I said my usual refrain ("thank you. have a nice day!") to one woman as she was leaving. She was a youngish woman wearing full burka (there's a big Muslim, mostly East African community in this area), and she turned around and said, in a pretty thick accent, "I hope we make history today!" I smiled and said, "Me too."
It was such a small moment and gesture, but it symbolizes the success of Obama's campaign to me: while success was measured by the win, the process of the campaign showed Americans that despite our significant differences to the eye we, as a people, may actually have more in common than we think we do. For me and that woman yesterday, I think it was hope for something better.
This week we're going to see High School Musical 3 (there's sound at that link). There's sort of not a lot to say beyond how totally ridiculous it is that we're going to see it. I saw HSM2 shortly after getting back from Malawi last summer, which was a hilarious re-entry to American hype and pop culture; I later saw HSM at a party of a cohort-mate from my masters. Somehow I extend that a step further (too far?) to think that my school experiences are really closely linked to the HSM series.
Or maybe I'm just dying for a thoughtless movie. What could be better than a movie musical about squeeky clean high school seniors for that?
The musical part of the movie is fundamental to the whole movie (it's called a "musical" afterall), but here seems so outlandish in the spontaneity and topic of their songs. There's always one required sports-related song, preferably mid-game/practice. It's musicals at their best and worst--trying too hard or maybe just that wholesome? The New Yorker puts it best, saying HSM3 is, "launching into song the way that normal folk go to the bathroom—regularly, politely, and because, if they didn’t, well, darn it, they might just burst."
Count me in.
First, I won't bother with another self-reflective "what-is-this-blog" discussion. Instead, this is to say that I'm hoping to post more frequently. The reasons for starting this blog in the first place--to keep in touch with people--never went away. The posts may be even more random in topic (everything from what I'm doing this weekend to what I'm thinking about professionally), but hopefully no longer in frequency.
Second, a few "housekeeping" issues:
I'm back on Blogger. I really didn't need my own domain name and hosting service. Maybe it'll come back at some point, but probably not in the near future. So check this site and not the previous url.
On that front, don't check my site at all--read it elsewhere. I fixed the feed function (see on the sidebar below) for anyone who likes reading things in an RSS reader. As a Google Reader user (more appropriately, enthusiast; most appropriately, junkie), I can't recommend feeds enough.
I'm also on twitter. A lot, it seems. It's an easy way to throw out a quick update, so it's likely that I'll be there even more frequently than here. I added a sidebar to the right that updates with my tweets for one stop shopping of those coming here directly.
Labels: blog
As my advisor might interject at this point, it's important to think about the mechanisms. Here's one: Mess --> stress from not dating (mediated by "coping mechanisms" like drinking and smoking). In other words, like this story.
Okay, so the theoretical model isn't actually that simple; I just wanted to link to that story. Also, I can't believe I just tried to draw a DAG on my blog. Any shred of coolness might be permanently lost. I really been thinking a lot lately about how to measure the effect of this whole mess with decent quantitative data, and I can't seem to think of much beyond these sort of anecdotes. Something else to think about in all that spare time.
I'm trying to be much more methodical and organized this year, particularly after what felt like a crash and burn spring and then a recuperation summer. So far so good. Having a dedicated working space in the apartment really helps (pictures forthcoming). I also think that I'm in classes that have a really specific purpose insofar as what I want to do. That I'm interested in them beyond knowing I need to know the material is a bonus. But more than anything, I think I'm less tolerant of my own procrastination than I was even three months ago. There's something about being in a country where you can't sit behind email all day and work passively that is a nice kick in the butt to be more active in my own life.
Remember: this is only week 1. There are something like 13 more downhill yet to come. And just because things on the whole are better at the moment, not everything is great on that front. The shoebox with new running shoes sitting in the corner unopened since their purchase is a prime example. On that at least, I think I'm going to start going to a running club I used to go to during the week to build in some routine and accountability to get me going.
One of my most favorite recent routines--since April or so--is going to Haymarket on Saturday mornings for produce. It was great then (and now) because it's cheap, but now more than ever, it reminds me of Malawi. The produce section of the grocery store just isn't the same. You don't get the seasonal variation (I'm still not sure what the hell you do with figs, so I've been avoiding them), or the urgency to cook it before it goes bad. There's also a wonderful cross section of people there, which you don't often find in this city--tourists, young people, older people, families, people of color, non-Americans, etc. Plus it just feels like a really natural way to eat--you get what's there and have to find ways to use it all. I found big avacados there this week, which is what made me particularly reminiscent.
back in the usa (don't know how lucky you are?)
