But even though I'm in denial, the pictures prove it...
Now if only I had a job...
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
By the way, I graduated
Yes indeed! After 4 years, it's the end of my illustrious college career (as of 2 days ago). I can't quite believe that I'm a certified, diploma-carrying alumunae (cum laude) of Smith College, finally joining the ranks of notable alums like Margaret Mitchell, Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, Barbara Bush, Nancy Reagan, Julia Child, Rochelle Lazarus, and of course our Commencement speaker, Rep. Jane Lakes Harman.
But even though I'm in denial, the pictures prove it...
Now if only I had a job...
But even though I'm in denial, the pictures prove it...
Now if only I had a job...
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Ron y revolucion
This is a long overdue update, but, as usual, life has been hectic. I really should stop opening my updates with excuses... Anyway, as many of you know, I took off to Cuba for spring break with Jacqueline--yes the same travel buddy of Grecian notoriety. I won't bother with a blow by blow of our trip, but I would like to share some thoughts and observations about Cuba, a place that is still misunderstood and misrepresented in the West.
The propaganda immediately greets you on ride from Havana's Jose Marti airport into downtown. Giant billboards of Castro with big red lettering "VAMOS BIEN," anti-Bush posters, and graffiti murals extoling the glory of la revolucion or Che Guevara (el Che has been dead for nearly 40 years, but he's still totally idolized).
At first glance downtown Havana felt and looked a bit like a postcard from the 1950s, esp on the Malecon, the long avenue that runs along the waterfront: bright colored old chevys and lots of people stolling around in the warm sunshine. But after a day, the truer picture emerged: one of underdevelopment and decay.
Habana vieja, the old city center, has been renovated and completely redone as part of the investment in tourism infrastructure. But the residential neighborhood right next door, Centro Habana, is quite literally crumbling. People walk in the middle of the streets to avoid the chunks plaster that fall off building facades and the debris that litters the sidewalks. However this part of la Habana has a musical pulse, with music from different radio stations pouring out the windows and old men sitting on street corners with guitars on their laps. In fact, most of Cuba felt that way, and we had the privilege of seeing some of the world-renowed Buena Vista Social Club perform at the glorious old Hotel Nacional.
However, despite the constant upbeat musical soundtrack, I felt little joy or hope in Cuba. Cubans it seems have given up and are just trying to get by day to day. After 47 years under Fidel Castro such routine despair is understandable. Cubans can't even access everyday things like shampoo--even though it is plentiful in the small stores in tourist hotels, they cannot purchase it with regular pesos. This is one of the many examples of "tourist apartheid," whereby tourists are allowed certain privileges (like satellite TV) while Cubans are isolated from foreign visitors as well as the outside world. The lucky few who get to work within the tourism sector have access to the "convertible peso" and can purchase some of these things, but sometimes it's just easier to tip your hotel maid in cosmetics rather than cash. Most people we interacted with were either other tourists or Cubans who worked in tourism (museums, restaurants, hotel, bars etc). However, everyone knew we were foreign (the whole American accent/white skin thing somehow tipped them off) and we got several marriage proposals when strolling along the streets (hey lady, you wants Cuban boyfriends? I marry you, yes? You take me to America, ok?). Just another example of how stuck people feel in Cuba--and that's just in Havana! I can't imagine what it's like in the impoverished rural areas, which we only passed on the bus ride from Havana to the beach resort area of Varadero.
Oh my, I could go on for a while about the total hypocrisy of Varadero, but ultimately the beach is gorgeous and the rum flows freely, so I don't want to bash it too much... In fact, that's true about Havana too, and I don't want to give the impression that I didn't enjoy my time there. Cuba is lots of fun, even though I found myself laughing more 'at' than 'with.' I mean, Castro is a classicaly paranoid totalitarian and some of those anti-Bush billboards along the Malecon are just so shocking it's hilarious. I'm just really glad that I got to before he dies, which may be never seeing how long he's lasted so far...
Anyway, viva Cuba libre! and enjoy the pics :)
(oh about the pics, just click on the link below, but you have to sign into the kodak gallery- a free process which will literally take 30 secs... I just need people to sign in since this link is on my blog, aka open to the entire world!)
