By the students of West Africa

Greetings to everyone following along on our journey,

In these final days of the course, we shift our outlook from new experiences and learning to an integration of what we have learned as we all transition back home. While we start that process here, it can take days, weeks, months, and sometimes even years to understand how it was. And yet, the most common question for us when we return home is “how was the trip?” It can feel overwhelming to try to answer that big question in a few words, so we started practicing that here today. The students each took their first attempt to answer the question “How was the trip?” in one word, one sentence, and one paragraph, and some of these answers are included below to give everyone following along a taste of our first reflections on the past three months…

By Khi’Aura

Feb 14th ( Happy birthday mama)

Yesterday was pretty fun and today is a new day filled with adventures . We swam in the ocean yesterday and let me tell you it was very salty .Small recap of yesterday we learned some new Wolof/ French words. Then we ate dried fruit from the tree, i forgot what the tree is called. We walked to our first market to get sugar , tea and meant for ( atiea) i don’t think i typed that right but its a type tea that Samba Sow drinks and he loves it , I didn’t try it tho because i would rather not drink after people. I might drink some next time ( i will drink some next time ) . Then we talked about how next week is gonna be like kinda and then we ate and I took a nap outside and it was wonderful. A few of the other slept outside my bug hut ( sussie, Sam, Sahara,Liv,ibby and harry) it was nice until i had to go pee and was scared to go because its a new environment. So yea it was a pretty good day … Also we had this spiritual thing the instructors did for us it was sweet and beautiful.

February 19th

The last 2 days have been new I slept really good at my homestay… besides the bump under my eye from a mosquito. My homestay siblings and mother are so nice I have 3 dogs, 1 parrot, 3 sheep’s (one just had a baby), a lot of baby chicks and a lot of roosters…

By the Instructors

We have just dropped off the students at the airport for their respective destinations. As we all gave our last hugs and goodbyes it was clear that we all have left this program changed, for the better. We as instructors are deeply grateful to this group for their determination to create genuine and strong friendships with each other and in the communities we became a part of during our homestays. We had a fancy dinner last night and many students donned their “complets” and “bubus” many of which were given to them from different families they stayed with....

Written by Hunter & Maddie

Hello friends! Hunter and Maddie here for the weekly blog We started the week off in Turrialba finishing up our Spanish classes.

By the Senegal Group

Greetings from our gorgeous, beach-side transference location in Toubab Dialaw!

In these final days of the program, we are slowing things down to reflect and soak our last days together as a group and in Senegal. This morning, we sat together to brainstorm a list of the many things that we have learned during our semester. It’s surely an incomplete list, but a start at describing the many aspects of how we were able to learn and grow from this time.

With care,

The Senegal Spring Semester

Photo updates from the West Africa Group

By Khi’Aura

April 25

We arrived at Lampoul desert.

We had to take this big Jeep in order to make it into the dessert and it was quit the bumpy ride. When we arrived to the camp site it was so beautiful (for some reason I thought the camp site was the dunes, I still think it might be apart of it since its in the desert, idk I’ve never been to a desert so I had/ have no clue). And oh my gosh, our little tents were so adorable. We all got our own bathrooms to our tents, they (the bathrooms) had no roof and were outside…

Written By Jane and Elliot in Central America, Guatemala

Hello and welcome back to your favorite blog. This weeks installment features the thrilling adventures of the most lovable student group living out their self proclaimed travel dreams. That’s right, we planned everything from volcano climbing to relaxing on the Caribbean. Using boats, cars, airplanes, and our own feet, we have truly traveled far and wide this week.

While our student directed travel started in Antigua, the first real challenge was climbing to the peak of Acatenango.

By Khi’Aura

Senegalese dish I ate here was Cheboujend and it was at Eden, the hotel, and that was and still is my favorite dish. Especially at Eden and how they make it. If I could re-live the first time I had Cheboujend, I would, it was just so magical (I’m smiling while thinking about it). The flavors on my taste buds brought an instant smile to my face. It has the just right amount of veggies, fish and rice. And for some reason it tastes even better eating it with others in the big bowl.

By Khi'Aura

Ummm so I don’t know where to start! I don’t know if I should start with how I have about 20 fabrics or what!!

Well let me give you the back story behind my fabric addiction. So I brought 1 fabric with me and this fabric is the fabric that I really like, my aunt wears this fabric in the summer and I love it because it can be used for so many things. So the 2nd day in Senegal we got wax print fabric from our instructor team. In my head I was thinking “ oh yess this is a good gift”. So in Diakhanor I planned out what I’m getting people and made a list, it was all organized. Until…