Happy to note that I've officially - finally - purchased tickets for a summer in Europe, flying into Copenhagen in June (via Reykjavik- anyone been? ha) and out of Munich in August. Amazing how quickly one can spend several hundred dollars, isn't it?
The plan: Interning in Hillerod, Denmark, for two months, at the end of which I'll be joined by a friend from home for just over a week of misadventures in Copenhagen, Berlin, Prague, and Munich.
How it happened: I met Lars and Lars (seriously, one of the founders of the company, whom I'll be staying with this summer, is one Lars Christensen - talk about Danish) when they visited Ghana last summer to meet with the publisher I was interning with there. We all went out to dinner one evening, and the two invited me to join them (here's a preview, and here for a more detailed version) for a Saturday afternoon trip to Akosombo Dam and Shai Hills Reserve. We hiked, listened to the World Cup game on the radio, took pictures of baboons and antelopes, climbed into a bat cave, and talked.... long story short, last fall over email, Lars offered me an internship with them at Sensus, making a foray into information technology and communications, particularly for those with disabilities.
How it nearly didn't happen: Financing is always and continues to be a small nightmare, family complications, weighing pros and cons, working out timing (last year I flew to Ghana five days after moving out of DC; this year, I'll be flying to Denmark two days after my brother's wedding).
What I'll be up to: Helping on various projects in the company (they also have projects in Egypt and Ghana), possibly joining Lars to a few conferences or the like, newsletter things, possibly helping those working with the technology (eg check this out: RoboBraille), and, intriguing addition, sounds like I'm set up to visit and help with the summer program at the National Center for Visual Impairment for Children and Youth, a key Sensus customer. That last part sounds like a bit of a challenge - and something totally new for me - but one I look forward to, and something that reinforces my decision to spend the summer there.
And aside from that... I'll be in Europe! Because, hey, confession: I was the first in my family to get a passport, and that was for Ghana (back in the day, going to Canada - an easy day trip from my house - didn't require much in terms of ID)... so I kind of threw myself into the world travel experience, making West Africa my first stop. This summer, it's Europe, and frankly, I'm pumped. Hillerod's not far from the coast of Sweden, so I'm hoping to make it to that fine bit of Scandinavia, then of course the final trip into Germany and the Czech Republic for all that one must do there - we're already planning visits to cathedrals, main squares and the like, hopes for a castle or palace or two (in addition to Frederiksborg, in Hillerod), Brandenburg Gate (side note: part of the Berlin Wall is now in DC's Newseum - worth a visit), the Holocaust memorial in Berlin, and the former Dachau concentration camp, outside of Munich.
In the mean time, must get back to work to attempt to fund the aforementioned trips, though hopefully a grant from Dickinson will also be a player in that... fingers crossed. Any thoughts on must-see (or even should-see) places on that side of the ocean? I'm hoping weekends allow for some adventures beyond Hillerod and Copenhagen- we shall see. Any suggestions or thoughts on the above would be wonderful, so please do enlighten me and advise. :)
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