Journal #1: Its just the Beginning

 As the field study prep course commences it is time to really dig in and embark on this journey. I have been having an emotional few weeks because of the many changes coming about right now. My best friends are all going through so many changes including marriage and mission calls and I didn't realize how much it would affect me but now that those things are upon us, I am really feeling my life switching from a comfortable place to some place that I am not quite sure how to handle. Nonetheless, I feel like I have been preparing for this for my whole life. I am excited for this semester because the preparation for Ghana itself is going to get more intense and is going to teach me things I didn't know about myself, Ghana, and others. We read an article for class on Monday titled "What Students Don't Learn Abroad". Listening to those comments from facilitators who have already been to the field were very different than those comments from people who have not been abroad but the general theme for me was simply, understanding. Understanding that while I want to share my culture with the people in Africa, I am there to learn about them. I am there to gain an understanding for why they do things the way they do. For why they speak, and dance, and heal they way they do. For why they believe what they do and much more. While I have lived a very privileged life here in the good ol' U S of A, the people I will interact with and come to know quite personally have experienced a whole different world and I want to know that world. In order to do that I need to leave my preconceived notions and my American-ness in California when I say goodbye to my family and step onto that plane. Of course, I am an American and have only known the culture in the United States and even more, in the LDS community for my whole life but I am ready to experience something new. I am ready to become one with the Ghanaian people in learning their language and how they experience life. This is just the beginning of my quest to understand the world. That is cliche I know, but I truly do want to know more about God's children and what better way than to study among them. As an anthropologist, I am always studying people's behaviors, even among my best friends and roommates. I analyze their actions and words more than I ever have before. Even upon just meeting someone I want to know about their background and life experiences and what led them to being the way they are. It is fascinating to me. Human beings are fascinating creatures.This prep course is basically the same as my Ethnographic Skills class for anthropology. The good thing about that is that I have my project proposal well developed and got an A in my department for it so as far as the requirements go for anthropology I'm solid (there will be tweaking here and there of course). With that proposal being complete, I have the opportunity to use this course as a refiner and a tool to creating the best possible project so I can really do my best research and really come to love and understand the people I interact with.