I'm starting to feel it now, that "hit" you feeling...I'm really headed to AFRICA in 3 days. It's pretty surreal. I still don't really know what to expect when I get off the airplane. It's going to be quite an adventure getting there in itself. Luckily, Zach and I are on the same flight out of Brussels so we get to talk about AITI for a whole 8 hours! :) If nothing else, I'm glad I'll have company. Python is...coming along. The important thing is that I feel like I'm *learning* and I think I am in decent shape to tackle at least the first few weeks in Rwanda.
The only thing I really have on my mind right now is, "What do I need to grab before I go to Africa"? I'm dreading Thursday when I have to start taking my malaria pills...I've never swallowed a pill before in my life. Not Advil. Not Tylenol. Nothing. I remember the doctor laughing at me once when I was 18 asking for the liquid version of the medication she was prescribing. She told me it would be a useful skill to know and now it's coming back to bite me in the a**. Oh well, hopefully it's quick and painless. I just don't want malaria!
There's still so much to learn, so many people to hang with, so much food to eat and so many things to buy before I go....ready....set....GO!
Monday, May 30, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Countdown to Rwanda: 7 Days
It's Thursday night, 11:30PM, beautiful CA time! The weather has been everything I wished Boston weather had been over the last academic year. I am even starting to my get true skin color back! If California does not make me caramel colored...Rwanda certainly will. But I find myself in a blogging kinda mood.
I've really been enjoying this stop in California for some reason. I mean, I always love being home, but something about this one just makes me smile more. Blame the weather, blame my family, blame my friends. I think I just feel good. MIT is over for a bit, I can focus on things that I really enjoy like educating these kids in Rwanda and learning Chinese. I'm really grateful for my partner, Zach Hynes. He and I work really well together. We haven't had to reschedule a single skype call this whole week. In fact, I think we have talked almost every single day for at least half an hour since the semester ended. We made our first LAB together on Data Structures today...I know, it's a bit weird for me to start saying all these computer science terms, but it's gonna kinda be my life for the next two months. I'm still looking forward to it though.
I looked up the exchange rate for Rwandan money (which I found out was the Franc) today. It turns out you can get 600 Francs for 1 American Dollar. The only question I had was: How far does 600 Francs get me? Hopefully pretty far! It's only when I travel that I truly value the worth of the American Dollar. There are few currencies that really compare. Last summer when I went to Shenzhen (深圳), I felt like a I became rich when I exchanged money....I wonder what it'll feel like in Rwanda!
At this point, I'm trying to find the perfect balance between the work that Zach and I still have left to do to prepare the curriculum that we'll be teaching and time with friends and family. I'll be spending some time with some friends tomorrow and Saturday! Jenecia and I are supposed to go and see the exhibit about CUBA at the Getty Center! Now if you know me at all, you know how much I love my Cuban Heritage, so this exhibit should be a great look at the changes Cuba has undergone over the past 80 years or so. I'm really looking forward to it. Be on the lookout for my experience at the exhibit.
As for now, it's about midnight here and I'm starting to get a bit tired. I've actually been getting more than decent sleep (8-9 hours per night!). I hope I'm able to continue that through the entire summer (and next semester? Maybe that's asking too much). I have ONE full week left in California before venturing off to Africa, so I hope it's a great one!!!
Buenas Noches de Los Angeles,
William
P.S. I have to give a shout out to the following cause before I get some rest. My baby brother, Julian Yuen is going to be working as a Camp Kesem counselor this summer back at MIT at the end of August. If you don't know, Camp Kesem is a summer camp for kids who's parents have either died from cancer or currently have cancer. He's currently trying to reach a goal of $400.00, which he is over half way to accomplishing (Proud of you, baby bro!)! I would really really REALLY appreciate it and I KNOW Julian would also super appreciate it if you could give ANY little bit you can :) You can donate to his page here
I've really been enjoying this stop in California for some reason. I mean, I always love being home, but something about this one just makes me smile more. Blame the weather, blame my family, blame my friends. I think I just feel good. MIT is over for a bit, I can focus on things that I really enjoy like educating these kids in Rwanda and learning Chinese. I'm really grateful for my partner, Zach Hynes. He and I work really well together. We haven't had to reschedule a single skype call this whole week. In fact, I think we have talked almost every single day for at least half an hour since the semester ended. We made our first LAB together on Data Structures today...I know, it's a bit weird for me to start saying all these computer science terms, but it's gonna kinda be my life for the next two months. I'm still looking forward to it though.
I looked up the exchange rate for Rwandan money (which I found out was the Franc) today. It turns out you can get 600 Francs for 1 American Dollar. The only question I had was: How far does 600 Francs get me? Hopefully pretty far! It's only when I travel that I truly value the worth of the American Dollar. There are few currencies that really compare. Last summer when I went to Shenzhen (深圳), I felt like a I became rich when I exchanged money....I wonder what it'll feel like in Rwanda!
At this point, I'm trying to find the perfect balance between the work that Zach and I still have left to do to prepare the curriculum that we'll be teaching and time with friends and family. I'll be spending some time with some friends tomorrow and Saturday! Jenecia and I are supposed to go and see the exhibit about CUBA at the Getty Center! Now if you know me at all, you know how much I love my Cuban Heritage, so this exhibit should be a great look at the changes Cuba has undergone over the past 80 years or so. I'm really looking forward to it. Be on the lookout for my experience at the exhibit.
As for now, it's about midnight here and I'm starting to get a bit tired. I've actually been getting more than decent sleep (8-9 hours per night!). I hope I'm able to continue that through the entire summer (and next semester? Maybe that's asking too much). I have ONE full week left in California before venturing off to Africa, so I hope it's a great one!!!
Buenas Noches de Los Angeles,
William
P.S. I have to give a shout out to the following cause before I get some rest. My baby brother, Julian Yuen is going to be working as a Camp Kesem counselor this summer back at MIT at the end of August. If you don't know, Camp Kesem is a summer camp for kids who's parents have either died from cancer or currently have cancer. He's currently trying to reach a goal of $400.00, which he is over half way to accomplishing (Proud of you, baby bro!)! I would really really REALLY appreciate it and I KNOW Julian would also super appreciate it if you could give ANY little bit you can :) You can donate to his page here
Monday, May 23, 2011
Countdown to Rwanda: 11 Days
Hello Friends and Family,
For those of you who do not know, I will be heading to Kigali, Rwanda this summer to teach mobile and web technology at the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology. I'm pretty excited! There's only one big problem...there's so much to learn before we go!!!! It's kind of funny that I am a part of Accelerating Information and Technology Initiative (AITI--Still has its old name on the website, but I think that's set to change soon) because I am one of two people in the whole program who is not majoring in either Management or Computer Science (the two main focuses of the program). Naturally, that means I have to brush up on everything that I learned in my Intro Java class at MIT as well as learn Python, Google App Engine, Django, etc, etc.
This is gonna turn out to be quite the adventure...BRING IT!
For those of you who do not know, I will be heading to Kigali, Rwanda this summer to teach mobile and web technology at the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology. I'm pretty excited! There's only one big problem...there's so much to learn before we go!!!! It's kind of funny that I am a part of Accelerating Information and Technology Initiative (AITI--Still has its old name on the website, but I think that's set to change soon) because I am one of two people in the whole program who is not majoring in either Management or Computer Science (the two main focuses of the program). Naturally, that means I have to brush up on everything that I learned in my Intro Java class at MIT as well as learn Python, Google App Engine, Django, etc, etc.
This is gonna turn out to be quite the adventure...BRING IT!
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