“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

Friday, January 22, 2010

Shots!

Today I got some of my vaccinations for my trip, and although I was pretty nervous about getting them since I haven't had a shot since I was 12, it didn't hurt at all :) I went to my campus Health Center because it could get charged to my student account so I don't have to front all the money at once, and it's a lot cheaper there then anywhere else. My doctor and nurse were very nice and helpful and it made the whole thing a lot easier to do.

I got Hepatitis A, Tetanus, and Polio today,so I have to go back in a month and get my Yellow Fever and flu shots. I got my prescription for my Typhoid (it is a liquid) and I take it once a day, every other day for 4 days. I will start that about 2 weeks before I go...so I'll start taking that at the end of April! Also I got my prescription for Malaria, I will be taking Lariam, but if I get the bad dreams that sometimes happen with Lariam I will be switching to Malarone.

Lariam is taken 1 week prior to leaving, once a week while in Africa, and 4 weeks after we return. Malarone is taken 2 days prior to leaving, every day while in Africa, and 2 weeks after we return. So I'm hoping Lariam works, but once a week is much better then everyday and Malarone is pretty expensive.


Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Budgeting

Time to budget for this trip...the financial aid office at our college needs this to determine how much aid we will get to go on trip. I'm seeing a lot of paper pushing to come, but I think if I can get a head start, when something goes wrong (which it will) I will have time to fix it.

So Projects Abroad has a lot things included in our program fee:

Total: $4,145.00 which includes the following
  • Accommodation
  • Food
  • Airport pick up and drop off
  • Full travel insurance
  • Medical insuranc
  • In-country induction with a staff member upon arrival
  • Support and 24 hour back-up from both our local and US/Canada staff
  • Personalized MyProjectsAbroad page
  • Pre-departure support from Desk Officer by email and phone
  • Visa support (if applicable)

Projects Abroad also sets up our flights, so I looked ahead to get an idea of what the cost it. I'll be flying out of Minneapolis, MN and if I flew with Delta it's around $1700.00 with one layover at JFK. Trying to prepare for a 16 hour fly :(

Other cost we have to think about it is:
  • Spending money
  • Clothing
  • Personal products
  • Transportation within Ghana
So I am trying to find out all prices for these things so I can hand in my budget report!

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Change of Plans

Well after some thought, Europe will be off the schedule:( Just too much to do and not enough time or money! But one day I will get over there and do our trip. But now I'm focusing on getting geared up for Africa. We will be heading out May 20, 2010 and coming back August 20, 2010 and I am getting very excited. This Friday I will start getting my shots, so I'll let everyone know how that goes :) But so far, just getting the paperwork and all the details set before we leave and I'm sure there will be bumps a long the way. But we had a meeting with our International Affairs adviser, and now we are getting this set in stone!

For school, I will be registering for PS 490 credits (Political Science Internships credits) and during my time in Ghana I will be blogging about my experience. I will also have to write a paper about my time out there, and have an assessment paper that will need to be signed by my supervisor out there.

Now we just have to get the financial aid office to corporate a little bit more and we should be set to go!!!

123 DAYS TO GO !!!!!