Hello. It's me again. And this time I'm going to Africa.
As you may know, I had an incredible time in France during the spring 2010 semester. It was so great, in fact, that by March I already had vague notions of repeating the experience. But traveling abroad is about trying new things and expanding your world view, so I knew that I wanted my destination to be completely different. I also knew that I wanted to keep working on my French skills. Yes, I'm aware that there are French speakers in Belgium and Switzerland, but Europe?--been there, done that.
TU offers about five different options for studying abroad in French-speaking Africa, and while I was torn between Madagascar and Cameroon, in the end, Cameroon's program focus and course load ended up aligning best with my interests and needs.
I--along with about a dozen other US students--will be studying with a program called "SIT". Our theme of study? "Social Pluralism and Development"
You can learn all about it here-->
http://www.sit.edu/studyabroad/overview_cmr.cfm
...but I'll give you a short summary as well:
I leave Tulsa January 24th (arrive the 25th) and leave Cameroon (May 10th) to arrive in Tulsa May 11th. It's going to pass quickly!
Our program is based in Yaounde, the capital, but we will also be spending about a month in various other cities; in each place I will live with a host family!
The class schedule looks particular exciting! During the first 11 weeks we take our "regular" classes (though from what I gather, it's very hands-on, and not necessarily learned from a desk). These include:
*Social Pluralism and Development (6 credit hours)
*Intensive Language Study: French (4 credit hours)
*Field Study Seminar (2 credit hours)
Then during the last four weeks, we are pretty much left to our own devices for...an independent study (4 credit hours)! While I'm already a bit daunted by the task, I'm also extremely excited for such an opportunity. Nothing's set in stone, but at the moment I think I'd like to study microlending.
So to answer the burning question--YES I will still graduate on time. All of these classes are counting towards either my Sociology major, my French major, or my core curriculum requirements.
Finally, to all you worry-warts out there: stay calm. As Jewel says, "worry is wasteful and useless". SIT is going to keep me perfectly safe. I am vaccinated and have prescriptions and bug spray and a mosquito tent and iodine tablets...I'm going to be just fine. I will be careful, I promise. So go ahead and clear those worries (though feel free to channel them into prayers instead!).
Now that's not to say the months there won't be challenging; there will be lonely moments, there will be tear-filled moments, there will be so-much-culture-shock-I-want-to-die moments, but I'm excited about the challenge and the opportunity to grow.
And I'm excited to share such experiences with you. I'm not certain how often I will be able to update, but I want to thank you in advance for reading--it inspires me to continue writing! And let's be honest, though I am happy to share my joys and trials with you, mainly I blog for myself, so that I'll have something to remember my trip by for years to come.
