classes!

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

A number of people have asked me about my classes, so I'll give a little update! I'm taking Gender and Development, Politics of Kenya, Swahili I, and Geographies of Development. My schedule goes like this:

Monday: 9 - 1 Swahili; 1 - 2 Lunch; 2 - 4 Geographies of Development

Tuesday: 9 - 11 Gender and Development; 11 - 1 Political Science

Wednesday: 9 - 1 Swahili; 1 - 2 Lunch; 2 - 4 Political Science

Thursday: 11 - 1 Geographies of Development; 1 - 2 Lunch; 2 - 4 Gender and Development

So I have some free time 1 - 4 on Tuesdays, and don't have to be at school until 11 on Thursdays, which is nice! All of our classes are going well. Swahili I and Geographies of Development are ending next week and we'll start Swahili II and then do our ICRP stuff. (ICRP = Inter-cultural Research Project.) I found out today I'll be volunteering in a hospital, hopefully in an HIV/AIDs clinic!! I'm SUPER excited. Sometime next week Lillian (our resident director) will be taking me to the hospital to get situated.

Our homework for Swahili (due tomorrow) was to write about our families. Here's what I wrote! (I'll give a translation, don't worry.)

"Nina Baba na Mama na kaka wapili. Nina mbwa anaitwa Zoey na buku anaitwa Ernie pia. Ernie ana unene na upumbavu. Baba yangu anaitwa Dave na Mama yangu anaitwa April. Dave ni mwalimu kwa shughuli na uhasibu. Anafunda kwa chuo kikuu Michigan. Mama yangu ni mhasibu kwa kanisa. Wazazi wangu wanapenda kucheza gofu na kucheka kwa wao kwa wao. Kaka kwanza anitwa John na kaka mpili anaitwa Tom. John ni fundi wa takirishi. Tom anafanya kazi kwa duka wa kahawa. Mama yangu anapenda chai lakini hapendi kahawa kwa maana Baba yangu anapenda kahawa lakini hapendi chai! Ninapenda kahawa lakini sipendi chai. Nina babu wawili na bibi wawili. Mama wa Babu yangu anaitwa Marilyn. Marilyn anapenda kufuma na kufanya chemsha bongo. Baba wa Baba yangu anaitwa Bill. Bill anapenda kutazama besiboli. Mama wa Mama yangu anaitwa Grace. Grace anapenda kilimo cha bustani. Baba wa Mama yangu anaitwa Happy. Happy anapenda kusoma. Marilyn na Bill wana watoto wawili, wanaitwa Dave na Steve. Happy na Grace wana watoto watano, wanaitwa Linda Jo, Patricia Gail, Roger Paul, April Lynn na Elizabeth Ann."

"I have a father a mother and two brothers. I also have a cat named Zoey and a hamster named Ernie. Ernie has much obesity and much stupidity. My father is named Dave and my mother is named April. Dave is a teacher of business and accounting. He teaches at the University of Michigan. My mother is an account of a church. My parents like to play golf and to laugh with each other. My first brother is named John and my second brother is named Tom. John is an expert of computers. Tom works at a coffee shop. My mother likes tea but does not like coffee whereas my father likes coffee but doesn't like tea! I like coffee don't like tea. I have two grandfathers and two grandmothers. The mother of my father is named Marilyn. Marilyn likes to knit and to do crossword puzzles. The father of my father is named Bill. Bill likes to watch baseball. The mother of my mother is named Grace. Grace likes to work in the garden. The father of my mother is named Happy. Happy likes to read. Marilyn and Bill have two children, named Dave and Steve. Happy and Grace have five children, named Linda Jo, Patricia Gail, Roger Paul, April Lynn and Elizabeth Ann."

Yay!! It's pretty elementary, but I didn't spend a whole lot of time on it, so that's what it is. Hope you enjoyed!

On Friday our group is leaving early to go to Naivasha with our Swahili professor to see a real village in Kenya. We're renting tents and little mattresses and just hanging around with him for the weekend. I'm very excited!

Here are some random pictures of kids from my group, since we haven't done anything really exciting in the past few days.

Mimansa in the K Room

Amelia and Megan chilling on my bed

Saskia (making a scary face) and Megan in the K Room

Emily (also in the K Room) (also making a weird face)

Me and mutsy (before Amelia, Megan, Emily and I went out last Saturday)