March 11, 2005
MHC Students Visit
Senegal
By
Ember Oparowski ’07
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Renowned
Senegalese writer Aminata Sow Fall (third from right, back
row) and Samba Gadjigo (second from right, back row) with
MHC students in Senegal |
Every
January, Mount Holyoke students venture to Senegal for a special
two-week, total-immersion J-Term course. Accompanied by Senegalese
native Samba Gadjigo, professor of French, these students gain
valuable insight into another culture.
The
students participating in the trip this year were Margo Anderson ’08,
Cyrena Drusine-Stokes ’05, Alina Florescu ’06, Carmen
Guhn-Knight ’08, Grace Kim ’07, Angela Lasalle ’05,
Summer Martin ’07, Molly McCue ’08, Luisa Mirarchi ’07,
Katie Poirier ’08, and Stephanie Robins ’08.
For
the duration of the trip, each student stayed with a host family.
This experience enabled them to practice their language skills,
as well as to gain a greater understanding of Senegalese culture
and hospitality. “How would one even begin to describe Teranga?” said
Florescu, a Romanian native. “The tradition and most fundamental
social norm of sharing with friends—and even strangers—in
a third-world country, is regarded as religious duty. Teranga iisn’t
just preached, but enacted everywhere in Senegal.”
The
students lived for two weeks as typical Senegalese. “In
going to Senegal, from talking with our families, bargaining
for various goods, buying necessities such as water and food,
and even talking with Senegalese friends, one has no other option
but to speak in French,” Martin said. The most drastic
cultural differences were eating with their right hands without
utensils and learning to bargain with vendors.
"I can only say that I hope to return soon. My experience in Senegal was
life changing,” Lasalle said. “It was my ability to see a culture
I had studied from afar and possibly misrepresented in my own mind.”
"What struck me the most was the speed with which all students adjusted
to their new environment, negotiating at their own pace and their own style the
cultural intricacies of Senegal,” Gadjigo said. “Judging from the
transformations in each student during the two weeks we were in Dakar, I have
no doubt that these few days had a lasting effect both on the way they see themselves
and on their perspective of the world around them. Friendships developed, and
they bonded in a way that will last a lifetime. We all became family, despite
of, or because of, our differences.”
For
more information and photographs, go to
www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/fren/jterm05/readpapers.html.
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