El Hadji Faly Seck (YES 2019-2020, Senegal, placed by PAX Organization in Hope, AR) 

Do you ever wonder how people on the other side of the world live? Do you ever wonder if we, young Senegalese, are any different from them? Do you ever wonder what it would be like living in United States, far away, with people who act, dress, and talk differently from what we see in Senegal?  

I did.  

Not only did I ask myself all those questions, but I also got answers to them, eventually. On my own, without any intermediary, I went there, to the other side of the world, and I lived alongside those who were different than me.  

September 9, 2019, was the day my other life began.  

Yes, I have several lives, a reality only exchange students can often claim. That day when I left home, going far away from my family and everything and everyone I ever knew, I did not realize that I or part of me was dying, and that I would not come back. I did not realize that the person leaving Africa would have nothing in common but a body with the one who would return a year later. 

When I went to the United States, I was reborn. Like a baby, I learned all over again how to speak properly with my yes ma’am and yes sir on point. I learned how to feed myself by cooking on my own. In my home country, Senegal, men usually do not cook for themselves, as cooking is considered a female task. I had a lot of fun learning how to cook with my host mother. I remember being extremely proud when I cooked my first burger. Those moments shared with her are what made us closer.  

I was overwhelmed to see how much difference there could be across countries and cultures despite living in the same world. But what blew my mind more than our cultural differences was the reaction people had towards it, the way people live together and love each other despite beliefs, values, race, customs.  

My host mother, Mrs. Phillips, and I never got bored while driving somewhere or just hanging together, and we always debated about our culture differences. For instance, we discussed whether or not I should have more than one wife because, as a Muslim, I am allowed to have up to four wives.  

As for my host father, I had never met someone like him in my whole life. Mr. Robert is filled with honesty, humility, and kindness. Bit by bit, we learned to know each other, to appreciate each other, to enjoy each other’s company, and to love each other. Indeed, from a stranger he became a father that I look up to, that listens to me and advises me wisely, and constantly teaches me about life.  

One of the things I am most thankful for is having him in my life. He made me love cars and trucks. He was always working on them. Whenever I went to help while he was working, I learned something from him, whether it was the name of a tool, how a car works in general, Black history, or just life in general. I saw wisdom in him, more than I ever saw in someone else. I miss being around him extremely, whether we were outside the house, right in front of the highway, with the train’s noises, the dog’s barking, talking about important things or not. 

Those nights of simple and pure happiness spent with my sister Chassidy watching Disney, crashing on the couch doing nothing, eating our magical peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, laughing over nothing and everything are memories that I cherish deeply in my heart and that don’t feel so different after all.