By April
Anita Yan Chen
2016-01-13
By April, I will have received a new name. I don’t know what it will be, but I know that person who awaits me on the other side of this journey, will be vastly different, a leveled up version of me. More resilient, more prone to laughter, more accepting of herself and of what she doesn’t...
Read MoreLil’ T
Anita Yan Chen
2016-01-13
Until a few weeks ago, I had three host sisters. But one weekend, Nene, after a visit to nearby Guinea, had a little 5-year-old clinging to her side. She was introduced to me as my tokora, one who has the same name. And like that, a little sister was added to my ever-growing family. DAY...
Read MoreRapid Roll
Anita Yan Chen
2016-01-13
Upon our arrival in Dakar back in September, the Senegal fellows and I were all issued cellphones. These babies were OG Nokias – the indestructible, would-survive-the-apocalypse type. Besides being useful for texting messages to our fellow fellows, (letter by letter on the numeric keypad) things like: “ok u wouldn’t believe where i just found an...
Read MoreRoll With It
Anita Yan Chen
2015-12-05
PREFACE I suppose I’ve been running on Senegal-time for a while now, even before I knew what it really was. In other words, my blogs are very late. But hey, you can’t rush art, right? The order of my blogs will not be chronological and they will come as they will. The way waves do. ROLL WITH...
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