Today was my second day of class at UWI. I had the 9-1 Globalization and Global Governance class, which continues to pry into my mind and prune it of all sorts of preconceptions and prejudices, as well as a class from 5-8 on Caribbean Governance, which looks like it is going to be very interesting. So yes, I am enjoying my classes so far. However, given that I am taking six courses this semester, I am absolutely dreading the workload. So far I only know the assignments in four of my classes and I already have five 12-14 page papers, three presentations, and three final exams. I shudder to think how much higher those numbers will be once I find out the workload for my final two classes.
Right now it's 9:50 and I just finished cleaning up from dinner. In about an hour I will have to hop into the shower so that I can be in bed by midnight and get close to seven hours of sleep. Man this week is tough. I can't wait for the weekend, but I know that only means getting to wake up and do lots of reading instead of going to class. What a wonderful, relaxing, entertaining break that will be! Perhaps I will make time for a quick snorkeling trip under the pretense of preserving mental integrity. We shall see.
Intellectual highlights of today include the following: the stunning realization that globalization has not actually ushered in a new type of world-system but rather new ways of conducting business within the same world system; a fierce debate among my Globalization classmates and the professor about Barbados' economic plan of trying to emulate Singapore's service-driven economy as well as building up a global diaspora; and the growing realization that despite the Caribbean's diminutive size, it is such a unique, vibrant, perplexing, and promising region. There exists throughout the Caribbean the simultaneous love for national sovereignty - driven by the different cultures and histories of each island - as well as a strong feeling of regional solidarity born out of the shared colonial and slave experiences. Trying to understand it all and make sense of it from a historical and policy-making perspective makes for such an interesting intellectual endeavor. I have this feeling of standing before a large puzzle that has an unknown number of pieces. Assuming the puzzle even has a "solution," I hope that my time at UWI will help me figure out how to put the pieces together.
Ok thats all I have time for tonight. See you tomorrow!
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