Living abroad in Senegal isn't always glamorous Instagram pictures and one long extravagant vacation. Most days are the same but share similarities and differences to how my life was in the States. I wake up at 6am and put on my uniform for school. For breakfast I eat a crepe with Chocolion which is similar to Nutella. Then I walk to my bus stop and greet the store keeper who owns the boutique near my house. In Senegalese culture the Wolof word "teranga", or in English hospitality, is very important. Commonly people will say "Ca va?" "Ca va bien" to greet each other which roughly translates to "How's it going?" "It's going well."
My bus comes early around 7am making me one of the first people at school. A difference I had to get used to is people shaking hands with everyone as a greeting, even if they don't know that person well. I try my best to remember to shake hands with all my friends. At SABS (Senegalese American Bilingual School) there's a lot of diversity of students and nationalities relative to other schools in Dakar. Most of my friends are either Senegalese or American but I'm also friends with a girl from Italy, a girl from Benin, and two others both from China.
Before class starts at 8am we have a school assembly to prep us for the day. After the assembly we have our first class, then a short break, two more classes, lunch for an hour, and then our final class. School ends at 4pm but on Wednesdays it ends at 3pm. SABS provides lunch which is usually rice with some sort of meat, a roll, and a piece of fruit or salad. On Thursdays we get to do a club for one class period. The clubs haven't started yet but I'm going to join the art cub. Another difference between my school in Senegal and my school in the U.S. is that the teachers switch classrooms instead of the students.
After school I either get a ride with one of my friends or take a taxi home. I used to ride the bus but it takes an hour and it can get really hot on the bus so I stopped. On Mondays and Wednesdays I have softball practice and I start Wolof classes soon which are also on Wednesdays. The other days I just hang out with friends and do my homework after school.
I eat dinner around 8pm which is either chicken, fish, or lamb with onion sauce, a baguette, salad, and french fries. We eat other things for dinner too but this is the typical meal. I introduced Old Bay to my family and they love it so we put it on our fries every time. I think I've eaten more Old Bay here than I have in Maryland. After dinner I get ready for bed and take a cold refreshing shower. I've also been trying to keep a journal everyday so that I can look back and reflect after the program.
On the weekends I wake up early with my host dad for a morning swim at the beach. Sometimes my siblings come too which is really fun cuz we try to do underwater yoga that never actually works out well. I've included some photos from the beach in my Instagram post. Other activities I do on the weekends include hanging out with friends, going jogging or playing basketball, and going over my lessons. I'm still having trouble understanding some of my classes since I'm not 100% fluent in French but I feel myself improving a little bit everyday. En fin, this concludes my average day in Senegal. Hope you all enjoyed it! :)
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