Nostalgic

Nostalgic

I am nostalgic

I miss the no privacy and the community

A house where everybody talks loud

Where fifteen kids run and scream.

Playing soccer and fighting are the kids' leisure

A life when you wake up seeing your nephew sitting on your head

Houses where you can go and eat without invitation

A life full of random get-togethers

A society of tolerance

A community full of patience

A city composed of the same color skin

Studying like crazy to pass your courses

Sharing is impossible to avoid

Making jokes and laugh is the normal state

A family where everybody has to participate

A country where all holidays are for everybody

No distinction between Christian, Jew, Atheist, Muslim etc

A country where people live eighty years without seeing a gun

A country where your neighbors ask forgiveness often

A society where your kids can be corrected by any older person``

A country where you must show respect to elders

A country where a marriage without kids is not understandable

A house where a mother with ten kids has to work ten hours a day to feed her family

A society that is excessively talkative

A country where politicians know how to talk, but don't work

A country where the president says my son is the only one who can be the next president

A country with democracy and freedom of speech

A country which a lot of scholars and wise folk

A country where human value takes first place

A country which no matter what has hope

I am still nostalgic

Nostalgic for crowds, screaming, messy, and hitting

Nostalgic for all those elements which can be inconvenient

Rude, uncomfortable, even bad in the eye of someone who did not live there

But wonderful, fabulous to those who lived and grew up there

Alpenrose Dairy

Milk, cheese, and cream flying everywhere was the ambiance in Alpenrose Dairy. It was Thursday when my family and I decided to go there to see how the dairy products are made. My first impression was the small town. It looked like a city in 1600s. The offices are so antique. I felt like I was living in the past. Everything was old. It made me think of a cowboy town and the Pony Express. I felt I was reborn and living in the past. The town in general reflects an intense moment in history such as the slavery period. I picture that place like a city where only white people were allowed the live, where each family has slaves. Another aspect is it reflects the improvement of transportation, the mail system, and the structure of cities. For example, back in a day horses were used for mailing.

On the other hand, it’s incredible to see how things have changed. The woolen wear shop was so traditional. It gives me an idea about the clothing in the past. After a few minutes looking with at all those old elements, I was amazed by the trolleys parked in one place waiting to ride. I was thinking how great it would be if I drove one of those trolleys everywhere.

In comparison the cobbler shop reminds me Senegal where fixing shoes is attributed to someone of a specific ethnic group. In USA cobbler is a job, but in it isn’t in Senegal.  In my culture folks who repair shoes should be from an ethnic group named Oude. In Africa more precisely in Senegal people still believe that some ethnic groups shouldn’t been married to other ethnic groups. If you are an Oude you cannot be married to someone from some other ethnic groups. What I hear is if you married to someone that you are not supposed to, your marriage will be horrible.

Finally, Alpenrose Dairy and this old town are a piece of art. Those dairy products in the old town inspired a good taste of milk. Being there and exploring the environment keeps me think constantly about ice-cream. The saddest thing of all of that is I am lactose intolerant.

Community

            

            Life is a circle. Plants, animals and humans grow, get sick, and decline, but most don’t do it in isolation. They live in community. They survive in groups, but here in America we are destroying each other and losing our sense of community we’ve needed to survive like all other living things.

If I think of a lack of water somewhere, it’s a place where no beings live, dead leaves, animals and humans despaired.  With no water to survive, it is like a dead heart without blood. That’s what having no community makes me think. A heart with no capacity to love, no pity for others. Dark like a shadow. A place nobody wants to go. A place like a dying room. No transportation to move, no rescue. Community is much closer in Senegal and since I came to America, I feel like I’m dehydrated, constantly thirsty for community to fill my heart and soul.

What happened in past couple days in this country with two black people being shot and five police officers being killed is proof of the lack of community and unity. Everybody needs to participate in the fight to make the country more united and to stop the erosion of our values. In Senegal there no racism because everyone is black. Even though people have different religions and backgrounds they interact each other. It makes me laugh when people tell me I am glad you are here or good for you to live in USA without thinking that is more dangerous in the USA for me. In Senegal there is peace, acceptance, and tolerance.

However, in the USA, people don’t interact in community so they don’t respect each other. Some people are discriminated against because of their religion, their skin color, or their race. We don’t need to choose a side to make our society work. We all need to work together, respect each other to fight against the selfishness of our hearts and our stereotypes. We need to be more soft and humble. We should not let our bad sides dominate the good sides of each of us.

Feelings from Music

  Rhythm, lyrics, and drums combined are what we call music. Music can remind you of an important event in the past or make you sleepy, relaxed, even emotional or sad. There are a lot of kinds of music such as rap, Blues, Reggae, pop etc. Each of those types of music provides specific feelings. Talking about music reminds me of Senegal, back home. Senegal is one of the countries in West Africa that is known for their good music and their passion for dancing. The most popular music is mbalax. It is very loud, intense, rhythmic, happy, and makes you move easily. Listening to mbalax makes you feel enthusiastic. It makes me stress free. Moving your body with the beat of the music makes you happy.

Music has a lot of meanings too. Playing with kids, singing and dancing with them was my favorite thing to do in Senegal. Music reminds me of time with my nieces and nephews. Religious music in my experiences provides a spiritual feeling. Some people get very emotional. Others get very excited and dance continually to express their faith. I cannot forget when I went to Mauritania for a religious ceremony named Eid Al-Fitr. There were songs, drums, noises, singing the name of God every night. It was amazing to listen to those sounds coming from everywhere in the desert with thousands of people singing and dancing to relieve their stress, and to implore forgiveness from God. Some religious scholars think some music is evil and others are for God. Music can sometimes be a way to repent.

