Bird Observations

On Wednesday we went through the mangroves in a pirouge and there we saw many birds in their natural habitat like herons, pelicans, kingfishers and other birds. We either drew them or took photo's.

Star gazing whooohooo!

On the first night of our stay at Sine Saloum, The 7th Grade went star gazing. Unfortunately there were no shooting stars that some of us found out were actually meteors that were moving so fast they went ablaze. It was cool we learnt lots of things but man it was cold outside especially if all you wore untop was a t-shirt.

Interview

On Thursday we met with some students of a school within Sine Saloum. We interviewed them in french and asked them some questions like: Comment t'appelles-tu? Quel age as-tu?
Quel est ton cours prefere a l'ecole? Tu parles combien de langues? Les quelles? Then they asked us some questions after we were done.

Mangrove food web

We saw many animals in the mangroves of Sine Saloum which was awsome! So here is a food web of a few of them we saw.

Shells: Reuse,Reduce and Recycle

On the trip we also learned that the locals at Shell Island recycled thier shells and how they did it.
First they'd eat up the oysters and keep the shells. They'd collected all the shells, burn them first and crush them afterwards. Finaly they would mix the shells with sand, leave them to dry in the sun and that's how they made bricks from shells

Proverbs

During our lovely stay in Sine Saloum we had to do skit versions of traditonal folk tales. We had to prepare and practice for it on the pirouge to the hotel. All the skits were great but they all had different proverbs. I didn't here any of the proverbs but I knew what the folk tales were trying to tell us.
The first skit's message was to be kind to nature. The second skit's message proverb was not to cheat other's and to be wise. The third skit's proverb was to know who to trust and be careful around people who want to trick you. And finally the last skit's message was to have limits and to stop some times even when you are eating.

FOUR QUESTIONS

What are some biotic and abiotic factors of mangroves and oysters?
The water carries nutrients to oysters hanging on mangroves.
The king fisher eats an oyster.

Describe a symbiotic relationship between mangroves and other organisms.
The birds that nest in the mangroves live together without harming each other.

How do the 3 religions in Fadhjout coexist?
They all share the same grave yard

Describe in your own words how shell Island was formed?
People may have eaten oysters or other shelled animals and dropped their shells on the ground and soon enough they piled up and hardened into the ground and became part of the Island.

Thoughts on the food we ate at Sine Saloum

JOSEPH'S THOUGHTS.

The fish we had on Thursday was alright but it had some uncooked parts. But I respected the food and ate it. So it tasted good apart from that.

On Friday we ate rice on a big plate and it was the best. I didn't eat with my hands though. It tasted salty and had fish once again that was well cooked this time.

FRASER'S THOUGHTS.
I thought the food we ate in Sine Saloum was really interesting taste wise. We really tried our best to respect the Senegalese food culture. We all tried our best to finish the meals even if they wern't to pleasing.

Food!

Wednesday night dinner
On the first night in Sine Saloum we didn't really know what to expect of the food. We were served diced tomato with olive oil sauce. We were then treated to spaghetti with a meat sauce. For desert The entire 7th grade were treated to a chocolate cake with sprinkles of coconut.

Thursday breakfast

Breakfast in Sine Saloum was good. For breakfast the waiters served small pieces of bread with chocolate sauce and orange jam. We also were given the choice of coffee or tea. Tea and coffee would have been a little nicer if the milk liquid instead of powdered.

Thursday afternoon
We ate fish and rice with sauce and we all got free sodas. Fraser took a coke and Joseph took a sprite.

Friday breakfast
We had once again a good break fast bread slices, butter, jam and chocolate sauce with either tea, coffee and hot chocolate.

Friday lunch

For lunch we had a nice plate of traditional Senegaleese rice with fish and fish balls. And to drive it all down a soda of our choice.

Free Time

Free time for people (7th graders) means time to relax! For 7th grade its like a giant party! We ran all over the place! Jumping hammocks, people shinning torches in each other eyes(Imaya at Karim) and whats a party without the occasional truth or dare competition? Well its not a very good party I would say! Truth or Dare was a great game for the first night in Sine Saloum. Have you ever had that feeling that someones watching you? Well almost all of 7th grade where in one room trying to act cool by daring each other to do stupid things in the restroom... When all of a sudden Ms. Olson walks in and says "busted" And we all were shocked to see a teacher that was listening in on our conversations... All of 7th grade was absolutely embarrassed! Trust me free time the next night was Quite!

By Fraser Spivey

Top five greatest Adventures of Fraser Spivey

1. My most favorite adventure at Sine Saloum 1.learning how to fish with Mrs.Olson.
2.The Second greatest adventure was paying a young man to take about 8 people up a dirt road to the hotel.
3.My third was Visiting the village of Fadhiout also known as shell island.
4.My fourth was talking to my room mate at night about the past days.
5.My final adventure was sailing down the estuary with Mr. Karim Sarr Singing random lyrics. It was by far the best field trip I have ever taken.

Top Five Sine Saloum Adventures of Joseph Jatta

1.Riding in a horse driven chariot whilst the rest of the 7th grade had to walk back to the hotel.
2.Going on a Pirouge that nearly capsized.

3.Acting in a traditional African folktale skit.

4.Not going to school for three days!
5.Running around the hotel at night with friends making noise!