I got my second round of shots today. With these shots and finishing up an oral vaccine yesterday, I currently have a little case of typhoid, meningitis, and yellow fever. The typhoid put up a bit of a fight, but I think my body won out. These vaccines better do their jobs. I'll be angry if I come home with a crazy disease.
I'm feeling pretty out of the loop about the trip, to tell you the truth. As Mom and Dad are well aware, for example, I still have yet to receive an invoice saying how much we owe for this whole thing. They were supposed to send it out in early June, and then they were waiting till they heard a final cost from U of G, then the international director from U of G was vacationing for a while, and so I still haven't heard. I'm assuming that they will let me know if they have been waiting for our payment for a long time, like if the invoice got lost in the mail or something, but it still makes me nervous. Truman's Study Abroad Office isn't known for their efficiency. I think I'm going to have to make another call in the next couple of days if I still haven't heard anything. It's getting pretty close, you know?
And then there's the fact that I have no idea what I'll be doing once I get over there. No idea what classes will be offered, who I'll be living with, or how traveling is going to work. I know that the first weekend after classes start we're taking a group trip to Cape Coast to visit the slave port and Kakum National Park (where the canopy walkways are!), but that's the only trip that's planned, I believe. I don't know if we are supposed to plan the other trips we want to take on our own, or if there will be other group excursions.
Perhaps I'm being dramatic. Of course I don't know what's going on. I'm going to be in a foreign country. And truthfully, for the most part, I don't mind the not-knowing terribly. It's meant to be an adventure, right?
I've been spending some time on the U of G website (http://www.ug.edu.gh) getting acquainted, and it's funny that I didn't realize how big the university is. There are about four times as many students at U of G than at Truman. There's information about shuttles going around campus. Shuttles around campus? For that matter, Roads around campus? Who heard of such a thing? It's going to be an adjustment to get used to a bigger university, regardless of the fact that it's on a different continent.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Shots and pills
Welcome to my very first blog!
While some of you know that I like to write, I've never been very good with journaling, so please don't set your expectations for this little blog too high. Plus, I've been told to not rely on the internet in Ghana, so we'll just have to see if this will get beyond the states. My hope is that through this, I'll be able to let my friends and family in on the crazy adventures I'm sure to have over the next several months.
People have been asking me a lot of questions about my trip, and honestly I don't know all that much. I leave the country August 9th, have a layover in England, before landing in Accra, Ghana on the evening of the 10th. I believe Ghana is 6 hours ahead of Illinois time, which hopefully won't cause too much trouble trying to contact Mom and Dad... I'll be staying on campus in the International Student Hostel with 180-something other international students (ahhh, I'm an international student!!). We'll have about a week to settle in and get acquainted with the University and Legon, before classes start the following Monday. All classes are taught in English, since Ghana was colonized by Britain during Europe's scramble for Africa in the 1800s. (Interestingly, Ghana was the first African country to gain its independence from a colonizer and since 1957 has had many successful democratic elections.)
I've learned that Ghana is considered the country closest to the "center" of the world, considering it is located only a few degrees north of the equator and the Prime Meridan cuts through its borders. In any case, this means it's hot there. I found a statistic that said the lowest recorded temperature throughout the entire year was 64 degrees (Fahrenheit!) and generally highs are in the 80s and 90s with a great deal of humidity. I'm bringing a lot of cotton and linen, although I'm sure I'll still complain about the heat a lot... But hey, that means midwestern heat will never feel bad again!
Today was my first visit with the travel clinic to start my shots. I got a shot in each arm, one for Polio, the other for Hep A, and several prescriptions for drugs to take with me. Next week I'll go back to get the Yellow Fever vaccine and the meningitis vaccine (who knew that only lasts three years?). All these shots makes it feel like it's really getting close.
I'm really going to Africa.
While some of you know that I like to write, I've never been very good with journaling, so please don't set your expectations for this little blog too high. Plus, I've been told to not rely on the internet in Ghana, so we'll just have to see if this will get beyond the states. My hope is that through this, I'll be able to let my friends and family in on the crazy adventures I'm sure to have over the next several months.
People have been asking me a lot of questions about my trip, and honestly I don't know all that much. I leave the country August 9th, have a layover in England, before landing in Accra, Ghana on the evening of the 10th. I believe Ghana is 6 hours ahead of Illinois time, which hopefully won't cause too much trouble trying to contact Mom and Dad... I'll be staying on campus in the International Student Hostel with 180-something other international students (ahhh, I'm an international student!!). We'll have about a week to settle in and get acquainted with the University and Legon, before classes start the following Monday. All classes are taught in English, since Ghana was colonized by Britain during Europe's scramble for Africa in the 1800s. (Interestingly, Ghana was the first African country to gain its independence from a colonizer and since 1957 has had many successful democratic elections.)
I've learned that Ghana is considered the country closest to the "center" of the world, considering it is located only a few degrees north of the equator and the Prime Meridan cuts through its borders. In any case, this means it's hot there. I found a statistic that said the lowest recorded temperature throughout the entire year was 64 degrees (Fahrenheit!) and generally highs are in the 80s and 90s with a great deal of humidity. I'm bringing a lot of cotton and linen, although I'm sure I'll still complain about the heat a lot... But hey, that means midwestern heat will never feel bad again!
Today was my first visit with the travel clinic to start my shots. I got a shot in each arm, one for Polio, the other for Hep A, and several prescriptions for drugs to take with me. Next week I'll go back to get the Yellow Fever vaccine and the meningitis vaccine (who knew that only lasts three years?). All these shots makes it feel like it's really getting close.
I'm really going to Africa.
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