We are happy to announce the results of the CIEE story contest. We asked all Fall 2005 CIEE Study Center participants to submit their story – a reflection of their international experience. We asked: what did you learn about the local culture, people, yourself? How has it changed your outlook? What would you tell other students thinking of going abroad?
We received many wonderful entries. It was hard to pick the winners! For those who participated, thank you. We greatly enjoyed reading all about your experiences on a CIEE Study Center program.
Congratulations to all!
Overall Winner
Philomene
Elizabeth Schmelzel, George Washington University
CIEE Dakar Fall 2005
She picked me up less than one week after we arrived in Senegal. My host mother, dressed in a gorgeous boubou, looked tall and almost stern. We introduced ourselves to each other and a few minutes later, we were hauling my oversized suitcase to a taxi. My first memory of Mama was her bargaining with the taxi drive over a price difference of $.20. I was hot, a little nervous, and impatient. She let two taxis drive off until she found the price she wanted. What I initially saw as almost a nuisance I would soon realize was just another daily demonstration of my host mother’s quiet, commanding strength.
Mama is 62 years old. Every morning she wakes before 7 a.m., cleans the entire home, and then walks to a market to buy vegetables in bulk, placing her heavy load in her bag. She plops the blue plastic sack on her head and walks back to her neighborhood, where she sells those vegetables all morning from a rickety wooden table on the corner near her house. She returns home to prepare meals for her family, or wash the entire household’s clothing, always prioritizing others’ needs over her own. And each afternoon, this pillar of strength sits on a broken blue chair, staring deep into the folds of an old newspaper, as she counts the coins earned from her day of sales.
I remember talking to Mama sometimes until 11 p.m. at night. We would sit outside, as I listened to her stories of when she came to Dakar from her village to find work. She told me her thoughts on colonization, faith, and marriage. We shared light-hearted conversations as well, and her laugh was the most gorgeous sound in all of Senegal. We teased each other - she pretended to scold me for scratching my mosquito bites, and I trained her to say, “I’m fine” in English with her heavy accent. We became comfortable friends. The last Saturday I was there, she and I went to church together, just the two of us. As we walked home, she reached over and took my hand, and we strolled the rest of the way as mother and daughter.
Read Elizabeth's entire story...
2nd Place Winner
The Stone Stoop
Heather Rice, Colorado State University
CIEE Dakar Fall 2005
The sweet relief of the evening breeze lures me to the front stoop of the house where members of my host family congregate. It's hard to believe the heat has finally sojourned after another long sweltering day. It still throws me off how alive Dakar becomes at night. The women, in boisterous Wolof, tell lively stories about the latest neighborhood gossip. The men sit quietly, extending the formal greetings of respect to friends and passer bys alike. I love the way, "Salemaleekum" (Peace be upon you) floats off my host father's lips so unaffectedly. On the street I can just make out my favorite peanut vendor, a cheerful round-faced girl; roasting her peanut stock, turning the browning shells with her iron spoon ever so vigilantly. I imagine the fruit stand around the corner is busy swapping change for ripe mangos and swelled grapefruits. Unlike the heat, the taxis have not surrendered their efforts. The continuous honks and rumbling engines fade in and out of the conversational background, only overwhelmed by the shrill and faithful evening call to prayer from the nearby mosque.
Sitting there on the stone stoop, it strikes me how at ease I feel. Just over a month ago I was sitting on this same stoop wondering how much longer I would have to last before I could excuse myself and retire to my room. I couldn't understand the language. I couldn't understand how anyone could sit for so long doing seemingly nothing productive. I was more concerned that I would never understand; that I had erroneously assessed my own capacities and it was only a matter of time before I would break. Africa had always been my dream, but the glossy images of safaris and savanna sunsets in National Geographic had left this American girl disillusioned amidst the bustling markets and congested traffic of Dakar. At that point of breaking, if someone had handed me a ticket, I would have gladly boarded a plane and flown back to the familiar.
But no one handed me a ticket and I didn't break. However I was right in that I had erroneously assessed my capacity. I was actually capable of so much more than I ever envisioned.
Read Heather's entire story...
3rd Place Winner
Independencia Boys
Jenna Styles, Macalester College
CIEE Santo Domingo Fall 2005
There should be a term more powerful than “culture shock” to describe what happened to me when I first arrived in Santo Domingo. I was the gringa who would burst into tears in the middle of the street for no apparent reason, talked to my family every single day (and usually hung up in a weepy mood), and avoided social situations so that I could mope in my room. I was terrified. The Dominican Republic was so loud, hot, and populated. I didn’t feel like I could trust anyone, and left my host family’s apartment on Avenida Independencia everyday with my guard up and with blinders on that protected me from the cat-callers, the attention I got for being a white woman, and the requests of the kids in the street asking for money or to let them shine my shoes.
The most important thing I learned in the Dominican Republic was to let my guard down and learn to trust people. Before being “released” by my friends, family, and finally the CIEE staff into the challenges that are Santo Domingo, I had always been told to protect myself, mind my own business, and be wary of Dominicans who might take advantage of me. And so for my first few weeks abroad I left my house every day with a defensive mentality. Thankfully, that soon changed. One cannot live happily nor expect to learn much from a different culture when they isolate themselves and trust no one. Yes, it is important to be careful, but it is also important to open yourself up to new experiences.
Read Jenna's entire story...
Submit Your Story!
Did you miss the story contest but want to submit your story for possible inclusion on our website or in our catalogs? Please click here and send it in!