It's now crunchtime!
With my flight scheduled for this coming Monday evening, I am realizing more and more how much I have to do. Packing, packing, packing as well as homework, homework, homework are my main agenda. I feel it is also really important to catch up with all the people I won't be seeing for 3 and a half months (and for some a YEAR), which is why I am driving up to Goucher tomorrow for a couple days. While the little vacation will make my to-do list even harder to complete, I know I'll feel a lot more at peace with the trip if I can say some "farewells" to those who are important to me.
SO... Bring on the adventure!
The study-abroad program I am going on is with SIT (the School for International Training) to Uganda and Rwanda for the Fall semester to study "Post-Conflict Transformation", which is fitting since I am a Peace Studies major (for those of you who didn't already know).
Basically, we (all 29 of us) will be learning about the history, culture, language and conflicts of each country. Specifically we will study the civil-war in Northern Uganda which "ended" in 2003, and the Rwandan genocide of 1994. The semester will be full of emotionally charged experiences so I am going to try and use this blog as a way to process and share what I feel is appropriate with those who want to follow my journey. I'd love it if you could "follow" me through blogger so that you can comment on my posts!
If anyone is interested in knowing what exactly my program entails, click on the countries map on the right hand side of the blog and it should link you to the SIT webpage.
The scariest (and probably most rewarding) part of this whole journey is that at the end I will conduct an Independent Study Project. Basically a 30-40 page paper accompanied by a presentation on a detailed topic of my choice in either Uganda or Rwanda. That means I will be living on my own for 4-6 weeks while I conduct interviews and research on my topic.. and of course actually write it! AHHHhh. I'm feeling like it will be impossible now, but I think that is to be expected since I haven't even gotten there or had my first class yet. Obviously I will let you all know how that ends up.
Well, I'm off to read read read and take some breaks to pack of course!
Post again after Monday once I'm in Entebbe, UGANDA!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
So close, yet so far....
While my departure is over two weeks away, I can't help thinking about East Africa and my upcoming travels a few, ok many many many times a day. This WILL be the greatest thing I have done in my life so far. I can just feel it!
While I do know what areas I will be living in (Kampala, Gulu, Kigali, and Butare), I have very little idea what I will be doing while I am there (in terms of classes and trips). When people start asking me about my trip I tell them the title of the program is Post-Conflict Transformation and that usually answers some questions, but opens up a bunch of new questions in my mind. I realized this last night when some of my family friends, John and Jan, (who have done fascinating work with HIV/AIDS and children in these countries) came over for dinner. While I could not answer their questions about which NGO's my program would be working with, I did gain a sense of how profound their experiences in Uganda and Rwanda have been.
The main thing, as I learned from Jan, is to be open to anything! If my homestay family doesn't speak english I have to be open to learning their native tongue (which I am very excited for). If the food looks like something I would never eat in the States, give it a try anyway. Afterall, isn't the point of travel to learn new things through first hand experience?
I hope this blog becomes a way for me to sort through and share my emotions and experiences with the ones I love and left back at home. I'm not sure how accessible internet will be while I am "on the move" in East Africa, but I will try to update frequently.
Now only 1 more day of work at AASECT, and about two weeks to catch up with as much of my friends and family as I can before the big day (well 2 days of travel)!
While I do know what areas I will be living in (Kampala, Gulu, Kigali, and Butare), I have very little idea what I will be doing while I am there (in terms of classes and trips). When people start asking me about my trip I tell them the title of the program is Post-Conflict Transformation and that usually answers some questions, but opens up a bunch of new questions in my mind. I realized this last night when some of my family friends, John and Jan, (who have done fascinating work with HIV/AIDS and children in these countries) came over for dinner. While I could not answer their questions about which NGO's my program would be working with, I did gain a sense of how profound their experiences in Uganda and Rwanda have been.
The main thing, as I learned from Jan, is to be open to anything! If my homestay family doesn't speak english I have to be open to learning their native tongue (which I am very excited for). If the food looks like something I would never eat in the States, give it a try anyway. Afterall, isn't the point of travel to learn new things through first hand experience?
I hope this blog becomes a way for me to sort through and share my emotions and experiences with the ones I love and left back at home. I'm not sure how accessible internet will be while I am "on the move" in East Africa, but I will try to update frequently.
Now only 1 more day of work at AASECT, and about two weeks to catch up with as much of my friends and family as I can before the big day (well 2 days of travel)!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
