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…

When I see someone in Senegal who looks like they are from Asia, I think, “Where is that person from?” In the town of the countryside in Senegal, I hardly see Asian people, so when I am walking on the street, I really stand out. If I happe…

Now, in February(in 2020), the daytime temperature is more than 40 degrees Celsius, so I've changed the way of bathing with cold water from hot water in a pot. The town is as laid-back as usual. Sometimes teachers suddenly start the strike…

In elementary school, it is standard for students to use a small personal blackboard named “Ardoise,” which is used like a notebook in lessons. When using it, a chalk is also used. yuta7watanabe.hatenablog.com Chalk used in elementary scho…

Now I am teaching math with a tool named "Abaque" in elementary schools. yuta7watanabe.hatenablog.com In most of the classes I have seen so far in Senegal, teachers didn't use teaching materials. In math lessons, teachers write sentences o…

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…

There is one of Senegalese behaviors that I sometimes see. Senegalese sometimes say, "Con, Con.” before the person walk into the room.This shows that the way of expressing the knocking sound “Con, Con” is the same as in Japan. Recently, I …

It was Christmas and a holiday, but I did not feel any atmosphere of Christmas in the town where I live because people are mainly Muslim. There did not put any Christmas decorations in the town. I went to my neighbor's (friend's) house to …

In Senegal I live alone in a rented family rooms. The way of payment is “handing over”. At the beginning of every month, the landlord comes to my room to collect the money. Each time, I give him 100,000 FCFA (20,000 yen) for a month rent. …

I was asked by a teacher of a class next to the class I helped, “I would like to decorate my classroom as well,” so I was thingking with her together about what to make. The teacher suggested “Making butterflies,” so we decided on that and…

There was a teachers' strike at an elementary school. When I was walking to the elementary school, I noticed a thing. (What? Children are playing soccer. It's a school day, though..) I asked the kids about that. Children answered, “There i…

It is always in math class, the typical way to teach in Senegal is to have the students solve a few of “Mental math” questions first. I think it is a good idea to make mental math a habit. However, there are cases in which the students are…

I was asked by a teacher, “I want to decorate my classroom,” so I took the job. The walls of most classrooms are either 1 or 2. 1 Various things from the past are on the walls. 2. There are nothing on the walls. This time, the second grade…

Numbers. Children in Senegal have very few times to see numbers in their daily lives compared to children in Japan. For example, when shopping in Japan, children can always find price tags on products in supermarkets. Chidren would calcula…

There is a group of boys in Senegal known as "Taribe." I always meet these boys in front of my house in the morning. When I meet the boys for the first time, "I want some money." and approach people. What is a Taribe? Children who go to sc…

Five children were standing at the front of the classroom. While the other children were already seated. These fifth-graders looked very gloomy. I asked to a teacher, "What are the children doing?" The teacher told me, "They are the childr…

It was the second ttime to give a lesson with students in a Japanese elementary school. This time, the lesson was with second grade students from Saitama area where one of my friends is a teacher of the classroom. Considering the 9-hour ti…

The number of universities in Senegal is few compared to Japan, only a few public universities in the country. Most private universities are located in the capital, Dakar, and there are few in rural areas. It is considered that one of the …

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…

We Japanese volunteers basically live in the countryside. When I go to the capital from Louga where I live to Dakar, I have only had an option of enduring long hours in small taxis. After a year of living in my town, a Senegalese in the ne…

A teacher in 2nd grade told me, "After you teach children to draw circles, we will teach to cut circles." I have taught children to draw circles before. yuta7watanabe.hatenablog.com I asked the teacher if children have any tools. "Do they …

The day of 9th of June in 2019 was a substitution holiday for Pentecost. This is a Christian holiday. It is said one of the three major holidays, along with Christmas and Easter. Classes have already finished in elementary schools in Seneg…

The end of Ramadan (fasting) which lasts for 30 days is almost there. However, I am not fasting. Even if I could stop food to some extent, it would be very hard to spend time without drinking water! I have to have a strong faith of the rel…

My silver tooth came off. I was eating a meal when I felt eating something like a small stone. When I took it out from my mouth, the silver tooth came off. I have had my wisdom teeth removed and cavities cured for living in Senegal, but th…

How do elementary school children spend their time during the 30 days of Ramadan (fasting)? In fact, most children are fasting. I can actually see those children in schools. When I went at some classrooms and asked children, "How many of y…

"Ramadan" has begun. It should vary in each region, so I am writing only about what I see in the area I live rather than about Ramadan in general. In Ramadan, people do "fasting." Muslims abstain from eating and drinking. And the fasting l…

Last April, I was joining a training in Nagano prefecture before being sent to Senegal as a volunteer. I was originally scheduled to be sent to "Burkina Faso" in Africa. Because of a terrorist attack and the security situation became worse…

I gave a math lesson on drawing circles. This was a second grade class. Main activity was to draw circles by using circular shapes and tracing them, without using a compass. Schools in Senegal do not have any teaching materials. So I had t…

At the elementary school, tools are insufficient. I could say that there is a shortage of things, but it also looks like everyone tends not to buy new things. Everyone has a pen for writing in their notebooks, but all of those pens are alm…