Rugby Game

This morning Paul took himself off to La Parisienne, myself and the children followed shortly behind. When we arrived Paul was deep in conversation with a guy called Nigel after a quick introduction he told us he had come out here for five years to set up a business in media. He used to work for the BBC and has made some short films, he is hoping to do the same here. He has even offered to do a short film on introducing rugby to the Gambia much to Paul’s delight, free of charge.

This afternoon we all went along to watch Paul coaching a rugby team in Serrekunda. We had to be there for 3 o’clock so we made our way by gelleh to Westfield junction then had to jump on another gelleh to take us to the buffer zone in Serrekunda. We made our way to the football ground where they would be playing. Quite a few of the guy’s were already there getting changed. After a quick introduction Paul started to change this was when he realised that he didn’t have his wallet, at some point he had lost it from leaving the gelleh. His wallet contained a little money, credit cards, VSO and residency alien cards. He decided to continue with the coaching with the plan to call at the police station on Kariba Avenue on our way home. The team made their way to the pitch and the game started. Whilst this was happening the footballers were warming up ready for their game. Bakau were playing Seaview, there was already a small crowd waiting to watch. Thirty minutes later the rugby match had finished and the football team took to the pitch. We stayed to watch the kick off before making our exit.

On the other side of the road there was a play park so we took the children in to have a quick play around. As soon as the local children saw them they became the centre of attention and it became a game of follow the leader. As they played I took a few photos however I soon decided to put it away as the locals were getting as close to Abigail or Bradley as possible so they could also be in on the photo. Whilst I was taking photos Paul was approached by a young guy apparently he was a journalist for a small paper. It was only when I saw Paul talking into what looked like a small phone that I realised he was actually doing an interview with him on rugby, he felt very much like a celebrity with all this attention. We soon decided to make tracks to the police station only to have a VSO truck pull up to give us a lift. When we got in the driver informed us that someone had found Paul’s wallet and he was on his way to pick it up. We pulled up and met a couple of young guy’s Paul checked his wallet the money had gone plus a small key however everything else was there which was a relief. I was a bit suspicious about the incident wondering if Paul had actually had his pocket picked rather than dropping it. We left the driver and made our way into Serrekunda market as I wanted to get some groundnut paste for domada. With this purchased we jumped on a gelleh seating ourselves on the three seats at the rear. We set off only to hear a loud bang and the rear of the gelleh hit the ground. We all had to get out, when we looked it was the suspension which had snapped. Paul and Abigail were blaming me and my lardy backside as it was my side which had collapsed. We now had a short walk to Africel were we would be able to get another gelleh or taxi home.