I have reached the point, now roughly two weeks in, where I can’t really say anything. My French has not improved enough for me to say exactly what I mean, or to hold a lively conversation. I feel extra pressure with my host family to get things right, which usually just means I screw up more than when I am just winging it at school or wherever.  I speak English a lot, actually, with my American friends from the program. I was afraid I’d be speaking too much English, and [...]

I finally got to sleep in today. It’s friday and I have no classes! This will be optimal when I travel (I’ve booked my train trip to Paris for the weekend after next!), but for now it’s nice to sleep.  Each day here is so full of new things, new words, new situations. Every day is its own adventure, and I wake up in the morning having no idea what could happen. Some parts of my life, like riding the tram and the bus, and eating dinner I’ve gotten used [...]

Today we went on a big group tour of the city. I finally felt like it was okay to have my giant camera out, since we were being touristy anyway. I haven’t felt like taking photos in the past few days, since I just got here and I want to absorb everything, mostly so I know where I’m going, because I got lost again today. So this post will have photos, and hopefully most of the subsequent ones will have photos as well. We had a very nice French guide. [...]

After the lack of a real internet connection for weeks, I finally have my own private network. It’s still a lot slower than my internet at home, but it works and that’s what counts. First bit of news. I am horribly sick. Somehow I caught a cold/flu/strep thing and I don’t want to move from my bed. Second bit of news. I got a tattoo. A really, really awesome tattoo. Now, I was planning on getting this tattoo at some point in my life, I just didn’t plan on getting [...]

As I’m sure everyone is aware by now, I’ve arrived in Montpellier, France. It’s been 3 weeks since I left home, 14 August 2012, and a lot has happened since then and even for only having been in France for 2 weeks, I already feel like a lot has changed. I have a lot to say, but I don’t know where to start. 14 August 2012 – I had been packed for weeks already. Excitement and fear were the most constant emotions in my life and I didn’t think much [...]

Motivation. Wednesday, September 05, 2012. ORD to CDG; CDG to RBA. (RBA? Rabat, Morocco). I am a student: a student of literature, history, and faith, expressed in words, painted in strokes, constructed in brick and tile. How do the intangible realities of the mind (faith, understanding, image, memory) translate into the words that we speak? The words that we write? How do they jump from one language to the next? What is lost, and what is found? Belief. Words groan to share a reality greater than any individual’s understanding, speaker included. [...]

On Thursday,I went to a wine store after doing some research with the intent to buy un-oaked chardonnay. The man there asked if I needed any help and I meant to tell him that i was looking for a Chardonnay “sans chêne” but I what I actually said was “sans chien” (without dog). I corrected myself quickly but it was too late. He asked me ‘well, which one is it? without oak or without dog?’ I told him I’d prefer a wine with neither. (This was all in French by [...]

I’ve started counting down until I have to leave for France. I’m really excited to be gone for 6 (rather 7) weeks, and a part of me feels like it’s not long enough to really get the language exposure I want. My main hope out of all of this is that I’m going to feel more confident speaking French, and understand native speaking patterns. I’m reaching that point where it’s a bit senseless to try and learn any more grammatical rules. I just need to jump in the water and [...]

I have decided to redefine the phrase “culture shock”. It’s the terror and excitement of contemplating who you are within a world that recognizes you as a foreigner. It’s getting the airport and not being able to rely on your typical methods of etiquette in order to get what you want. Subtleties suddenly become the only thing that makes you the other and you begin to understand that you don’t belong. This sounds rather gloomy, but I really do enjoy it. I arrived at Charles de Gaulle with a 12 [...]

- Get over my fear of speaking French to native speakers. I’m my own worst critic. – Get to know my host family well and go out of my way to get to know them. – Update this blog regularly. – Take pictures of myself with friends! That is the one thing I regret about the last time I went to France, I didn’t want to seem like a tourist so I didn’t take them as much. – Go for some bike rides around Montpellier, since it costs about 2 [...]

I just arrived in Senegal and things are going great. Thankfully, I am remembering enough of my French to navigate life here so far, and I’m sure it will only improve with practice. My host family is wonderful, and this morning I played “cache-cache” (hide and seek) and “un, deux, trois, soleil” (like red-light green-light) with some of the children. Here is a photo of men playing pétanque (similar to what you may know of as bocce ball) across the street from my host family’s home. They were at it [...]

“Qu’est-ce qui se passe dans notre pays?” someone wondered aloud as we watched the news on the television. This past week has been one of stress, disappointment, and unrest for the people of Senegal. Saturday the 21 of January we watched as Senegal’s equipe de foot lost its first game in the Coupe d’Afrique; even so, we held onto hope through the 93rd minute of Senegal’s second match, only to be disappointed by losing to a spectacular goal from the opposing team in overtime. Keeping to the rules of the [...]

As it turns out, I’m not that good at French. How do I know this? People tell me. Some Senegalese people, such as the professional basketball player who came over for lunch yesterday because he is a friend of my host brother, tell me I sound French and that I have a good accent. They are lying. Many other Senegalese people, like an artist I met yesterday and my host sister, tell me I don’t speak good French and people can tell I’m American because my accent is bad. This [...]

I want to write my posts in French from now on (see below), with English on the top. Everything is going well right now. Thursday night the other students and I went walking with a host brother named François. He took us to the university. I wanted to run, but it was getting late, so Seth ran with me along the main roads. Some students and I are going to try to run again this afternoon along the beach! When I got home, I met a young man who works [...]

Bonjour tout le monde! Day four of the MSID Senegal Spring 2012 program and all is well! We have all successfully moved in with our families and are beginning to settle into a rhythm. It is pleasantly warm here, very sunny, a little breezy, and thus a very nice and snowless winter. Today’s blog theme is transportation. To get to school every day, I walk with Vera, another student in the MSID program who lives very close to me, and sometimes my brother Babacar walks with us. Thank goodness Babacar [...]