Category: Senegal 2023-24
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Smiling to Travel
By Namiyah Andrews Traveling is something I always wanted to do. Going new places, exploring unique cultures and experiences the scenery we see on Pintesrt. So when I realized I had the opportunity to do this at CCS, I was scared, surprisingly. I told myself I was too young and tricked myself into thinking I…
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Civilization
By Anson Huang Goree is an island with perfect phenomenon. The sky is as blue as ocean. The air is that kind of fresh that makes you feel good. When you climb on the top of the mountain, you can see the coast view and feel the wind from the ocean blow on your face.…
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No Words
By Elisabeth Gobush At the beginning we were warned that many of the places we were going to stay would not have running water or AC, which included Kecouta’s village. At first the idea of spending several days in the village did not seem all that appealing to me. I knew I would want to…
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Touba & Sheikh Amadou Bamba
Today was our second to last day in Senegal and we spent it well. In the morning, many of us watched the sunrise from the main terrace of our Airbnb. Looking west over the Atlantic with the sun at your back, sunrises feel a bit disorienting. The color of the sky changes subtly. The shades…
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Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover
By Lucia Castillo When I decided I was going on the Senegal trip, I heard a lot of stereotypes and different opinions about this African country. Both good things talking about how unique the country is for its culture, food and people, to not so good things like it is very dangerous, you should be…
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The Role of Gratitude & The Indescribable
Two Posts by Lucia Rodriguez For my day as leader, I chose to focus on gratitude. I thought it would be appropriate and simple to reflect on everything I could be grateful for during this trip. To my surprise, as I started reflecting, I realized elaborating a list of this sort would be an impossible…
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An Ideal Mix
By Anson Huang I don’t think you can imagine how comfortable it was to drink that drink – the juice which is a mix of bissap juice and orange juice. It’s awesome. But the local people seldom drink in this way. They like the simple bissap or orange. Maybe it’s time for a mix. Yesterday…
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A Matter of Perspective
By Luis de Grandes On this trip, you can experience and observe many perspectives. That is, you expect something from a place and then you discover it yourself by living the experience. We have seen many facets of Senegal and in the end we have had perspectives on all of them before, during, and after…
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The Power of Being Together
By Khoudia Diagne Coming back to CCS this year, I took some decisions to do what’s best for me and not what I want – to reclass as a junior. I was not sure how this year was gonna go but it has been a great time to learn. This trip in Senegal has made…
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Beating the Heat
By Ian Jablonsky It was very hot in Niognani, Kecouta’s village. It felt like the hottest I have ever been. It was an uncomfortable heat. When we were running around playing with the kids I immediately started sweating and immediately ran out of breath and needed water right away. At night, it felt great sleeping…
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Leave the Door Open
By Jarlyne Felix Morel We often complain about minor inconveniences without realizing how they can shut us off the door for a new experiences. For example, here in Senegal, when Mr. Alter warned us that we cannot use our phones because if he sees us using the Vortex, he was going to take it, and…
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Trusting the Good
By Cece Jablonsky Being totally honest, before coming to Senegal I was almost terrified. One of the first things my mom said to me after I asked her if I could go on this trip was “NO! You will be kidnapped!”. After these words were said to me this began to make me believe that…
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One Family
By Chloe Shurr Some people limit themselves to new experiences due to the challenges that language barriers involve. From the past 6 days we have spent here in Senegal, experiencing the hospitality that this beautiful country offers in 3 different places, I believe that our group and I can say that language has not been…
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Learning by Experience
By Ilaria Miclet After spending these first 4 days in Senegal I can say that the part that struck me the most and that I will be able to remember for the rest of my life is the sense of community that I was able to observe. Before arriving here I imagined this word in…
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Hands
By Rebecca Cook Hello, Hola, and Bonjour are the three most common words I have used during my time in a place where the connection formed from words is limited for me. I like to talk back at CCS and to make friends by teasing them and making jokes but here I do not have…