This week I thought I would take the opportunity to let you know about a little bit about my traveling around the country. As part of our study abroad, we get to take trips as a group. This allows us to go to awesome places that maybe we wouldn’t have been able to on our own. I’ve also had the opportunity to visit different parts of the country through fields trips. My environment and development class has an experimental part that involves a lot of field visits. This is particularly cool because we get to see what we are discussing in class and talk to people affected by it.
one of the places we visited with my environment class
One of the first places we visited as a group was Goree Island. The island is a remnant of the transatlantic slave trade. A former slave post, it contains a slave house which was one of the last stops before the boat across the Atlantic for enslaved Africans. Needless to say, this was an emotional trip. It was also a trip that had a lot of conflicting emotions. I recommend that everyone visit the slave house on Goree Island; not a sort of tourist destination but as a site of remembrance.
We also visited an artists colony called Toubab Dialaw. We were able to do different activities like dancing, drumming or making batik fabrics. I participated in the batik making and had a lot of fun doing so. It was great to see the work the artists do and engage with them.
That’s just two of the locations that we have visited. I’ll post more as the semester goes on. I have really enjoyed visiting other parts of Senegal outside of Dakar. It’s wonderful to see how different people in different cities have different ways of speaking, living and even speak different languages. This study abroad experience has allowed me to learn things in a concrete way, not just by studying them in textbooks but by meeting and speaking to people who are living it.
until next time,
Laïssa