August 2008 Archives

Hey All! Well I have been pretty busy here in Panama, my family has been taking me lots of places and making sure I get to see lots of Panama. Life here is very relaxed, time is not such an issue and sleep well they do it in parts. There are a bunch of people that live in my neighborhood and every night they go out into the intersection and have a party, the intersection is right in front of my house and every one in my house is outside so I have been doing that and getting to know the neighbors well. The kids go play a game, last night they were playing soccer and jumping rope, and everyone sits around and talks and such. They all are very interested and want to hear all my stories of Alaska...although the language thing is still an issue so it often takes several tries to get any information across, however the Panamanians are very nice and don't give up. In my age group there are about 9 teenagers, 10 now with me. The Spanish is coming though! :-) Read more.

AFS offers year, semester and summer programs to Panama.

The cool thing about school here is that you get different subjects every day; each day is like an American "block day," if you will. Kinda like college: more time to procrastinate. The way the times are set up is a little more confusing. A session could range from just forty-five minutes to nearly three hours. So depending on the time of each class, every school day ends at a different time for me. (For example, I have a full day Wednesdays from 8:30 until 3:30, but on Fridays, I have class in the morning but have free time from 10:00 'til 1:45, and on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays I get out of school at 1:45. Read more.

AFS offers year programs to Norway.

Hello everyone! This coming weekend is going to be interesting for me hopefully. My Year 12 Cooking class has a tent every year at the local Scallop festival. We choose to donate our time and work to provide money in our class budget. I am hoping this is a great experience for me and I will get to try my fare share of scallops as well. The weather here has been great for the past week or so. The sun is very warm here compared to back home eventhough it can be sooo nice and sunny and then start pouring in a few minutes. New Zealand is one of the few places where you can experience 4 seasons in 1 day. Read more.

AFS offers year, semester and summer programs to New Zealand.

It's not just about my Japanese experience, but meeting other youth from around the world who have the same hope, ideas, and love for the planet . Its about creating lasting bonds that surpass nationality, religion, or race. Its about learning, sharing, bonding, living, and laughing together. But right now, and then we are sheltered, in our perfect diverse world,secluded and separated by mountains and rivers from the people who dont share our own views. So we have to learn to be each others support, and spread the love and respect that we share for one another to everyone we meet. I think its going to be a domino effect. And it started in the deep woods, on a mountain in Japan. I wish some of our world leaders could have been there. To see Japanese, Americans, Germans, Brazilians, Australians, Coasta Ricans, Chileans and more, jumping around a camp fire together, staying up talking until 5 oclock in the morning. And coming away with so much love and respect in your heart. Read more.

AFS offers year, semester and summer programs to Japan.

(A picture my host family sent me, all dressed up for a wedding)

Here's the deal: On September 2, I leave Boston at 9h00 and arrive as Dulles Airport in DC at about 10h30. I meet up with the AFS volunteers and head for the conference center. The third, we're meeting with our Congressional Representatives (I don't actually get to meet mine, since she's going to be in NH the week I'm in DC. However, I get to tour her building and meet a lot of her staff.) The fourth, all of the other AFS-Germany kids will be joining us for orientation. Then, finally, on September 5, we fly into Frankfurt on a plane departing at 5h23. From there, we have another orientation. Then, I get to go meet my host family! Read more.

AFS offers year and semester programs to Germany.

Sitting with my host mom (Khun Mae) in front of the beautiful Buddha image at Wat Yai. The temple was filled with a lot of people, many of whom were praying or posing for a flash-driven picture. There is a sign outside that says, "no standing when taking pictures" and so everyone sits in this fashion or in a cross-legged fashion. It houses the "most beautiful image of Buddha" in Thailand, and arguably, the world. And indeed, it was very beautiful. However, the temple was not quite how I'd imagined. I'd imagined a much more closed and even cleaner looking temple. Read more.

AFS offers year, semester and summer programs to Thailand.

So the day finally came when I found out where I would be living for the next year. ISTANBUL. Yes Istanbul, once Byzantium, later Constantinople, and currently Istanbul. Once considered to be the center of the world. How lucky can I get?

