So, second week back at school. Exciting, tiring, and somewhat demoralizing. Worst news first—I can’t take the African Lit course! I had to switch things around and it conflicted with another course. I was pretty upset at first, but now I’m kind of okay with it. Although I still cannot believe that I dropped a course in African Lit to take an intro to French Linguistics. Instead of great novels by African authors, I’ll be reading chapters from Structure du français moderne.

Actually, that’s not exactly true. I did go to the first class and snag a course syllabus, including the reading list, which I present for your edification:

• Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart
• Tahar Ben Jelloun, The Sand Child
• Calixthe Beyala, Your Name Shall Be Tanga
• J.M. Coetzee, Waiting for the Barbarians
• Naguib Mahfouz, Akhenaten
• Tayab Salih, Season of Migration to the North
• Ngugi wa Thiong’o, A Grain of Wheat
• Amos Tutuola, The Palm-wine Drinkard

Some of those books don’t seem to be available from regular bookstores, even ordered online, so it’s nice that I can get them from the Women’s Bookstore (where the course copies have been ordered.)

I’m also getting a new roommate. I may have mentioned that my roommate of four years (who is the best roommate ever, and also one of my best friends) got an apartment with her boyfriend. In August, she packed up her clothes, books, beading supplied, and our cat, and moved into her new place. I was somewhat at a loss as to how to go about finding someone to replace her. I had to, not only for financial reasons, but because I live in a co-op, in a subsidized unit, and both bedrooms have to be occupied if I want to keep that subsidy¹.

Anyway, I wasn’t too keen on living with a stranger. Luckily, my best friend from childhood happened to be living at home and looking to move out, and she was tempted by the incredible rent. I haven’t really been in touch with her over the past five or six years, but she’s just the same. As I am reliably informed that I am also just the same, no doubt we shall get along as famously as ever. We even considered getting a cat, as mine has (as I mentioned) recently departed for a nice place near the lake, but I wasn’t too keen on the extra responsibility cats bring, and P felt that it would be a betrayal of her own cat, Sour Grapes (I love that name for a cat. If I ever have another cat, I’m going to call it Pork Chop.)

So, new job + new roommate + new school year = no time (or energy) for reading. Don’t you hate it when life gets in the way of your hobbies? I really need to finish my degree and try to get a job where I can read books for a living.

1. Which I do. I’d tell you what my rent was, but there’s no way you’d believe me. Of course, you all know where the money I save on rent goes—so really, if you enjoy my reviews, thank my municipal, provincial, and federal governments, because without them I’d be sponging off my dad for meals and a place to live and certainly wouldn’t have money to buy books. [back]