Friday, March 30, 2007
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Going To Africa
I'll be going to Africa soon.
I'm going with the Danish NGO Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke's volunteer program Global Contact.
On April 2nd I'll be leaving Copenhagen for Zanzibar - Not a bad swap, I dare say. I could use some sun after just spending the longest winter ever in Denmark.
Zanzibar has nice sunny weather right now (25-30C/77-85F) and everyone who's been there says it's paradise in Earth. The only person who's had something negative to say was my doctor who said it's the Worlds biggest malaria nest. And I'm going in the middle of the rainy season. That doesn't mean rain all day, but very intense rain for an hour or two and then sun again. But anyway the mosquitos love it, so of course I am gonna take anti malaria medication and I have all my other vaccines taken care of too (including a delicious raspberry flavoured cholera drink) so I'm all good to go.
I will be on Zanzibar for one month where I'll go to school and learn about African culture and history, the problems the continent faces, development strategies, and Swahili. And hopefully I'll get the opportunity to go diving again... I'm sure I won't have any problems finding ways to spend my time.
On May 1st I'll be going to Uganda to work as a volunteer for three months. I'll be working with Uganda Pioneer's Association (UPA) and most likely I'll be working with Aids patients in Kampala. I can't really know anything for sure until I get there though, because it depends on the specific projects and they are sometimes closed from one day to another due to e.g insufficient funding.
I guess I better prepare myself for everything happening on African Time (or maybe not happening at all...). It will be a nice contrast to the Danish punctuality.
More than that I've tried to mentally prepare by reading and watching different things about East Africa and the Aids epidemic and I also went on a mandatory one week preparation course with MS. But I do realize that no matter what, it's gonna be a total shock and it's not gonna be easy. Especially considering the work I'll be doing.
I'm just gonna have to go with the flow and figure it out as I go along. Can't wait to experience it all!
I'm going with the Danish NGO Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke's volunteer program Global Contact.
On April 2nd I'll be leaving Copenhagen for Zanzibar - Not a bad swap, I dare say. I could use some sun after just spending the longest winter ever in Denmark.
Zanzibar has nice sunny weather right now (25-30C/77-85F) and everyone who's been there says it's paradise in Earth. The only person who's had something negative to say was my doctor who said it's the Worlds biggest malaria nest. And I'm going in the middle of the rainy season. That doesn't mean rain all day, but very intense rain for an hour or two and then sun again. But anyway the mosquitos love it, so of course I am gonna take anti malaria medication and I have all my other vaccines taken care of too (including a delicious raspberry flavoured cholera drink) so I'm all good to go.
I will be on Zanzibar for one month where I'll go to school and learn about African culture and history, the problems the continent faces, development strategies, and Swahili. And hopefully I'll get the opportunity to go diving again... I'm sure I won't have any problems finding ways to spend my time.
On May 1st I'll be going to Uganda to work as a volunteer for three months. I'll be working with Uganda Pioneer's Association (UPA) and most likely I'll be working with Aids patients in Kampala. I can't really know anything for sure until I get there though, because it depends on the specific projects and they are sometimes closed from one day to another due to e.g insufficient funding.
I guess I better prepare myself for everything happening on African Time (or maybe not happening at all...). It will be a nice contrast to the Danish punctuality.
More than that I've tried to mentally prepare by reading and watching different things about East Africa and the Aids epidemic and I also went on a mandatory one week preparation course with MS. But I do realize that no matter what, it's gonna be a total shock and it's not gonna be easy. Especially considering the work I'll be doing.
I'm just gonna have to go with the flow and figure it out as I go along. Can't wait to experience it all!
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Opening Line
Don't we all wanna find the perfect opening line?
Be it a pick up line, the beginning of a speech or the first words of the first post of the first blog.
I'm stepping onto foreign ground here, and I guess I wanna make a good first impression. The problem with me is that I'm quite a perfectionist which isn't necessarily a good thing, because the thought of not living up to my own expectations sometimes causes me not to try at all... which I know is just as pathetic as it sounds.
It is nonetheless the only reason I can think of that I haven't started a blog before.
When I've decided to get over myself and go ahead with it anyway, it's because I very much want to share my experiences in the coming months... So screw my vanity!
And welcome to my humble corner of the www. I hope you like it.
P.S. To all you non Danish speaking people: 'Hos Anne' means 'At Anne's'. Got it? I know your naughty minds might be going in the direction of other kinds of hos, but that's not my problem, okay?
Be it a pick up line, the beginning of a speech or the first words of the first post of the first blog.
I'm stepping onto foreign ground here, and I guess I wanna make a good first impression. The problem with me is that I'm quite a perfectionist which isn't necessarily a good thing, because the thought of not living up to my own expectations sometimes causes me not to try at all... which I know is just as pathetic as it sounds.
It is nonetheless the only reason I can think of that I haven't started a blog before.
When I've decided to get over myself and go ahead with it anyway, it's because I very much want to share my experiences in the coming months... So screw my vanity!
And welcome to my humble corner of the www. I hope you like it.
P.S. To all you non Danish speaking people: 'Hos Anne' means 'At Anne's'. Got it? I know your naughty minds might be going in the direction of other kinds of hos, but that's not my problem, okay?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
