So, a specter that has been looming over me recently has been my obligation to go abroad as a part of my studies. I’ve been scouring circles of friendship, professional networks, and the ever-expanding internet. I’ve talked with Kim about what I can afford to do – both for financial and physical/emotional (my/her) safety.  I’ve sectioned off parts of the world and am following up with all sorts of potential groups.

I’m getting close to being six months out now, and have run into a lot of disheartening dead ends.  I will continue to wheedle my way through the channels of Invisible Children and Resolve Uganda to get my way there. But in the mean time, I’ve found a plethora of internships that are no-gos. The high courts in The Netherlands, Sierra Leone and Tanzania have all turned me down. Cambodia is still a possibility.  The Australian Human Rights Commission has turned me down. I’m still waiting to hear back from a few others. State Department decisions go out in December. And I’ll be hitting up some research groups in East Africa asking them to shorten their internship requirements. I need to work with Gisela to figure out what I can do. Maybe I can just go work at Huruma in Nairobi.

I just want to find something that I’m interested in that will actually work out with everything going on here at home. Africa would be nice. Research or aid would be nice. But who knows? Maybe I’ll end up teaching English to a bunch of Austrians or something. I’ll probably end up talking to my friend Kevin about getting help from AISEC. Hopefully they can put me in touch with a development group. Here’s to a decisive next month or so in figuring all of this out!