The propaganda immediately greets you on ride from Havana's Jose Marti airport into downtown. Giant billboards of Castro with big red lettering "VAMOS BIEN," anti-Bush posters, and graffiti murals extoling the glory of la revolucion or Che Guevara (el Che has been dead for nearly 40 years, but he's still totally idolized).
At first glance downtown Havana felt and looked a bit like a postcard from the 1950s, esp on the Malecon, the long avenue that runs along the waterfront: bright colored old chevys and lots of people stolling around in the warm sunshine. But after a day, the truer picture emerged: one of underdevelopment and decay.
Habana vieja, the old city center, has been renovated and completely redone as part of the investment in tourism infrastructure. But the residential neighborhood right next door, Centro Habana, is quite literally crumbling. People walk in the middle of the streets to avoid the chunks plaster that fall off building facades and the debris that litters the sidewalks. However this part of la Habana has a musical pulse, with music from different radio stations pouring out the windows and old men sitting on street corners with guitars on their laps. In fact, most of Cuba felt that way, and we had the privilege of seeing some of the world-renowed Buena Vista Social Club perform at the glorious old Hotel Nacional.
However, despite the constant upbeat musical soundtrack, I felt little joy or hope in Cuba. Cubans it seems have given up and are just trying to get by day to day. After 47 years under Fidel Castro such routine despair is understandable. Cubans can't even access everyday things like shampoo--even though it is plentiful in the small stores in tourist hotels, they cannot purchase it with regular pesos. This is one of the many examples of "tourist apartheid," whereby tourists are allowed certain privileges (like satellite TV) while Cubans are isolated from foreign visitors as well as the outside world. The lucky few who get to work within the tourism sector have access to the "convertible peso" and can purchase some of these things, but sometimes it's just easier to tip your hotel maid in cosmetics rather than cash. Most people we interacted with were either other tourists or Cubans who worked in tourism (museums, restaurants, hotel, bars etc). However, everyone knew we were foreign (the whole American accent/white skin thing somehow tipped them off) and we got several marriage proposals when strolling along the streets (hey lady, you wants Cuban boyfriends? I marry you, yes? You take me to America, ok?). Just another example of how stuck people feel in Cuba--and that's just in Havana! I can't imagine what it's like in the impoverished rural areas, which we only passed on the bus ride from Havana to the beach resort area of Varadero.
Oh my, I could go on for a while about the total hypocrisy of Varadero, but ultimately the beach is gorgeous and the rum flows freely, so I don't want to bash it too much... In fact, that's true about Havana too, and I don't want to give the impression that I didn't enjoy my time there. Cuba is lots of fun, even though I found myself laughing more 'at' than 'with.' I mean, Castro is a classicaly paranoid totalitarian and some of those anti-Bush billboards along the Malecon are just so shocking it's hilarious. I'm just really glad that I got to before he dies, which may be never seeing how long he's lasted so far...
Anyway, viva Cuba libre! and enjoy the pics :)
(oh about the pics, just click on the link below, but you have to sign into the kodak gallery- a free process which will literally take 30 secs... I just need people to sign in since this link is on my blog, aka open to the entire world!)
Monday, February 27, 2006
Holy Sh*t it's an Eve update
Well it's been a long time since my last real update-- 51 days to be exact, which is NOTHING in geological time, also known as Africa time, Caribbean time etc ;) ... I guess the last you heard from me I was chillin' in Cape Town--developing my conflict resolution/mediation skills, partying like a rockstar to make up for my antisocial behavior during the first semester, working diligently on my tan, and taking excessive amounts of pictures to document the whole thing... I don't want to bore you with the details of my 3-week stay in South Africa (ooo I met Ex-President and Nobel laureate FW de Klerk!!), but needless to say, I had a great time and I can't wait to go back--soon hopefully!
You all saw most of my pics online and received no narrative from me to explain 'em, but they were pretty self-explanatory. Quick summary: lots of random white people (other ppl in the program), some Africans (some program ppl, and also my wonderful homestay family from last year--Tina has grown sooo much!), beautiful pics of Cape Town (easy to take great pics of such a gorgeous city), scenery from the townships (not beautiful in quite the same way), a 'toga party,' an essentially talentless talent show, and endless pics of nights out in the Mother City with South African friends (oh and some crazy Namibians).
