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Home: Welcome
welcome to my blog
Hi!! My name is Wassa Bagayoko and I am a 2021 Fulbright English Teaching Assistant to Côte d’Ivoire. For the next nine months, I’ll be teaching English in Abidjan. As I prepared for my grant, I felt there was an absence of information for travelers/expats to Côte d’Ivoire, so I decided to start this blog. I hope it can be helpful for future Fulbrighters, travelers to Côte d’Ivoire, or anyone interested in following my journey. If you're new, start below at the featured posts strip!
This blog will feature travel tips, fellowship reflections, photos, recommendations, and social commentary. Think of it as public journal. I encourage you to take what resonates and leave what doesn’t. I hope you enjoy. ❤️
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wassa123
Feb 17, 20222 min read
Quotable Quotes Weeks 21 - 24: Theory is An Art, Decolonization is a Practice
I know I've been slacking with these lately, but it just means that I am busy and present enough to not write every moment down! These...
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wassa123
Jan 23, 20221 min read
Quotable Quotes Week 19 and 20: If You Ever Date Here, Good Luck
Week 20: “A culture which isn’t locally grounded is hardly a culture at all” "How can we reimagine social welfare, so that labor does not...
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wassa123
Jan 9, 20221 min read
Quotable Quotes Week 17: You Can't Pin Joy Like a Moth
“The thrill of life is not about who we are but who we are in the process of becoming.” “Language isn’t all-encompassing, it’s only a way...
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wassa123
Jan 9, 20221 min read
Quotable Quotes Week 16: Worrying is Like Praying for Things You Don't Want
'‘I think you’re more beautiful than Lupita N’yongo. I know you think that’s a compliment but that’s strike one.” “My sister is 25, she's...
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wassa123
Dec 25, 20211 min read
Quotable Quotes Week 15: We Are Who We Choose To Be
“Knowing love or the hope of knowing love is the anchor that keeps us from falling into that sea of despair” “Is this called a horse...
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wassa123
Dec 17, 20212 min read
Quotable Quotes Week 14: I Call Every Place I Inhabit Home
“You have your own dialect. Wassa African vernacular English” “The minute I see a Nigerian man, I turn and walk the other way”...
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wassa123
Dec 13, 20213 min read
COVID-19 and CDI
I know I said that teaching English was the elephant in the room, but there's another one: our dear friend, COVID-19. I haven’t put off...
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wassa123
Dec 10, 20211 min read
Quotable Quotes Week 13: You Only Acquire Language You Understand
“Queen Elizabeth probably doesn’t even like The Avengers” “Did you hear that Camilla was president for a day? Do you mean Kamala Harris?”...
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wassa123
Dec 7, 20213 min read
A Day in the Life of a Fulbrighter (3 Months In)
I honestly can’t believe it’s been three months! It took me the better half of that time to get into a routine, but here it is: a day in...
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wassa123
Dec 7, 20213 min read
Teacher Reflection Two Months In
The overwhelming majority of my structured time here is spent preparing for and teaching English. I have very informal training in...
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wassa123
Dec 3, 20212 min read
Quotable Quotes Week 12: It is Your Birthright to Explore This World
“It is your birthright to explore this world” “Having more Black people around increases opportunities to learn and evolve, but that...
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wassa123
Nov 26, 20211 min read
Quotable Quotes Week 11: There Are More Things Likely to Frighten us Than There are to Crush us.
“If I didn’t think the world needed saving, I would be an excellent housewife/hostess. I love crafting menus and decorating.” “I mean...
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wassa123
Nov 21, 20213 min read
Banco National Park! 🌴
On Friday, K and I went on a short hike in Banco National Park, a huge national park in the middle of Abidjan. After spending our...
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wassa123
Nov 19, 20211 min read
Quotable Quotes Week 10: Dropping Bombs and Achieving Goals are Two Different Things
“I remind myself that there is no saving of people. They have to save themselves. You can only help” “If it is the privilege of the...
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wassa123
Nov 19, 20213 min read
Abissa
In addition to celebrating R and B’s birthdays, we were in Grand Bassam for Abissa, an annual celebration of forgiveness, rebirth, and...
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wassa123
Nov 15, 20213 min read
Hidden in Plain Sight: Observing Queerness in Abissa Traditions
This blog post is adapted from a conversation with Esther Appiah, an additional member of the 2021 ETA cohort. Esther is a queer, Ghanian...
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wassa123
Nov 13, 20211 min read
Quotable Quotes Week 9: Language is Like Music
“I feel like adulthood is having a bedtime” “Say NO to Malaria!" “Language is like music. Once you know the rhythm, you have it” “I’m not...
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wassa123
Nov 5, 20211 min read
Quotable Quotes Week 8: Africans Love Loudly
“She lost her ever-loving mind” “A wise woman once said ‘god it’s brutal out here’” “Your Ivy League education allowed you to put on a Z...
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wassa123
Nov 3, 20212 min read
🎃 Spooky Season in Côte d'Ivoire 🎃
In honor of Spooky Season, I had a Halloween-themed English Club this week. It kind of backfired a bit though; the kids were more...
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wassa123
Nov 2, 20212 min read
Quotable Quotes Week 7: "Holy shit. Am I wasting this? Am I making this worthwhile?"
“E’s been demoted from wife to sister” “Early Christianity is so cute” “Babies deserve respect automatically” “I love ambiguous emojis”...
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wassa123
Oct 25, 20213 min read
Assinie: A Gem
This past weekend, some friends and I went down to Assinie, a famous beach town about two hours from Abidjan. Even though I’ve been here...
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wassa123
Oct 24, 20213 min read
The Elephant in the Room: Teaching English Abroad...
So, I am here, as an American, teaching English in Africa. On the surface, it feels icky and quite frankly, neocolonialist. Am I here...
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wassa123
Oct 22, 20211 min read
Quotable Quotes Week 6: “Law doesn’t intervene unless there’s an issue”
“My sisters are my greatest form of birth control” “The women here are so beautiful I have to remind myself that I’m straight” “My inner...
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wassa123
Oct 20, 20213 min read
Climate Justice in States With Extreme Human Rights Issues
My thing is climate change. Any independent research opportunity I’ve had since high school has focused on climate change or the...
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