Feast your minds on this...

It's official: I'm goin to GHANA, baby!

Yeah, I'm pretty surprised myself. To think, my procrastination hasn't caught up with me and bitten me in the butt. Amazing! I had several close calls though. First of all, by my original plans, I am supposed to be IN Ghana, body and soul, at this very moment. But in my stupidity, I decided to open the Fall 2009 application five days before it was due, during the holidays when all the advising offices were closed. So Spring 2010, here I come. Along with my serious procrastination illness, I also have a bit of a problem when it comes to organizational skills. Those of you who have seen my room, both at home and in Berkeley, can vouch for that. Actually, some of you who have seen my room in Berkeley may beg to differ. But i have a confession to make. Unless you make a spontaneous visit to my apartment, I will enter into an intense cleaning frenzy-mode and sweep up all my crap before you arrive, and voila! What an illusion. Alex, my roommate, is not too fond of this trick because in my magic-making, I don't touch any of her things (we feed off each other's messiness, you see), so I end up leaving her looking like a horrible slob when you visit. In reality, the moment you leave, my side of the room somehow manages to vomit my hidden possessions back onto the floor, desk, bed, and chair.

That is besides the point. It is needless to say that simply completing the forms for my application as an Education Abroad Program (EAP) candidate was a remarkable feat in it of itself. And yet, i DID, and was accepted into the program during the summer. You'd think the madness is behind me, but my disorganization nearly cost me my second shot at Ghana. I found a mysteriously hidden Ghana check list of very important forms and documents that had to be filled out and sent to the EAP office by certain dates after acceptance. I found it two weeks before the first batch of documents were due. That check list had links to other check lists, appointments, emails, phone numbers, due dates, and my God what a recipe for disaster. Let's just say procrastination is extremely costly. It calls for priority and first class mail, immediate passport photo shots and prints, same-day official transcript pick ups, etc etc etc. But if I've learned anything at all, it is to be so extremely grateful for, what I have dubbed, Procrastinator Services.

In the midst of my whirlwind efforts to obtain transcripts, passport photos, advisory signatures, physical therapy recommendations, health clearances, travel clinic consults, while forever wondering if there is something I've missed, the reality of my trip finally hit me. And it is in these crazy moments that I think to myself, I am stressing ulcers into my stomach...this MUST be real!

If it puts your mind at ease in the slightest bit, or at least elevates your perception of my reliability in any way, I turned in all my forms on time. I sent in my last batch of health forms yesterday! But don't get me started on my bad luck with United States Postal Services! So cross your fingers.

I thought I might start up a blog so my friends can keep up with my journey in Ghana. The prep time alone has been quite a journey, so I figured...why not bring you along the pre-Ghana adventures as well. I haven't exposed my blog to anyone yet. Consider what a disappointment it would be if I had eagerly sent my blog link to my entire facebook friend's list only to discover that i failed to turn in some form, or that I didn't clear the health clearance portion of my application, or there was yet another hidden check list I failed to find...What a tease! So for the time being, my thoughts are still my own. I like writing to a nonexistent audience anyway.

Sorry for this miserable excuse of a first entry.
I promise more insightful, informative, and interesting posts. (But that is a dangerously relative promise.)

Welcome to the start of my Ghana adventures!