"Yes. Yep. Absolutely." I responded.
I mostly told the truth. My Kinshasa internet connection is pretty good. I think it is absolutely good enough to take an online Statistics class...with some minor headaches. If I pre-dial the minor headaches into the equation, I'm banking on being able to plow my way through this class and arrive on the other side with 3 precious grad school pre-requisite credits.
However, I already had to use the "But, I live in Kinshasa" line. This class has not even started yet.
I was hoping to keep this negotiation point to myself until it was really necessary and I had heartily proven myself as legitimate by passing a couple of quizzes. But, it turns out that just because a class is "online" doesn't mean you won't need a real-life, textbook. (You can laugh at me now, it's okay.)
So, when the class received an email asking us to recheck to make sure we had the correct book as there had been a problem with the bookstore listings...I had a few hours of panic. Because, no, I did not have the right textbook. And, unlike most others taking this class, it will take either several weeks or several hundred DHL dollars for "Discovering Business Statistics" (the one with multi-colored pushpins on the cover) to land on my Central African doorstep.
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| Textbook (the right one) image from Amazon.com |
So, I'm still working on a solution, but it seems like the professor is - slightly reluctantly - willing to help me out.
Loads of people take online courses while living in bizarre places. In reality, I am not that special. I admit, however, to hoping that my "interesting living circumstances" buys me a little American patience.
At least until that book gets here.
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