Hello all,
My trip, the one of exceptionally epic explorations, has officially begun. Actually, I'm already in Egypt. I haven't really had time to blog until now, but I've been writing everything down to post later. So I won't post my first Egypt blog for a couple of days now.
First and foremost, I want to layout my schedule for this semester.
August 17th -leave for my trip
August 18th - Arrive in Amsterdam with a 12-hour layover. I went into Amsterdam for the day.
August 19th - Arrive in Cairo, Egypt. I am visiting my friend Dani in Cairo who is studying abroad there for the semester. Will be there for 2 weeks.
September 1st - Fly out of Cairo to Entebbe, Uganda with a small stopover in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This is the day my program begins.
Now I will give you the itinerary that my program gave me, with a little additional information about the places.
Week 1: Orientation in Entebbe and Gulu
Week 2-4: In Gulu, Uganda with excursions to other districts in northern Uganda; Gulu homestays. This is the area where the rebel leader is from and where the civil war began.
Week 4-5: In Kampala (capitol of Uganda), with excursion in central Uganda; Uganda segment wrap-up and final exercises; Rwanda segment begins
Week 5-6: In Butare, Rwanda, with excursions in southern Rwanda
Weeks 7-9: In Kigali (capitol of Rwanda), with excursions in central Rwanda; Kigali homestays; Rwanda segment wrap-up and final exercises
Weeks 10-14: Independent Study Project (ISP) in Rwanda or Uganda, depending on the topic of your research
Week 15: Evaluation of ISP at a site to be determined
So this is my plan for this semester. I am studying Post-Conflict Transformation in Uganda and Rwanda, which means I will be examining the Ugandan Civil War and the Rwandan Genocide. As of right now, I intend to get my masters in Peace and Conflict studies (with a focus on African peace and conflict of course!).
My goals for this semester are to improve my understanding of the conflict in Rwanda and Uganda, to learn the application of Peace and Conflict studies, and to observe the people and cultures of where I travel as much as possible. Expect my blog to be peppered with my many observations of the people and cultures, as I am intrigued by people's behaviors and the reasons behind their actions.
I hope this blog will also be away in which my friends and family at home can learn about Africa with me, expanding our understanding of Africa into a more complex conception.
Hope you will join me on my journey and enjoy reading about my adventures almost as much as I will enjoy having them.
Also, before I post this, I MUST give a huge thanks and tons of love to Zorica and Brandon, who spent their night helping me pack. My life being my life, as much as I prepare for my packing weeks ahead of time and check everything off my detailed checklist, I am still running around like a chicken with its head cut off the night before I leave. Enter Zorica and Brandon. They are the reason I did not pull all my hair out. So they get the credit for my curly hair being in its proper place (on my head) and for me being on my way. Thanks for being awesome people!!!
Lots of Love,
Nancy
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I am very excited to learn more about Africa and to follow your adventure. This is a good first blog because it can be a reference point for the fun game of "Where in the World is Nancy Barry?" As great as this whole blog is, the best part is the last paragraph :)
ReplyDeleteLove,
Zorica
How did I guess that you would like that part the best? I must be psychic. People should call me to tell them about themselves. And when they disagree with me, they should use my post and your comment as a reference point that I'M right and they don't really know their true selves. I should market this.
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