It’s the third week of ISP period and my project is slowly coming along. I have all of the archival research done and I have done two formal interviews as well as a small survey with about 10 people. I still need to survey my family, but I have been putting it off. Even though … More Slimy Sea Creatures and Other Adventures

This weekend was a whirlwind of activities! Friday was actually pretty chill; I stayed home for lunch and then Ashlee and I went to Soumbedioune again to shop a little bit. We took the car rapide to Mermoz and then walked all along the corniche west to the little fishing quarter, which took us a good … More FestiGRAFF 2012 and Musee IFAN

Now that we are into our ISP period, I am not doing anything to exciting and so have not had too much to write about lately. I am still working on finding a job and getting more frustrated every day! On Monday, Ashlee and I went to Soumbedioune, which is a little fishing quarter on … More Research Adventures

Well, I finally got sick. I know it was inevitable but I was quite glad I lasted this long. It wasn’t terrible timing, mostly because I wasn’t required to go to any classes, I just lost a few days of research. I got sick with a fever Tuesday night and it didn’t break until Thursday … More Ma Maladie

We are officially done with classes! Now I have to start organizing my ISP….yikes. Only 4 weeks left in Senegal, I can’t believe it! This weekend was pretty chill–I was still wiped out from Saint Louis, so I slept a lot. We watched Dogma on Saturday night and on Easter Sunday we (Farah, Julia, Ashlee, and I) … More Paques: Les Leutteurs

Today we did our “synthese” of the program (just a general overview of how we have adjusted to Senegal). We talked about our “cafards” or cockroaches–things that bothered us about the Senegalese culture. I thought it might be interesting to list what we came up with: 1. The dust2. Not eating with your left hand … More Les Cafards

We arrived on the island of Saint-Louis (Ndar in Wolof) on Friday evening. Saint-Louis was the first capital of Senegal (and Mauritania) and was also the first capital of Occidental Africa. Because the city has been so influenced by colonialism, most of the architecture is in a French or Portuguese colonial style. Thus, the city is … More Ndar: Where Teranga was Born

Okay this is going to be another long post! Here is the account of my wonderful adventures BEFORE arriving in Saint-Louis. First of all, we left the day after the election (second round)…by about 6:00 pm we knew that Macky SALL had won and WADE had stepped down. They never actually finished counting the ballots … More Mass, Rugs, and Salt