Physical punishment still remains in Senegalese schools. In Japan, these kind of punishment by teachers are immediately in the news nowadays. Recently I started teaching math and have been to several classes in elementary schoos. I can und…

When I looked at the list of the first grade in an elementary school, the youngest was 5 years old and the oldest was 8 years old in the same room. When I asked the tallest boy in the second grade how old he was, he told me he was 11. In S…

Finger snap. I have one of my memories about finger snap when I was a child in the elementary school. I remember that when I practiced for about an hour to make a big sound with finger snap, the skin of the finger was peeled off. It was so…

I'm going to elementary schools this week. Children are just reviewing previous contents of subjects last year and haven't started learning new contents yet. I was wondering about the children's clothes. Just like in April in Japan（New se…

There was a strange scenery on the first day I went to an elementary school. They were probably children of first grade, and they were riding to school in a taxi. There were four children in the passenger seat of a normal taxi in which the…

For the first three months, July, August, and September, since I came to Senegale, elementary schools were on summer vacation. Now in October, elementary schools finally began. I'm working at the"Teacher Training Center", but I'm also a vo…

Japanese are "rare foreigners" in the rural town of Louga. This is oposite thing that there are few African in Japan. When I walk around in town, I can feel everyone's eyes on me. I can very easily. Whenever I pass by someone, eyes always …

When phone calls are gotten even in the middle of conversations, Senegalese will quickly answer the phone without saying a word and suddenly start a conversation saying "Allô!". Allô means "Hello".In Japan, people would say, "May I take th…

October has arrived. The rainy season is turning into the dry season. Will it really stop heavy raining? I feel a little sad. The weather forecast still shows 40 degrees Celsius, so I think it is time to start feeling the difference of the…

I generally take the day off on weekends. The market is almost closed on Sundays. Looking down on the market from the second floor of the building. The market is made up of stores and stores crowded together. It looks as if there are no pa…

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…

It rained this morning. The rain drenched my whole body. I was watching Senegalese people on a rainy day. Some didn't mind getting wet. Some didn' t like to get wet. It was the first time for me to see a person used an umbrella. I had neve…

I saw a lecture to students at "Teacher Training Center." It was held in a room that about 100 people can be seated. A professor was standing sometimes and sitting sometimes. He was speaking with a microphone. He spoke in a low tone and th…

Rain during the day time was the first time since I arrived at Senegal. It's already passed about 2 months. First, a strong wind brought dust and sand into the room. Then, it thundered and heavy rain started in a flash. The power outage ha…

Cut watermelon was sold on the street and I bought it immediately. It was tepid, though, so good! This is typical thing of the summer!. Since I moved to Louga, I've been on vacation for about a week so far. It is an unexpected break as I t…

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…