This week is the first week of classes at PUCP, and the int'l students get the chance to test out whatever classes they think they're interested in, and then we register on Monday. So here's how this week has gone for me so far:
Monday
The first class I went to was "Amazonian Linguistics." It was a pretty small class, with about 6 or 7 Peruvians, me and 3 German girls. The prof specializes in the Pano languages and researched and wrote a grammar for one of the languages for his dissertation. It sounded like a really interesting class, and it was definitely not full, so I decided that one was a keeper.
Next was Urban Anthropology. The prof was really interesting. He reminded me of a Peruvian Peter Jackson with his unkempt hair, scruffy beard, and general appearance of homelessness. This was one of the classes that I had gotten preapproved for credit, but unfortunately, the prof is quite the mumbler. I could understand him, but it took a lot of concentration. Plus the class was really full and I probably wouldn't get in anyways. So I decided that one could go.
Next was Amazonian Ethnography, also pre-approved for anthro credit. The class didn't seem to hard (it was 70% int'l students) and the prof seemed really nice and chill, so that's another keeper.
Tuesday
At 8 a.m. I went to Quechua. Quechua is the indigenous language with the most speakers in Peru. I was really interested in taking this class, and definitely want to enroll, but this class is a linguistics class in the dept of general studies, and they also offer a class in the anthro dept entitled Quechua. I'm gonna go to it tonight and check it out to see if it's a language class, too, or more lang. and culture. If it's good, I'll pick that one instead, so that I don't have to be at school at 8 in the morning :)
Next, I went to Topics in Contemporary Linguistics. It turns out that this year's topic is Noam Chomsky, which would be super interesting, but this class seemed like a lot of work. There were tests, and a class presentation, and a term paper, and I was just not feelin it. So that one's gotta go. I'm in Peru, I don't wanna do too much work. I can always read Chomsky on my own time.
Then I went to Activity in Anthropology. This is a 2 credit class that meets once a week. Apparently it is specifically for exchange students, but apparently not many exchange students were interested, because the only people that showed up were me, this other American girl, and this guy from Cusco. I'm pretty excited about this class, though, because it's about the public spaces in Lima, and what the architects and kings had in mind when they designed them, and how the people actually use them and have created their own spaces in Lima. So for certain classes we're gonna hop on a bus and go to different districts in the city, or certain markets or plazas to observe. Plus the prof seems really cool, and he speaks English really well because he did his masters at the University of Florida.
Today
I had Amazonian Linguistics again this morning, then had a 3 hr break, so I went home and just got done eating lunch. Heading back from 4-9 for Amaz. Ethnography and Quechua!
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