I (Joyce) recently returned from taking Justine (13), Alexis (16) & our friend, David (16) to Senegal.

Senegal is a third world country - so this was less of a vacation & more of a "field trip of a lifetime" that afforded us an up close and personal understanding of what real life is like in Senegal ... a culture & climate as far away as it is far different from what we're used to in America.

We stayed w/ my brother (Uncle Jimmy), who teaches elementary students in Dakar, & his wife, Aunt Ramona. We visited The Door of No Return (former slave house) on Goree Island, capital city of Dakar, the school where my brother teaches, outdoor marketplaces, the beach, a wild game park... and Justine finally met her pen-pal!

In the days leading up to our departure I posted here what I knew & was learning about where we were headed. Once we arrived in Senegal, I had the kids post some things as well. Justine was our main photographer.

We're back now & still trying to record our experience as it was hard to keep up while we were there.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

I (Justine) met my penpal!


Joyce's note:  Justine wrote this the other night. I'm a bit  behind & just catching up a bit. Today (Wed) Justine is shadowing Samya at school & Alexis & David are shadowing another girls their age.
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I finally got to meet my pen-pal. Her name is Samya. She's a sweet, pretty, fun-to-be-around girl.
I got her a Red Sox shirt and it would fit her perfectly. She got me a pair of pink flip-flops.
We had her over for dinner last night. I got to meet her parents and they were nice. Samya is Brazilian but has been traveling around the world. She came to Senegal when she was like 2 yrs old. We had dinner together. After dinner, we played a card game with Alexis and David. Then we played Pentago. We had a lot of fun. Wednesday I get to go to school with her. It will be my first time ever going to a private school since I'm home schooled. Thursday we're going to have dinner at her house. Maybe since I visited her here, she could come visit me in New England!

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