Hola chicos!
Today I went to visit Monument de la Renaissance africaine... aka a $25 million, enormous statue, built by the North Korean's, designed by the Senegalese, right
here in Dakar.
Phew, wasn't that a mouthful? I mean seriously, let's break it down. A TWENTY FIVE MILLION DOLLAR (dollar, not a West African Franc) statue, in Senegal, built by North Korea. To be honest, I had no idea North Korea had any connection with Senegal or building large statues around the world. However, apparently they were the one of the lowest bidders and are well known for their African statues. Who knew? I learned during my time at the statue that it was originally controversial and many people did not think it was a good use of money. Other people thought that the President of Senegal was trying to portray himself and his son in the artwork. However, now that it has been up a few years, the Senegalese are seeing it as a symbol of national and African strength. One of my Senegalese teachers told me that he thinks "the statue inspires Africans to work hard and succeed" He is proud to have such a famous statue of his people in Senegal. (Remember that Senegal only gained its independence from France in 1960 so prior to that much of the artwork was representing the French and not the local people).
Scroll through the slideshow above. It was so windy at the top of the statue that I was scared El Pulpo was going to fly right out of my hand. Inside the base of the statue was an awesome museum. I will have to say, thank goodness Spanish and French are so similar in written form! The whole museum was in French but I was able to read most of it due to the similarities in the language. The people in our group that do not speak French/Spanish had to just look at the pictures!
I hope you are all doing well en espanol. Special shout out to Josh, Jake, Lizzy, and Mike for killing it in the Instagram challenges. You guys rock! Keep checking out my posts and someone try and beat Josh to the right answers... he is just an Instagram trivia MASTER.
Another special shout out goes to Aivery and Arianna for their Daily Life flipgrid! Gracias chicas! 5th grade taking it for the WIN. Would anyone else like to add a video of their daily lives to the grid? Maybe a short video of you playing a sport or instrument? Making slime? Playing videogames? Whatever cool and fun things you do at home.
I can't wait to see what you videos you add! In a few days, I will be heading to my placement in Louga to teach my own new students and I am excited to show them your videos!
Keep up the good work,
Senora Traub
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