Kelley Made it to Ghana... In 2010!

Wow, what an adventure it has been already! Sunday, we left Atlanta for Ghana and after two very long flights (approx. 14 hrs to Johannesburg, South Africa and 6 hrs to Accra, Ghana), we have arrived.

Here is a picture and video of our arrival into South Africa - we're all there, safe and excited to be moving onto the next leg of our journey.

By far, the best part of the trip happened just about three hours ago when we arrived in Ghana. It was such a relief to touch the ground in Africa. We met with Jorge, our tour guide, who was energetic and very accomodating. We're now in the hotel which is also amazing - more video on that below from Salima Lalani (who you'll be hearing more from throughout the week).





So, after nearly 60 hours of travel, $35 in food vouchers, and four airport movies (I digress - Sandra Bullock definitely deserved the Academy Award recognition for her refreshing, believable portrayal in the Blind Side - she really made the movie). Sorry - after all that, we're here and it's still spring break! Needless to say, everyone is looking forward to beginning our visits in Accra tomorrow. Well, off to sleep! Yay Ghana!



Hitting curveballs,
Kelley in Ghana 2010







* If I can add one thing, I would just say that Tammy Orahood, our trip leader, has been incredible on this trip. With each diversion or disappointment, she has rounded up the group, explained scenarios, and made sound decisions. Most importantly, she has kept calm throughout what has honestly been a frustrating past couple days for everyone. We are very lucky to have her leading us here, she's been a real superhero. Thanks for getting us here in good spirits Tammy!

Let's try this Again..

After a good night's sleep and a day in Atlanta, we are off to Johannesburg!!!

Doors to the plane are closing now. Will blog when we reach Ghana!

When Delta Gives You Lemons...

After all of that hustling and bustling, we're still in Atlanta. Due to extreme weather on the Eastern seaboard (Delta was saying 50 mile per hourwinds in New York), the flight to New York and the flight from New York to Accra were both cancelled. Everyone in Atlana (including the mechanic) will be staying here.

So the new plan is to fly to Johannesburg, tomorrow, after an hour layover on Jo'burg we will then fly to Accra, arriving Monday night at 11:00 pm. Of course this is not ideal, but this does get us to Ghana for most of the trip and most importantly, keeps us safe. At least we are leaving tomorrow, which many of the people in the Atlanta airport are not.


Leaving the ATL airport, we had the most timely surprise. We ran into the Associate Dean of Academic Programs in the Kelley School of Business, who we effectionately refer to as Venkat! This was a great surprise for us all and helped to lighten the mood after a long day. Below is a picture we took with him.



We are staying at the Sleep Inn, thanks to our trip insurance, and will be back at the Atlanta airport tomorrow for our 7:00 pm flight to Jo'burg. We should be able to squeeze in most of the tourist stuff we were supposed to do Sunday throughtout the rest of the week.

Tomorrow will be difficult to post, as we will be in the air all evening, but we will try to send something before taking off. The students are holding up well despite the disappointment. No matter what, we're planning on making lemonade!!!


Sleeping Inn,
Ghana 2010

Slow and Ready is the Pace

Been a loooong morning. Flights have been delayed due to weather which postponed our morning by nearly 4 hours. After eating breakfast (provided by Delta), we boarded our flight to ATL. From there, we had to make our connecting flight in less than 10 minutes! So we had a group of 24 people running through Atlanta's airport to make the flight to JFK in New York (pictures will come soon!) And guess what? We all made it!

After that adventure, we are now sitting on the plane in Atlanta, catching our breath and grateful to be on our way. Kind of. We have a 2 hour wait before we leave here. Sigh.

However, in an ironic/weird/amazing turn of events, there is a mechanic on our JFK flight who has supplies that have to get to Ghana. Because of him, we are the top priority to get into New York and to Ghana!

Thank you to everyone who has been sending positive thoughts our way. Including our friends on the China blog. :)


Barring the unforseen (which is kind of expected at this point), we should be in Ghana as planned. As of now, we are safe, sound, and ready to move on to the next stop. We will send an update of our journey when we arrive in Ghana. To New York and beyond!!!


Ready to fly,
Ghana 2010

It's Ghana Eve!!!

This will be the last post before we take off for Ghana tomorrow! The buses depart Bloomington tomorrow morning at 4:00am. From the Indianapolis Airport, we have a layover in Atlanta and then another in New York. Then, over the Atlantic Ocean and to Accra, Ghana. We should arrive at 7:35am on Sunday morning. After all of the courses, dinners, and language, everyone is amazingly excited!

Please visit the blog while we are in Ghana. We will update each day with descriptions of that day's events. In addition, we will post pics and videos that are taken. Spread the word to family and friends to follow us too! We can't wait to share the experience with you!


Okay - off to pack, say good-bye's, and get a little rest (4:00 am!!!).

The Fastest Way to a Country's Heart...

...is through it's food!

Last Wednesday, we attended a dinner where we sampled foods from the various Emerging Economies sites this semester: Korea, China, Croatia/Hungary, and of course Ghana (click the countries to read their blogs). The food was delightful, but the conversations at the tables were just as interesting. We were able to discuss some of the real aspects of visiting a country (i.e. what are the people like, what things will be offensive, and is there a good place to get ice cream?).

Overall, the evening was a huge success. Students were able to interact with one another and the chaperones and also gain insight into what the food will be like once we are there. You can hear more thoughts on the night from Vasundhara, Mikaela, and Neil in the video below.

In the coming weeks, the students will have more opportunities to learn about the foreign exchange markets, the international monetary system, and purchasing power parity (try saying that three times fast!). We plan on meeting at least once more informally before the trip to continue getting to know one another and the country. Please leave thoughts, encouragement, or questions here. We are excited about the trip and look forward to sharing more soon. Until next time!

Akwaaba! (Welcome!)

Hello and welcome to the blog for the Emerging Economies trip to Ghana this spring. By way of introduction, my name is Jeremy Gilmore, and I will be your guide on this blogging journey. Along the way, you can expect me to share some of the lessons and insights of our preparation and trip to Ghana. I am an Assistant Director in the Office of Diversity Initiatives and enjoy working with students. This is my first time overseas, so this blog is also my own way of chronicling what the experience was like.

Well, enough about me. Last Wednesday was our first class and in it, Kwesi (our instructor), taught us valuable things about Ghanaian culture. He explained how to greet others through handshakes and proper terminology. He also shared the significance of Akan names (the traditional way of naming children in Ghana). Names, he said, are taken from the day of the week you were born. He asked who knew the day of the week they were born. Not many did. So that was our homework assignment for the week! This week, we are sharing our names and plan on learning more about the Ghanaian people and language. (After some impromptu research, I found out that I was born on a Sunday, which means my name is the same as the instructor.)

After class, there was the chance to get a first response about the upcoming experience. In the following video, Aileen from Fort Wayne, Indiana, is interviewed below about her first impressions and expectations. Enjoy and we look forward to sharing more about our journey as it approaches.