After a short but refreshing night sleep all of us woke up ready to hit the ground running. We all ate a light breakfast and eagerly waited for our UNGE students to show up at noon. Three out of the four UNGE students showed up, and we all introduced ourselves. Steve and I were paired with Baltasar, a student with a very interesting background. He was born in mainland equatorial guinea but was able to study both in Bioko and the United States. He speaks English, Spanish and his native language Fang. He studied for three years at Texas A&M on a scholarship to study engineering. Mackenzie was paired with Amancio, a student from Bioko. He is currently studying environmental sciences at UNGE and speaks English, Spanish, and his tribe’s language. Stephen and Amy paired up with the last student, Eladio. Eladio was born in Annobon, a tiny island in equatorial guinea, furthest from the mainland. He speaks English and Spanish, and his tribe’s native language as well. I found it absolutely amazing that speaking three languages was almost a minimum requirement for these students, and how bright they must be.
Stephen, Baltasar and I headed out to explore Malabo. Orange was our first stop, where Baltasar showed Stephen and I how to purchase phone credit. We also visited the Spanish, French, and Equatoguinean cultural centers. The Equatoguinean cultural center was exceptionally beautiful, with tall ceilings, pillars and the coat of arms for each village on Bioko. Although the center was just recently opened, it was filled with people. Kids were playing gears of war in the game room, while the shelf-full of books in the library were catching dust. After a long day of walking, we parted with the UNGE students and returned home.
Upon our arrival Hermenia, a native and our lovely chef, prepared us roast chicken, pasta with chicharrón, salad with apples and rice, and finally, fried plantains. Everything was so delicious that hardly anything was leftover. We sipped on some wine and talked about how amazing this experience is going to be for all of us. After an amazing night, we all went to out separate beds. It only took two nights to realize that these people would be friends for life.

If you would have asked me four years ago if I ever thought I would be going to an island off the coast of Africa, I definitely would have laughed and said yeah right! This study abroad is an opportunity and an experience that I will only have once in a lifetime. This journal will help me remember my journey in years to come. With that being said, let’s jump right in to the first day at Malabo!

From the moment we landed in Malabo it was drizzling. It was a welcome to be expected in any rainy season. After unloading from the plane and passing through security, we met David, the resident director. Once we were through the metal detectors, our journey to Malabo began. The first thing I saw was a full sized rusty plane, what a welcoming sight! From there we drove past the embassies of France, Nicaragua, Spain and the United States. Along the same road we also passed large compounds that housed workers for oil companies. After about a 15 minute drive we arrived at our new home for the next two months. We are right across from the presidential palace and it is gorgeous, however there will not be any pictures because it is against the law. Our house is beautifully decorated with native plants including a fruit simply called breadfruit. David told us not to be alarmed by loud thumps on the roof at night, because it is just fruit falling! After going over some basic new house rules, we hit the streets of Malabo for some dinner! We walked around for a bit before settling into a restaurant barely big enough to fit us six. Our group ate some interesting cuisine including mixed meat and kidney. As for me, I stayed basic and ordered half of a chicken with potatoes. It was cooked perfectly and was so delicious, I will definitely be returning sometime soon! With our bellies full all of us walked back to the student house and fell fast asleep. The combination of jet lag and exhaustion led to a great night sleep for all of us!