0 Comments Published by Ben on Thursday, August 28, 2008 at 10:46 AM.
I'm back into the swing of things (sort of). This is a pretty light week in terms of responsibilities and scheduled things I have to do, so I'm able to do the really important stuff, like catch up on reality TV (I'm worried that everything is going to become "-licious" in my vocabulary just because him and his saying are so ridiculous). I'm also cleaning and organizing, trying to set up some decent working space in the apartment that's not in my bedroom so I can maybe have fewer nights of falling asleep in bed with my computer on my lap.
I've been on organization overdrive, reading a number of relevant blogs and books (happy to share if you're interested). At the moment, I'm sort of drooling over EverNote, but I have to upgrade to Leopard first, which I'll probably do later this fall.
Part of the organization is actually tending to things I've been putting off for whatever reason. Sometimes it's just nice to have the sense of completion that it's done, and other times, I get an iPod back. There's a longer version of the story, but suffice it to say that my iPod has been with BestBuy for months now for servicing, they lost it and are now sending a gift card for the purchase price. The prices haven't gone down (I bought it about this time last year), but the new iPhones dropped in price and the iPod Touch hasn't (an 8GB iPhone is $100 cheaper than an 8GB iPod). Technology is weird sometimes.
I'm also catching up on all sorts of things online, including NPR Podcasts. The most recent All Songs Considered podcast is pretty awesome. They feature this bands Ra Ra Riot that I've read about but had yet to hear. They have a few classically trained string players (violin and cello, I think) in the band, and the podcast sort of take the cello theme to heart. Toward the end of the podcast there's this really beautiful song by the Portland Cello Project that I have been listening to over and over again. Interesting concept and great execution, as far as I can tell.
back nonetheless. The place where there's internet here is The Hippo
View Lodge, which, as the name might suggest, overlooks the Shire
River that is full of hippos. It's very pretty here (at the Lodge),
although the rest of the town looks remarkably similar to everywhere
else I've been and seen here. It's more sand than dirt or clay,
pretty flat terrain here, but otherwise, it's just another town in
Malawi.
The northern site was a whirlwind I'd rather not re-do. It was
really beautiful there, but we worked really hard (probably too hard)
and I think are still reeling from it a little. We covered in 10
days what took us three weeks in the first site (we were scheduled
only to take 7 days, but 5 funerals and a Manure Introduction Day
sort of wiped out what we were able to do on a lot of the days in the
field). The days in the field were from 6 to 6, followed by a break
to shower off all the dirt, have dinner, and then spend 4-5 hours
updating the records with what we covered that day and preparing for
the following day. Bed before 2:00 am was unusual. We alternated
days (the other person working on the project and I), so the
following day was usually spent programming the data entry databases,
buying respondent gifts (they got a bag of sugar and two bars of soap
for an interview), or going into the nearest town on public transport
to get supplies (there wasn't a working photocopier or a place to buy
a ream of paper where we were, so we had to go an hour away to run
errands at least on two occasions). On the brighter side, it was a
definite sink or swim moment, and I think we really surprised
ourselves at how well it went. I learned a lot, and if that's all I
get out of being here this summer, the trip has been well worth it.
Now I'm down in the south and I feel like I'm spinning my wheels a
bit, more ready to come home than yearning to stay. I'm just going
to make the most of it and do as much as I can to make this site feel
like its own new experience.
For today's classic Malawi story: immigration. My visa expires
tomorrow, and since I didn't have a day off in the north to deal with
it, I had to go today. There's an office about 40 minutes from here,
so it should have been no problem. Right. There was an offer of a
ride up to Lilongwe, but after the 14 hour day driving down here on
Wednesday, I couldn't bear the thought of 3 hours each way in the car
(likely more coming home, b/c I'd be on public transport). So I
claimed our driver for the day and we went. I showed up to a really
cramped office with four people reading the newspaper. I explained
what I needed, handed my passport over and waited. The guy, after
about 5 minutes, looks up and starts explaining that there are new
fee structures for visas (it's now $70 to enter, up from $0, and $35
to renew for 60 days, which was also free before). I understood and
knew about it already; the cash was in my pocket. Then he started to
explain that they hadn't been trained or authorized on writing the
receipts for the cash, and thus, no one at that office could help me
except their boss who might (note: conditionals are always worth
taking as certainties of the opposite) be there this afternoon.
