Quando eu votei :: When I voted

In the past couple of weeks, I have been intrigued by the Portuguese language. After 21 hours of studying the basics, I've decided to share a summary of my voting experience with you -- in Portuguese. Enjoy.

Na manha do dia sete de Dezembro, dois mil e doze, eu votei. Eu fui à estaçao a cinco minutos para sete horas. Eu tive que ligar uma fila longa. Votando comercou a sete horas e onze minutos. Depois de vinte minutos, nós tivemos que formar duas filas novas, usando nossos nomes. Teve muito caos, porque pessoas estiverem nas filas desde quatro horas horas na manha, mas depois disso, todo mundo ficou calmo e votando continuou.

You can read the full report -- in English -- on the GhanaDecides website.

The Vim Series!

I got a wish of mine fulfilled last Wednesday, when I partook in the Vim Series for the first time.
Vim Series is a meeting of individuals interested in technology (its challenges, prospects, application et cetera) in Ghana. It's held every Wednesday evening (6:30pm - 8:30pm) at Esoko.
I met a number of cool folks from diverse disciplines. Exchange of ideas is real fun!
Brett Nakatsu from StartupWeekend was there to share what the organisation is about and the upcoming StartupWeekend to be held in Accra this weekend. Follow #SWAccra on Twitter for updates.
Present also were guys from Open University of West Africa -- an institution taking open source education to a different dimension, by making use of MOOCs.
I enjoyed myself and felt inspired as well. If you are in Accra, and can spare 2 hours of your evening to meet cool folks and form alliances, check out the Vim Series. You will be glad you did.

Why I do what I do?

As a young academic, I sometimes get folks asking me how and why I'm in such a field. I don't really know how to explain it to them, for them to understand. I sometimes feel I'm even not fully fit for this field (and the truth is I'm not!). But something drives me to excel at what I do -- a passion -- so clearly captured in Peter Levine's quote in this article. He says:

I love teaching because I am able to make a difference in a student’s future. Whether I help to unlock a new concept or see a student follow her/his lifelong dreams, teaching and passing on knowledge has become a passion of mine.

That's exactly how I feel as a young academic -- an aspiration I'm cultivating.