Illini 4000 Awesomeness

Who would have thought I4K withdrawal would be a lifetime disorder? As I write this the 2010 Illini 4000 team has raised $95,740! (YOU GUYS ROCK!) They have yet to start their ride and I'm already completely envious and itching to tour again. Anyone up for joining me on a grad school capstone project ride next spring?! (I'm only partially kidding - so, where do you want to go?)

On a side note and a little plea... I4K screened "What People Do" last week. I have been patiently waiting 3-years and have YET to see this! If anyone with "connections" happens to read this and could make this happen, a second donation out of my check book could be arranged. :)

Bicycle

Hello 60 degree weather how I've missed you! Today I went exploring the bicycle trail system around the Mankato area. Some of the trails were closed due to the height of the local rivers which run near the trails but it was a beautiful day for a ride.

Bicycle Parking

Snowy trail ahead - this is when I decided it was time to turn around

New York

Hello! I'm currently back in New York for two weeks as I have a summer job interview later this week and then spring break next week. It's hard to believe that it could possibly be spring break already but apparently time flies when you do homework 24/7!

On my way home from Minnesota I made a detour through Iowa and into central Illinois where I stopped and visited some amazing I4k'ers in Champagin-Urbana. Despite my relatively last minute notice that I was going to be in town about eight of us were able to get together for a mini reunion. It was great to see them and catch up, it also reminded me just how much I miss the awesomeness of I4K.

Speaking of I4K - they just recently launched a new website! This years team is nearly twice the size of the original team and has been hard at work having already raised over $55,000! Check them out at www.illini4000.org

One of my favorite photos from I4K 2K8

Hello February

Brain Food? Dinner on a budget.

12 hours of class, 156 hours of homework, repeat. Life is good.

Minnesota

Hello from Minnesota! Due to popular request I'm revitalizing the blog - though I can't promise that I'll be writing daily or even weekly, just as my schedule permits.

It's been quite some time since I last posted here and while I'd really planned to blog last summer from Ghana that didn't go as planned (dial-up internet is not all that compatible with modern web design). But here I am, in Minnesota fresh off quitting my real job and currently working on the core courses part of my graduate program at MSUM.

I arrived in Minnesota on Saturday, January 9th after three wonderful days of driving. Originally the plan was to drive out in two days but then snow hit and well there is no denying mother nature the power to make snow. I made a planned stop in Normal, Illinois along the way where I spent a night with my friend Alex from I4K 1.0 catching up on everything that's happened over the past two years while refreshing many I4K memories. I still miss I4k oh so much!

My first day of class was the 11th of January. I'm taking four classes this semester - which is apparently a lot from the reaction I get when I say I'm taking four classes. One of the classes is an online/occasional Saturday class so I really haven't gotten a true taste of it just yet but I can honestly say that I like the other three classes a lot! I have a lot of reading to do which can be time consuming but other than that the work isn't that bad at all. I don't know a whole lot of people yet but the people in my major seem like a pretty cool group.

The weather hasn't been too bad thus far and has actually been above average temperature wise since I arrived something I will not complain about. There is still quite a bit of snow on the ground but we're suppose to get a rain/snow mix this weekend so that could make things interesting. I went to the grocery store today so I should be good to stay inside and spend the next three days doing homework. 150 days until summer!

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“It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.”

~Ernest Hemingway

The Children

Here is a video I put together that gives you a short glimpse at the children in the Children's home I was associated with in Ghana. They were amazing.

Kpando

As the snowflakes fly outside my window in upstate New York... here is a glimpse of where I stayed in Kpando, Ghana over the summer. Miss the tropical climate? Yes.

Home!

I returned from Ghana last Sunday. Updates will be posted as soon as I finish the project I'm working on related to this summer for graduate credit.

In the meantime a few photos with more to follow...

With one of the children at the Children's Home

At the Wli Waterfalls near the Togo border on the 4th of July

Ghana!

Hello from Ghana. I had planned to keep this blog a little more up to date on my summer in Ghana but due to a lack of high speed internet in the town where I am located it has been impossible.

I am currently sitting in an internet cafe in Accra (the capital of Ghana). My group decided to come to Accra this weekend for the Obama festivities and half of the group is currently out searching for a hotel while the rest of us catch up on life back home and plot out travel week plans with the high speed internet.

It's hard to describe my summer so far, so I'm going to wait and update later. But let me just say I am very thankful for what I have in America, clean water, toilets and dairy! I have so much respect for the people over here. I basically just wanted to drop in and say I'm safe and sound and will be home in less than a month!

Health Talks & Banku

This morning we got an early wake up call rising between 6:00 am and 7:00 am so that Edem could take us to Fesi for our first community health talk. I woke up at 6:00 am to use the bathroom and then read until everyone else started getting up at 7:00 am and we began to get ready. I skipped out on showering this morning and just got dressed and had a slice of bread with groundnut paste on it for breakfast. At 8:00 am Edem showed up and started shuttling us to Fesi where our presentations were. I went with the second group and began walking with Edem’s friend Erik and the rest of our group before Edem met us along the way and picked us up off the side of the road. When we arrived in Fesi we walked down a dirt road to a school where kids were sweeping the yard. We gave our talks to a group of community members and had Erik translate for us. Around 11:30 am we returned to our home in Kpando stopping at the post office where I had three letters from home waiting for me! Sarahann, Megan and I made fried plantains, eggs, tomatoes and cucumbers for lunch to go with groundnut paste on bread. After lunch we went back to the post office to drop off some mail and pick up some Aerograms. We also made a stop at the FanMilk store to buy everyone FanIce on our walk back home. I spent most of the afternoon just relaxing and reading at the house. At 4:15 pm Sarahann, Megan and I headed to Patience’s house to watch her prepare Banku for us for dinner as we are going to hire her to cook our dinner meals three days a week starting this week. When she was finished we walked the Banku back to the house to eat with the rest of the group. It was good but the sauce or soup as they call it was a little spicy for my taste. After dinner I wrote a letter to my parents and journaled before heading to bed. We have another early wake up call tomorrow morning – 4:45 am!

Another interesting note from today was that on our way into Fesi this morning Edem told us that he didn’t know how many people would show up for our health talks because the goats had been arrested in Fesi this morning. Upon inquiring as to what this meant he showed us driving past a big truck with a giant container on the back that “officials” were placing tied up goats into. The officials were chasing the goats around throughout yards within the village of Fesi. Apparently they were being arrested because they goats were out roaming when they were not supposed to be out. The whole process seemed to work like a Police Lockup in the Untied States where the goats were taken and money had to be paid to get them back. However in this situation if money was not paid to get the goats back the goats were then sent to auction.