The town where I live has infrastructure of water and electricity, although it is unstable. One day, I had the opportunity to visit a village that has no electricity, no tap water. They use water from a well. It was the first time since I …

When living in Senegal, there are some time when the standard difference of life style happen. One is about cutting into line. When I am waiting in front of a store to buy something, I am obviously waiting for first, and then someone cut i…

I was having a conversation with a Senegalese colleague. In the conversation, there was a point when I said, “Little by little.” in French. At that time, I said, “Graduellement", which means little by little in French. But I guess my pronu…

In the town I live, the garbage I throw away in bags is always torn up and hunted for something. Taribe children always check the garbage and look for if there is anything they want. yuta7watanabe.hatenablog.com Right after I throw them aw…

I noticed that my hair grew too long and looked like a helmet. Helmet hair is too hot to spend time in the daytime, so I cut it myself with scissors as I feel. There are no barbers in my area that cut with scissors, so I basically take car…

An acquaintance told me about the dairy life of the children called “Taribe.” yuta7watanabe.hatenablog.com Taribe children ask for money from pedestrians on the street. Even if they are strangers, they do not hesitate to ask for money. Eve…

A friend's wife showed me how to cook one of Senegalese cuisines. The kitchen of friend's house is about two tatami mats in size. This time the cuisine was a Senegalese classic menu called “Yassa Guinah”. Yassa means “Onion sauce” and Guin…

When I was in a taxi, a woman in the seat in front of me fell asleep and her head snapped back toward me in the back. plop The woman's hair fell out. I thought for a moment that her head had been removed. It was a wig. I took the wig in my…

Relying on others. This is a phenomenon that occurs when buses are crowded. In Senegal, passengers have to buy tickets on the bus. There is a ticket seller inside. You pay the ticket seller, but if the bus is crowded, I cannot move to the …

Two Senegalese men I had already known were having a conversation. One of them said to me, “This man is my oldest brother.” I looked at their faces side by side and I thought they looked alike. “Really?” I reacted. He said, “No, we're not …

There are no member changes in elementary schools in Senegal. For example, a school has two third-grade classes. Class A has 50 students. Class B has 56 students. Why is it possible of the difference of the numbers? This is because there i…

It has been raining every day recently, so it is difficult to know when to hang the laundry out to dry. I can't predict how the weather changes. The sunny could turn into the heavy rain shower suddenly. My way of thinking changed since las…

A big annual celebration of Muslims across Senegal is "Tabaski", which is the "Sacrificial Festival" of offering sheep to the god. Anyway, everyone eats the sheep meat during the festival. Last year's Tabaski is below. yuta7watanabe.hatena…

Wolof is a language that everyone can speak in Senegal. This Wolof language had never been taught in schools. Instead of that, the language had been passed down orally. However, since October last year, textbooks in Wolof have been produce…

The road from a region to another region is not maintained. They are very bumpy. Even though cars are passing through on the roads, but they are not maintained at all. The roads are made of concrete and there are big potholes here and ther…

Last Sunday, the president election is over and today is on Monday. Various information about the election has been rumored, but there is still no solid evidence to be elected the next president. Last week, a teacher said, "Monday will be …

I'd like to talk about water facilities in schools. There is only one faucet in this school. There is really only one place. Even if it considers that one class has 60 students, 60 times 12 classes equals 720 students. They are using one t…

"Ngente" is the baby naming ceremony in Senegal. Only the men attended the ceremony, which was held from morning until evening. Women were cooking during the ceremony. In Senegal, household chores are clearly divided by gender. I understoo…

It is a sequel of the previous article. (104 See you tomorrow) The day after a fourth grade girl in a class asked me how to say "See you tomorrow" in Japanese. At that time, I tried a trick on the girl who was interested in Japanese. I wro…

During a long-distance trip between rural towns, a taxi I was riding stopped in the middle way because the car got a flat tire. Flat tires are so rare cases in Japan, but in Senegal, it will occasionally happen several car troubles, includ…

I walk only on sandy paths every day. This walking activity helps to strengthen muscles I never use in Japan. In December, the first semester ends in Senegal. The semester test was held at school. This exam takes two days. There is only on…

Senegalese school have subjects including French, math, science, social studies, arts and crafts, music, physical education and Arabic. French and math lessons are given every day. In some schools, the main language is Arabic. Other subjec…

Living abroad, I have to remember lots of names of people and events that are written with alphabet. Japanese don't use alphabet very much, so it's hard for me.. The date of the 20th of November is named "Gammo," which means the birth anni…

Students in elementary schools start learning French, which is the official language in Senegal. I'm in charge of math, but sometimes I see French classes and I practice pronunciation with children. As far as I can see, the teachers don't …

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…

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…

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, there was a day when lightning flashed continuously. But I didn't hear any sound at all, so I couldn't find where the lightning had struck. The next day, the entire road was flooded. The water was overflowing due to heavy rain an…

It was a national holiday in Senegal yesterday. It was a Christian holiday called "The Assumption of Mary." A Christian friend of mine invited me to a celebration party, so I joined it. It turned out that in the party, people drank, ate po…