Senegal: Land of Teranga - Claremont McKenna College

O FFICE
OF
O FF -C AMPUS S TUDY
T HE C LAREMONT G LOBETROT TER
V OLUME 2, I SSUE 1
F ALL 2010
Senegal: Land of Teranga
By Angie Tyler CMC ‘12
CIEE Senegal, West Africa
Throughout my study
abroad experience in Dakar,
Senegal, West Africa, I have
encountered the meaning of
teranga, a word that literally
translates to “hospitality” from
the language of Wolof. The
concept of teranga is based on
the importance of family and
social networks that extends to
strangers and highlights the
Senegalese cultural duty to helping others.
The idea of hospitality
in Senegal was vastly different
than I had expected. Upon
greeting my family I found everyone aloof as they carried on
with their daily rituals, barely
recognizing my presence aside
from a few intimidating looks.
Although the first days in my
host family definitely made me
feel far from home, over time I
have come to feel like a part of
the family and to understand the
true meaning of teranga.
Traditionally in Western culture, if a guest comes to
stay in your home from a foreign country, it’s general social
conduct to show the foreigner
that they are welcome by greeting them with open arms and
many questions of life abroad.
The typical American host will
go out of their way to make the
guest feel comfortable by introducing them to the family, preparing their favorite meal, or
offering to show them around
the neighborhood.
proach you and offer to share their
snack. Literally, people will not even
say “Thank you” upon receiving something here because there is a culturally
However, in Senegal, ingrained contract that obligates a perteranga, or hospitality, has a dif- son to share with those around them.
ferent meaning. In order to inte- This even extends to a half-eaten bagrate the guest into the family, nana or some picked over fish bones –
the Senegalese may go out of
as soon as another person approaches
their way not to make you feel the room the norm insists that you
any different from a member of
the family, especially since family sizes tend to be much larger
and family members may come
and go. Also, they generally will
not want to exhibit over curiosity by interrogating their guest
with questions, as it is perceived
as a negative characteristic.
Rather than focusing on hellos
or goodbyes as a way to show
they care for someone, the
offer your food to them so as not to
bonds of a Senegalese friendship
appear rude or exhibit the toubob or
are developed over time.
“foreigner” culture.
Furthermore, the idea Another practice that depicts the perof sharing and emphasis on the
sistence of communal culture in Senecommunity is especially intergal is “eating around the bowl”. So,
esting from an American perinstead of receiving individual plates
spective, where there is a
and silverware, the entire family,
greater emphasis on the individ- which may be around 12-15 people,
ual. For example, in America
eats from one central bowl for lunch
when my 7-year-old niece and 5 and dinner. You must eat mainly from
-year-old nephew are fighting
the section of food directly in front of
over candy an adult will usually you, and usually the females of the
intervene and separate the candy family will break up chunks of meat
into two equal pieces and exand vegetables with their hands and
plain “this is her half and this is
toss them into each person’s area.
his half” in a way that teaches
I have enjoyed learning of and come to
children from an early age of
possessiveness and protection of appreciate the Senegalese tradition of
their property in a fair and equal teranga, their strong and unique emphasis on community and sharing in
manner.
every day life, that forces one to look
However, in Senegal
beyond immediate personal preoccuone will find that children, even pations and consider the well-being of
at the young, self-concerned age the entire community.
of 3 to 5 years old, may ap-
A Note from the
Editor:
The Claremont
Globetrotter is published in order to
share the experiences
of CMC students
abroad with the larger College community. The stories,
images, and insight
contained in this issue
offer a view into what
a study abroad experience can inspire
and impart.
Julia Starr CMC ’12
I NSIDE THIS
T HE S T . P ETERSBURG
C IRCUS
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A G RECIAN
E SCAPE
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A
P ROFESSOR ’ S
P ERSPECTIVE
ON S TUDY
A BROAD
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T HE S T . P ETERSBURG C IRCUS
B Y MARY D OYLE CMC ‘12
CIEE, S T . P ETERSBURG , R USSIA (F ALL 2010)
The Grand Cascade at the Peterhof Palace
First day of school in Russia: my host
mother walked me to the bus stop—past the
McDonald’s (Макдоналдс) and the 7/11-esque
продукты—pressed exact bus fare into my hand,
repeated for the seventh time that morning the three
English words she had memorized for the occasion—«efficient bus forty-six»—and pointed to the
bright yellow van headed our way. This was all feeling very first-grade-in-suburban-Boston, right down
to my Keds sneakers.
