Learning about Culture

Before I arrived in Senegal, there were a lot of classes I had to take to prepare for the experience. Now that we’re here, we’ve continued that learning with even more training to help us get ready for our school visits. Today, we had our second lecture with the amazing local consultants and got the chance to visit the U.S. Embassy. There, we learned about the role of the embassy, how it operates, and what safety procedures we need to follow while we’re in Senegal.

Even just traveling around the city, there’s so much culture visible through observation. Watching the roads filled with buses, bikes, motorcyclists, and even horses says a lot about the place I’m in. The sculptures scattered throughout the city are also incredible—everything feels so alive here.

During the first lecture with the consultants, we focused on the education system in Senegal. I’m really curious to see it in action. I was amazed to learn that many teachers enter the classroom with far less training than we typically have in the U.S., and yet they still carry out such an important job. I don’t teach English myself, but I’m excited to see what the English curriculum looks like for high school students here.

What really blew me away is the number of languages students are expected to navigate. Many Senegalese students speak Wolof at home, learn in French at school, and also study English in the classroom. On top of that, they may also take Arabic, Portuguese, or even Russian! The flexibility and skill of multilingual people truly amazes me. I’ve been trying to practice Wolof while also brushing up on my French whenever I meet someone new. It's uncomfortable to speak another language at first, but I'm trying to show them my respect for their culture.

One of the most beautiful quotes I heard during the first lecture was: “Behind any difficulty there is an easiness, and behind any easiness there is difficulty.” That really stuck with me.

In the second lecture (after our visit to the embassy), we learned about Senegalese family life, food culture, and dining traditions. Our consultants do such a great job of breaking things down in ways we can really understand, and they’re always open to our many questions.

What stood out to me was how they spoke about tradition—not only how important it is, but also how it’s shifting with the younger generation. That made me think about how similar that is to what we see with changing traditions in the United States. I found it relatable that the youth is changing and adapting tradition. 

To wrap up, I thought I’d share a few Senegalese values we learned about today—along with how I translated them into more familiar “American” phrases to help me understand them better.