godiva chocolate=amazing

Well. My parents just left Saturday evening (New Year’s Eve) after a week-long visit here in Ghana. It was great to entertain them for a week, although, let me tell you, Ghana is not exactly a tourist destination. Traveling around the country is difficult to say the least, as the roads are bad and nothing is straightforward (at least from a foreigner’s perspective). But, the opportunity to just visit face-to-face with them for a full week was great. Plus, I mean, they brought me Godiva dark chocolate. Does life get much better than that??

Anyway…I had my first day of classes for second semester today. It got me pumped for the research I am going to be doing this semester. It’s really a pretty unique opportunity, because I am going to be able to do primary research as an undergraduate. It will give me a great basis to work from when I’m pursuing a PhD.

I also gave a bunch of Christmas gifts to people here…my host family, some of the MSID staff, Chris…and it was kind of fun to see them all get excited about gifts from the U.S. At least I feel that I have made people happy in some small way.

Alright, I have to go start working on my research proposal…

why study abroad is worth the trouble!

Recently I was reading a book that I own called Maximizing Study Abroad. The book has sections on pre-departure, in country, and returning home. I’ve flipped through the entire book several times, but just recently I noticed something in the section on re-entering your home country. There was a long list of potential gains from studying abroad, and I was pleased to find that most of the things on the list apply to me already, even though I am only halfway through my time here in Ghana. So, I have included 17 points from the list that apply to me—the things in parentheses are my added comments.

(1) I now have a new sense of autonomy. (If I can figure out the trotros in Ghana, I can do anything!) If I can be independent in a culture in which I don’t always understand the language around me, I can be comfortable and confident almost anywhere.
(2) I now feel more responsible about my lifestyle choices and their global consequences.
(3) I now feel more focused about my career interests (and what I want to research in graduate school).
(4) I now have more concern for international politics (and a realization that people in other countries are much more aware of international politics than most people are in the U.S.).
(5) I now have a greater awareness of other eating patterns.
(6) I now know that dating can mean different things and know about different patterns of male/female relationships.
(7) I now am more in sync with the real world and the harsh reality of life
(8) I now have a greater sense of what it is like to watch out for personal security.
(9) I now know that I can hit emotional rock-bottom and come back up.
(10) I now feel connected to people across the world.
(11) I now have a new appreciation for the number of opportunities and material things that I enjoy at home and a keen awareness of how much more I have than people in other countries.
(12) I now have a greater sense of connection to family and friends (even if they don’t completely understand my new experiences).
(13) I now have a greater view of the possibilities in the world and in my life.
(14) I am now interested in a greater concept of justice and injustice as it is manifested differently in other countries.
(15) I now have a greater tolerance for ambiguity in situations. Now I can be in situations in which I don’t understand all that is going on and still feel comfortable in trying to communicate.
(16) I am now able to suspend judgment about people and their actions—sometimes you just don’t have all the cultural and language background that you need to make such judgments.
(17) I now have the ability to think more critically about political events and take a look at multiple sides of current issues.