Monday, May 25, 2009

Overwhelmed

I dont even know where to start. Yes, im here in Dallas, for two weeks while see my bro graduate....I have until June 3rd to submit a report for the embassy and June 4th to submit for a project im doing with AUCC in Adabraka. OVer the past few months while ive been away from this blog, ive experienced more sickness, more computer crashes...more trips to other regions...etc etc. But now im supposeed to write something? I have massive amounts of recordings I have to get through. There could stand to be some more interviews I could conduct. I just feel like this has crept up on me so fast.

And sometimes, I feel like I'm an amateur at all this. Maybe its because ive nver done something like this before, but I wonder..."Will anyone find this interesting/useful?" "Could I publish this?" Is there a way I could continue this in the future?

And obviously being back home for a while, Im glad to see friends and family, but I have a strange neutral feeling about being bacvk home. None of that culture shock I expected, but really I do feel like I have two homes, one in Dallas and one in Ghana. I was super sad to leave a special someone behind....but hopefully Ill see him again in Malawi in July...

THAT IS, AFTER OBAMA'S visit!!! :D

I do have some things I wish I had done differently on fulbright...I wish I hadnt worked so hard at my internship, in a sense...I think I found myself doing catch up with my own work, after doing everyone elses for them. I wish I had BACKED UP MY FILES!! I wish I had travelled more. I wish I had done an attachment at a radio station. I wish I had learned more Twi... But I mean, overall its been a great experience...I cant even process everything ive been through in the past months. Maybe thats why im bad at updating.

I really do have a passion for media and development. I want to see media stand up for the populations that cant stand up for themselves. I heard the CNN African Journalist of the Year for radio's entry, by Joy FM's Israel Laryea, about a girl who was being abused and how the community responded to it. Features like this need to have more prominence in Ghanaian media , as opposed to politics dominating the airwaves. I know I studied communications, but if I do go to school, I want to go back and learn more about broadcasting...

Now I am in the point where I have to decide what to do post fulbright..do I stay in Ghana? OR do I come back to the states and apply for school? Honestly, I would love to get a job at an organization that works in radio for development, anywhere on the continent...(well, the english speaking ones). I know I need to learn some more languages...perhaps French and Swahili....

Life decisions.....