Have you ever lived inside a beehive? Because I have, and it was one of the best and worst experiences of my life. I was 11 years old at the time. I was born in Gambia and visited every summer before this trip. A regular beehive is full of different types of bees. There is the queen, a worker, etc. The beehive I was in was a little bit different; instead of the queen bee, there was a mother bee, a fighter bee, a mature bee, a nanny bee, etc. I hated my beehive and wanted to leave, only to realize it was a thought.
“YAFATOU!” was the first thing I heard on the first morning of winter break. I woke up and hurried down the stairs, almost skipping a step, and heard a clink in the kitchen, where I found my mom. Panting loudly like a dog, almost out of breath, I asked, “What’s wrong?” only for her to tell me she had “good news” to tell me. Thinking to myself, I thought it was an emergency.
“We are going to Gambia for 2 months,” said my mother.
I jumped with so much joy and ran upstairs to call my friends from school to tell them the good news, and immediately started packing my Hello Kitty suitcase.
A week later, we left for Gambia, and after a very long flight, we arrived at the Gambian International Airport in Old Jeshwang. On arrival, my big family was waiting for my mom and me. We all hugged and started heading to the family house. When we got there, we rested for a while and then went to a family resort. We all had so much fun. 1 week of fun has passed, and I
realized that my mom had her suitcases packed. I asked her where she was going, and she told me she was going back to Massachusetts. I already had a bad feeling when I saw her suitcases.
“ I haven’t packed my suitcase. I’ll go do that now.” I told her.
She stopped me in my tracks and said, “There is no need for that, you are going to be staying with Aunty Muna for a while.”
I immediately started crying and told her not to leave me here. She told me everything was going to be “ok.” She wanted me to stay to learn respect, honesty, and how to clean and become a better person because back in Massachusetts I was acting like a brat and did not have those qualities yet, and then she left for the airport.
The day after my mother left, I was enrolled in Marina International School in Bakau. Thinking I was finally going to get alone time at school, just to realize all 5 of my cousins also go to that same school. I was so annoyed, I didn’t want to be around my family 24/7. I always had to share everything with my cousins in Gambia and I hated it. When I used to live in Massachusetts, I had my own room and didn’t have to do chores or share my things. But when I got to Gambia, my life completely changed.
It was my first day at my new school as a 6th grader, and I had to wear a marble white and blue uniform with a marble blue and white belt and black shoes, which were new to me because my school in Massachusetts was the opposite. When I walked into the school compound it was so windy I thought I was going to fly away. There were so many oak trees and a big willow tree right in the middle. I saw so many small buildings and a big field behind the buildings. I had to learn how to make new friends and had to learn French, which I thought to myself was weird because I never had to learn a new language.
I was walking to my class building when someone tripped me. He was also in 6th grade like me, but he was taller and known for being rude. He said to me, “Miss America is here, she thinks she is better than the rest of us.” I stood up, dusted the dirt off my uniform, and continued to class. Later, during break I told my cousin Penda about it, and she said she would handle it.
On my way to class, I heard my cousin’s voice. I went to see what was going on with her and overheard her conversation with the boy who tripped me over.
“WHAT DID YOU SAY ABOUT MY LITTLE COUSIN” I overheard Penda say.
“I didn’t say anything to her, I swear,” said Kaseem.
“That’s what I-” is the last thing I heard before the loud school bells were ringing, indicating it was time to go home.
The first day of school was horrible, but when I got home, it was even worse. The nanny was teaching me how to sweep and mop, and she added my name to the chore schedule she made for the house. I wanted to rip out every piece of hair I had on my head, and to make it even worse, my oldest cousin, Sally, was telling me to start sharing my clothes because they all share clothes. I started arguing with her and my other cousin, Fatima.
“TAKE OFF MY CLOTHES, FATIMA!!!” I told Fatima.
“Yafatou, you have to learn how to share. We share our clothes with you,” said Sally.
“I don’t care, take it off, and when I get back from sweeping, I want my skirt off your hairy legs,” I said in an angry tone and walked to the kitchen to get the broom.
At the time I was not wanting to adapt because I was afraid of change, and when my cousins tried to show me how to do my chores right so I would not get in trouble with the nanny, I looked at it as if they were judging me instead of helping me.
The minute I walked outside, I pulled out my phone and called my mom, and started crying as if I was being kidnapped.
“Yafatou, what’s wrong?” my mom said.
“Mommy, I’m starving in this house. Please come and get me,” I said while sobbing.
“Yafatou, I need you to stop with these lies. I’ll call you back when I’m at work,” said my mother before she hung up the phone.
A couple of weeks later I started my menstruation. I didn’t know what to do, so I went to Sally and Fatima to help me. I told them that my menstruation had come, and I didn’t know what to do. They helped me and taught me all the important things I needed to know. I was so grateful because I thought I was going to die, only to realize I had cousins who could help me.
Right after that time, they also helped me with my homework when I wanted to give up academically. There were times I did not understand my work and wanted to stop trying, but my cousins would sit with me and help me until I understood it. They pushed me to keep going in school even when I was frustrated, and instead of letting me fail they helped me stay on track.
After that, I adjusted to my new lifestyle and stopped being selfish and got along with my cousins. I even made new friends at school, and we had so many playdates, everything was going perfectly.
Writing this, I realized that I wasn’t grateful for the people who cared for me. They helped shape the person I am today. I needed to learn how to clean, be respectful, be nice, become a lady, etc., and they helped with all those things. We all separated and moved back to America. They now live in Seattle, WA and I went back to Massachusetts. We barely see each other now. Only then did I realize I missed the life I was living with them when we were all together, being there for each other and having each other’s backs. I never thought I would say this, but I loved living with my big family, and I wish I could go back and do it all over again.
