Thursday, February 5, 2009

Back again!

So we moved back onto campus today!!! Great news!!
About ten minutes after my last post, we found out why it was a very good idea to stay off campus. We heard the students chanting again, so my suite mate Alex and I went to the windows and watched them march by. Along with the sounds of singing was mixed in the unmistakable sound of breaking glass. After the main crowd moved on, we saw a few students at the end walking, when suddenly they yelled "police" and ran. After staying inside for a while, we found that the windows of one of our friends apartments were smashed with bricks. Everyone was unscathed and safe, but we quickly left campus again.
About 20 minutes after we left campus, the university was shut down.
All the students were forced out of campus with all their stuff, and everything was shut down and locked up.
Today we found out that the university will be closed until the 16th, so we have the next week off. However, our semester break was canceled to make up lost time, as well as extending the semester another week.
So for the next week we'll hopefully be traveling around southern Africa, but our plans have not been finalized yet.
But for now, all is well.

On another note, today we visited a traditional court. We met with the village chief, who also is the chairman of the House of Chiefs, which is the second house of Parliament. He described the roles of the traditional court, which deals with crimes, petitions, land disputes, ceremonies, and allowing for the people's voices to be heard. Part of the punishment for some crimes involved lashings, a terrible fate for any. Vulgarity is something also harshly punished, up to 3 months in jail and 6 lashings. It is very cool to see how the traditional forms of government work still, including the fact the village chief inherits his title.
Anyways, we have another meeting now about the situation, so I must go.
I hope you are well.

2 comments:

  1. Wow, I must say that I am a little Jealous, that your time has been so exciting so far, in comparison, my time in Botswana was nothing like yours. I hope you are enjoying the delta!

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  2. Here's some food for thought. Women, supposedly, are "pro" corporal punishment...the reason being that if their men, who are the bread winners, are lashed they can still go back to work, keep making the money, as opposed to having them chucked away in jail for 6 months or whatever...

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