Gap minder

I'm so excited! I don't really have a good reason to update this blog except to shout how excited I am. 12 days until I graduate and about a month until I am out of the country. I have so much to look forward to and there are so many exciting things going on in my life and in the world right now.

I've been getting immunizations and getting all of my health stuff checked out before I leave. By the way, I'm sure you're all relieved to know that I do not have Tuberculosis. :) I came across a video that may be of interest to readers. We watched this in my TE Social Studies minor lab, and it is called a "Ted Talk". It's a short video, but very provocative and I've been thinking about it a lot. Essentially, it is this Swedish intellectual who is advocating for this new program called gapminder (check out www.gapminder.org) with which the public could have FREE access to world statistical data. Of course, many nations are hesitant to make their statistics public but the gapminder program right now has some widely accepted UN data compiled. You can pick what goes on the x and y axes to see statistical information about the world. For example, you can look at GDP and literacy rates or per capita income and health statistics. Here is a link to the video:
Check it out if you have time. I found it particularly interesting when he discussed the common image of African countries all being lumped together, yet have such vastly different economies and needs. He makes a great argument for specific aid plans in which individual countries are looked at more closely rather than as part of the continent as a whole. Very interesting video!

Nothing else to update for now.

In 28 days I'll graduate--In 30 I'll be in Chicago for orientation--In 47 I'll be on a plane to South Africa (well London, then Cape Town)! Pretty exciting stuff coming up and time is just flying by. I have been trying to get more acquainted with Cape Town and I just read Sea Mountain Fire City by Mike Nicol, a South African writer. It's been an interesting perspective on the city and gave me some idea about the culture there. I also began reading No Future without Forgiveness by Desmond Tutu, South African activist and Nobel Peace Prize Winner for his actions against apartheid. Surprisingly enough, he is the keynote speaker for the undergraduate convocation in May. I wasn't planning on attending that AND my college's graduation ceremony but once I found out that he would be there, I'll definitely go. How awesome that I get to listen to one of South Africa's most influential leaders speak and then travel there shortly after. :)

Preparations for the trip are progressing along just fine. I haven't received any more financial assistance but it's okay. I had anticipated using my credit card and though I didn't really WANT to, it's perfectly fine. I did receive a lot of of help from family and friends, and I am so thankful for that!! Every little bit honestly helps. I found out that I'm receiving a few scholarships for student teaching in Chicago next year, which is awesome. They will be a great help to me since I'm losing money this summer, not making it! I'm getting my vaccinations next Thursday and figuring out any other health precautions that I need to take before/while I'm in Cape Town.
While I'm there I will be updating this blog as often as possible and keeping a handwritten journal so that I can just make quick notes about things will I'm working or traveling without internet access right away. I guess there isn't much else to say--I'm just super excited!! :)


"My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together." Desmond Tutu

Business deal...;)

So I have a proposition for you all..

After experimenting with Windows MovieMaker in TE today I've come up with an idea.
The situation is this: I am a poor future educator. You are a resource--a person with connections (Trust me, you are) I'm going on this volunteer teaching trip and will be taking lots of photos, writing lots of reflections and ideas, and will want to spread the word. Let's say that I create [an awesome] movie including documents, photos, personal reflections, etc... from my trip. I then, present it to a group of people who might be interested (students? the guys at the VFW? Lions Club? Any group you are a member of) and in turn for my educational presentation complete with nifty video and all, said organization/group of people decides to contribute to my cause and throw me a few bucks. Eh? I'm liking it.

It would help me to achieve several aims in one experience
a) I synthesize what I learned from my experience by creating a meaningful presentation and then teaching it to others
b) I share with others the experiences that I had in South Africa and inspire them to get out and explore the world (and maybe do a little good along the way?)
c)I gain teaching/public speaking experience
d) I network, meet new people--never underestimate the value in this!
and finally most practically and economically...I make some much needed cash to pay for this $5000ish trip.

Contact me (mengersa@msu.edu by email) if you think you or someone you know would be interested in a proposition like this. You'll get to see my bright and shining face and as pictured below, my visible enthusiasm!

Flight is booked! $1954 has gotten me a flight to South Africa and home. :) We leave May 28th in the evening-- arrive in London for a fabulous 13 hour layover during which we plan to drink tea/booze and see all that we can see in a day--then in the evening we board the final flight and arrive in Cape Town by 10am the following morning. I think Cape Town is something like 8hours behind our time...of course I will know that for certain as it gets closer to May. I went to the library and checked out a few travel guides and "No Future without Forgiveness" by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, which is all about apartheid and the Reconciliation Acts which ended it. Very interesting! I have also found a subleaser to take over my apartment for the summer which is GREAT so I can save some money.

For those of you who don't know, Jackie (best friend since age 3) is living in Costa Rica right now with her brother Joe. It sounds like she is having just an incredible time doing everything from visiting volcanoes, to hanging out with an actress, to eating delicious food, and now volunteering at a local school.(www.lapaz.org) Makes me want to get down there asap! Boy, do I have travel fever. It really makes me wonder where life will take me--you never know. Whatever I do, I know that I will be teaching and learning, and I will be with Steve. Aside from that, the location doesn't really matter (though, not going to lie...tropical Costa Rica is sounding pretty appealing right now!)

