CIE: Study Abroad Blog

Destination: Diambo

Last week I went on a rural visit to a village in northern Senegal called Diambo.  I would like to emphasize rural; I lived in a mud hut, I ate a lot of couscous with a peanut/fish sauce for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I had a 3” hole in the ground as a toilet, feared scorpions, and I’m just naming a few of the constituents under the definition “rural”.

I took an 8 hour sept place with 4 other girls to get to our destination.  We slowly observed the difference in terrain as we ventured to the little village of Diambo: Dakar city buildings, baobab forests, swampy green land, and as we neared the Senegal-Mauritania border, desert and cow skeletons.  My friend Emily and I stayed with a girl from the Peace Corps, Jaime.   She had a little mud hut with a baby blue door and a daisy to accent its color.

 

We spent most of our time resting underneath the shade structures with Jaime’s family talking, napping, and eating.  I can’t say we weren’t warned that these were inevitable activities and I can’t say that I didn’t enjoy taking an hour nap every day.  The food was great, but in moderation.  My stomach wasn’t the happiest when I had baasi (peanut butter/fish sauce over couscous) for breakfast after having it for lunch and dinner the day before.  Though, the goats from the herders’ village certainly couldn’t get enough of it.  It seemed like every minute one of the women was running with a large spoon in hand towards the thieves.

Jaime’s village was along a branch of the Senegal River.  One morning we took a walk and had ourselves a little agriculture lesson.  The village had all the staple foods: rice, millet, potato, onion, mango trees, and banana trees.  The women are in charge of the potato fields on top of all the other things they're expected to do.  That is not to say the men don’t have a lot to take care of as well.  I saw my village dad (a very very small man, with 2 wives a good 5 inches taller than him) setting out to work in the rice fields one afternoon.  He was in an oversized blue booboo and black American mud boots up to his knees; I couldn’t help but to laugh.

 

Outside of the desirable naps, I did have a rather productive week.  I planted 100 trees which will soon accompany the village’s new maternity hospital.  I painted a mural of Africa and Senegal in a Diambo school classroom.  I got creative and wrapped presents using plain paper for a girls’ conference that Jaime organized, scheduled for after we left.  But probably one of my most favorite things I did last week was make American style spaghetti and pumpkin pie during our last two days which we spent at the regional Peace Corps House.  It was just the right amount of New York Autumn during my desert hot week in Diambo.

Alexandra Persson

20 Jahre Mauerfall in Berlin

So 9 November 2009 was the 20 Jahre Mauerfall celebration. We were able to be some of the lucky 30,000 people allowed in Pariser Platz (a square in the former east right next to the Brandenburg Gate. There was a prediction of about 500,000 people expected to show up in total and it certainly looked like it. We were standing in the square for about 8 hours but it was amazing. There are truly no words to describe the atmosphere at an event like this. We were able to see Daniel Barenboim conduct, the various dignitaries and political figures that had showed up for this occasion. To hear the various representatives speak was amazing.  the Russian President Medwedjew, the French President Sarkozy, the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the President of the European Union José Barroso, the former Soviet President Gorbachev and the former Polish President Lech Walesa and the Budeskanzler Angela Merkel were among a few of the speakers to talk before the start of the dominoes. Bon Jovi sang his new song, other groups sang and then the dominoes continued in a great symbolic fall. This was a momentous, once in a lifetime experience that I shall never forget. 

In the picture is the Brandenburg Gate and if you look closely through the people and between the gate's columns, you can see the line of dominoes.

Katie McFarland

Traveling the World

Although we are in Wales to student teach, we were urged by both our Nazareth advisors and the head of our primary school in Wales, to take advantage of our time here and travel.  Seeing as we are so close to so many different countries, it would be a waste not to see the world!  So far we have had the chance to see London, southern Wales, Barcelona and this weekend we are flying to Switzerland. 

Barcelona was a wonderful trip.  We were given the chance to see Gaudi’s architecture, eat churos and stick our feet in the Mediterranean Sea!  We also took an all day bus tour and were able to see the entire city, as well as, receive the history of each sight in English.  This was a big plus, considering the signs were all in Spanish.  Many people, however, did know English and we didn’t have a hard time getting around the city.  Thankfully, Jill was good at reading the map, so that made things easier. 

What I enjoyed most about Barcelona was the sun and palm trees.  Believe it or not, Barcelona reminded me a lot of California with its big mountains, seaside and sun.  Being in Barcelona was a nice change from Wales because there was so much sun.  When you hear about the stereotypes that describe the UK as rainy and cold in the fall, they’re not lying!  As soon as we left sunny Barcelona we landed in a rainy and cold Bristol airport.  Ever since then it’s been rainy, cold and dark.  Thankfully though, you can’t see out of the windows at St. Andrews so you don’t know if it’s raining, and each child in my class is my own little piece of sunshine!  Well, except for the one who stuck his tongue out at me after I told him to stop throwing things, or the child who screams every time I give a direction.  In the end, rain or not, I am still happy with my students and look forward to coming back to my classroom every Monday morning after my weekend of traveling the globe.    

 

First week of Teaching in Wales

The first week of teaching in Wales was very overwhelming for me. Getting used to a new school always takes time, but on top of that my teacher was out sick the rest of the week after my first day so I didn't' really get used to the daily schedule. Just like any school the students were a bit more difficult with a substitute teacher in the room, which they call a supply teacher. I did take the this time to talk to the students, get to know them, let them ask me questions, and learn as many names as I could.

There are a lot of little differences with the school here then ones back home.  First, the teachers here teach all the subjects including art, music, computer skills, and P.E.  I'm very excited about this. Since my teacher has been back this week, we've talked and I will be teaching P.E. the rest of my time here. I know I will not get the chance to teach this again so I am very excited and we are starting gymnastics, a sport I am very familiar with.  Also, there are differences in the names of things. They call math maths, erasers rubbers, band aids plaster, sweaters jumpers, sneakers trainers, jelly jam, jello jelly, and I'm sure many more I will hear of in the future. The students have been great about helping me learn their words and letting me know when I saw something I don't understand.

I've been creating wonderful bonds with the students so far. So many of them hug me every time they leave the room and they always leave saying see you tomorrow Miss!  We've been sharing a lot about each other and I think that has really helped the students and me become closer.  They have asked me all about our holidays and what traditions I do during these holidays. They told me the things they do the same and what they do that is different.  They've asked me about my favorite sports teams, where I live here in Wales and back home, the weather back home, and some of the places I've travelled too. I shared with the students that the New York Yankees were my team and today one of the kids came in and announced, "Miss the Yankees have won the World Series!"  Another student then showed me his shirt that had the Yankees symbol on it.  That meant so much to me because it showed that the students really listened to me and liked me enough to listen and want to share something with me. I can't wait to continue this experience.

Jill Egmond