  it was really nice for me to have some support with the kids. Everyone in the village knew Obama which the kids loved, because you would hear ‘Obama’ from every angle as we walked. We came back as the plumber was due to fix the toilet which wasn’t working. In fact there were a few things not done, but Bakary was trying hard to get things fixed. Looking on the bright side I thought, maybe it’s good Anja isn’t here yet, so I can make sure some of the last things get done. The toilet was fixed but the water heater had to wait a few days.

By the afternoon the kids were arguing quite a lot as I think we were all just tired and emotional. I had a few moments when I thought, oh god what have I done, this was a really bad plan of mine.

Obama said Bakary has asked us to visit his Mum, so we walked into town, a bit further this time past the centre and South, past the security gate for the military compound on the right was a rather large 2 storey unfinished house. Next to it in the same compound a few people came out of what looked like a single room with a TV on. It was Bakary’s Mum, brothers and sisters. We introduced ourselves and then all promptly moved into the living room of the unfinished house. Oskar looked at the large white floor tiles, then looked at Obama, “you ?” he said, “ya ya, me all the tiles”, Bakary was building this house for his mum and family.

We all sat down and chatted for a while, I explained the story of why we were there and why Anja wasn’t here with us yet. Then we had a little tour of the house in its md construction state. The sun was setting as we went upstairs to look out of the main room, a stunning view over the green landscape.

We said our goodbyes, one of Bakary’s sisters took a shine to Vincent and jokingly asked if he wanted to stay there with them. We started the walk home, it was pretty dark by then, luckily I had brought the wind-up torches their Aunt and Uncle in Munich had very sensibly given them as a leaving present. Vincent didn’t seemed scared though, quite the opposite, as we got nearer the centre the street lights helped guide us as the voices greeting us and ‘Obama’ carried on all the way home.

We all fell asleep, properly tired, in the same bed. I woke up again sometime in the middle of the night, not being able to sleep again I carried on trying to sort out bits and pieces from all the suitcases, which had been packed, unpacked, repacked and shuffled around in case some were lost in transit or Vincent stayed with Anja.