DU Abroad

One of my best friends back in Denver, Skyler, introduced me to a game he created called “Moon I win.” The rules are very simple: the first person to point to the moon and say “Moon I win!” wins. The timer resets at 3pm every day and offers a new chance for someone else to win for the day. At first, Skyler beat me and our other friends constantly, but I have since become accustomed to pointing out the moon as soon as I see it every day, and I shout “MOON I WIN!” to anyone I know nearby.

Nearly all of my friends back in Denver are also studying abroad this quarter, so one of the ways I have been keeping up with them is through playing “Moon I win” internationally. Now, you might think that this would be very difficult with so many time zones; you’d be absolutely correct. There have been many times I have awoken to a “Moon I win” message from my roommate studying in New Zealand, 12 whole hours ahead of me. However, I still can grab some wins when others are busy or distracted.

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A post shared by Caitlin Turk (@cati.ci.senegaal)

I definitely miss the silliness of “Moon I win” and other friend shenanigans I’d had fun doing during my two years in Denver so far. However, I don’t think I expected to miss Denver quite as much as I do. I miss my friends and dorm life and hockey games and swim meets and mountains and cold weather. I miss the independence of dorm living and getting a choice of what I eat at the dining hall. I saw so many people’s Instagram posts of the Hockey Night Lights campout and knew this would be the first year I’d miss it.

It’s odd how comforting a simple tradition of sending moon pictures makes me feel closer to Denver and my DU friends. Never in a million years would I give up all of the amazing new experiences I’m having in Dakar, but I have truly loved the small opportunities of bringing my American culture and fun activities to Senegal. I love going to the pool to swim or finding pastries as an afternoon sweet treat or playing frisbee with a group of ex-pats at the U.S. Embassy field. I’ve even gotten the other students at my school to start playing “Moon I win” with me! Whenever I’m out late with friends and we see the moon, they’ll point it out and remind me to send a picture to my DU friends abroad.

A PSA to anyone reading this and currently/thinking about studying abroad: Make the most of every new moment and experience you have, but take the time to incorporate elements of your home life into your study abroad life. You don’t need every single aspect of study abroad to be strange and new and exciting. The mundane is okay; comfort is okay. Study abroad is about interacting with the culture, not assimilating to it. You’re supposed to make it a little easier on yourself if you can! I truly think my study abroad experience is benefitting from a mix of novelty and comfort, and that ratio is not always constant.

Enjoy some of the many moon pictures I’ve taken so far! And if you’re reading this (especially if you’re Skyler & co): “MOON I WIN!!!” Better luck at 3pm tomorrow 🙂

Ba ci kanam / À bientôt / See you soon,

Caitlin

When I first got to Ireland, I noticed that it does not rain as often as portrayed in media, I also noticed that is was not as cloudy as often as I expected from the stories I had heard. I did wonder how ever it that had to do with the seasons and time of year. It seems that might be the case. As we get further into fall, there have been more cloudy days where the sun does not show at all. Personally, I do not mind this, I love fall days where the air is cool, and when the sun is not incredibly hot.

I had expected there to be a lot more rain than there has been. I thought maybe it might rain every single day, but this is not the case. With that said, something I did not expect were storms. Storm Amy passed over Ireland, Scotland, England and Whales this past weekend. I have experience blizzard conditions in Colorado and Wyoming in the US, but I cannot recall a moment where a rainstorm acts as if it was a blizzard. This storm had such strong winds that there were moments where the rain fell sideways.

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Since the storm though, it has felt more like autumn. There are leaves all over the ground from the storm and they continue to fall. The trees continue to change color, a little faster now. The weather is cooler. I do not know if the storm had something to do with the trees changing color and dropping their leaves, or if it was just timing. Before the storm it seemed to me that the trees were taking a little while to change color but now, they are starting to rapidly change and drop their leaves. There are trees that are still green and others that are red, orange, and yellow. It is beautiful.