Marina hailed
down marshutka
46 with an outstretched hand,
nodded me onto
the bus, and
turned away towards home. A
precious old babooshka elbowed
her way in front of me, forcing me to crouch in the
narrow aisle of the van for many bumpy blocks. I
mimicked the other riders and sent my 27-ruble fare
to the front of the van, passed from one passenger to
another until it reached the driver…oh, the driver!
The marshutka driver serves as fare collector,
proper change sorter, proper change issuer, hailingpedestrians spotter, call-for-a-stop responder. With
little energy left to focus on safe driving and a significant affinity for tailgating, my one-man-band
“Culture-drenched,
dramatic, cozy, spectacular, St. Petersburg
rejects the balance
that guides daily life
in most modern cities”
marshutka driver skidded into the
Russian tin can sedan ahead of us,
which consequently rocked into the
Porshe SUV ahead of it—just a morning game of dominoes on the Troitsky
Bridge! Nevermind: Keds or no Keds,
I was all those 4,100 miles from my
Boston home that I had flown from the
week before.
We crossed over to the main island
of St. Petersburg, the marshutka pulling over as passengers called for it to
stop. Two babooshkas near the front
were whining to the driver, trying to
negotiate, in vain, an alternative route
that would be more convenient for
them. Just past the bright coral Mikhailovsky Castle, the «efficient» van—
mid-road, mid-route, mid-Katy-Perry
-song-on-the-marshutka-radio—uturned and retraced five minutes of
recently covered ground before turning back towards school down a different street.
We barreled past baroque
palaces lining the Neva River, past the
many foreign consulates of the Chernochevskaya district, through commercial telecomm complexes, past the
Bolsheveiks' revolution headquarters,
swinging into the grand and
car-packed driveway of Smoly
Cathedral, where I attend
class at St. Petersburg State
University's political science
and law faculties. Through
the crowd of stiletto-healed
female models and mulleted
men (i.e. my Russian peers at
SPbGU, taking their first
cigarette break of the day), I
entered the same school
buildings in which Prime
Minister Putin, President
Medvedev, Ayn Rand, and,
not least, Vladimir Lenin
were educated.
That first morning represents well my semester in the
circus that is St. Petersburg,
Russia. Culture-drenched,
dramatic, cozy, spectacular,
St. Petersburg rejects the
balance that guides daily life
in most modern cities.
Steeped in Russian tradition,
it is unpredictable: an
«efficient» bus route can include u-turns. The architecture is gorgeous and ornate—
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T HE C LAREMONT G LOBETROTTER
T HE S T . P ETERSBURG C IRCUS ,
this city is home to literally hundreds of palaces—and yet home life here is stark and simple:
my homestay, in the poshest neighborhood of
Petersburg, shares a landing with a four-family
communal apartment, 20-years-stale residue
from Soviet Russia's redistribution of living
space. There is blatant affluence and poverty, but
no middle class to serve as buffer: the constant
traffic jams comprise only rusty Ladas or shiny
Porsches.
CTD .
manovs like she does her own family,
but has nothing to say about who
represents her district in the Federal
Assembly or who else might run for
President in 2012. Piter, as the locals
affectionately call it, plays hard…and
works occasionally.
I can't help but think of the
mantra of every American college's
study abroad office: the world is your
During my days of museum-hopping
classroom. Indeed, this semester feels
and my nights of colorful bar-hopping, it is im- like the juiciest possible field study for
possible to ignore these irreconcilable extremes CompGov. I find myself as much a
that define Russian life. The country's developed student of my experiences here as I am
world birthrate meets a developing world mor- of RAS166: Modern Russian Ethnic
tality rate: more pregnancies are aborted than
Studies. Back in the land of potable
carried to term, old men are hard to find. Selffaucet water and reliable public transobsessed Petersburg cherishes her history, but
portation, it will be this unrelenting
gives no indication that she is also looking forstimulation of the study abroad experiward: my host mother can talk about the Roence that I will miss the most. Well,
The St. Petersburg neighborhood Mary calls home.
that, and the Russian blini crepes my
host mom is currently preparing for
a late-night meal—thank goodness
Collins Snack happens in Russia, too.
