Senegal:)

PRE-COLONIAL:

Senegal was founded by the Tukulor in the middle valley of the Senegal River. The first kingdoms were created in Senegal around the 7th century including the Tekrour Kingdom, the Namandirou Kingdom and the Djolof Kingdom. The dominant religion of Senegal, Islam, was introduced in the area in the 8th and 9th centuries by Berber merchants. These merchants converted many people to Islam but this created alot of chaos. European missionaries introduced Christianity to Senegal in the 19th century. Between 1300 and 1900 about one-third of the population was enslaved. 

COLONIAL:

Many European powers, like Portugal, the Netherlands and Great Britain, all competed for trade in the area of Senegal in the 15th century. This continued up until 1677 when France took control. At this time Senegal was an important slave trade departure point, (it was also a destination to purchase slaves.) About 200 years later, in the 1850s, the French began to expand off the small islands and onto the mainland of Senegal. By now, the slave trade was beginning to die down thanks to a man by the name of Lat-Dior, Damel of Cayor. 

INDEPENDENCE:

In January of 1959, the French Sudan and Senegal merged to form the Mali Federation. The Mali Federation became fully independent a year later on June 20, 1960. This was the result of the independence Senegal gained from France by an agreement signed on April 4, 1960 which also granted Senegal a transfer of power. The Mali Federation broke apart on August 20 of that same year. Leopold Senghor was elected as Senegal’s first president in September of 1960. After becoming independent, Senegal and Gambia formed the nominal confederation of Senegambia which took place on February 1, 1982. The union ended in 1989. Senegal has had a good history with participating in international peacekeeping.

PRESENT DAY:

The 40-year rule of the Socialist Party in Senegal ended in 2000; this was claimed as a rare democratic power transfer. Currently, the economy is based upon agriculture. The money that the Senegalese people living abroad send home is a large source of the country’s revenue.

Senegal has one of the more unrestricted press climates in Africa. Although, journalists are “regularly threatened and their media is banned or vandalized,” stated Reporters without Borders in their 2010 report. The Senegal constitution guarantees media freedom. The news is not censored by the government, but they are often criticized by small media groups. There are about 20 daily newspapers in Senegal while foreign publications are widely known and always available. By June 2009, there were over one million people with access to the internet.

INTERESTING FACTS:

• Senegal is the most popular tourist destination in western Africa.
• The country’s population is 94% Muslim.
• If invited to a Senegalese person’s home, it is a custom to bring them a box of chocolates.
• If you ever ate dinner in Senegal, you could only eat food off the table with your right hand.
• It is wrong to write a business card in Senegal, even if it’s your own!
• In Senegal, it is polite to leave a little bit of food on your plate once your done eating.
• The Senegalese will never hand someone a gift with their left hand.

Sources:

http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/senegal.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senegal

http://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sg.html#top

http://www.news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/country_porfiles/1064496.stm

http://goafrica.about.com/od/senegal/a/senegalfacts.htm

MYTH BLOG

Throughout the creation myths, there are many common factors they share.            

          In many of the myths, including the Babylonian’s creation story, the Norse creation story and the Iroquois creation story, they talk about how in the beginning, the god/s ruled in the sky. They looked down upon the earth. I think this is significant and not just a coincidence. By putting them in the sky, they are showing that the gods have dominance over the people. That is another commonality I see in the creation myths. In all the myths I read, the people worship the gods, the gods don’t worship the people. I think this is because the people were created by the gods so they feel they aren’t as important as their creator.

          Another trait I found common among the creation myths was that there was a tree of life/knowledge. In the Norse creation story, the tree was called Yggdrasil. It was so tall it grew through the three layers of their earth. It grew in the center of the world. In the Old Testament, the tree was represented as the tree of life. When Adam and Eve ate from it, they lost their mortality and God was very angry with them. I think the tree was the symbol for these stories because a tree is big and powerful. It starts out as a small seed and grows into a something that can be huge. This would represent life.

          In many myths, the world started out as nothing. Complete nothingness. In the creation story for the Maori, the nothingness was called Te Kore. In the Norse creation myth, the nothingness was called Ginnungagap. In the Old Testment, it was said, “In the beginning, there was nothing.” I think this is weird to think about how far we’ve come. The world started out as nothing, I can’t even picture that. How could something so huge come out of nothing? It’s crazy.

