2013-02-11
I have now spent over one hundred and fifty straight days in Senegal, a country that the World Bank defines as “developing.”* That’s quite a change from spending the last eighteen years of my life having only lived in or visited “developed countries.” Passing this hundred and fifty days mark, I have also passed the...
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2013-02-11
“The randomness of where we are born and how much that determines who we become” – Blue Sweater p. 33 Popularly quoted as “Life is a box of chocolates.” Just six words…but they resonate so much with women’s social status in Senegal. At training seminar 2, myself and three other fellows held a discussion on...
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2013-02-11
The kids call me money “xaliis,” “l’argent.” They pull literally my skirt but figuratively my head out of the clouds for America isn’t a hero here but more of an arrogant exhibitionist. I thought all “Toubabs” were viewed the same until I met an old French man. Being a good host to his model wife’s...
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2013-02-11
Hey guys, my new video for our A Day in the Life project is up. You can find it by clicking here Thanks for watching!
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2013-02-05
I changed host families a couple of weeks ago. Although my new family members–and new house–are only about ten yards away, I still had to go through the process of packing up and moving. And as I pulled apart every single thing in my room, I started feeling exactly like George Banks in Father of...
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2013-02-05
As a younger girl she watched telenovelas because that was what her mother and her older sister always watched. When she saw half-naked models in the newspapers, billboards, and on her father’s motorcycle she would stop to stare and idolize for that was what everyone did. When she was thirteen years old puberty had come. She was no longer considered a girl,...
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2013-02-04
There is a proverb in South Korea: “The smallest pepper is the hottest.” Despite its small size, South Korea is one of the “hottest” nations in the world. Home of multinational companies like Samsung, LG, and Hyundai, it is a leading producer of semi-conductors, flat screen TVs, cars, and ships which drive the 13th largest economy...
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