Classes

I've now come to the end of my second day of classes here at UKZN and I'm pretty darn tired. The first classes here start at 7:45 am, not the late 8:30 am of AU. Most classes end by 4 or 5 pm as well, if not earlier, so there are no 5:30's and 8:30's like at AU either. I am fortunate enough to have to attend three 7:45 classes (Mon, Tues, Wed) for this week at least while working out the glitches in my schedule. Classes also aren't at the same time on the days that they meet. No Mon/Th at 9:55 or anything like that. Classes meet typically for 45 minutes about four times a week, at very different times. And we thought scheduling at AU was hard...

I'm taking four classes, a normal courseload here. I have Environmental Philosophy and Ethics, which seems really great so far. The professor is really cool. He has long hair and wears Keens and cool patterned shirts. He might by philosophy's equivalent of a green hippy, which would be awesome. The class is mostly discussions but is pretty big also which will make things a little difficult in that sense. I look forward to it though.
My next class is Beginner Zulu for non-native speakers. Zulu is the African language most commonly spoken in this area, the KwaZulu-Natal province. I've heard that something like 80% of students here speak Zulu. It is much more widely spoken in these parts than Afrikaans. The teacher jumped right into things and started teaching us basic conversations (which I then immediately forget when I hear people speaking Zulu). It is very different from the way I learned Latin, like with learning declensions and verb tenses, etc. I think it will be difficult but definitely worth it. Luckily there are other international students to practice with and if I'm really brave, native Zulu speakers to practice with on my floor. I have Zulu a whopping 6 times a week, with one class being a double period (counts as 2), one tutorial, and one language lab time.
Next I have the dilemma class. I successfully auditioned for the African Music and Dance Ensemble class and have now attended two classes of it. After the initial audition, we had to audition again in the first class to show the new teacher what we could do. After watching the other students, who were not as I had been told at the same level as me, but instead skilled in African dance, I was mortified. It didn't take me long to notice that I was also the only non-African in the class. The other international students are in the African Music and Dance class, which focuses more on dancing than the ensemble class.
I sang a little something and bent my knees in sync with a drum beat for the second time. I didn't know what to think but I ducked back into the classroom after and the teacher told me that I was fine. I don't know how that's possible but I guess I demonstrated the ability to keep a beat and a desire to learn? Anyways, the teacher is from the DRC and speaks mostly French. I was very nervous for class today because I had no idea what we were going to do. He taught us some of a song and a dance and to my great joy I was able to keep up! I was totally doing it! I danced around in the circle with everyone else and even held my own when we danced in smaller groups of four. I had a great time in the class but it also might be my last class there. The ensemble only counts as 8 credits here, so only 2 at AU. That's like half a class. My credit total is only at 14, which doesn't fulfil my scholarship requirements. I'm looking for another 8 credit class to add, so I'd have 16 credits, but if I can't find one that works, I'll have to drop the class and pick up African Politics, which I have been attending just in case. This makes my days very full and confusing.
My last class is a Religion class about religion, morals and modernity. It is about how religion and modernity effect and influence eachother, as well as the changing roles of morals, particularly in the South African setting. This also seems very interesting to me and like most of my classes, has some of the other international students in it.
Overall I'm finding all my classes to be very compelling. Hopefully I will be able to decide whether to keep the music classes or the politics class really soon so I can stop stressing and attending both.
Being surrounded by the other students these past few days has shown me that UKZN does really live up to it's diverse reputation. I don't think I've ever seen such a diverse student body. There are international students like me from Europe and America, international students from other African countries, white South Africans, Indian South Africans, people in long traditional garments, women in head scarves, everything. I think it's great how no one truly stands out or blends in.

I want to thank everyone who commented on my first blog post! It was so great to read all the comments. I feel so loved and connected with everyone! Your words of support and encouragement were very appreciated.
Aunt Trish- I think it's great that you want to know how it smells here too! There are tons of different smells! In downtown Durban, it smells alot like car exhaust because there is alot of traffic and the public transportation is buses and vans that are everywhere. The ocean smells like it does at home, and if I'm there it smells like sunscreen. People cook here with lots of Indian spices so there is often a curry smell in the air!
I hope everything is going well with everyone wherever they are as well.