          In all the myths I read, the people have dominance over the animals. In the Old Testament, God tells Adam personally that he is more important than the animals. I think that this explains why we are the way we are. Imagine if humans were the ones who were domesticated by zebras! Life would be very different. I think that what happened in the creation story put this segregation in but it would probably happen anyway because humans are the most intelligent animals on the planet.

We may never know how the earth really came to be, but throughout the world many people have similar ideas.

TOP TEN LIST OF WHAT IM GRATEFUL FOR-THANKSGIVING 2010

This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for many things. My life is good and I’m glad to have all my family. They would be at the top of my list. But, there are a few more things I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving…

10. My house. Even though most of the time I would consider my house as a necessity, there are many people throughout the world who would do anything to sleep under a warm roof.

9. Dr. Pepper. Dr. Pepper is the best drink ever invented. It’s so bubbly and delicious. It’s like Cherry Coke and Root Beer mixed together.

8. Clothes. If I didn’t have clothes, I probably wouldn't be able to go out in public; so, my life would be very boring. I’m grateful I don’t have a boring life.

7.  Facebook. Facebook is a way I keep in touch with all my friends that go to different schools. I can keep up with everything, and talk to all my distant relatives.

6. My iPod. The iPod is the greatest innovation in the history of mankind. You can listen to music whenever and wherever you want. Before I had my iPod I could only listen to music in my mom’s car when she wouldn’t want to listen to her own music, which was like always. So, now I can listen to all my music whenever I want!

5. Arby’s. Arby’s has the best Italian sandwich in the whole wide world. It is so warm and cheesy and it has banana peppers on it which makes it even better!

4. My phone. I’m glad to have my own phone so I can talk to my friends outside of school. Plus, we don’t have a home phone, so I wouldn’t be able to talk to my friends.

3. Taco Bell. Taco Bell is always a pick-me-up. It is really yummy, especially at night for a fourth meal. Mexican food is also my favorite type of food, so Taco Bell is definitely the best fast food place around.

2. My friends. These people make school fun. If it weren't for them school would be so much more boring. I love my friends.☺

1. Soccer. Soccer is a lot of fun. I’m glad to have it in my life. This sport is filled with kicking soccer balls and pushing people down. It is so much fun! Personally, I like indoor better than outdoor and I like playing in domes.

Aborigines of Australia

          Rabbit Proof Fence and Walkabout are very similar in many ways. Both stories are about the Aborigine people of Australia. In Rabbit Proof Fence, the three Aborigine girls are forced away from their mothers by the police and taken to a camp-like place. In Walkabout, an Aborigine boy helps Mary and Peter, (two Americans,) when they are stranded in the hot, dry land of the Outback. Rabbit Proof Fence is a story where it shows how Aborigines are treated in Australia. The police abduct the three Aborigine girls, Molly, Daisy and Gracie; Molly and Daisy are sisters while Gracie is their cousin. The white people of Australia want to “breed the African American out of them.” The police take them to a camp where they live with about fifty other Aborigine children. They are taught the European way of life. After a few long days at the camp, the three girls escape during the church ceremonies. The girls travel through the Outback of Australia, trying not to get caught by the tracker, Moodoo, or the police. In Walkabout, Mary and Peter’s plane crashed near the deserts of Australia, far away from any civilization. They are the only survivors from the plane. On their journey to civilization of some sort, they come across an Aborigine boy traveling by himself, a “bush boy.” He helps them survive by finding them food and water. From both of these stories, one can conclude that the Aborigine culture is not as developed as some of the other cultures around the world. Even though this may be true, this doesn’t mean that those cultures are superior to the Aborigine culture. The white people of Australia thought that they were helping the Aborigines by abducting them and imposing their own culture. I don’t think this was right; no culture is superior to another culture.

If your over 12, no trick-or-treating for you!





In Belville, Illinois, trick-or-treaters are being restricted. If you are over twelve, you cannot go out on Halloween unless you want to be fined. I think this is a really dumb idea.

