Abstract
In travel, the shock of the returning home is often no less surprising and visceral than that of entering a new culture, as with distance and perspective the traveler watches her norms become suddenly unfamiliar. This is a story of relearning the language of home after two months spent building a fence in the small village of Penyem, the Gambia, and of bridging the uncomfortable distance between the U.S. and Africa in an attempt to preserve love and the memories of a place. The things that surface in that bridging – the inadequacies, necessity and beautiful spaces of language difference and translation, the loneliness of distance, and the power of human connection – are the products of a rough but invaluable resettling.
Recommended Citation
Svenson, Rachel
(2011)
"Continents,"
Proceedings of GREAT Day: Vol. 2010, Article 13.
Available at:
https://knightscholar.geneseo.edu/proceedings-of-great-day/vol2010/iss1/13