Emily Hesssenegal 2011
Alum Post: The Year of the Coaster
August 5, 2011
Towards to end of my bridge year, every expert, friend, Peace Corps volunteer, and staff member warned the fellows that life after this, to say the least, would be a “roller-coaster”. By that, they meant that there would be a fair share of ups, downs, loops, side spins, twirls, jerks, and bumps. The description of a roller-coaster and the description of my bridge year, coupled with my re-entry, seemed to match up almost identically. It’s safe to say by now that they were right. Unfortunately for me, I had never been a very big fan of roller-coasters.
On Sunday I…
A Responsible Night In Peace
April 25, 2011
Looking back on some of the first nights in my homestay, I remember seeing the two-year old of the family sleeping on a mattress in the living room without a mosquito net. There was a mosquito net, but it was tied up above the bed of my parents in the other room.… For the most part, it looked unused. Across the house a little ways, another mosquito net-less room caught my eye — the room where the children sleep. I didn’t understand why this was the case and I wished at the time that there was some kind of reminder
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Well, Water
April 5, 2011
Water and power outages are a really big problem in Senegal. I’d go so far to say that it could very well be the biggest problem in Senegal, but I never put anything number one on any list because I’m usually proven wrong. So let’s just say that as far as I can tell right now, water and power outages could potentially be the biggest problem in Senegal. That being said, it’s easy and sometimes astonishing how people adapt to those problems. Before I left for our January monthly meeting, the water had been out for about two days. Two…
Read the rest »Admitting
April 4, 2011
As I carefully write out the date on the top of the blackboard on a cool afternoon, kids are filing in, shaking my hand and greeting me with “good afternoon” and “how are you, today?” and the like. And as the usual bustle of murmurs and laughter dies down, I step back. I look at the date and see that it’s Wednesday, March 23rd. I close my eyes.
I’m suddenly standing in front of the lunch table at the hostel in Dakar, day two. This is the day that the Senegal fellows are going to tell me what is written…
A Glimpse of My Four Days a Week
February 3, 2011
I’ve never heard a statement more true than, “life is always a surprise,” especially since I’ve been in my new homestay in a small village called Noflaye, just south of Dakar. Adjustment was hard at first, and it took a lot of time, but I can proudly say that I call Noflaye home today- without thinking about it first. So, in a summary, my home life is either completely boring or so busy I don’t have time to process it. And 9 times out of 10, something insane and unexpected just pops up, and then the entire schedule I thought…
Read the rest »Family For Life
January 15, 2011
I guess one of the most unusual parts of this entire trip is the idea of being part of a family unit again. It’s been about 7 months since I’ve moved out of my parent’s house in Indianapolis. Since then, I’ve been pretty much independent as far as functioning without a family is concerned. I live with two other people, about my age, so it helps me to form some kind of routine with them; it serves as a pseudo-family kind of thing. But for me, coming here was tough for a lot of reasons, and one of them was…
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November 11, 2010
As I fumbled along the strings of the guitar, I only remember praying.
I prayed that I would have the strength to sing in front of these people, I prayed that I would remember which chords came before which, I prayed, especially, that I would convey the message to my peers just how much this song meant to me. At one point in time, when I was a little younger, I played the guitar regularly, I drew and painted, and I sung every time I had the chance. But my fear kicked in and threw all of those things in…