“Africa is a metaphysical ground in which Europe has, for the longest time, argued about itself.” – Chinua Achebe

We had our first day of class this morning – a three hour lecture by John Comaroff on the anthropological framework upon which we are to build our understanding of two million years of African history. He didn’t pause for even a moment. I’m so far convinced that all three of our main academic leaders on this program (John and Jean Comaroff, and David Bunn) were endowed with minds that no human should have. Intellect like theirs is probably dangerous.

We study in a University of Cape Town drama rehearsal space. Despite the 100 degree weather we had yesterday, the space is cool and very bright. As it is meant for performance, the acoustics give John Comaroff’s voice a bizarre and omnipotent echo – which only makes his lecturing more intellectualy intimidating.

The classroom.

We literally journey down an enormous hill (about a 15 minute walk) to get to class everyday. The walk down, not so bad. Yesterday, however, it was 100 degrees and we decided to stop for margaritas before trudging back up the hill…not a good combination. Today’s 80 degrees made for a much more enjoyable trek.

The hill. Doesn't look so bad next to the mountain...

Must go read. I may be living the life, but I'm still in school. Kind of.