“I wished I knew how to explain it to them. It’s as if a window opens, and you realize the world has been re-formed. I wanted to see the starvation. I needed to remind myself of its reality. I worry that if I get too comfortable, too complacent, I’ll lose all feeling, all sensation.” - Anderson Cooper, Dispatches From the Edge
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This pretty much summed up my feelings as I arrived in America. While most people, especially in developing countries, can’t wait for an opportunity to move to the West, few people know that I’ve dreaded nothing more.

A couple of years ago, a boyfriend asked if I’d consider moving to Europe for a few months. “And what am I going to write about?” I asked sarcastically. “How happy and content everyone is?”

That’s not reality, and I know it. But the developed world, with all its problems, still can’t match up to the chaos of the developing world. I’m used to that chaos. I’ve lived that chaos. I understand the culture, and I see the problems with it. I’m so much more hesitant to pass commentary on a culture I’m not yet part of and don’t completely understand.

It’s counter-intuitive, but moving to America was much harder for me than heading off to Ghana. I was excited, I was thrilled, but I was also scared. It’s my first time in the developed world in over fifteen years (we lived in London when I was a child), and I didn’t know what to expect. Personally, I’d be fine. But what about as a journalist?

Thankfully, I’ve realized I was wrong. Almost as soon as I stepped into the J-school and met some of my instructors, I realized how many stories are just waiting to be told. I’ve come across so many interesting people, places, and ideas that I can’t wait to get started on. Reporting, fact-checking, and finding background information are completely different beasts here, but, and to quote a number of writers that have come before me, “ideas are everywhere.”

A small note on what I’m doing here: I’m not actually studying for papers. As a Visiting Scholar, I don’t have to submit assignments, sit for tests, or have a big “what did you learn?” thing at the end of the semester. I get to audit classes, which pretty much means that I can attend them and am not required to do anything. And I have access to the whole university and all departments, so I could sit in for a quantum physics class if I had the inclination (I don’t).

This, of course, means I get the best deal. I get to pick whatever class I want to go to, and don’t really have to do anything other than learn. And I’ll continue to work.

I have a presentation on “The American Media’s Obsession with India’s Animals” this week (my favorite topic). Should be fun.