Classes and Hockey and Nigerian Tourists... oh crap!

This week is my first week of real classes. Last week was the official "first week", but it's an unwritten rule that neither the students nor the professors go to classes. Methinks it's an elaborate joke played on the white international students who walk cluelessly into empty lecture halls and sit around, waiting for class to start, wondering if they're in the right room.

Anyways, so far, I've had Theories of Social Development, which is a giant 4th year class and may be a waste of my time, since I probably know most of them. The other, which I am very excited about, is Elementary Arabic. I'm one of the only white students in the class, but I'm catching on quickly to pronunciations and the Arabic alphabet (which is something completely different) and plus the prof already likes me. It carries the load of two regular classes, so there's a large committment, but I'll be able to count it as a development credit, so it goes towards my major. (Why Twi, the local language and much more practical, isn't counted, is baffling to me. All of the American students are taking it.)


Waking up this morning was a strange affair. At about 8am, there was the sound of many people milling about, talking loudly. I walked out of my room and found myself surrounded by Nigerians students who were apparently on a field trip of sorts. They all gathered around me to take big group pictures and asked me for my e-mail and phone number, like I was some kind of celebrity. The same happened to Liu, a soft-spoken student from China. It was like we walked into somebody's high school graduation or something! Anyways, I ducked out quickly for some breakfast in the kitchen downstairs and they were gone quickly, which suited me fine.


Been reading the news today. Televangelist and onetime presidential candidate Pat Robertson said that the US government should assassinate Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. There's American moral values and Christian ethics in action. Man, did the Bush administration drop him like he was hot, or what?... Uganda is under fire for mismanaging AIDS prevention funding. It's an interesting case there, one for another time... The Senators traded Hossa and de Vries for Danny Heatley. Next year is going to be a good season. Anyways, it's lunchtime and I'm going to go for some red-red (beans and fried plantain).

Yum.