T HE C LAREMONT G LOBETROTTER
PAGE 4
A Grecian Escape
A Photo Essay
By Katie Bilotti CMC ‘12
Arcadia, Athens, Greece (Fall 2010)
Visible from virtually every point in Athens, the Acropolis continues to stand tall as a symbol of national pride
for all Greeks. Pictured is the Parthenon, a temple to the Greek goddess Athena, whom the people of Athens
consider their protector. My classes have taken advantage of this history literally at our fingertips, meeting at
the Acropolis rather than the classroom.
Santorini defines Greece. White houses with blue shutters cascade down the cliff of this volcanic island. The
sand at each beach depends on which geologic layer is exposed; pictured is the famed Red Beach.
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T HE C LAREMONT G LOBETROTTER
From the Acropolis, one
can enjoy one of the best
views in Athens. An unobstructed 360-degree view
acts as a reward to those
who choose to make the
climb to the top. Plainly
visible is another hallmark
on the Athens landscape,
Lycabettus Hill.
A quick 45-minute ferry ride from the port at Piraeus and you are transported to the island paradise of
Aegina. After a great meal, my friends and I were treated to a lesson in Greek dancing from our hotel
owners. OPA!
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The Claremont Globetrotter
Our week of orientation activities culminated in a trip
to the island of Tinos. As Tinos is less of a tourist destination, we experienced areas untouched my most
travelers. We got an authentically Greek experience,
sampling local delicacies and soaking in the Mediterranean sun.
Famed across Europe for its nightlife and windmills, Mykonos
is a destination for travelers across the globe. My friends and I
woke up to the windmills outside our window, dined in “Little
Venice” on the Aegean, and explored the meandering cobblestone alleyways.
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The Claremont Globetrotter
A Professor’s Perspective on study abroad
By Professor Gary Gilbert
Travel, they say, expands the mind. For me, it changed my life. I entered college knowing that I wanted to major in
Classics, if for no other reason than I somehow had to put four years of high school Latin to good use, but without a
clear sense of where this study would take me. I could not become Pope, and there were few other people with whom
I could converse in Latin or Attic Greek. At Haverford College, with its sister school Bryn Mawr, I enjoyed a strong
classical studies program. On campus, however, I was surrounded by “practical” thinking young men (Haverford was a
men’s college at the time) who were preparing themselves for great careers in law, medicine, and business. Compared
to them, I felt adrift, without direction or purpose. Toward the end of my Sophomore year I learned of the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome. I enjoyed life at Haverford, but sensed that il Centro offered something
more than just the same classes but at a different address.
I spent the spring semester of my junior year residing in a convent on the Janiculum Hill, reading Latin and Greek
texts, exploring ancient history, and experiencing, both in class and on site, the marvels of Greek and Roman art and
architecture. The courses were great, the professors wonderful, and the food, well let’s just say it was welcome
change from scrapple. For the first time, I could devote my entire attention to something about which I was passionate. For the first time, I was surrounded by people who shared my interest in the ancient world. For the first time, I
could envision myself engaged in this type of work as a career. I count my semester studying abroad in Rome, along
with George Harrison (long story), as a major factor that led to my decision to pursue graduate work in religious studies, with a particular emphasis on religion in antiquity, and ultimately to my position on the faculty of CMC.
From the time we are young we are often asked what do you want to be when you grow up, where are you going to
college, what will you do with your life. Having plans and a direction in life are important. At the same time, they
can cause us to miss opportunities on those roads less traveled. When
I entered college, I had not planned on studying abroad. When I studied abroad, I had not planned on having an experience that would direct me along life’s path. It sounds a bit cliché, but study abroad
made me who I am. Actually, it sounds a lot better in Latin. To paraphrase Julius Caesar, veni, vidi, factus sum; I came (to Rome ), I saw
(the city in all its splendor), and I (through this transformative experience) became me.
For more information on study abroad, please contact:
Off-Campus Study Office
Heggblade Center
850 Columbia Avenue
Claremont, CA 91711
(909) 621-8267
fax: (909) 607-8690
[email protected]