Last week, FIFA announced the results of the bracket lottery for the 2010 World Cup. I should be in Ghana for not one, but two games for the first round. Ghana is in Group D, and plays against Serbia on the 13th of June and against Australia on the 19th, both of which I should be in-country for.
I'm not, by any means, really a "soccer kid." My Mom tried putting me in a soccer little league of some kind when I had just barely more height than my kneecaps do today, and it just never stuck. I was much more interest in standing around and eating delicious powdered donuts on the sidelines than playing the game. Little league baseball was a little more successful, but only because I could sit in the outfield and eat donuts and actually still be playing my position pretty well.
Despite this, I think World Cup soccer is one of the most interesting and intense sporting events on the planet, and I'm more than excited to be in a country that actually cares about it. The only competitions that comes close are Olympic Hockey and the Air Guitar World Championships, which I hope to compete in once my air guitar comes back from the air luthier.
Also, since my flight is JFK -> LON -> GHA and back the same way, I'm thinking about delaying my flight back home from London a bit and exploring the city for at least a few days. Obviously this is going to depend heavily on how much cash monies I have saved up by the summer, but I've never been to Western Europe and I'd love to do the more touristy things. See Big Ben and the Eye, grab a pint at a pub, get a picture crossing Abbey Road, and maybe even taking a red bus tour through the city. Joe said he'd be interested in coming along, so that would make the trip even more excellent.
Two more weeks until the end of the Fall semester. Over break, I'll be spending most of my time scouring the interwebs for study abroad scholarships.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
I've handed in my Study Abroad application today. The program is just about a month in Ghana, studying Public Health Policy through the Biology department. We'll be spending a good deal of time in the capital city of Accra, but with excursions along the coast and into the Ghanaian rain forest. We'll be visiting a revered primate sanctuary with native religious importance, and maybe, just maybe, I'll get to play with a monkey. Cape Coast Castle is on the list, and I can only imagine that setting foot there will evoke similar feelings to setting foot in a Buchenwald or Auschwitz. Hopefully, we'll take a ride out to the Volta, one of Africa's most magnificent and powerful rivers, if one places aside the mighty Nile...which is really hard to do if your name doesn't start with "M" and end in "oses."
Why Ghana? Well, originally, I was supposed to be headed to Mother Russia over the summer break, with the intention of studying Russian politics and society at Moscow State University. I had begun taking Russian and delving into Russian Politics. About a month ago, my course took a turn. I spotted a flier at the Science building advertising this brand-new Ghana program, and decided to completely change my plans.
I'm an International Relations major with a focus on the Developing World, and Africa has sort of become my regional focus. In that sense, I'm looking forward to finally arriving on the continent I've read and written so much about. It makes much more sense for someone with my interests to be headed to West Africa instead of Eurasia, but Moscow remains the back-up plan.
Aside from academic reasons, I want culture shock. I really want culture shock. I want to go to a place so far removed from the Western world I've known all my life that I might get there and immediately soil myself. I want to go to a place that I'll need seven shots before I go because there exists illnesses to which I have no antibodies. I want traffic without signal lights, food I've never seen before, beer I've never tasted before, and languages I'll never hear spoken anywhere else. I want to experience a culture so incredibly different from my own that I will return Stateside with an entirely different perspective on American life. Plus, I want one hell of a rockin' tan.
I look forward to embracing the shock of it all. My paperwork is in, and my blog is good to go. Updates will be pretty sporadic until Summer 2010 draws nearer.
Why Ghana? Well, originally, I was supposed to be headed to Mother Russia over the summer break, with the intention of studying Russian politics and society at Moscow State University. I had begun taking Russian and delving into Russian Politics. About a month ago, my course took a turn. I spotted a flier at the Science building advertising this brand-new Ghana program, and decided to completely change my plans.
I'm an International Relations major with a focus on the Developing World, and Africa has sort of become my regional focus. In that sense, I'm looking forward to finally arriving on the continent I've read and written so much about. It makes much more sense for someone with my interests to be headed to West Africa instead of Eurasia, but Moscow remains the back-up plan.
Aside from academic reasons, I want culture shock. I really want culture shock. I want to go to a place so far removed from the Western world I've known all my life that I might get there and immediately soil myself. I want to go to a place that I'll need seven shots before I go because there exists illnesses to which I have no antibodies. I want traffic without signal lights, food I've never seen before, beer I've never tasted before, and languages I'll never hear spoken anywhere else. I want to experience a culture so incredibly different from my own that I will return Stateside with an entirely different perspective on American life. Plus, I want one hell of a rockin' tan.
I look forward to embracing the shock of it all. My paperwork is in, and my blog is good to go. Updates will be pretty sporadic until Summer 2010 draws nearer.
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