I'll be a member of the Kara family for the next year. Eric Kara so to speak. I'll have a host brother named Ilbars and a host sister named Ekin. My host mother speaks fluent english, though I really don't want to use that as a crutch. I will learn Turkish, I will! I'm living in the Beykoz District which is on the Asia half of Istanbul, right on the coast. It is the most peaceful district in Istanbul and is still full of nature and such. So I have the woods at home and the city next door. In the past I've been terribly nervous, but today I am so excited to go. Read more.

AFS offers year and summer programs to Turkey.

Ever since I went abroad to the South Pacific with People to People in the summer of '06, I've been wanting to experience more. My hunger for travel and living with other cultures has never left me. So, I've decided to study abroad with AFS. Where you ask? South Africa. People always ask me, "why South Africa?", and I say, "because, it's off the beaten path". Now this was no easy decision to make - I had to fill out a massive application, plus figure out how I was to raise the entire tuition - nearly $9,000 - by myself. Plus living away from home for a semester seems really hard, but at the same time it looks like an incredible experience. So anyway, I had to sell the idea to my parents - haha...not an easy task. Finally once I persuaded them, I applied for the AFX scholarship for merit and won $1,000 (thanks Mrs. Brown!!!), along with a local scholarship of $550 (thanks Anne!!!), and a program discount of $250 (thanks AFS-USA!!!), which helps tremendously. Along with this I'm working a part-time job at Knapps downtown, babysitting, fundraising, and working with corporate sponsors - *sigh*. It's exhausting, but totally worth it. Read more.

AFS offers year, semester and summer programs to South Africa.

Denmark is proud to say that it is the oldest monarchy in western Europe and to prove it's point it proudly displays the Jelling Stones. Now what, you may be asking, are the Jelling Stones. Well I shall tell you. The Jelling Stones are two stones that are around a thousand years old. Erected in the late 900's by the first king of Denmark, Gorm the Old, they stand as a physical birth certificate of Denmark. What is most interesting about these stones and just going to visit them in general is that they aren't roped off and nor do they have a gate around them. Read more.

AFS offers year programs to Denmark.

Let's fast forward to today - our first day at the orphanage. We picked up everyone on the good ole' AFS bus and headed over to Peace and Love Orphanage which is in Accra. My task for the day was painting this small classroom. We sanded it down and cleaned it and painted it all blue. I hope they weren't expecting too much quality because none of us had really painted before and it was kinda sloppy. I mean, I tried really hard though. While we were painting some of the kids wandered in to say hello and...I just can't even take it! These are pretty much the best kids I've ever met in my life. They are all so incredibly friendly. This one kid was very businesslike, he came in and shook my head, and said, 'I'm Francis, what is your name?'so I told him and then he just whipped out this notepad and pen where he keeps a list of email addresses. We talked for awhile (I think I was supposed to be painting?) and I ended up promising to get him a soccer ball. In the whole orphanage they don't even seem to have a soccer ball...I practically threw out my back giving piggyback rides. Read more.

AFS offers year, semester and summer programs to Ghana.

I'm going to Liginiac! Which (as google searches tell me)is a leeetttle tiny town (and by little I mean 630 inhabitants) in the city of Ussel, in Correze, in the province of Limousin, in France!!! And according to these websites, Limousin the 2nd least populated region in France! I was surprised when I saw the address AFS gave me, because it's nothing like "600 Rue de Lafayette" or something like that. It's actually "Chateau de Mareges." So they live in a chateau? WOW! I searched it in google (that amazing google..haha) and I got pictures of a castle-like place, advertising it as a holiday property.. Read more.

AFS offers year and semester programs to France.

haha, it was bound to happen, right? :)

My dear friends, gather round as I recount my adventure. It begins on a seemingly normal day after a long 9 hours of endless translations at my wonderful new workplace in the which I am serving as a volunteer:) (it is called JUCONI and it helps to keep kids off the streets). My dear sweet coordinator Nadia had shown me the bus route that I was to take in order to return from my workplace to my home a few days earlier... now, I was going to try it out...Read more.

AFS offers year, semester and summer programs to Ecuador.