Senegalese common things, "Everybody is never on time" Not about some people, everybody in Senegal are. For example, at the language school, classes were scheduled from "what time to what time". However, they never started on time and neve…

The final exam for students at the"Teacher Training Center" was would have been in September. However, due to the strike, the exams will be in October. According to an original plan, new teachers(current students) would start working in el…

I heard that a friend of mine who is an elementaly school teacher gave a class about "JOCV= Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers" at his classroom. And I heard that that material is now included in textbooks as a content . I first recogni…

I am in a town in the region of Louga, Senegal. The day expected high temperature of 42 degrees Celsius is coming soon. I live alone in a rented room. None of JICA(Japan International Cooperation Agency) staff members live in the town. Alt…

Today is a national holiday named "Tamahari" in Senegal. I heard that the day is the beginning of a new year in the Islamic calendar. The new year begins in September. In Japan, the dates of national holidays are already set at the beginni…

I tend to cook dinner by myself. Recently, I’ve been making fried vegetables every day. In addition, I eat rice or pasta half and half. I opened a package of pasta I just bought. This is a moment thing, just five seconds between opening it…

There is a drum in front of my house, which is placed for throwing away garbage. It is rare to find such a trash can, but It happen to be one in front of my house. There are only a few places in the town where drums are placed. This drum w…

At the "Teacher Training Center", there was a pre-test for the final exam that the students take to become teachers. School bus was more crowded than usual, and there were more people than usual in the classroom. Students should attend lec…

I'm sweating a lot every day. It has been raining recently and there ia a large number of mosquitoes because of puddles. They bite me even on my pants, so I can't avoid them. This is a road I often pass by. And this is the same road. The p…

I tend to eat this bread everyday, for breakfast or lunch, sometimes even for dinner. I don't know how many days I have been eating this bread. I had never eaten bread like now in Japan. "Ndekki" in the local Wolof language means "To eat b…

Recently I commute to the "Teacher Training Center" every day. I was told about a school bus for the students, so I sometimes get on the bus. This bus service will continue till the end of September. If so, I will have to walk for about an…

After moving in, I had no furniture in my room, so I looked for a desk and a chair. Actually there were no big furniture stores around here and what I could only found was a desk and a chair that looked like furniture putting in a cafe. Es…

It has been raining recently. There is a premonition just before it rains in this area. First strong winds blow like a tornado for sure berore raining. The room I live in is on the third floor, and when I open the window, the sand comes in…

I happened to see a man who said, "I can teach you Wolof!" on the street, so I went to the house where he taught me. Later, I went to his house where he taught me. The person had gone to a countryside far away, and I could not see him then…

Today is the last day of August. September starts tomorrow. Senegalese children are still in vacation mode as school starts in October. This week, I went to the "Teacher Training Center" to greet my new colleagues. When reading novels in J…