2009-10-21
Now that we’ve been in-country for three weeks, I find myself settling into more of a routine. This is a very good thing in some ways, but I’ve realized that it has its negatives as well. The upside is obviously that I am becoming more comfortable in Senegal. I honestly don’t think I experienced much...
Read More2009-10-21
…Ibou xaritu tapha new na. The translation of the above phrases would be: Mel and Tapha are sitting in the house; Ibou, Tapha’s friend, has arrived. This is a direct excerpt from one of the first dialogues in my Wolof textbook. During my daily three-hour Wolof classes, we generally dedicate a generous amount of time...
Read More2009-10-19
This evening while helping one of my host mothers cook dinner, I made a very unexpected discovery. Tonight’s meal was grilled chicken, which in Senegal means chicken that has been cooked in a very oily sauce, then deep friend in pure oil, and then grilled. To go with the chicken there were fried potatoes, chunks...
Read More2009-10-18
As I am writing this, it’s raining for the first time since I left Boston a month ago. Inside my house. The way the house is structured, the staircases leading from floor to floor are essentially outside. There is no roof above them, so it is raining INSIDE MY HOUSE! There are sheets of water...
Read More2009-10-18
Those Golden Arches. Oh dear. I miss those beautiful, Golden Arches. I couldn’t really sleep very well last night. Perhaps it’s because my mind was too preoccupied thinking about that image in my head. Oh how the gold pops with that red background. And here comes a little girl with beautiful fire-red pigtails and freckled...
Read More2009-10-18
Right now the rain continues to pound the tin over my room. Since last night the rain has been torrential, pouring over every crevice, dripping from each edge, and slowly seeping over every surface. To say the least, it was quite the opposite of my experience yesterday. Saturday began like every other day this week-...
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