Fellow Stories
True gap year stories from Fellows abroad!
Check out the latest blogs from Global Citizen Year Fellows in Brazil, Ecuador, and India!
Category
Class Year
Country
Storytelling
Maximilian Chen
2013-10-18
The following was written at 2:32 AM on October 6th, 2013. This is what Senegal’s capital city of Dakar looks like at first glance, to a first-time observer. In a purely logistic sense, Dakar is the product of two rather arbitrary factors. Factor One is what seems to be the driest, most arid location on the entire coastline of the...
Read MoreMako
Emily Gray
2013-10-11
Sitting in the airplane and looking out the window waiting to land in Dakar, Senegal, was when it really hit me; I was actually going to Senegal, Africa! This was something that I have always talked and dreamed about. After talking about it all summer and getting ready for this new experience, I was already...
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Namenala te ya ngi dogue ñew
Samuel Normington
2013-10-10
I have no idea how long I’ve been here but it isn’t particularly important. It’s been anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours and yet it really doesn’t matter. Within minutes of my arrival in Gueoul, I had fallen in love. My father, Baay Cherno, greeted me with a warm smile and a firm handshake...
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Kër Gi (Home)
Julia Highsmith
2013-10-10
The plane had landed and I was finally in Senegal, after months of anticipation. We got off of the plane and I was so overwhelmed with emotions ranging from anxiety to excitement. In two days, I would be meeting my host family in Dakar and be living, actually living in Senegal. After an interesting customs...
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“Time is this”
Rachel Teevens
2013-10-10
Since the last time I blogged I’ve travelled on two planes, I’ve lived with two host families and my life has been completely flipped upside down. I’ve known I was going to be living in Africa for months now but I was definitely not fully prepare for everything I’ve seen and experienced. Here I am...
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Jamm Rekk :)
Shakhi Begum
2013-10-10
Oh my god! The mangoes here are so good and really sweet. Same goes for almost all the people I have met so far. Other than the plane so close to the ground that it seems the airport is right in the kitchen, it’s ‘jamm rekk’, meaning ‘peace only’ in Wolof It’s been over a month...
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Practicing Patience
Cameron Carrick
2013-10-10
The following story is one that I worked hard on and that I am proud of. In writing it many details surfaced that had no place here: little histories and personality quirks, dreams and complicated dialogues, a few bus rides and some fresh mango jam–just bits and pieces, really. I do carry a small remorse...
Read MoreMusings of a Toubab
Allie McKinney
2013-10-02
It’s been an interesting month so far in Senegal, and while I am excited to share some thoughts and feelings with y’all, I find myself struggling to articulate just how this experience has affected me. So instead of a traditional blog post, I thought I would share two poems I have written while in Dakar....
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A Quick Preview of Home
Kaitlyn Johnke
2013-10-02
When I hear “Mariama(my name), ar nyameng(come eat),” from my host mother, Djalamba, I am immediately tremendously grateful for the opportunity to actively engage with my family members and community, even if I’m not really very hungry. Last week I was in my host site of the rural city of Kedougou and I was told...
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A Glimpse of ICO
Cameron Carrick
2013-09-18
I wanted to give all of you followers who I haven’t had a chance to talk to in detail a small behind-the-curtain peek at In Country Orientaion. So, I will sit here and type out a rough daily schedule and sweat. Because it hasn’t rained in two days and Dakars musk has been accumulating warmly....
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With Love, From Dakar
Mouna Algahaithi
2013-09-18
A million and one questions circle through my head, As I sweat amidst the humid heat, lying on my stiff bed. With every answer and solution that is found, One more question or doubt is mindbound. How can I be so lost when I’m so sure I’ve found the right path? How can I be...
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If My Mind Was a Search Engine
Mouna Algahaithi
2013-09-13
If my mind was a search engine, the most looked up question would be: ” What am I doing?” When I went on my first canoe boat with my older sister, who was just as inexperienced as I was with a canoe, this question appeared. When I decided to take my friends beat-up car with crappy...
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