Just about three months left until South Africa!! While I feel like I have so much going on right now, I don't think I have much to say at the moment. By the way, I'm not even sure if anyone reads this so..maybe, if you do you should comment! How about you comment with your top travel destination and why you want to go there. My travel photo : Me on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina.

empty pockets

So apparently, South Africa is much bigger than I thought. Maybe I just don't know enough about geography but there is like no way that Lyndsay and I can get to Kruger... We would have to fly to Jo'burg and that just is not going to happen with the cost of flights. Our round trip flight is going to total up to be around $2000 maybe even slightly more; a one way trip is like 2/3 of that cost..so two one way flights and then one little one in the middle from Cape town to Johannesburg is just a lot more money than I can afford. I am already really strapped for cash. Fundraising has sort of come to a dead end and I feel like I have exhausted all of my resources. At this point, I am most likely going to have to put about $3000 on my "back up" credit card that I never use--not a thrilling prospect, I must say. I will do it though because it is more important to me, to experience this and to learn regardless of the cost. I am a good $60,000 in the hole already so whats another $3000?? Good logic right?

Anyway, aside from the mini financial crisis rant, we ARE going to do some sightseeing and traveling, it just will have to be on the western side of the country where we can ensure that we'll be back to Cape Town for our flight back without needing an additional flight. We are looking at mini safaris and packaged travel deals because the other issue is transportation. If we plan our own adventure with different locations each day for a week, how are we going to GET to those places? Clearly, renting a car and gallivanting around a foreign country isn't going to be affordable, safe, or practical. With those package deals, transportation is already included in it so we can be sure that we will be able to get to the places we need to be. I'm planning on starting on some reading about South Africa. Cross Cultural Solutions offers some recommended reading (which I can't afford to buy...) so I am going to check out the library to see what MSU has to offer about South Africa and Cape Town, in particular.

On a non-African note: I'm going to be in Chicago next year!! Steve and I were both accepted to the internship placement there. We will be doing our student teaching at a high school in Hyde Park. I'm really looking forward to it. It seems like I have so much to look forward to right now and it's hard to focus on the here and now. At the same time, it's like I feel sort of frozen in the here and now. It doesn't feel like I am actually graduating in 3.5 months...it's crazy! I feel like I truly understand what people mean when they say that time flies. I never really bought into the cliche before but now, it's left me wondering, how did I get here so fast? I can't wait to see what both Africa and Chicago have to offer and what I can gain from each of these new experiences.

Prep.

And so it begins...
School has started again and I am actually feeling pretty rejuvenated after break...Though as I am getting up at 6:30am for my 8am class, it may not seem so. I have such energy and excitement in me right now. I feel like I am really thinking like a teacher; every movie I see, book/article/poem/comic strip/(insert text here) I am always thinking about how I might use that with my students, or how it might shape my teaching. South Africa is going to be a major life experience, and teaching experience for me and I can't wait to see what I can pull from that for the future, and what I can bring to that now.

Unfortunately, I've come to the realization that I don't have a whole lot of time for preparations for South Africa anymore. Lynds and I really need to figure out our plans for the week after we're done volunteering because the flight needs to be booked by the end of January/beginning of February.

Here's the travel situation: We really wanted to do a safari after we are done volunteering. I know for me, I'd love to see Kruger National Park in northern South Africa (near Johannesburg). Safaris there are very very expensive-out of my price range. There are several weekend safaris on the cape that we could do while we are in the Cape Town area on the weekends we are free and I am sure we could take advantage of that. We've also been told that it is cheaper to make arrangements IN South Africa since you can get a better deal in country. This makes it difficult to plan our after volunteer travel. Maybe we could just go to Johannesburg and to Kruger for a few days staying a hostel/hotel situation and do day tours of the reserve. To me, this seems most economical and most flexible so that we can book a flight to come home on 'x' day from the Johannesburg airport and have the time before to do what we want. Those day to day details can come much later, perhaps even while we are in South Africa. The other thing is that we need additional immunizations for Kruger. Yellow fever and malaria are present there so I'll need the yellow fever vaccine and the malaria meds (if that is what I choose to do.)

The malaria medication is another decision I have to make. It is NOT a vaccine, there fore it cannot prevent me from getting malaria. What it does do, is to lessen the severity of the symptoms IF I do get the disease. This is a good thing in theory. The problem however, is that if you do get malaria while on the malaria medication, it is much more difficult to treat than it would be if you did not take the medication. It's a tough choice..either way I don't want to get malaria during this experience bu t I just don't know which direction to take.

I will try and continue this update later, class is about to begin.

In 6 months time...

Today it is a bitter wintry day in Michigan and I cannot wait to be in the African heat in just a few months. These next few months are going to be quite exciting for me...It's my last semester of college and I graduate in May, then at the end of May Lyndsay and I are off to Africa for our big adventure. We have been looking into different safari and travel options for when we are done volunteering. I figure, I don't know if/when I'll be able to make it back to Africa so I want to all that I can while I am there. I am sure that I will be homesick since I will be gone about a month or so, but home isn't going anywhere and I can look forward to many more years with Steve so I might as well float around and experience what I can of South Africa.

Right now there isn't a whole lot of preparation I can do except to find out about immunizations and when I need to take them. For Cape Town I just need HepA and Typhoid but if we are doing some traveling, especially a safari I will need Malaria and possibly a few others. I've been checking flights routinely, keeping an eye out for patterns. It's been staying in the $1600-$2000 range. Since it's essentially a 24hr flight total, it might be nice to have a layover somewhere interesting. There is one flight with a 7hr layover in London--I think I can handle that :) Some others land in northern Africa which would also be cool so we could see a little bit of north and south Africa.

For now, I am just enjoying my winter break and studying for my certification tests...but I am trying to read as much about Cape Town and South Africa as I can. I already have quite a bit of background on apartheid but I'd like to learn more cultural aspects as well. Maybe I'll even practice some Afrikaans :)

Not much else to say I suppose. Fundraising is going fairly well; I appreciate all of the support from family and friends. This is something I feel so strongly about and it's great to feel that others support you in that belief and are willing to help make it happen. Thanks everyone :)
Happy Holidays!