2009-11-02
Yesterday was the day of days – the Senegal fellows’ move to their rural homestays. Saying my goodbyes to my host family was much sadder than I thought it would be, and I really hope I can visit them when my language skills have increased. The sadness was quickly replaced by excitement, though, when we...
Read More2009-11-02
Sitting here listening to Shania Twain serenading me from the television – in Dakar, in Senegal, on my last day of my first month – I cannot help but notice an odd juxtaposition. All at once it feels like I have been here the longest time, yet it also feels like I have only been...
Read More2009-10-30
I am struggling in French class. I didn’t think it would be as bad as it is but, now that I think about it, I’m the only fellow who doesn’t speak another language. The only training I had was a couple semesters of Spanish where we conjugated a few verbs and watched the Lion King...
Read More2009-10-27
Yesterday afternoon I had a very troublesome discussion with my host brother Amadou about photography. After being in Dakar for about two weeks without taking out my camera, I have only recently started to photograph, trying to do it discreetly while just sitting around, taking spontaneous shots of random things that made interesting compositions, hoping that eventually...
Read More2009-10-27
To follow up on last week’s blog post, I feel obliged to share a few basil-related updates. Firstly, it turns out that the basil is also an essential ingredient of the tea that my host mother brews daily to assuage her headaches. Its a mix of kenkeliba leaves, basil and mint (and a lot of...
Read More2009-10-26
s Were I to be handed a five hundred dollar disability pension check from my job as a paramedic, I might not immediately think to move to Guatemala and start planting macadamia trees. This is why I wasn’t the founder of the Valhalla Farm. The farm, tucked behind a small bridge and a jumble of...
Read More