Koriteh marks the end of Ramadan

10th September was the feast of Koriteh which celebrates the end of Ramadan. We were invited to eat with the Mr. Jarju and his family. Mr. Jarju is a lecturer at Gambia College. We were kindly invited into their home where the children made us very welcome. We were special guests and so ate first at a table. We ate noodles, mutton and vegetables from a communal bowl. After our meal was over the rest of the family ate sitting on the floor also from a communal bowl. Once everyone had eaten their full the family dressed up in their very best clothes and set out to visit friends and family.

I have been in my house in Brikama now for nearly two weeks and am starting to feel part of the town. My house is big with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. I don’t have much furniture at the moment so am rattling about a bit in it. Our compound has five houses. There are three VSO volunteers, the caretaker and gardener, Mr. Touray and a couple of guys from Nigeria. The local children come in often to chat and offer to run errands for a few dalasi
There are only a handful of white people in Brikama so we soon become known. The market is still a bit of a maze. I’ve set out on 6 or so occasions to buy vegetables and have got lost each time. The pathways between the stalls are very narrow and badly pitted. Also full of puddles after the rain. Still I have always managed to buy what I needed and made a handful of new friends along the way. Start work on 13th – enough lazing around – holiday over.