So today marks my 6th FDOC of my Duke career and I can say it was a great one! I’m finally all moved into my new room with the help of Jaime and Diana and luckily it didn’t take that long. I’m excited for this semester, but I know that there is a lot to be done in preparing for MCAT, GPA, etc… all those stats… Unfortunately, there will probably be not so much of a social life for me this semester, and I’m super sad because I really wanted to tent for the Duke vs UNC game that’s happening in a few weeks!

It’s strange being back on Duke campus after being away for 8 months. I feel like so much has changed and there are so many new faces on campus… It’s great seeing familiar faces though, especially all the hugs and wonderful conversations I’ve been getting and giving lately. I’m looking forward to Cru large group tomorrow where I will be able to see all the Cru people I haven’t seen in a...

Isn’t it strange how unpredictable and fast-paced life is? Let me present to you something that I have discovered for myself, which I like to call “The Hunger Games Complex”.

Now what exactly is The Hunger Games Complex? Well, I’m glad you asked! Let’s put it this way. The very first Hunger Games movie came out when I was 18. This was March 23, 2012. Actually, I was still a senior in high school then, still waiting to hear back from several universities, anxiously waiting where I would be going for the next four years. Let’s rewind back to the night of March 22, 2012, when I sat for hours in line for the midnight premiere of The Hunger Games. Life was so different back then! Fast forward two hours. Now that the movie is over, now what do you do? Well, obviously you wait for Catching Fire, which would be released… ONE YEAR LATER?! That sucks. But a sense of excitement brewed through my...

You might be wondering what the name of this blog means, so let me translate it for you! Dalbert’s Life (genitive in German… hehe)

And yes, this is will be a short blog about my life in Berlin. I don’t even know where to start because so much has happened within the past few months. (I can’t believe that I’ve already been in Berlin for more than 2 months… why does time have to fly?) Anyway, life in Germany is WONDERFUL! I must say, Germany has become one of my favorite countries… I could even see myself living here in the future :D

My experience here has so far been an amazing one. Luckily, I was placed in a host family that treats me as one of them. It’s such a great experience for me, being able to speak German and still have that “family life” despite being abroad. I think that my German has really improved since being here, but sometimes it is frustrating not being able to fully...

The blog posts in the following 4 months will be about my experience in Berlin, Germany. Hope you will enjoy them.

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged! Every single day, I am learning more and more about the Kenyan culture. With only less than 2 more weeks in this country, I have decided that I want to return here again one day to serve and work with the Kenyans. This DukeEngage experience has been such a wonderful one, and even though there have been many challenges, they have helped me grow as a person and helped me with my final project.

My final project consists of the education of proper hand-washing hygiene for the outpatients of Iguhu. These past few weeks, the doctors and I have created brochures and posters in both English and Swahili showing how to properly wash hands with soap in order to prevent various infectious diseases. I’m currently finishing up the construction of concrete hand-washing sinks so that the outpatients will have access to water. The community members have been very...

Today is Saturday, which means we have an FSD meeting in Kakamega! Today was our final meeting, and it was really awesome getting to see everyone in the office. Finally, a week where everyone was somewhat healthy! ☺ We all shared our ups and downs of the week, and most everyone seems to be enjoying their time in their host organization and host family.

The meeting ended earlier than expected, and rather than waiting an hour for lunch, I decided to try and see the President of Kenya since he was going to be in town.

I got way more than I bargained for. We happened to be walking on the road where his car was driving, and he was greeting everyone on the streets from his car. Carpe Diem, right? I wasn’t going to pass up this opportunity, so I ran to the front and began waving frantically at him. Not only did I get to see him, but guess what? HE WAVED BACK!!!! It was awesome!!!! I am...

Hey friends! Hope all of you had a wonderful Fourth of July. I haven’t blogged in quite a while, but I finally have some time to do so. The title of this post literally means: In Iguhu!

Iguhu Health Centre (yes, that is centre spelled CENTRE) is the hospital I am working in. My coworkers are all amazing people and I enjoy working with each and every one of them. During the first week of my internship, it was quite difficult getting to know everyone and remembering their names. I felt intimidated, and introducing yourself as Dalbert, that’s Albert, but with a D in front of it, wasn’t as useful as it was in America. I got a lot of Davids and random Starbucks names. I even contemplated going by Jonathan for the rest of the internship since that is my middle name! However, after a few days, Dalbert became my name again, and I learned their names too! Now, we all love chatting and when we...

Hey everyone!

So I have some time to update you all on what I’ve been doing since leaving Texas. Currently, I’m sitting next to my friend Rusty on our flight to Nairobi, Kenya. Guess what? Drinking age on the plane is 18! :)

So yesterday, I was lucky to have an overnight layover in Dubai with some of the other DukeEngage interns. We arrived in Dubai after a long 16 hour flight, and pretty soon, we were on our way to check out the awesome city of Dubai. In my hotel, I actually ran into Loren, so that was really serendipitous. (We had previously planned to meet each other somewhere in Dubai because she was going to arrive 2 hours after me). Another lucky thing that happened for our group was that the hotel offered to drive us to our destination for free! Burj Khalifa, here I come!!!

First, we visited the Dubai Mall, which is the largest mall in the world. As I entered the mall, I...

It’s been almost a month since I have come back from Duke for the summer, but this month has been a month full of preparing for my trip to Kakamega, Kenya and for my trip to Germany this coming fall. From making bank appointments, to reaching out to past interns, to getting a very short hair cut for my trip, I have realized that I am becoming more and more independent. Feeling like an adult? This is actually a good feeling!

Well, packing isn’t a good feeling. Especially when I am packing for two months. I guess when I get there I’ll figure out if I forgot anything…

As I prepare for 22 hours of flying over the course of the next few days, I realize how blessed I am to have this opportunity to serve through DukeEngage. Ever since I was little, it’s always been a dream of mine to visit Africa. Little did I know that my first time would be serving people, which is one of my greatest...