The Hell is Dakar? Dakar is the capital city of Senegal, a country on the west coast of Africa. I studied there from January to March 2018. I understand that this post is hugely belated. Well, here is what happened: In April, UChicago kicked my ass. In May, UChicago kicked my ass. In June, UChicago ended! . . . and I flew straight to my … Continue reading Dakar Survival Guide for the Everyday Toubab
This post is Episode 1/3 of the Great Camel Odyssey of 2018, whereby I traversed 3 countries over the course of 3 months in search of one perfect camel ride. It is the second week of my study abroad program in Dakar: early January, dry season, seventy degrees and sunny. During class on Thursday, my professor hands out itineraries for Saturday’s day trip. I don’t … Continue reading Lessons Learned from a Crash in the Dunes
So I’ve been studying abroad in Senegal since January, living with a host family in the coastal capital of Dakar. Around midnight one Thursday, as my friends and I hunkered over the final projects due that very morning, my pal Jon went, “By the way, I think I am gonna do the waterfall trip. You should come.” Said waterfall trip consisted of two overnight buses … Continue reading 764 Miles, 3 Days, 1 Butt: My Trek Across Senegal
Amendment: I danced with Bidew Bou Bess at a Chinese New Year Festival in Dakar. Amendment to amendment: I jabbed my hips in arbitrary directions and flailed my arms in floppy circles and fundamentally disgraced both myself and the entire Chinese American community beside Bidew Bou Bess at a Chinese New Year Festival in Dakar. Bidew Bou Bess is a rap trio consisting of three brothers: Makhtar, … Continue reading Tiny Tales #2: I Met Bidew Bou Bess at a Senegalese Chinese New Year Festival
Welcome to Tiny Tales, a collection of adventures in approx. 1000 words! San Jose in July is a sprawling geography of white heat, browning mountains, and yellow grass. We pull into the lot beside our squat, cinderblocky destination and my stomach shnargles. For lunch, I’d prepared myself a hybrid of an “I’m Too Cheap To Buy Real Food” meal and a “Potential Impending Projectile Vomit” meal, … Continue reading Tiny Tales #1: I Fell Out of a Plane at 10,000 Feet
Back in 2015, I wrote a post called We Need to Talk. I wrote it fresh out of high school, thinking I understood what it meant to deal with the crazies between your ears. I had no idea what I was talking about. Let’s jazz things up a bit. Over the course of this summer, I meditated, went skydiving, ran races, read books, went backpacking, … Continue reading We Need To Talk, Take 2
I did not hydrate well. I did not train. I did not purchase running gear; instead, I showed up in spanx and a pair of you-can-buy-fake-Nike-sneakers-in-China-for-only-five-bucks sneakers. To top it all off, less than 24 hours before race time, Mother Nature was like, “Yo Angela, your uterus has something to say to you.” (Here is what my uterus had to say to me: “Haha, you’re … Continue reading A Really Good Metaphor For Life, feat. My First 12k
