Moving on up

It hasn't rained all day today! That's a rarity here. It usually rains for at least 20 minutes a day, but the weather is highly unpredictable. Yesterday it rained allllll day long. Downer.

Perfect Day Today!

Rainy Day Yesterday : (

Rainyyyy

Today it's perfect out : )


This morning I went into the ISEF building (the French as a second language building) to finalize my schedule. This has not been an easy process. In Europe, the credits are called E.C.T.S. I don't know what it stands for, except for stupid. One must take 30 ects a semester to have 15 hours at Truman, or most American universities. And it's not like one class is worth 5 E.C.T.S., you just have to take a ton of them. Also, at UAG, the classes are split into 2 once a week sections-- TD (homework assignments, corrections etc) and CM (lectures). But they are at different times and different places, so as you  can imagine making a schedule with pencil and paper is classes (nothing is done online). So, after a work-week of rearranging here are the classes I'm taking (with my best French translation):

Introduction to regional languages of the Antilles and French Guiana (creole)
American worlds, civilizations and interculturality.
French language and linguistics
Literature of French speaking Antilles, French Guiana and Haiti
Writing and Editing (In English)
General and Comparative literature of Caribbean cultures
Popular music and revolution in Cuba (awesome).
Culture and Society of Caribbean English speaking islands
Apprenticeship of the language and culture of the Americas (in English)

Wow. Needless to say I won't have a life. And one of the ladies that helped me put my schedule together on Thursday was ruthless. She asked me several times how many semesters of French she had taken, and if she was speaking English her talking speed would compare only to those guys at auctions. I was bewildered by her, she was the most difficult lady to understand I have ever met. However, I did understand her making fun of the American university system for only taking 15 credits a semester (even though it's entirely different) and her various other American cracks. I get it, you clever little lady, you hate America. However, I am here. Please shut up.
So now that I have that done, I am pretty excited.

Kitchen View!

Rainy Palm treeee

I got invited to a party. I know it sounds like no big deal, but it's the high light of my Caribbean experience so far. When I got to school, I was immediately stripped of my confidence. I feel like I just transferred schools in junior high, like I have a blotchy birth mark on my face, braces and a speech impediment. I can hardly speak, never mind impress people with my charm and finesse (haha). It's rough. But it's coming along.
I got invited to a party.
I made a French friend named Stanley. I am becoming close with other study abroad students (particulary Joe from Atlanta and Melinda from Dominica). It's happening. But rebuilding that lost confidence is a slow, tumultuous and unpredictable process. For instance, today I went to the store for the first time. Again, being brave and exploring has been difficult, so taking the insanely difficult to understand public transportation to the store is a big step. However, when I was buying my assorted groceries, I had an issue with the check out lady. Here is my best translation from French
She said to me, so quietly it was inaudible and extremely quickly, you have to weigh the apples (in French, of course). I didn't recognize the verb to weigh, and she repeated her self. Joe took over because he'd bought fruit before and ran them over there. Everyone in line had to wait-- embarrassing, but not then end of the world. She continued-- Do you speak French?
Yes, I'm a student at UAG.
--Of French?
Yes.
--One must speak French to be a French student.
Thank you, self righteous grocery clerk. How could I have forgotten. The contempt I have experienced is unrivaled by anyone else. There is both an issue of race and nationality here, it is real and it is obvious.

Mon petit Lit!

I hope nothing terrible ever happens, because I don't know what that says.

But the students so far have been kind, the friends I'm making are kind and classes start on Monday for which I am excited. It's getting better, all the time, and I am slowly but surely losing this cooped up feeling and beginning the experience I thought I would have.
For Instance...
Yesterday I spent the better part of two hours talking to Melinda. Each room has balconies and ours are next to each other. She is from the tiny island of Dominica, and her accent is the bomb. She told me all sorts of things, about how Dominica can fit several times over within Central Park, about how the school system there is flawed, about how Chavez and other political leaders have been and are running illegal programs there, and about how people are dying. She lost two friends to jealous lovers and that was the end of that she said. She's very funny, super smart and does killer accents, and while we talked for ages about all sorts of things we had in common, we come from such different places.
She says the moment things get worse in Dominica she's going to swim to America. "Girl, trust me, even if you think you got it good you don't know how good you got it."