Strike!

Even though the classes at the University proper weren’t really going to work out for me, there was still an opportunity for me to take classes on the UCAD campus, at something called L’Institute de Français pour Etudiants Etragers (IFE). IFE classes are taught at UCAD and are for helping foreign students to learn French. We took a placement test the first weekend we were here to determine what level class we could take and just got our results on Friday. Once I knew my results and knew what I could take, I decided to try out a literature class. That was today at 10 AM.

Turns out, IFE’s not really going to work out either. Class didn’t end up happening today, but I talked to a girl who had been in the class last week, and it’s not really what I’m looking for. I think I’m going to give up on the University entirely and just add African Cinema here at WARC.

Class didn’t end up happening today because the UCAD students have gone on strike. I was in my class for about 40 minutes (just hanging out because the professor hadn’t shown up yet) when a professor came into the classroom and told us that we needed to leave. Apparently, huge groups of students were coming into classrooms, rounding people up and sending them out. Outside, it didn’t really look like a strike was going on. There were tons of people hanging around outside, but it didn’t seem like there was any organized movement happening, either peaceful or violent. No one was chanting or holding signs or throwing rocks or confronting riot police. Still, class was clearly not going to happen today.

I have no idea why the students are going on strike or how long the strike will last. Some of the kids who were here with Wells last year said that the students went on strike about 3 weeks after they arrived in Dakar and stayed on strike for 2 or 3 months. My Lonely Planet guide actually cautions visitors about going into the University area at all because the students are on strike so often.

There were actually whispers about a strike yesterday. I was on the UCAD campus in the afternoon so I could scope it out and make sure I knew where my class this morning was going to be, and it didn’t look like anything was amiss. When I was waiting for the bus outside of WARC later in the evening, however, a woman came by and said the bus wasn’t coming because the university students were on strike. Apparently, the buses won’t drive on the routes that take them near the university area when strikes are happening. When I finally got home after the substantial walk back to Sacre Coeur, I turned on the news to see if there were any reports, but there were none. Today, though, it seems like a sure thing.

On another note, I recently got a facebook message from Jackie, my freshman year RA. She’s a journalism major and has founded an online news service for the Amherst area called amherstwire.com. There’s a blog section on the website. One of the blogs is called Global Beat and has entries from students studying abroad. Jackie is going to republish some of the posts I write here on the Global Beat blog, so if anyone just can’t get enough and would like to read my posts again on another website, or want to read about other UMass students experiences abroad, they can check it out at amherstwire.com!