Fellow Stories
True gap year stories from Fellows abroad!
Check out the latest blogs from Global Citizen Year Fellows in Brazil, Ecuador, and India!
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Class Year
Country
The Wolof Language
Maddi McGirr
2019-03-11
Some of my multi-lingual UWC friends may find this read somewhat amusing but I’m writing to share my perspective on learning a second language and becoming proficient in such. Senegal has many local languages, Wolof being the most common. Before coming to Senegal I was convinced that I would be learning French but upon arriving...
Read MoreNepali girl surprised to hear/see this in Senegal
Nisha Gharti Magar
2019-03-10
1. Are you married? (even if you look 15 years old) 2. Do you wanna be my 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th wife? (Senegalese men are legally allowed to have 4 wives) 3. I love you so much (it’s your first time meeting them) 4. Can you cook Ceebujen? (Ceebujen is a senegalese dish of...
Read MoreGreetings in Khombole
Nisha Gharti Magar
2019-03-10
Greetings are different in every culture and here in Senegal specifically greetings are different in different part of the countries. Where I am currently located, it is mostly inhabited by Wolof people which is also the biggest ethnic group in Senegal. Greetings starts from Salam Walekum and Nanga def which means basically hello and how...
Read MoreOn Tambacouda Lake
Alexander Taylor
2019-03-08
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living...
Read MoreThe Wolof Language
Maddi McGirr
2019-03-07
Some of my multi-lingual UWC friends may find this read somewhat amusing but I’m writing to share my perspective on learning a second language and becoming proficient in such. Senegal has many local languages, Wolof being the most common. Before coming to Senegal I was convinced that I would be learning French but upon arriving...
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First Time In Touba
Andrea Flores
2019-03-06
December 24, 2018 ~ First time I went to Touba, where the great big mosque is located. It was an amazing experience. I woke up one day and I told my host brother that we should go, we got on a bus and left. the ride was long from where I live. I always...
Read MoreMy Mouss and My Meissa
Jacqueline Oeschger
2019-03-06
I did not anticipate falling in love when I signed up for a gap year. In fact, I have never anticipated love in any way. Yet here I am, caring for a person and a cat more than I have ever cared for anyone or anything in my life. My mouss (pronounced: moose) – Barki,...
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A healthy mind
Elena Blanco
2019-02-27
[image: IMG_7200.jpg] [image: IMG_7118.jpg] This past year has been rough, on my journey of slef care and healing, i continue doing things i love, and want for my future. Working hands on and learning more about my dream job. Working on controlling, and understanding what i need for a healthy mind. Capturing natures beauty, with...
Read MoreWandering Thoughts
Mia Reyes
2019-02-22
2.13.19 15:37 Some people fell in love with Senegal quicker then others and some have not and may never will. Me, I fall in and out of love with Senegal frequently and I think that there’s a certain beauty to that. I refuse to idolize an experience that others choose to believe is “admirable” or...
Read Moreslipping seeking surrendering
Ellie Van Gorden
2019-02-22
i remember when i first arrived here. how an hour seemed like an eternity, and how patience was a foreign word. but now, now the minutes slip through my sand-encrusted fingers and i can’t seem to hold on tight enough. the days flow in and out. light and dark. they open and close nearly the...
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May the Best Candidate Win
Peter Dull
2019-02-22
The Senegalese elections are here! This Sunday, Senegalese citizens will vote and elect their next president for the next five years. At a time when the US State Dept. declared a level 2 warning for US citizens, I am watching the political festivities on the family television set and making sure I don’t get hurt...
Read MoreWhen the NO becomes a YES
Jovana Jovanovska
2019-02-21
Since I can remember, I’ve been surrounded by various languages. Some of them I learned to speak, others just to recognize in a crowded room of people. As a result of being exposed to languages at an early age, for some of the ones that I speak I don’t even remember learning them, such as...
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