Could I come back? Well, no, not really. Especially when I knew the
guy probably wouldn't be there and I had other things to do. I thank
them and get back in the car, explain it to the driver and that I
think I'm just going to stop bothering, be here without a visa and
get stamped out at the airport with no problem (people do it all the
time). Before I could say so, he suggests we go to Blantyre, which
is another hour down the road (still shorter than going to Lilongwe.
It didn't really take much time once there, save the typical
bureaucratic waiting and confusion. It captured the little
unexpected things that make life difficult (and really fun, on the
good days) here--I got to see Blantyre and ultimately got it taken
care of no problem. But still...classic.
back nonetheless. The place where there's internet here is The Hippo
View Lodge, which, as the name might suggest, overlooks the Shire
River that is full of hippos. It's very pretty here (at the Lodge),
although the rest of the town looks remarkably similar to everywhere
else I've been and seen here. It's more sand than dirt or clay,
pretty flat terrain here, but otherwise, it's just another town in
Malawi.
The northern site was a whirlwind I'd rather not re-do. It was
really beautiful there, but we worked really hard (probably too hard)
and I think are still reeling from it a little. We covered in 10
days what took us three weeks in the first site (we were scheduled
only to take 7 days, but 5 funerals and a Manure Introduction Day
sort of wiped out what we were able to do on a lot of the days in the
field). The days in the field were from 6 to 6, followed by a break
to shower off all the dirt, have dinner, and then spend 4-5 hours
updating the records with what we covered that day and preparing for
the following day. Bed before 2:00 am was unusual. We alternated
days (the other person working on the project and I), so the
following day was usually spent programming the data entry databases,
buying respondent gifts (they got a bag of sugar and two bars of soap
for an interview), or going into the nearest town on public transport
to get supplies (there wasn't a working photocopier or a place to buy
a ream of paper where we were, so we had to go an hour away to run
errands at least on two occasions). On the brighter side, it was a
definite sink or swim moment, and I think we really surprised
ourselves at how well it went. I learned a lot, and if that's all I
get out of being here this summer, the trip has been well worth it.
Now I'm down in the south and I feel like I'm spinning my wheels a
bit, more ready to come home than yearning to stay. I'm just going
to make the most of it and do as much as I can to make this site feel
like its own new experience.
For today's classic Malawi story: immigration. My visa expires
tomorrow, and since I didn't have a day off in the north to deal with
it, I had to go today. There's an office about 40 minutes from here,
so it should have been no problem. Right. There was an offer of a
ride up to Lilongwe, but after the 14 hour day driving down here on
Wednesday, I couldn't bear the thought of 3 hours each way in the car
(likely more coming home, b/c I'd be on public transport). So I
claimed our driver for the day and we went. I showed up to a really
cramped office with four people reading the newspaper. I explained
what I needed, handed my passport over and waited. The guy, after
about 5 minutes, looks up and starts explaining that there are new
fee structures for visas (it's now $70 to enter, up from $0, and $35
to renew for 60 days, which was also free before). I understood and
knew about it already; the cash was in my pocket. Then he started to
explain that they hadn't been trained or authorized on writing the
receipts for the cash, and thus, no one at that office could help me
except their boss who might (note: conditionals are always worth
taking as certainties of the opposite) be there this afternoon.
Could I come back? Well, no, not really. Especially when I knew the
guy probably wouldn't be there and I had other things to do. I thank
them and get back in the car, explain it to the driver and that I
think I'm just going to stop bothering, be here without a visa and
get stamped out at the airport with no problem (people do it all the
time). Before I could say so, he suggests we go to Blantyre, which
is another hour down the road (still shorter than going to Lilongwe.
It didn't really take much time once there, save the typical
bureaucratic waiting and confusion. It captured the little
unexpected things that make life difficult (and really fun, on the
good days) here--I got to see Blantyre and ultimately got it taken
care of no problem. But still...classic.
http://www.twitter.com/smittysmith
We've been working a lot and probably will be until we leave; maybe a day off for a national park before heading down south. Hopefully I'll get back to normal online status then.
