2012-03-12
Funny enough, it took a trip to Senegal to have my first tarot card reading. I was lucky to not only have my American parents visit me in January, but also Lukas’s mother, who came to stay with us in our village for a week. In addition to her refreshing company, she was also kind...
Read More2012-01-30
When I first started at Le Verger, I thought I had found an apprenticeship in paradise. My original placement in the school system turned out to be stressful and blinding, exactly what I didn’t want; the only direction I could see was OUT. I asked my host dad and fairy godfather if he could find...
Read More2012-01-13
Dear Mom and Dad, You are preparing to come visit me in Senegal in a few days’ time. My family and I cannot wait to see you in person and I know you are more than excited to take this thrilling journey; one that I think is unparalleled in your lives in terms of adventure,...
Read More2011-12-11
Three things about names in Senegal: #1. Senegal has weird names. The most common name for women is Fatou, which is also the Wolof word for “death”. I haven’t deciphered the meaning. Some men are called Magget, the Wolof word for old person”. Why someone would call a baby “Old Person” is beyond me
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2011-09-16
In the process of keeping sporadic correspondence with my family and friends at home in the States, a lot of people have been asking me, “so how is Senegal?” There could not be a more unanswerable question; it feels approximately equivalent to being asked “what is the meaning of life?” Sometimes I choose to respond...
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2011-08-25
Five dollars a day is not enough to make a life, let alone a very lighthearted afternoon. This Monday, the Global Citizen Year fellows were shipped into the heart of San Francisco to try and better understand urban poverty in the United States. We were split up among two neighborhoods, the Tenderloin and the Mission....
Read More2011-07-06
A few months ago, I was inspired by a simple phrase I heard in an interview of the late Joseph Campbell, a man who devoted his life to studying ancient myths. From his analysis of global texts and his own life experience, his best advice for living life was to “follow your bliss.” I clicked...
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