Venture out of your comfort zone and open your mind in Dakar Past Review
By Kathleen S (Anthropology., Wellesley College) for
CIEE: Dakar - Language & Culture
Senegal changed the way I not only think about issues like African development, but also just the way I think and approach problems and obstacles in general.
Review Photos
Personal Information
| If you took classes at multiple universities, list those universities here: | n/a |
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Although my coursework was not as challenging as my home university, I still feel like I learned a lot. My workload was not to strenuous but it fit well with the circumstances of everyday life. My teachers and lecturers were all extremely intelligent and very eager to help us in any way they could. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Everyone was extremely kind, compassionate, intelligent and welcoming. The staff were definitely a big part of what my semester and this program in general so special. The director was especially wonderful, he was very thoughtful and aware. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
n/a |
| * Food: |
I got very malnourished and sick because my family did not really feed me much besides white rice and bread. It was a bit of a struggle but I finally starting buying nearly all my own meals and things were much much better |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
all our trips were awesome, especially rural visits, and our trip to the desert and Saint Louis |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Being a white woman in Dakar does limit how much you can move around but as long as you're smart and responsible you'll be safe. There is almost no violent crime in Dakar, the worst thing that would probably happen is that you'd be robbed, which never even happened to me. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | not sure |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | food was a major expense for me. If you plan to travel on your own that's also another expense. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Beginner |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | french 211 and I hadn't taken any wolof before |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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| Language acquisition improvement? |
Since my host family (and nearly everyone else I interacted with who was not another CIEE student) did not speak english we had to always communicate in french and/or wolof. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | living in Dakar was one of the most difficult and amazing things I've ever done. It is the type of experience for someone who is extremely open minded, flexible, self-aware, curious and compassionate. |
