Classes Commence!

So, I’m essentially done for the semester with my first class.
Classes started last Monday, which I was very glad about (about time!). However, the system of classes here is very different. The professor of my first class, Droits de l’homme (human rights), has to go teach somewhere else soon, so the entire class was jammed into one week. This means that I had the same class for four hours in a row, Tuesday through Saturday (yes, Saturday). And then we’ll have a paper to write due in November, but other than that, done. I also don’t know what other classes I’ll be taking yet – the programme (schedule) comes out each week, and changes depending upon the availability of the professor. At UCAC there are three “Options,” which are akin to majors, and everyone in the same option takes the same classes, and has for the previous years as well. So as foreigners it's even more confusing, because we don’t have the same base knowledge as everyone else. It would be better to choose a few first-year classes as well as third-year, but we can’t really do that since the schedule changes each week and there might be future conflicts. I've picked out a couple classes with the Option Sciences Juridiques et Politiques that look interesting to me, so there shouldn't be conflicts in the future. We only take half of our classes at the university, and then have two classes with the Middlebury program: one on African and Cameroonian history, and the other on Cameroonian literature, films, and language.

All the students at university are super nice, I feel like I’ve been making friends with a number of the girls. Everyone here always says “Bonjour” in the morning, even upon entering a taxi with strangers, which makes for a nice atmosphere. I’m working on speaking in class (makes me nervous because I know my French is not perfect). So far, so good! Although I am rather tired these days, probably something to do with how I get up at 5:45am every day to get to class (it theoretically only takes like 30 minutes, but if I leave after 6:30am there is lots and lots of traffic). Ugh.

Here is a picture of campus:

Université Catholique d'Afrique Centrale campus Nkol-Bisson

Monitor Lizard

In other news, we visited a village the week before, which was tremendously fun. A group of people started drumming and dancing and we joined in. Also, we ate this lizard-non lizard thing that apparently is the food of kings. It was pretty tasty, kind of a mix between chicken and pork.

For eating

I also ventured out with mon père (father) to visit a friend just outside the city, which was delightful. I had a long philosophical conversation with his friend about marriage and the point of life (reproduction, in his opinion, which kind of makes sense because he is a biologist by profession). I also watched a pig getting slaughtered (although the knife was very dull and it took a while, making my stomach do flip-flops).

This past weekend (it has been a while since posting! Time passes quickly when you get up super early to have class Monday through Saturday), we went to a conference for the anniversary of the death of Mongo Beti, a renowned Cameroonian writer and activist. On the 7th (which happens to be the birthday of my dear sister, happy belated birthday!) we then went to his village for another event. As I learn more about him (we're reading one of his works in the literature course) I will be sure to tell you. For now it will suffice to say that I really love visiting villages and taking some deep breaths outside the city. Cities are exhausting.

I don't think I've mentioned yet that the weather here is perfect every day, although it does rain pretty hard pretty frequently (it's the wet season for the moment). But the temperature is great, and I love not having to worry about carrying layers. I did get sunburnt once because I forgot sunscreen (it was raining in the morning! but became rather hot later), and my skin is more sensitive because of the malaria medication, Doxycycline. Oh well, I'm remembering sunscreen every day now. 

Well, I have homework to get back to. I also have to vote, which for me requires downloading the most recent version of Acrobat, since I opted to vote by email (an option for overseas). Don't forget to vote, everyone! Voting is very, very important. If you don't know anything about the candidates in your area, now is a good time to do research so you can be a well-informed citizen, and go to the polls knowing you will make the right choice.