UGB = Gaston Berger University

Currently, I am sitting in the hallway of the library building at the university in Saint Louis where I am typing on my laptop and accessing wireless internet! Just thought I'd share because when I learned that I could use wireless internet here I almost hugged the random man who configured my laptop.  Wireless internet is just the tip of the sundae here though, Gaston Berger is truly an awesome place and it feels so nice to be on a campus.  

For those of you who are familiar with the university in Madison, Gaston Berger is ... nothing like that.  Honestly, I did not tour a single college campus before choosing to go to school in Madison so I'm not familiar with the feel of a small private school, but I'm guessing that is what the university here in Saint Louis is like.  Campus is basically in the middle of nowhere, and when I say nowhere I mean it! Landscape in this area I think is referred to as savannah, but to be more specific, the campus is sand with trees dispersed throughout.  It's pretty sparse looking and during the day there is very little shelter from the sun, but at night it is really nice!

Lodging here in Africa has its ups and downs.  On the positive side, my dorm room is much bigger than my dorm in Madison was, and it is divided into three areas including a shower and sink. Both my roomate and I have our own space for our bed, desks, and closets.  On the not so positive side, the shower and sink only work between 11 pm and 6 am, so I have to keep a bucket of water filled all the time to do normal things like wash my face, brush my teeth, and flush the toilet.  Haha, oh wait, there is no toilet.  That would be the other negative side of the dorms, the toilets I believe are referred to as turkish toilets, meaning that they are a hole  in the floor with some tile that funnels towards it.  After almost a week though, i'm pretty used to the water/toilet situation.

Besides checking out the campus, I sit and stare aimlessly at the empty bed across the room from me.  Just kidding, I don't sit around much, but the bed across from me is empty because my roommate has not moved in yet! That may not sound weird to you, but in theory, classes started last Monday, so I think it's pretty weird that at least half of the students haven't arrived at school yet.  Picking classes has been interesting and a constant reminder that I'm on Africa time.  I hope that doesn't sound rude, it's just that everything here moves alot slower than it does in the States.  Monday morning, as in two days from now, I'm supposed to begin attending classes.  Unfortunately, I am still waiting for the class schedule from the political science and economics department, so I guess I'll just wing it? I haven't totally been slacking this week though, we have Wolof classes and "remedial" French classes for two hours pretty much everyday.  French in theory is "remedial," but i'm finding it to be quite challenging because our professor had us reorganizing newspaper headlines into full length sentences for a really long time last week.  It sounds kind a random, and it definitely was, but I can kind of see the merits of the activity...

Otherwise, life here in Saint-Louis is pretty nice.  At night the temperature is in the sixties and it is gorgeous with the breeze and crickets and stars! We eat all our meals in the cafeteria, and I believe that each meal costs around 30 cents so it's super affordable because the meals are subsidized by the University.  In general, the food is edible.  Bread and coffee are the usual breakfast, lunch is something with rice, and dinner is very random.  One night we had potato omelets and tonight we had a ball of meet and bread.  Other random things to fill you in on: yes we have electricity! I bought a fan for my bedroom, which makes sleeping pretty much perfect.  Earlier in the week I attempted to buy a power strip, but it turns out that what I actually bough was a strangely deformed power strip that lights up aesthetic appeal but is completely ineffective.  Mainly, water is the source of most inconveniences because it doesn't reach many campus buildings and the classroom bathrooms kind of gross.

I'll update again tomorrow, it's been an interesting week!