Words of Wisdom in WolofWolof, one of six national languages which include Pulaar, Serer, Diola, and Mandinka, is by far the most widely used language in Senegal, spoken by about 80 per cent of the population. It is one of the Niger-Congo languages, like Chichewa, Xhosa and Zulu. Wolof spelling using the Latin alphabet was standardized only in 1974. read more.. Thirty Years World Heritage: Goree Island, 1978-2008Goree Island exploded in a three day celebration, and I caught the tail end of it. I left early on a Sunday morning, in time to take the 10 am ferry, and stood patiently on a looong line surrounded by a bunch of people unwilling to queue up properly. (Ferry tickets, by the way, are read more.. Quality of Life IssuesLater on this year in the global issues part of my class I will be discussing topics as diverse as the death penalty, abortion, and euthanasia, but that is not what I wanted to touch on here. Rather, I wanted to reflect for a moment on my life as it was read more.. Halloween, Senegalese StyleLet me begin by saying that it is rather odd to be in a place that is warm on October 31st. I remember hiking in the crisp clean air of Cold Spring back in New York this time of year, admiring the striking reds and yellows of the leaves and the carved pumpkins adorning most read more.. Sunday with the Monks Bright sunshine illuminated the grounds of Keur Moussa when we rolled in at 8:30 a.m. Not entirely sure when the mass would start, we had left Dakar at 7 a.m. sharp in order to get to this Benedictine monastery (founded about an hour outside of Senegal’s capital back in 1962) on time. On read more.. Was that a CAT I Saw?! “Now I see why this place is undiscovered,” Kerri remarked wryly. We had just spent 2.5 hours sitting in Dakar traffic trying to make our way to a resort area called Toubab Dialaw. Once we got to Rufisque, we had arranged to rendezvous at the big baobab tree so that we could be shown read more.. From Sunny Senegal to Gray BritainOver the summer, I took a trip to see friends in the UK, and my hostess did me the great honor of wanting to throw me a party in her lovingly planted and very spacious garden.
In typical British style, prep time was spent putting caviar decoratively on blintzes and raspberries on beds of whipped cream read more.. To Expat or Not?One of the biggest difficulties you are confronted with when living and working abroad is developing a social circle. As a schoolteacher, you have plenty of daily social interaction, but of course evenings and weekends are a different story altogether. High-minded and lofty idealist that I am, I had decided not to seek out the read more.. Ode to Esslingen
You may remember my friend Nicole, who very sensibly decided when she visited me from Germany that travel via public transport to the east of Senegal was not something she particularly wanted to do (http://www.traveling-stories-magazine.com/on-the-road-again/#more-638). Nicole lives not far from the airport in Stuttgart, in a quaint medieval town called Esslingen along the Neckar River. There read more.. Paradise Regained
It was an incredible high to be speeding to Leopold Sedar Senghor airport two days after graduation (I am delighted to report that we had a 100% pass rate, despite those students who were notorious partisans of least effort, see story http://www.traveling-stories-magazine.com/notes-from-a-conseil-de-classe/#more-610). On my way to catch a flight to Athens via Madrid, all I read more..
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