The beginning

Tomorrow is the big day. I will be leaving to study abroad in Senegal for the semester!  All the preparation has finally come to fruition.  I fly from Boston to Paris, spend 10 hours in Paris (maybe enough time to catch a glimpse of the city?), then Paris to Dakar, arriving at 8 pm Sunday night.  Dakar, the capital city, is where I'll be for the majority of the time.  I will take classes at the University of Dakar, and I'll be living with a Senegalese family in the city.  There are two week-long excursions to rural villages throughout my stay, and the program culminates with a four week independent research project.

I am so excited to begin this adventure--definitely a bit nervous too.  From the research I've done about Dakar, and Senegal, I think I have this image in my mind of what it might be like, but at the same time I have no idea what to expect.  I'll just have to wait and see!  At this point, I'm most curious about Wolof: the native language of Senegal.  I'm taking at Wolof class, and I've heard it is a language TOTALLY different from English and other romance languages.  So far I know Assalamalekum! (Welcome!) So assalamalekum to my blog!

My friends know I'm not particularly tech-savvy, but I'm committed to this blog, as it is my primary way to keep ties with everyone in the states.  No promises about the frequency of posts...but I'll do the best I can.  Thanks for reading!