First off, a lot of people might not even follow this law. Some people get so into Halloween that they would rather go out and risk being stopped by a police car than sit at home. Secondly, how can a police man know what age a kid is? If they are wearing masks and body suits, how can a police man tell if it is even a kid? Many kids will very likely be upset with this new law. Halloween is many kid’s favorite holidays. They get to go out and get free candy, what kid wouldn’t like it? On the other hand, there have been many incidents with teenagers being destructive on Halloween night. This was probably the motive of the people when they thought of this law. They don’t want stupid teenagers going around setting buildings on fire or tee-peeing houses. This would be a hard controversy to decide. Do you not let the kids go trick-or-treating all together? Or should you just let them go and then try and keep control of the bad kids? Obviously, the people of Belville decided to take the first route. Personally, I don’t think that is a good idea. Many kids will be mad at this decision. Many kids will go out and trick-or-treat anyways. Plus, like I mentioned earlier, how could the police man even make sure the child is under twelve? It doesn’t seem logical. What if they are wearing a mask? What if they are wearing a suit that covers their whole body? Also, if the police men are driving around looking for older kids, couldn’t they just drive around looking for suspicious behavior? I think this idea had a good concept behind it, but I doubt it will work effectively.

Is Leblouh a Way to Attract a Soul Mate, or an Unhealthy Threat to Women's Lives?

Leblouh is a tradition practiced Mauritania. Women are forced to sit in rooms and eat for at least 90 days; men in Mauritania admire obese women. They believe they will find a husband if they force fatten themselves.

Leblouh is unhealthy and threatening to the lives of many women in Mauritania.

           Young women in Mauritania have two choices. One, they eat until they bulge, or two, they get beaten brutally."My mother started fattening me forcibly when I was 13-years-old. She used to beat me to eat more oiled couscous and fat lamb's meat. Each time I thought my stomach would explode," Selekeha Mint Sidi of Mauritania remembers. This type of tradition puts the young ladies at a risk of many health problems. Vomiting is a daily habit for girls in Mauritania. Their stomach cannot even contain all the food that is being stuffed into them. When you vomit, the acid sticks to your teeth. After a while, your teeth will turn as yellow as a ripe banana and then they will begin to rot away one tooth at a a time. Why do these women need a man so bad? The only thing they will need after this, is a pair of dentures. Mar Jabero Capdeferro, in charge of gender programs for the U.N. Population Fund in Mauritania, states, "Nowadays, the girls are force-fed with chemicals used to fatten animals...they're very fat, in their forties and fifties, they cannot even move, they have hypertension, diabetes, and so on." The chemicals used for fattening animals, obviously should not be used on young girls like this. It is repulsive to think girls are being forced to drink this. If you do these horrendous things to your body, it will strike back. As Capdeferro says, when the women get older they are faced with things like diabetes and hypertension. Diseases like these are fatal. Is finding a soul mate really worth facing death?

Is Bussing Really Worth $400 a Year?

          In Massachusetts, there have been many heated debates over whether to make parents pay for their child to ride the bus to school or not. Since the beginning, public transportation to school has been the easy route for many parents. It’s free, good for the environment, plus they can get to work earlier and not have to worry about getting their child to school. Having a bus just makes life easier for everyone.

On average, if the proposal goes through, parents would have to pay about $400 a year per child. If you have two kids, that’s $800 a year. If you have three kids, that’s $1,200 a year. Let’s not even think about someone having more than three kids. Imagine going from paying nothing to all of a sudden paying over $1,000 for bussing! This is a very big change and most Americans would not be able to handle it. The majority of families do not have this kind of money to just give to the transportation system, so the busses will most likely be very empty. If they only have a handful of students on the bus, they will probably raise the price even more to accommodate all of the expenses with the little amount of people paying. Then those people, who already pay the $400, won’t want to pay anymore so they will probably leave the system too. Basically, there won’t be any students riding the bus.

Let’s say a car emits x amount of pollutants into the air on the way to school. There are 50 kids driving to school in 50 different cars because their parents could not afford for their child to ride the bus. That’s 50x amount of pollutants being emitted into the air just for one day for one school. If there is 500,000 schools in the U.S., that’s 25,000,000x pollutants in one day. There is at least 200 days of school. Therefore, per year, at least 5,000,000,000x pollutants are contaminating our air because bus transportation is too expensive. Now, if all these students just rode the bus, that number would drop dramatically. Riding a bus helps the environment. We can’t help the environment though if we cannot afford it.

Expensive bussing leads to no students wanting to ride the bus. No students riding the bus leads to parents taking their kids to school which leads to more pollutants being emitted in our air. That leads us to a bad environment. The list is endless.

This proposal will just turn everything into a huge mess.