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Alisa Nelson

Alisa is passionate about cultures, languages, and human equality. She likes playing sports, reading books, and outdoor activities. She loves adventure and hopes to learn a lot about Senegalese culture this coming year. Her other goals are to perfect her French, learn a Senegalese language, and get to know new people.

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An Open Letter to My Country

March 20, 2015

More accurately, letters to two of them. Dear United States of America, It’s been a long time. Not that long, I guess, only six and a half months since we’ve last seen each other. But it has been nine, almost ten years since we’ve really known each other. So it’s understandable, I think, that with...

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If I Could Write an Honest Blog Post

March 3, 2015

I spent most of the morning washing my clothes. I even decided to wash the sheets, which I’d been putting off; I hate washing them because they’re big and heavy and hard to clean. After I had washed everything and began putting my sheet on the clothesline, the wire snapped and all of my just-washed...

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Animal Biographies

January 31, 2015

A quick update before I get to the main point of the blog: my job at the farm is wonderful! My legs are sore from biking there, but it is good exercise. I cooked Senegalese food for my family (by myself) recently ‰ÛÒ they told me it was good, then covered everything in lemon juice‰Û_...

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The Way Things Change

December 2, 2014

I was in Lome, Togo trying to catch a taxi. My family and I were there for the weekend during spring break and we had gotten lost looking for our hotel. My dad was attempting to use his non-existent Haitian Creole to talk to people, and I was nervously trying to make myself understood in...

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October in Threes

November 3, 2014

Describing my last month in segments of three. 3 THINGS I DO EVERDAY Drink Coffee. I hate coffee. More accurately, I hated it. I drink it every morning at breakfast, and while my favorite part is still the powdered milk that clumps at the bottom, I’m getting used to it. Measure the Wind Speed and...

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A Week in Mbodiene

October 14, 2014

Featuring: a new family – new languages – love in the form of sickness – some folklore and a baby goat – and tea A NEW FAMILY I have six siblings, plus an older brother who doesn’t live at home. My father brings home fish that aren’t quite dead yet and my mother sings to...

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