 When I was in university I always slept with Bob Marley songs on. Reggae makes me relaxed and pensive. It makes me nostalgic. Some other music like choral makes me feel energized. It gives you the strength to aim for success.

 Some folks describe some music with the melody, instruments, and different voices, and how the music keeps you awake and engaged. Blues music inspires sadness, loneliness or love. It makes me think about a love story of a woman who lost her husband in a war and has raised two kids. Consequently, music can be seen in a lot of different aspects.  Feelings from music are always powerful and contain many benefits.

 

What's in a Name?

Sunset in Senegal

            How wonderful is your name? Do you like your name? Cheikh is the name that my parents gave me when I was born. A week after my birth, my parents did a ceremony to celebrate their new baby. Family members, friends, and neighbors were invited. My dad bought a sheep and a lot of food for the celebration. At 9 am he prayed for me and said my name out loud for the first time. My aunts and uncles call me Pacheikhou which is my nickname. Pa is from papa which means Dad in French. Cheikh is an Arabic name. It means chief. I was named after my grandfather who is from Mali, a country in West Africa. In Senegal where I am from, parents name their children after people they like the most. It is an honor for my grandfather.

Rice and meat

In my culture, Cheikh is a very popular name. It is also very easy to pronounce. Since I came to the USA, I have realized that my name is not easy to say. There are many advantages that your name meaning can offer. Some people at work cannot say my name correctly and some others call me Pikachu which I like. With a customer service job, my name helps me to start a conversation with customers because they are curious about how to say it.

 I learned a lot about names and culture during my few years in the USA. In my experience, some folks get very offended when you mispronounce their name, but I don’t mind. In my culture names aren’t a big deal in society. Some people have multiple nicknames. People mispronounce your name. They make jokes about it. In the USA people want to be called by their name and they don't like jokes about it, which is understandable.

Baptism

 In Senegal, names represent an ethnicity or a spirituality. For example, Paul is most often a Christian name. Ngor is an Serer name. Serer is a Senegalese ethnic group. When you go in a Serer region if your name is Ngor people will consider you like one of their family members. Another interesting aspect about names such as Cheikh is it gives me the opportunities to explain how interesting my culture is and how our names are picked. Overall, I think names are a code which describe your culture, your spiritual beliefs, but not the description of yourself.

  The hat represent an ethnically group

Nostalgic

Nostalgic

I am nostalgic

I miss the no privacy and the community

A house where everybody talks loud

Where fifteen kids run and scream.

Play soccer and fight are the kids' leisure

A life when you wake up seeing your nephew sitting on your head

Houses where you can go and eat without invitation

A life full of random appointments

A society of tolerance

A community full of patience

A city composed of the same color skin

Studying like crazy to pass your courses

Sharing is impossible to avoid

Making jokes and laugh is the normal state

A family where everybody has to participate

A country where all holidays are for everybody

No distinction between Christian, Jew, Atheist, Muslim etc

A country where people live eighty years without seeing a gun

A country where your neighbor ask forgiveness often

A society where your kids can be corrected by any older person``

A country where you must show respect to elders

A country where a marriage without kids is not understandable

A house where a mother with ten kids have to work ten hours a day to feed her family

A society excessively talkative

A country where politicians know how to talk, but don't work

A country where the president says my son is the only one who can be the next president

The country with democracy and freedom of speech

A country which a lot of scholars and wise folk

A country where the human value takes the first place

A country which no matter what has hope

I am still nostalgic

Nostalgic for crowds, screaming, messy, and hitting

Nostalgic of all those elements which can be inconvenient

Rude, uncomfortable, even bad in the eye of someone who did not live there

But wonderful, fabulous to whose live and grow up there

Alpenrose dairy

Milk, cheese and cream flying everywhere was the ambiance in Alpenrose dairy. Ice-cream my favorite food was in the meeting. In was Thursday when my family and I decide to go there to see how the dairy product are made. My first impression was the small town. It looked like a city in 60^th. The offices are so antic. I feel like I was living in the past. Everything was old. It inspired me a cowboy town which the pony express. I felt I was reborn and living in the past. The town in general reflect an intense moment in story such as slavery period. I picture that place like a city where only white people was allowed the live. Where each family has slaves. Another aspect is it reflect the improvement of transportation, Mailing, and the structure of cities. Back in a day horse was use for

mailing.

On the other hand, it’s incredible to see how things have changed. The woolen wear shop was so traditional. It gives me an idea about the clothing in the past. After a few minutes looking with a big eye all those old elements, I was amaze by the trolleys park in one place waiting to ride. I was thinking how great will be if I drive those trolley everywhere. Exploring the town in a sunny day.

In comparison the cobbler shop reminds me Senegal where fixing shoes is attributed to one a specific ethnic. In USA cobbler is a job, but in it isn’t in Senegal.  In my culture folks who repair shoes should from an ethnicity group names Oude. In Africa more precise in Senegal people still believe that some ethnic shouldn’t been married to other ethnicity group. If you are an Oude you cannot be married to some other ethnic. What I hear is if you married to someone that you are not supposed to, your marriage will be horrible. Finally, Alpenrose dairy and this old town are a piece of art. Those dairy products in the old town inspired a good test of milk. Being there and exploring the environment keeps me think constancy about ice-cream. The sadness thing of all of that is I am lactose intolerant.