Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Kickoff Post



I've spent the last hour and half working to delete my other blogspot account..because I am losing my mind trying to work with Google Accounts and Blogger.com this afternoon. Oh well. I think I have most of the kinks worked out.

The name of this blog is "Dirty Socks"..Why Dirty Socks? I'm sure you are wondering. It's true, I likely will not even be wearing socks for the next two and a half months. But this was the title of a blog I created my freshman year of college and even though it does have the potential to bring to mind vulgar images (especially for people who are sickened by feet) I guess for some reason I like it and really like the blogger name. It's catchy, it's simple, and well, everyone has them (dirty socks, that is). I think it's also symbolic of how we move through life. Really, very few people where I live can live without socks. I mean, you can live but...socks are an essential, similar to underwear. When I go to Ghana, like when I travel anywhere, I will need the essentials: socks and underwear. It's culturally representative. So, I'm sticking with it.


In other news, I am less than one week out from my initial take-off. I'll be meeting my program mates this Saturday around 8PM and flying out of the Detroit Metro Airport, though the flight is the least of my concerns, really. I have so many tasks to perform between now and Friday: schedule completion, constructing an interview for field research, making sure my mosquito net has arrived, moving out of my professor's house and writing for final essays before Friday.


Tonight (tuesday) I'll be having a going-away dinner at Mumbai in East Lansing for friends, fellow organizers, activists and people that I would like to say farewell to before I leave, those that are in the area at least. Since I'll be in Washington, D.C. this summer, I won't be back in the Lansing area until August: the longest time I've been away from this fine place since I moved here in August 2007.

So, here is my kickoff post. I'll be posting on here as regularly as humanly possible. I'll be picking up a wifi connection for my laptop to ensure wireless in Accra, Ghana once I arrive.

OH! That reminds me! Do you all know where I am going? I want to be make sure everyone is clear! I'll be living in Accra, Ghana for two and a half months (until May 10th, 2010). There are photos above. Ghana is located in Southern West Africa. Accra is in the southern region, below the Savanna, located dead-on the equator and the climate is tropical. The Current temperature is 84 degrees Fahrenheit, with scattered clouds. What else about Ghana? There is so much to know! Kwame Nkrumah was the first President after Ghana gained its independence (first nation in Africa to do so!) in 1957. Nkrumah was also a father-founder of the Pan-African movement and is well remembered with honor by many Ghanaians.

I think that's a good overview for now. Let me know if you have any more questions or post requests. I'd be happy to fill them.

4 comments:

  1. Bethany! I hope you had a good dinner, and have a very safe flight. Also, interview questions can totally be completed in the field... haha I spent like a month and a half in Bangaldesh working on mine, then totally changed then on my second day of interviews. -Marci

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  2. Really good to know! I just need a draft for my professor before I leave! But yeah..they are really likely to change...

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  3. Bethany! i am going to follow your blog! have a great trip! ~Sarah O.

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  4. I will definitely be reading!! Have a good flight!!! I luvs you!! :)

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