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
Mid Year Moment
Sophia Miller
2019-12-24
Today I had a mild moment of panic. The youngest of my mother‘s children, Mombousso is around ten. She is spunky, sassy and always seems to be working some angle, whether it be getting a new dress tailored or a free lollipop from the boutique next door. Mombousso is impossible to say no to. Due...
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Skin Bleaching – My Thoughts
Kali Regenvanu
2019-12-24
Skin Bleaching – My Thoughts I wanted to use this blog platform as a way to communicate what I have been observing here in Senegal. The good, the bad and the grey areas. It has been amazing being here, and even more valuable being immersed rather than living in a bubble, per say. In a...
Read MoreOn race, ethnicity and colorism
Christine Alhalabi
2019-12-16
*Vocab* Nar: Wolof word for Arab/North African/Middle Eastern Toubab: Wolof word for a foreigner of European descent _____________________________________________ At the beginning of my experience in Senegal, I would get mad why people didn’t recognize me as a nar. In the streets everyone would yell "toubab toubab" and treat me as if I was a special...
Read MoreFood, Food, and More Food
Eleanor Ross
2019-12-11
I’d like to discuss something very close to my heart today: food. Senegalese food, to be exact. I promise you that each dish will leave you begging for the recipe– and you’ll want them all. Especially the street food one’s because it is just so good here. And no matter how often Americans tell you...
Read MoreA Guide for the Sick– Read before you embark on your journey to Senegal
Eleanor Ross
2019-12-11
It’s been over a week since I’ve been sick in Senegal. And let me be the first to say, it sucks. It sucks a lot. I have bronchitis; I had my first fever since I was three; I have fever blisters so bad throughout my mouth that I cannot eat or drink; and I’m constantly...
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Who’s the best cook? My Senegalese host mom, my UWC school’s Norwegian cook, or me as a Palestinian? – Some recipes included!
Abdallah Salha
2019-12-11
Menu Starters to think about: Eating with your hand or a spoon is equally nice to eating with a fork and a knife! Eating foreign food for the first time is weird, but you get to the point of appreciating and missing it! Different cultures have their own creative ways of cooking and serving different foods!...
Read MoreMy spectrum / Mi espectro
Lola Ibanez
2019-12-05
(¡español más abajo!) My name is Fatou Bintou Ndiaye, that is how I have been called for the past 4 months. That is the person that embraces this experience with all its ups and downs. That is the person I consider myself to be in this country. A few months ago I was asked...
Read MoreAngela Russell’s Blog Post
Angela Russell
2019-12-01
I wasn’t gonna do these blog posts because I think they’re nonsense and, also kinda repetitive. I’m doing this because I was annoyed by the harassment I received for not doing one when everyone else did. I really don’t have anything to talk about. Duh coming to Senegal has been a dramatic change in my...
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Being Grateful
Baseer Khan
2019-11-28
I’m going to start of this blog with a little flash back to my life exactly a year ago from now. The peak of the IB term 3 – commonly known as the hardest of all, where students would sleep an average of 4 hours a night and be working the rest of their days...
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A Day in the Life- Senegal
Sinead Nardi-White
2019-11-27
6:30 AM- wake up to a combination of my alarm clock, the multiple roosters and donkeys in the neighborhood, and the snorting of our horse who is tied up right outside my room (see photo of me, said horse, and the arm of a smart person who knew not to let me hold the horse alone...
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Time & Space
Sam Metzger
2019-11-23
Time and space are peculiar and complex topics to ponder upon to begin with. In Senegal, time and space are different from anything else I’ve ever experienced. Time is nonexistent, yet longer and somehow, almost magically, always right. Space is smaller, but only because it is shared. Time almost doesn’t exist here in Senegal. Do...
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Little Moments
Katie Mastriano
2019-11-22
Little Moments After two and half months and a tough beginning, I feel at home with my family of seven in Tivaouane, Senegal. I embrace the name given to me, Ramatoulaye, which means God’s Mercy. I am an only child in the States so five siblings has taken some time to get used to. Well,...
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