Another week down.

I made it through my first real week of classes. I have finally met all of my professors, and my classes seem interesting. These are the classes that I am taking while I’m here;

GEO 302 Introduction to Resource Analysis

ENG 344 Introduction to African Literature

ENG 358 Modern Drama

HIS 302 Ghana in the 19^th and 20^th Centuries

MUSC 042 Introduction to African Popular Music

DAN 044 African Dance Forms

I’m really excited about my dance class; it’s by far my favorite. Even though it is mostly international students, there are still lots of Ghanaians as well. They really make you feel welcome, even when you know you look like an idiot.

I had an interesting lecture in my Introduction to African Literature course today. We are reading a book called “The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born”. It is written about Kwame Nkrumah, the leader who helped declare Ghana’s independence from the British. The professor talked about colonization, and how Africa is still controlled by white people. I felt rather awkward and uncomfortable being the only one of two white students in a class of seventy, while the professor talked about how much their lives are affected by white people whether they want to admit it or not.

The Modern Drama class was by far the most boring class I have ever taken. The professor spent an hour discussing the difference between plays and written work. He really liked to talk; he talked for the whole two hours. I almost ran out of the room when it was finally over. It’s hard enough to sit through my hour and fifteen minute classes back home. And there I can fully understand the professor, the building has air conditioning, and the chairs are at least somewhat comfortable. But I really should take this class because it will transfer back to Eau Claire for the literature credits I need. And this is when all those elective credits you need to take makes me angry, but then I think hey if it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be here. I can’t take CSD classes while I’m here, so fulfilling my general education requirements was the only thing that gave me this chance.   

All of my other classes seem fairly exciting so far, and I feel like I will really enjoy this semester. There isn’t so much stress on succeeding, like there is back home. Even though things are unorganized and not as prestigious as they are at UWEC, I’m going to embrace it. I am so ready for a somewhat stress free semester where I can learn at my own leisure. 

I'm off to the Volta region for the weekend. We are going to a waterfall, a monkey sanctuary and hiking Ghana's largest mountain! I'll tell you all about it when I get back!