omgi'mgoingtosenegal
just got back from madison today for the orientation. i'm way excited and less nervous/paranoid about stuff. we, as the americans on campus, are pretty spoiled.
well, let me start with who was there. jim, the madison program contact guy, who helps us with our fieldwork papers; baydallaye kane, the st. louis program contact who is the dean of the college and really nice with whom we will have much personal contact with and get to know pretty well; andrea, the program director; and nichole, a former program participant. and there are seven of us going, one guy only. haha. poor padraic. everyone seems really nice, and i got to know sara pretty well because we were roomates and the "outsiders" shall we say of wisconsin (she's from bowdoin college in maine).
i think nichole was a really great resource, having just gotten back a couple months ago. she really loved the program and assured us that everything would be ok.
yea, like i said, we're the spoiled american kids, and we have access to good health care. for instance, if we're really sick, we could skip out on the regular student health services and just talk to the faculty doctor. baydallaye even has a chaffeur that if you're really sick can pick you up and take you there and whatnot.
as for academics, i'm totally getting a minor in african studies from wisconsin, so that's pretty sweet. we're doing field research, so i'm going to see if i can make that count for my ULWR in french.
but now for the fun stuff. i heart wolof. there are important things to know:
toubab: white person/american (you could probably be a light skinned black person and they would still call you white)
amnaa juroomi jekker: i already have five husbands (to be used when men ask you to marry them, which they will in abundance)
sorhna: i'm full
and my favorite (which is really an arabic word/phrase): alxamdulilay! it means thanks be to god. not that i believe in god, but i love saying that. (the X is like the hebrew throat sound)
ba beneen yoon waay! (until we meet again, friends...)
well, let me start with who was there. jim, the madison program contact guy, who helps us with our fieldwork papers; baydallaye kane, the st. louis program contact who is the dean of the college and really nice with whom we will have much personal contact with and get to know pretty well; andrea, the program director; and nichole, a former program participant. and there are seven of us going, one guy only. haha. poor padraic. everyone seems really nice, and i got to know sara pretty well because we were roomates and the "outsiders" shall we say of wisconsin (she's from bowdoin college in maine).
i think nichole was a really great resource, having just gotten back a couple months ago. she really loved the program and assured us that everything would be ok.
yea, like i said, we're the spoiled american kids, and we have access to good health care. for instance, if we're really sick, we could skip out on the regular student health services and just talk to the faculty doctor. baydallaye even has a chaffeur that if you're really sick can pick you up and take you there and whatnot.
as for academics, i'm totally getting a minor in african studies from wisconsin, so that's pretty sweet. we're doing field research, so i'm going to see if i can make that count for my ULWR in french.
but now for the fun stuff. i heart wolof. there are important things to know:
toubab: white person/american (you could probably be a light skinned black person and they would still call you white)
amnaa juroomi jekker: i already have five husbands (to be used when men ask you to marry them, which they will in abundance)
sorhna: i'm full
and my favorite (which is really an arabic word/phrase): alxamdulilay! it means thanks be to god. not that i believe in god, but i love saying that. (the X is like the hebrew throat sound)
ba beneen yoon waay! (until we meet again, friends...)