I guess I am falling a bit behind in posting so it is time for an update!
School goes on as usually. This is the first week of socio classes for second semester and so, as expected, most profs are not yet around! Next week the classes should kick off for sure. The biggest problem is that the students have decided to take this week off essentially because the two weeks before they have been working insanely hard with assignments, exams and in-class tests all crammed together in an attempt to finish up first semester!! But soon classes will get underway. This semester I will even have some classes with female profs!! That will be interesting!!
While classes go on as usual...we seek out our excitement off campus, and sometimes it finds us without us even asking.
Yesterday we had a meeting with a man who directs an organization for orphans in Saint Louis. There is no orphanage in Saint Louis, so this organization works with orphans and abandoned kids by providing them with an extra support base for all of their needs. This man is just really incredible! He has such a big heart and gives all of his time for others...He is also a veterinarian by profession. Which means that in his office in the back corner he has odd specimens preserved in big glass jars. Yes yes, it is as creepy as it sounds.
We walked in to his office and all of us (Lenny, Annie, Genet and I) gasped at these dead animals in jars! It was a little hard to see what they were but none of us wanted to get too close. Then the director came in and told us that before we could talk about the subject at hand (orphans and the association) he needed to explain something to us and show us something! He then went on to explain that in the jars were specimens of abnormal births of various animals. There were siamese twin lambs, a 3 meter long python, a turtle (not sure what the defect was there), the penis of a bull with two shafts, a lamb with two tongues and three nostrils, and the most astonishing....a lamb with the head of a rabbit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am not joking! He explained that all of these were found or brought to him while he studied and worked as a vetenarian. We spent about 20 minutes peering into the jars while he explained how they found these specimens and where in detail and totally nonchalantly.
I think Genet and Annie took pictures, so I will try to post those eventually. I am not even sure what to think. Most of the animals seemed fairly possible...siamese lambs, okay...believable....two tongues, three nostrils, strange but certainly possible...But never have I ever seen anything like the lamb with the rabbit's head. And I looked for stitching to see if it had been tampered with...certainly didn't look like it. I know that this sounds crazy...I don't even know what to think!! All I know is I certainly hadn't expected to see such bizarre things on a normal everday Tuesday afternoon!!!!
And then just as normally as he had introduced his 'specimens' we sat back down and he explained the situation in Saint Louis for orphans and abandoned children!! A situation that is super complex...That story will have to be for another time...
For now I will leave you with the image of the 'miracle of birth' as they call it...
Ligeey Ligeey!!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Ça c’est l’afrique…
Sociology exams DONE - Political Science exams...upcoming!
Yesterday we FINALLY finished our sociology exams. I only had two to do and was totally prepared for them last week (when they were scheduled to be) but 'Ça c’est l’afrique'** so no such luck at doing them they day they were scheduled :) Both profs postponed until Monday. Which - wasn't a bad thing since in reality it meant more study time!
In the end the exams were...interesting. The first one was in our development durable course. The way these exams work (they are oral) are that you show up, and you write your name on a list and then about 4 students at a time are called in. Everyone is given a subject and you have a few minutes to prepare...then one by one you present. You can be sitting there for hours!
We started the process in the morning at 10 with on prof and didn't finish until 5 with the other prof - all the waiting around. The first prof was pretty bad. He took students until about 1:00 and then took a break until 3:00 and at that point he only took some of the students. The rest had to wait until today. But he had promised us we would go at three but he didn't tell us he had to leave at 4:00. So we finally got into his office at 10 to 4 and he said he was in a hurry so it had to be quick. We each had 5 minutes...he wasn't even listening and he even made phone calls while we were talking. He most certainly just made up random marks!!! But thats okay, its over! And apparently he is a really great academic, he just doesn't show it so much to his students....
The second exam was more serious and the prof actually listened and took interest and asked questions! Phew!!
At this point I am just glad it is over. Now we move on to exams in poli sci! ARGH!
Wish me luck!
_______________________
**
Ça c’est l’afrique – This is Africa!
This little phrase is a favorite of people here. Our profs say it, sometimes multiple times in one class. Students say it to explain inexplicable things that happen. Anything that seems a little odd ‘This is Africa’….some of you will understand!
And
Ça c’est Canada...according to Prof. Dieng
We have this hilarious professor for Environmental Law! He is so great. He teases the students all the time and makes jokes. He was talking about climate change and extreme temperatures and started talking about how cold it is in places like Canada. Then he asked us how cold it could get. I said -20 C was pretty average for the heart of winter. Then he said “you guys have a lot of tunnels don’t you?” and Lenny and I kind of looked confused and said “yes, sort of, in some cities…” and he went on to this huge spiel about how Canadians live underground and never emerge during the winter and they escape to their underground safety when it gets cold because it they go outside they will die horrible deaths…the whole class was laughing! And this is how misconceptions are perpetuated :) Although, I hope the students knew he was joking!
Yesterday we FINALLY finished our sociology exams. I only had two to do and was totally prepared for them last week (when they were scheduled to be) but 'Ça c’est l’afrique'** so no such luck at doing them they day they were scheduled :) Both profs postponed until Monday. Which - wasn't a bad thing since in reality it meant more study time!
In the end the exams were...interesting. The first one was in our development durable course. The way these exams work (they are oral) are that you show up, and you write your name on a list and then about 4 students at a time are called in. Everyone is given a subject and you have a few minutes to prepare...then one by one you present. You can be sitting there for hours!
We started the process in the morning at 10 with on prof and didn't finish until 5 with the other prof - all the waiting around. The first prof was pretty bad. He took students until about 1:00 and then took a break until 3:00 and at that point he only took some of the students. The rest had to wait until today. But he had promised us we would go at three but he didn't tell us he had to leave at 4:00. So we finally got into his office at 10 to 4 and he said he was in a hurry so it had to be quick. We each had 5 minutes...he wasn't even listening and he even made phone calls while we were talking. He most certainly just made up random marks!!! But thats okay, its over! And apparently he is a really great academic, he just doesn't show it so much to his students....
The second exam was more serious and the prof actually listened and took interest and asked questions! Phew!!
At this point I am just glad it is over. Now we move on to exams in poli sci! ARGH!
Wish me luck!
_______________________
**
Ça c’est l’afrique – This is Africa!
This little phrase is a favorite of people here. Our profs say it, sometimes multiple times in one class. Students say it to explain inexplicable things that happen. Anything that seems a little odd ‘This is Africa’….some of you will understand!
And
Ça c’est Canada...according to Prof. Dieng
We have this hilarious professor for Environmental Law! He is so great. He teases the students all the time and makes jokes. He was talking about climate change and extreme temperatures and started talking about how cold it is in places like Canada. Then he asked us how cold it could get. I said -20 C was pretty average for the heart of winter. Then he said “you guys have a lot of tunnels don’t you?” and Lenny and I kind of looked confused and said “yes, sort of, in some cities…” and he went on to this huge spiel about how Canadians live underground and never emerge during the winter and they escape to their underground safety when it gets cold because it they go outside they will die horrible deaths…the whole class was laughing! And this is how misconceptions are perpetuated :) Although, I hope the students knew he was joking!
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