Wait...you mean we were supposed to be going to class this whole time?

I thought I'd take this wonderful break from "studying" to update you on my exciting life that is.

Classes have basically ended...during the first week of November...which means we had two months worth of class and I can hardly say its been intensive. I have two finals this week for the same class -- a written Twi final tomorrow and an oral Twi final on Wednesday. I hope to do well...I've been studying but lord only knows how they will go. We all know my track record with languages...

It remains to be seen where the rest of my finals will fall. I have a drumming class that will end this week but no one knows when the final will be. And apparently, we will have a final for our USAC culture class next week and none of us are really looking forward to a traditional final for that class. Sort of the prevailing attitude has been that school is a joke so let's just keep it that way and not have the final.

The finals for my classes that are actually through the university won't be until December 9th and 12th respectively and I'm not worried about either of those. For one class, we have to write three essays and the professor already gave us the topics and I'm confident I can answer the questions with my eyes closed. I may actually have to read a few pages for my last final and let's just hope I remember how to do that!!

But the idea of having finals for anything here is so unappealing and many of us do feel like its a big joke. 400 level classes here are, unfortunately, more like 100 level classes back in the states, making us feel that these finals don't actually test what we've learned but are just busy work.

In all reality, the things we really learn here we don't learn in the classroom. We learn them through the experiences we have and the people we meet, the places we go and the things we do. Of course they can't give us a final for that but that's been our primary form of education. I've learned a lot about how the world works here and its NOT because of the classes here (although, I will say that Kofi Baaku, our first USAC lecturer was very good and I did enjoy his class and learned a lot from it). Therefore, its really frustrating to feel like I have to waste my time with finals. I'd like to think that this is an enlightened perspective on the situation but its also entirely possible that I'm just being a whiny student. However, I'm an economist by nature and I know that finals aren't the most efficient use of my time and that annoys me.

One of the big reasons why (and this is me being a self-centered, ridiculous little boy) is that they interfere with possible travel scenarios. Even with these finals, I will have some decent sized chunks of time to move around the region. I'm thinking about going into the Volta Region and to enjoy the outdoor riches that the place has to offer (my friend, Rachel, said I really needed to go with my big camera and snap some shots of spiders that were literally the size of her hand....). . The main excursion I think I'm going to work up to is a trip into Benin.

Benin is a pretty cool little joint -- its situated on the eastern border of Togo and to the west of everyone's favorite country...Nigeria!! (which, in actuality, no one really likes....) Its supposed to be very voodoo heavy and I can't say that I quite got my voodoo fix going through Togo. So if I do go and anyone want's a shrunken monkey head, monkey hands, bat wings, or cobra's heads, let me know!! But if I go (and I'm really hoping to...) I will do it between Thanksgiving and my birthday, traveling overland via Togo and exploring the south of the country. It may be a welcome alternative to going to the Ivory Coast which is hardly a hospitable environment. Plus, they have a train!! Hooray!!

In the meantime I'm going to continue to rest up and really try to plan these excursions the best I can (planning is so relative here...most plans consist of making sure you have your passport w/ visa and cash) so I can have a grand final adventure. Until then, I'm going to continue to rest up from general feeling of exhaustion and then go travel and burn my self out again before returning home!!

And home is only about a month away....hooray!!

Miss and love you all.

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