The University of The Gambia

On Wednesday and Thursday I attended classes at The University of the Gambia. That's right I Philip Nicolo voluntarily went to school to attend classes. Something you would never imagine in your wildest dreams before this trip! It was great to experience college life in another country. There is no main campus to speak of and there are only two buildings for the faculty and administration. Most classes are conducted at the YMCA or the library. This means students must travel around to different places to go to class. Your 1st class might be at the YMCA and the second class might be at the Library while your third class is at an internet cafe down the street. This makes it very tough on the students and professors to have a normal class because you are always calling people who accidentally went to the wrong building or forgot where class was going to be. Aside from the logistical nightmare of traveling all over God's green earth to get to class everything was run like a normal class. The professor passed around a sign-in sheet and talked about the upcoming exams. Just like back home most students were asking " Can you give us the questions that will be on the exam?" and just like back home the professors would answer " No I can't give you the exact questions from the exam!". Some things are universal I guess. Each class was an hour and a half which is normal to some classes back home. But unlike home the students did not have access to computers or text books. All the information the students get is from their notes and hand outs from the teacher. This means you better pay attention and take good notes because you have no text book to rely on for information you may have missed. I even had my friend Lamin Gibba look at my notes during one class because he missed a section. That's right Philip Nicolo not only attended class voluntarily but he also took notes!! Is it a full moon tonight? I do know that the president here has declared another public holiday for Thursday and Monday. I wonder if this has anything to do with the upcoming election in September? Ciao