As I 'm writing this, it is officially T-minus one day till I arrive in Ghanaian soil. There is a whole host of emotions writhing inside the pit of my stomach right now, but I have to admit there is one mixture of emotions that is slowly eating away at my gut: fear and excitement. Fear of the unknown and excitement for the new memories I will make.
I guess before I even continue with my ramblings I should explain who I am and what this blog is about (after all this is my first post). My name is Kim, I am a proud Bostonian, and I am about to start my junior year at Tufts University. This blog, KiMonEarth, will be my virtual diary of my adventures, thoughts, fears, and joys of my study abroad experience. I will be abroad all year, first in Ghana (for the fall semester), then in Hong Kong (for the spring semester), with a month break in between.
But let me not even think about the spring semester right now.
I am a proud BLAST Scholar within the Tufts community and I am also participating in the Tufts-in-Ghana Program. Thanks to both of these programs I am about to embark in the craziest year of my life. As my friend Jared Smith articulated in his Blog Post, it is crazy to think that I will be leaving my family, friends, and everything familiar to me for almost 6 months. For someone who stayed pretty close to home when I went off to University, I have to say, it's pretty daunting to think that I won't be able to hop on the T and go back to East Boston (my hometown). I experienced this before last summer when I participated in the Tufts in Talloires study abroad program located in the French Alps. But, lets face it, 6 weeks does not even compare to 6 months. 6 months without mami's pupusas (heart breaks)...
But, in spite of this, I am EXCITED.
My body and mind and spirit are all ready for the amazing, crazy, insane, and beautiful year ahead of me. I want to be there already. I want to experience, and learn and, most importantly, be critical of everything. Some examples include: being critical about my role within the University of Ghana as an American student and my place as an American Latina with in the Ghanaian Culture. There are more, of course, but they will each have their own space and time.
I also really want to have fun. After all I will be celebrating my 21st birthday in Ghana (Can we say "dancing all night" people?)
And so what I am actually really dreading right now is the flight.
Especially this 11 hour flight from JFK Airport in New York to Kotoka International Airport in Accra.
Joy.
Well, at least I'll look at the bright side, I'm packed and ready to go.
P.S pre-departure jitters are real
-KiM
I guess before I even continue with my ramblings I should explain who I am and what this blog is about (after all this is my first post). My name is Kim, I am a proud Bostonian, and I am about to start my junior year at Tufts University. This blog, KiMonEarth, will be my virtual diary of my adventures, thoughts, fears, and joys of my study abroad experience. I will be abroad all year, first in Ghana (for the fall semester), then in Hong Kong (for the spring semester), with a month break in between.
But let me not even think about the spring semester right now.
I am a proud BLAST Scholar within the Tufts community and I am also participating in the Tufts-in-Ghana Program. Thanks to both of these programs I am about to embark in the craziest year of my life. As my friend Jared Smith articulated in his Blog Post, it is crazy to think that I will be leaving my family, friends, and everything familiar to me for almost 6 months. For someone who stayed pretty close to home when I went off to University, I have to say, it's pretty daunting to think that I won't be able to hop on the T and go back to East Boston (my hometown). I experienced this before last summer when I participated in the Tufts in Talloires study abroad program located in the French Alps. But, lets face it, 6 weeks does not even compare to 6 months. 6 months without mami's pupusas (heart breaks)...
But, in spite of this, I am EXCITED.
My body and mind and spirit are all ready for the amazing, crazy, insane, and beautiful year ahead of me. I want to be there already. I want to experience, and learn and, most importantly, be critical of everything. Some examples include: being critical about my role within the University of Ghana as an American student and my place as an American Latina with in the Ghanaian Culture. There are more, of course, but they will each have their own space and time.
I also really want to have fun. After all I will be celebrating my 21st birthday in Ghana (Can we say "dancing all night" people?)
And so what I am actually really dreading right now is the flight.
Especially this 11 hour flight from JFK Airport in New York to Kotoka International Airport in Accra.
Joy.
Well, at least I'll look at the bright side, I'm packed and ready to go.
P.S pre-departure jitters are real
-KiM