Classes in Africa...

So I just started my second week of classes here at Gaston Berger University, and I have to admit that classes may be the most frustrating aspect of life here in Senegal that I've encountered so far. Picking classes was initially a challenge picking the departments would list classes such as history 110 or geography 301, so the only way to find out what the class is about is to go to class.  I suppose that doesn't sound bad, and it's not, except when you think that you're at French literature and the professor starts speaking in Spanish and then you have to stealthily sprint out of the classroom.  Side note: stealthy does not really apply to tubabs in Senegal, and I really did run out of the room because the professor was shouting something in Spanish at me and I didn't know what to do. haha, good times! Obviously, my class changed it's meeting time or room, but it took me an entire week to figure out when the class actually meets because all of the department administrations are on strike and Professors don't seem to exist except for when they arrive 20 minutes late for class.  

I feel the need to step back because I'm starting to sound like a crazy bitter tubab, it was just a challenging week.  Besides, not all of my professors are bad.  So far I have found two classes that I plan on sticking with the semester, so that's good right? One of the classes is geography of health, which has potential to be really great, if we ever move on from the history of the field. The other class I like is political history of Africa, which is the first lecture style class I've encountered so far. To clarify, by lecture style I mean that my professor speaks to our class with informative statements using the blackboard to clarify terms as well as occasionally interacting with the class.  Every other class I've attended was dictation style, where the professor reads their notes and we write what they say basically word for word.  In theory this should be easier with my mediocre level of French, but I find it quite difficult if they talk quietly or too quickly.  Hopefully I'll have some more success with classes this week, I'm planning on trying out some econ courses because that department didn't start last week due to strikes.

Classes were really the extent of last week for me.  Because I attended more classes than I planned on taking, and because I have my French and Wolof classes on top of those, I didn't really have any free time.  Although, I did have my three meals a day at the cafeteria, which became quite difficult because the rest of the student body decided to return last week, and with only one cafeteria open for 5000 people, we had to wait in line for 45 minutes each meal. It's not really a hardship, it's just another example of things I find slightly frustrating here and generally inefficient!

My weekend jumped off to a rough start Thursday night, when I learned from my host brother that he and his wife separated.  It's pretty sad because they have a little boy together, and I know that the family dynamic will have changed a lot by the time I go back to visit them in December.  After I received a text message from him, I proceeded to plop down on my bed and snap the board under my mattress in half, oops.  Admittedly, the last few nights have been fairly uncomfortable because my mattress sinks into this weird pointy hole now.  Friday was also fun because I woke up feeling pretty sick, and then later that night I decided to make tea on my hot plate plugged into my not so functional power strip.  Another oops moment occurred when a flame shot out of the outlet... now neither mine or my roommate's outlets work, but I did get a mosquito net on saturday so even though I don't have a fan, the bugs can't get me.  Saturday was an interesting day because I was hanging out in a friends room since they had electricity, and when I returned to my room there was a very small person sleeping in the bed across the room.

Apparently, the small person is my roommate, or was my roommate.  She informed me today that she is transferring to a private school in Dakar and is leaving on thursday, I hope I didn't scare her away! She's pretty cool though, so I'm a little sad.  Her name is toko san? I think, and she's not from Senegal, story of my friendships here, but she's an english student and doesn't really speak Wolof.  I'll be sad to see her go, she seems to understand me when I speak French so it's kind of refreshing.  Sunday I went to a tiny tiny church outside of Saint-Louis.  The church itself is the size of an old one room school house, and there were only five people at the service so it was a little different than what I'm used to.  Plus, after the service they asked me to teach their choir some songs in English so they can perform in December, I don't think they could hear me singing... When I got back from church, i noticed that the entire floor of my room was a puddle, and soon after my roommate explained to me she was cleaning, a little more intense than my usual sweeping, but much appreciated! After lunch, the Madison girls and I set off across the desert to find some hotel with a pool that we are allowed to use for free because the owner knows someone who is important or something.  The trek itself was interesting because we got lost in some village with the sun beating down and the sand burning our feet.  Not that I can complain though, we found the pool and it was wonderfully refreshing, even though I would describe it as tubabtastic.  That's about my weekend in a nutshell.  It was pretty low key due to me being sick and the internet not working, but I hope all is well in the states!