Cows, Cream Teas, and Medieval History

Cow gates at each bend in the path

I've spent this past week in Oxford, soaking up all of the civilized society I can before living in West Africa for two months. Seb and I have our usual outings that we've been doing together during my Oxford visits for what we realized has been the past seven years -- afternoon tea at the Rose Tea Room, shrunken heads and artifacts at the Pitt Rivers Museum, formal hall dinner at Teddy Hall, muddy walks through Port Meadow, and sushi night (Thursdays!) at Edamame restaurant. This magical place, with its spires and well-dressed students and private gardens, feels like home now.

Tea time at the Rose

Today is my last day in Oxford. On the agenda: chicken curry sandwiches at the botanical gardens, visit to the Museum of the History of Science to see the Eccentricity exhibit, one last afternoon cream tea, art opening at Modern Art Oxford, and French food for dinner. Throw in spotted sun and a few rain showers and you've got a perfectly typical and wonderful Oxford day. Tomorrow I fly to Ghana, where I'll meet up with my NYU Wagner class and spend two (very busy) weeks in Accra, Kumasi, and Cape Coast studying food security and hunger. I'm looking forward to a major change in scenery and culture, although I'm going to miss the lazy lifestyle of being an Oxford student.

New Gear & What I'm Most Excited About

India Boys, by Wendy Ewald.

No, its not the new safari-esque hat. Or the raincoat. Or the rubber boots, DEET bug spray, convertible backpack suitcase, UV blocking t-shirts, or roll-up pants. Its the printer. This printer -- portable, lightweight, battery-powered, and lime green.

With the new printer, a bunch of ink and paper, two digital cameras, and a lot of creativity and patience, I am going to teach documentary photography to teenage girls through 10,000 Girls, an NGO in Senegal. Since I will be in a remote area, without reliable electricity or anywhere to develop film, I spent a lot of time researching the best way to bring photography to these girls -- the Canon SELPHY CP790 printer seems to get the best reviews, and is recommended by NGOs who do photography work in developing countries. With the tiny, space-age printer, I will be able to print photographs directly from the camera, using a battery. This way, the girls can have immediate, physical photographs, and I can archive the digital file. I can't wait to test it out, and see what the girls come up with.

I love documentary photography, especially teaching it. This will be the first time when I can put my training in Literacy Through Photography to the real test. I haven't specifically used the lessons that I learned with Wendy Ewald, one of my photographer heroes, five years ago at the Duke Center for Documentary Studies, so now is my chance! Even re-reading the description of Literacy Through Photography makes my heart beat faster: At its core, Literacy Through Photography encourages children to explore their world as they photograph scenes from their own lives, and then to use their images as catalysts for verbal and written expression.

What makes Ewald's approach unique is that she gives children the cameras, and allows them to explore their world through photographs they take. Agency, creativity, and reflection -- it is an inspiring process, and I can't wait to see what girls in Segou, Senegal will capture. Now I just have to figure out how to carry all of this new gear to southeastern Senegal!

Preparations

In less than a week, I fly to England. From there, I'm off to Ghana for two weeks and then on to Senegal for seven. In the past few months, I've gone from determined to excited to nervous and back to excited again -- this is a big adventure, and I'm ready for it!

Ready is relative, however -- I still have long lists upon lists of things to do in the next few days, all the while trying to enjoy the domesticated comforts of home. Ben & Jerrys, reality television, driving to CVS to get whatever I need, quick phone calls to friends. After living abroad before, I know how wonderful those simple things are. There will be new comforts to appreciate after this summer, though, and I'm trying to recognize them now: clean drinking water from the tap, hot showers, overstocked refrigerator, and trees rustling in cool breezes.

Leaving with a taste of the many lists I'm juggling. Now, off to register with the Ghanaian and Senegalese embassies, figure out how to get my third rabies vaccine in Accra, and break in my rainboots for the rainy season in Senegal!