Last day for BoB voting!

Last day for voting for Best of Blogging is 24 April, 09, so do be sure to get your votes in! (no matter whom they are for! although my blog would feel honored to receive some votes :)).. i always believe one should participate actively - whether by voting or making a choice depending on the situation.. so fellow bloggers, if you have been chosen as one of the lucky 50 nominees (25 applicants, 25 students) for Clear Admit's BoB awards, do be sure to make your voice heard :)

In other news, work is starting to drag now. What is it about change that suddenly makes time go by slowly. I mean time really flew by when we were all busy with the B-school applications.. And then things got slow at the time of results.. then things picked up again once admissions were done.. and now things look a little slow once again :S

However, I know this is just momentary.. this precious time will also fly by and before we know it, we'll all be starting our MBA experiences!

We will probably look back on this free time, so here's how to make the most of it:

-Read.. read books, magazines, fiction, travellogues, news headlines, editorials. Whatever makes you happy.
- Eat.. hahah okay I know I know, we will get food there, but what I meant was: Eat food which you have wanted to have and never got around to .. like your aunt / mom / grandma's food or something. or even food you make yourself! now is the time to learn new recipes, cook, eat and enjoy!
- Stay fit - we will all need to be mentally and physically alert to tackle the gruelling coursework and ofcourse the myriad student clubs out there! so go gym, swim, play tennis, badminton, even table-tennis is a sport after all :D
- Follow sports - The IPL has just regained momentum, for all the cricket fans over here..
- Blog: I hope we'll all spare time for our busy lives to stay up to date.. I for one, would love to keep hearing about what my fellow bloggers are doing, and what activities they are busy with.
- Sleep: Who doesn't need their 8 hours of sleep? Actually, I think the whole 8 hour sleep theory is really a myth - it's totally subjective. For all you sleep-needers though, sleep all you can..

Hahah! So yea, thats my list of to-do things.. could do with some suggestions though :)

Good luck voting!!

A snapshot of Ghana!

As promised.. here's a recap of my trip to Ghana...

1) The people: Okay, so what striked me most - was the fact that Ghanians are extremely friendly. Everywhere you go, they will say ' Hello, my friend', and 'Hello, how are you'.. in markets, in tourist areas, almost everywhere I went. There are a lot of foreigners in Accra (the capital of Ghana), who are working in the telecom sector, and a lot of NGO crowd as well. Ghana is considered the NGO hub in West Africa, as its one of the safest countries in West Africa.

Second thing that struck me was the security. Not lack of it - but the fact, that our views of Africa are just so brainwashed by what see on TV. Ghana is one of the safest places in Africa - whether nationals, or foreigners, you would never see any one complaining about crime.What I did find very interesting is that in the huge open markets, particularly, when they see a non-African person, they call them 'obruni' - white man.

Interesting, how despite globalization, and liberalisation particularly in the US, all foreigners - whether from China, Australia, Canada, or even the Sub-Continent, are simply referred to as obrunis.From my short interaction and observations, I did notice one thing remarkable about their culture - they are genuinely happy-go-lucky. I really do think its an art - learning how to stay happy and actually remaining happy. Whether it was the massive open markets of Makola, Agbobloshie or Kneshie, or the roads of Osu, it's easy to notice how festive and lively the people were. Music and dance are part of their culture. In fact, I even saw a funeral (they call it fyuneeyaah), where they were dancing and celebrating the life of the person who passed away.

Another interesting observation - the women tie the babies on their backs, and all the people who are selling something on the roads / markets, carry the commodity on their heads.

2) Food: Well the most common food items present everywhere I went were pawpaw (papaya), plantains, and yam. The pawpaws are truly heavenly - I loved the orange peach color, the texture and the lovely fruity aroma that just adds so well to the overall experience. I saw roasted rats, bats, cow skin, had some local fried plantain chips.. didn't have quite the heart to try the bats, rats and other stuff though... phew.

3) Wildlife / Scenery:
Wow. Not only is Ghana really green, but its landscape is just so diverse. I spent time on beautiful beach resorts of Busua beach, Axim beach among others, with a lovely view of the greenish Atlantic Ocean. The facilities were superb, got extremely tanned though! And in complete contrast, while heading to the Volta region, I was surrounded by valleys, lakes, mountains - simply amazing. Lake Volta is massive, and runs through the Volta Region. We saw Akosombo Dam, and did some nice speed-boating as well.

The highlights of my trip would definitely be:

1) Re-living the Ghanian/ African history by going to Cape Coast Castle and Elmina Castle - these two slave castles are a bone-chilling experience. We had excellent guides, saw the doors of no return, went inside the male and female dungeons, saw the punishment rooms, and even saw the wells where the slaves were given water from. They say mroe than a million Africans were shipped to North and South America in the 16th-18th centuries in exchange for cotton, rice and other commodities. It's really quite an expereince to walk through the same doors, look at the castle and try to imagine what those people must have gone through.

2) The canopy walk at Kakum National Park - saw some beautiful butterflies, animal species and just loved the canopy walk in the rainforest.

3) Wli Falls: Tucked away in the Volta Region - these waterfalls are beautiful. After a long drive from Accra, and then a long walk to the actual waterfalls, you really feel awed. If you look up, you see literally millions of bats, as its also a bat sanctuary. I was lucky enough to see my 1st rainbow at the Wli Falls. Simply stunning.

These are just a few of the highlights from the Ghana trip - I'd definitely recommend it. I guess what I really valued about it was how different it was when compared to vacations in the U.S or Europe. No big flashy billboards. No McDonalds, Starbucks, big multinational brands. Just pure, pristine scenic and wildlife beauty.

Back from Ghana and Nominee for Best of Blogging!!

My blogger friends,
I'm back back back! Well the excitement says it all - just got back yesterday from an amazing trip to Ghana - with visits to Accra, Cape Coast, Elmina, Volta Region, Busua, Axim and much more.. I can't believe the 2 week vacation sped by so quickly, although I must admit - I did miss my blogging!

My detailed travellogue, experience and things I noticed about Ghana, their people, their culture, their arts, music, dance, nature and wildlife will follow in the next post or so (once I recover fully from the long flight's jet-lag). However, I can safely say .... It was great!! Did quite some adventurous touring, took a lot of pictures which I will also try sharing here for the benefit of fellow bloggers / tourists aspirants to Ghana.

In other news, I'm all set for Fuqua. My seat has been secured via a healthy tuition deposit :) and now's the time to start thinking about housing, visa, etc etc and the list goes on.

Oh yeah, and more news.... My blog got nominated for ClearAdmits Best of Blogging 2009!!!!! Wow!! It was quite a surprise, considering I'm new to blogging, but I must say, I agree with MissionMBA on the thrill one gets in seeing their blog named in Fridays from the Frontline and getting recognition .. Let's hope this blog gets its first win as well :)

It's been great blogging, sharing the woes and wins of MBA apps and stressful waiting with other people... More to follow soon, keeping fingers crossed!!