Ready, Set, ISP!

    I will start this blog with a health report: I am very healthy now and luckily I have a higher immunity so the rest of the students are jealous!
    This week has been full of work. What is really exceptional about an SIT study abroad program is that we are constantly learning. From our home stays to our essays we are broadening our perspectives on the world, advancing academically and in our personal lives as well. Also, we do not do any “busy work”, by this I mean that every assignment or activity has a purpose. So this week we gave our IDI presentations, wrote our biggest essay yet about the possibility of national unity in Cameroon taking in consideration that it is a country extremely diverse, and we wrote and gave presentations about our independent study project proposals.   
    Our IDI presentation went well. We concluded that the Catholic church is starting to accept and even incorporate traditional practices into their practices; however, the church still sees their practices as superior and there are no doubt traditional beliefs that must be eliminated in order for Cameroonians to be accepted into the church.
    Our ISP proposals had to include every aspect of the project: hypotheses, research questions, outlines for interview and survey questions, contacts, a timeline etc. The most nerve wrecking part of writing up this proposal was certainly the timeline. The ISP (Independent Study Project) is a four week long research project and those four weeks are barely enough! The expectation for the final paper is high and that is why we have to do so much prep-work to make sure that we will be able to have a good final product in such a short time period. I believe that I have mentioned that I was going to focus my work on French-speaking Cameroonian female authors. I have narrowed down my project to be a thematic analysis of Djaïli Amadou Amal’s first novel, Walaande: l’art de partager un mari (Walaande: the art of sharing a husband). French speaking African women writers have been described as “the voice for the voiceless” or in other words, they write the stories of women who otherwise would have no means of telling their story. For my project I will interview Amal in order to understand if she is writing as an advocate for women from the North is polygamous relationships and then I will go back to the North, to Ngaoundéré, and live and study polygamous families to see if the themes Amal presents are the reality with which these women live. I hypothesize that if Amal is a voice for the voiceless then her themes will be present in the families I observe, survey and interview. Otherwise, why is Amal writing? What is the importance of her writing? Is she creating a false voice, a false rebellion for the women of her region of origin? As of now that is what I will be dedicating the next four weeks of my life to figuring out.
    Other than school work this week has been fairly calm. I have been able to start running again which is great, although we are entering the dry season in Cameroon and it is really hot! Last night, Friday night, was the first time that a group of us went out at night. We went out with some Cameroonian friends to some of their favorite places; it was really fun. Everyone we met had a connection to the states-- a brother was studying in California, they had worked for the MLB, they were going there for the first time in the near future. It is really fun to talk to others about America. I feel as though I am more patriotic when I am abroad than I ever have been in the states.
    Today I went to the tailor and picked up all the clothes that I have had made. It is really incredible that you can have a tailor-made skirt for just 6 USD. I am really happy because due to packing limitations I didn’t bring many clothes here and so I feel like I have worn the same outfits millions of times. Plus, Cameroonians really like seeing foreigners dressed in their traditions fabrics and designs. You really are greeted with an even warmer welcome! Then we had our last class about how to write an ISP and some tips and guidelines. It was sad leaving the office today and knowing I won’t be back there for four weeks. It was also sad saying goodbye to the rest of my friends in the program. I know I will see them again in a month, but I am used to seeing them daily. One other girl, Margo, has also chosen to do her work in Ngaoundéré, so at least I will have one close friend there with me.
    Tomorrow morning I am taking a bus to Douala, a city on the West coast, with one of our staff, Nathalie. The trip will take about 4 hours. I will stay there with Nathalie until Tuesday and in that time I will conduct three interviews with the author, Djaïli Amadou Amal. I am really excited! For me it is like meeting a celebrity! Good thing I have new clothes to wear!
    I will keep you updated on the ISP process! Wish me luck!