I have arrived safely and am (almost) completely settled in, thanks in large part to the very generous help of all sorts of people at the University. Assurances that people here would be extremely friendly have been more than born out by my few days worth of experience.

For those of you not familiar, let me quickly explain what I am doing at the University of Ghana at Legon. I was awarded a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship by District 7750 of Upstate South Carolina. Rotary, an international service-oriented organization for professionals, offers scholarships to students around the world. The Ambassadorial Scholarship empowers young people to be ambassadors of goodwill, sharing and absorbing a foreign culture. I selected the University of Ghana for its reputation as one of the finest colleges in West Africa. I am drawn to West Africa intellectually becaus of its connection to a range of important issues including global poverty, socio-economic development, democratization, the politics of oil, and the historic and current impact of U.S. foreign policy. I will be writing about all of these issues in this blog.

At the University, I will pursue an MA in African Studies, which will take approximately 12 months to complete. My Rotary Scholarship is covering my tuition, room, board, and travel expenses. It is only thanks to Rotary's generous financial support that this amazing opportunity is possible. My sponsor counselor, Dr. Gyabaa, even came to meet me at the airport.

I'll post again later this week with pictures, more details about the University, and my initial impressions of my new home. In the mean time, if you have comments or questions, please feel free to contact me at petedemarco@gmail.com. Thanks for checking in.