Fellow Stories

Thrown under a bus

Aissatou Tagaty Badio

2018-11-23

September 2018 Every time I hop on a moving vehicle, I get sick. That is quite ironic, because I love care rides, with either the radio blasting or music plugged into my ear while staring at the landscape. This time, during the family drop-off procedure, I opted for the latter, although I didn’t have much...

Garden

Manuel Quesada Nylen

2018-11-21

My family’s garden represents the time I’ve spent and will spend, here in Senegal. We arrived here during the rainy season, and now it has transitioned into the dry season, when the weather gets a bit colder, (Not as harsh as Boston cold, I can tell you that). I never considered the symbolism this garden...

A Day in the Life

Sarah Montross

2018-11-21

I haven’t written a blog in a little over a month, and while I could have written about my new life in Biblián, or my apprenticeship in the *escuela inicial* (daycare) where I work, I really wanted to share with you all a story from today – one that perfectly describes a day in my...

ATTAYA

Paula Medina

2018-11-21

29th October 2018 Attaya is sitting under a tree shade. Attaya is an invitation to discover someone new. Attaya is conversation. Attaya is calmness. Attaya is sharing. Attaya is a constant welcome. Some days ago, in one of our explorations around our town, we ended up in the back garden of a local family. In...

Chapter 7: Some Cheese for Thanksgiving Dinner

Xandra Coleman

2018-11-21

People tend to be most thankful when they experiance a thing’s absence, addition, or it’s unexpected aid. I am no different. Upon coming to Senegal, I found myself thrusted into a new world where things I’ve always had, I no longer had easy access to, things I’ve never know became common, and in a strange...

Gamou: Celebrating the Birthday of Prophet Muhammad

2018-11-19

[image: DSC04114.JPG] As disappointed as I may be during the Magal Touba for not being allowed to participate by the programme policy, last night was my first chance in participating in an Islamic celebration of the Gamou. In preparation of the Gamou, our extended relatives come from Dakar and other parts of the country to...

My Apprenticeship (the past, the present, the future)

Jeffrey Fishman

2018-11-18

As I sit on my bed writing this blog post, I am currently stuck in my house due to a citywide transportation strike in Ibarra. Not only are the taxi and bus systems not running, but the taxi drivers have also lined up their vehicles to blockade the highway and other parts of the city....

I’m only 18

Manuel Quesada Nylen

2018-11-18

November already. WHAT THE HECK. As of recently, I’ve been having existential crises every other hour of the day, where I ponder several things to what seems like no end. Every thought, no matter how random, always somehow manages to connect back to home. Not my home in Senegal, my home in Malden MA, and...

Lighting Up Diwali!

Leonie Tollefson

2018-11-18

Diwali is the festival of light, and easily one of the biggest celebrations of the year in India. It celebrates the triumph of good versus evil, and it is essentially the Indian Christmas, or in some parts of India, the new year. It’s 5 days, starting on the 5th of November. I had nearly a...

PUEDE LLAMARME MERI (YOU CAN CALL ME MERI)

Meredith Jones

2018-11-17

Me llamo Meredith. I have called myself Meredith for 18 years. I have never shortened it. Occasionally in conversation or introductions, people asked me if I had a preferred nickname. The truth is that Meredith was my preferred name. Every shorter variation of my name did not feel like me. Upon meeting my host family...

Algae Bloom

Avry Richter

2018-11-16

If you had the opportunity to live, learn, and breath the air of another people, culture, family and country, would you? So, here I am. Here I am taking in this world as the moments pass. I sit here with Yolanda, Domenicha and myself in a car in a city called Ibarra while the spacious...

Chapter 6: A Taste of Senegal

Xandra Coleman

2018-11-15

Considering November contains a holiday where the main event is eating a meal with one’s family, I thought it is only fair I focus on the sense of taste this month. When brainstorming for this blog, I realized how difficult it is to capture taste through words on a paper. If someone wants to put...