Single Serving Friends

After hanging out with some of the crew tonight and discussing travel plans, I hit on an idea. A challenge, really. To all the IDS bloggers around the world...

I'm a huge fan of Single Serving Friends. If you haven't seen Fight Club, the phrase is used by Edward Norton when he's on a plane talking about how on flights everything you get is single serving, including the people sitting next to you. I make it a point when traveling by myself to talk to people because you just never know who you'll meet or what you might learn. I've met an NBA athletic trainer, a journalist who interviewed Cary Grant, the US Olympic Equestrian team coach, and lots of other interesting people with great stories. Actually, my most recent single serving friend has turned out to be more than single serving because he lives in the DC area!

So for those of you who are going to be on a plane, train, boat, or bus ride this summer, see if you can't find a good single serving friend, and share their story with us! Hopefully I'll find a few in my travels to add to the mix.

xJessie

The Promised Land

Well I started off in Jordan where I, like Moses, first glimpsed the promised land from Mount Nebo.  I thought I would suffer the same fate as Moses (dying before setting foot on the land) after I spent 9 hours waiting and being questioned at the King Hussein Bridge border crossing into the West Bank.  I got there in the morning and shut the place down as the last of hundreds of people to be allowed into Israel today.  The last one through!  It never occurred to me that I could be the biggest security risk.  It was really awful.

But I am now in Ramallah and the family I am staying with is fantastic (thank you Emily!!).  I got my first glimpse of the outskirts of Jerusalem and the Wall and cruised on through my first checkpoints.  Will be starting the internship in a couple of days. 

I am hoping to start up a blog of my own so I'll be sure to share it with you all when I do.  Keep the posts coming!

~Billie  

Bom dia from Maputo!

Hi all,

Hard to believe I'm already on my third week in Mozambique! Amazing!! Well the city is completely interesting - and I am eager to start seeing some other parts of the country, which hopefully I'll be getting to do through work sometime soon. For now I have been working just out of the country office in Maputo and trying to navigate my way with my zero Portuguese, silly me. I am feeling pretty settled in by now and have made friends with the many roaches that I like to call my roommates. Fun times!! While the experience has been wonderful so far, I might say that my favorite thing has been no exams or papers or assigned reading (OK not really - that it comes close).

Hope all are doing well and enjoying the summer.

Cheers,
Christina

Greetings from Cambodia!

Hey everyone! I've been in Cambodia for almost two weeks now. Phnom Penh is crazy but incredible. I'm actually sharing an apartment now with Emily's boyfriend Pete, who is interning with the UN court conducting the Khmer Rouge trials. He ended up being put up in a hotel directly across the street from my hotel, and we arrived within a few hours of each other. I'd make a comment about this being a small world if getting here didn't require 24 hours in the air...

Rather than rehash every twist and turn of my last two weeks, I'll just put up a quick link to the blog I started for my summer:

www.thegameneededme.blogspot.com

Safe travels to the IDSers going abroad! I miss everyone already!

-Jarrett

and off I go!

Hi everyone,

I am leaving for South Africa tomorrow to work for USAID. Stay tuned...

Jessica

P.S. Merci bien to Kristin for setting up this blog.

PHEVs - Development's (Far) Future

This summer I have been upgraded from an intern at Brookings' IDP Project to a (temporary) research assistant for a big Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle event on June 11th & 12th. Together with Google, we will be looking at how PHEVs can greatly reduce U.S. oil demand. What does this have to do with International Development? As China, India, and the rest of the developping world increase their demand for energy in all forms, it is necessary to decrease the demand of the greatest user of the oil drug: us/U.S.. As these technologies are improved on a global level, it will help prevent the transition into a developped world from decimating the resources available.

While our event will be a lot of sound and fury, I believe it will also help...ever so slightly...in creating a more environmentally efficient world. Stay tuned for updates in the preparation, presentation, and effect of this event.

Today we visited the event site to work on the event logistics. A member from General Motors spoke about possibly having the Chevy Volt on display. There will even be a Wii available in the foyer. Those Google guys are wacky! Biggest thrill: My first ride in a PHEV to the event site.

-Mike A.

P.S. Follow me on Twitter

Where is everyone?

Your trusty program assistant is here in DC holding down the fort, but yearns to be traveling with all of you. SOOOO, send in some updates on your trips ASAP so I can day dream about life abroad.

Have fun and be safe - Dave

Welcome to IDS Summer 08!

Welcome fellow IDSers, friends, prospective students, and international development and travel enthusiasts! Over the coming months, this blog will have up to forty-one authors as the various students in the IDS 2009 cohort share their summer 2008 experiences. For more information about the International Development Studies program at George Washington University, please visit its homepage or the homepage of its associate organization, the Organization for International Development.
Best of luck to all of the IDSers this summer!