Anyway after Cape Town, I stopped over in the UK for a few days to reconnect with friends in Oxford and London. While the stay was basically a long weekend, it was, as always, good times with lots of alcohol and uncooperative weather.
After the little stopover, I came back through NYC for 48h before turning around and leaving again (this, I believe, is what is now known as "pulling an Eve")... This time the destination was Montreal for the McGill MUN conference. It was great to be back in Montreal, a little taste of Europe on this side of the Atlantic. Plus the weather was really warm! Wait, let me qualify that, it was really warm for Montreal in January, which means it was 30ºF/0ºC all weekend--which is tropical compared to lows of -15ºF/-45ºC in previous years.
Well the conference was a success (plus I got to very briefly see Ivan) and I drove the team back to Smith in the white Smith College soccer mom minivan--hot, I know...
And then the spring semester started--my LAST semester as an undergrad, which is terrifying/exciting/overwhelming and uber busy as usual. Actually that's a little bit of a lie because I've had a rather chill start to the semester... The second weekend of the semester I had a fantastic mini-bday party in NYC at Baraonda with a representative slice of the NYC crew...
And then the next day I flew off to the French Alps for a week. It's my family's traditional annual week of skiing in the most beautiful place in the world... So what if I missed a week of classes? It was a 'sudden family emergency,' and I just HAD to go for a week ;-) The skiing wasn't fab bc there wasn't much snow (as opposed to the record-breaking amount that was dumped on NYC just as I was leaving--the ultimate definition of IRONY), but it was great to spend time with the fam, eat great food, breathe the fresh mtn air, and keep partying like a rockstar etc...
And now it's back to the grind of the SC. More from me soon!
You all saw most of my pics online and received no narrative from me to explain 'em, but they were pretty self-explanatory. Quick summary: lots of random white people (other ppl in the program), some Africans (some program ppl, and also my wonderful homestay family from last year--Tina has grown sooo much!), beautiful pics of Cape Town (easy to take great pics of such a gorgeous city), scenery from the townships (not beautiful in quite the same way), a 'toga party,' an essentially talentless talent show, and endless pics of nights out in the Mother City with South African friends (oh and some crazy Namibians).
Anyway after Cape Town, I stopped over in the UK for a few days to reconnect with friends in Oxford and London. While the stay was basically a long weekend, it was, as always, good times with lots of alcohol and uncooperative weather.
After the little stopover, I came back through NYC for 48h before turning around and leaving again (this, I believe, is what is now known as "pulling an Eve")... This time the destination was Montreal for the McGill MUN conference. It was great to be back in Montreal, a little taste of Europe on this side of the Atlantic. Plus the weather was really warm! Wait, let me qualify that, it was really warm for Montreal in January, which means it was 30ºF/0ºC all weekend--which is tropical compared to lows of -15ºF/-45ºC in previous years.
Well the conference was a success (plus I got to very briefly see Ivan) and I drove the team back to Smith in the white Smith College soccer mom minivan--hot, I know...
And then the spring semester started--my LAST semester as an undergrad, which is terrifying/exciting/overwhelming and uber busy as usual. Actually that's a little bit of a lie because I've had a rather chill start to the semester... The second weekend of the semester I had a fantastic mini-bday party in NYC at Baraonda with a representative slice of the NYC crew...
And then the next day I flew off to the French Alps for a week. It's my family's traditional annual week of skiing in the most beautiful place in the world... So what if I missed a week of classes? It was a 'sudden family emergency,' and I just HAD to go for a week ;-) The skiing wasn't fab bc there wasn't much snow (as opposed to the record-breaking amount that was dumped on NYC just as I was leaving--the ultimate definition of IRONY), but it was great to spend time with the fam, eat great food, breathe the fresh mtn air, and keep partying like a rockstar etc...
And now it's back to the grind of the SC. More from me soon!
Friday, January 06, 2006
Greetings from the Mother Land
Hello friends and happy new year!
Well I finally got through the roughest finals of my life thanks to a 4 day extension on some of my papers... Clearly there's no way I could have written 5 papers, which totalled over 80 pages, in just a week. It was very intense and I pulled many all-nighters, but working over XMas weekend wasn't all that bad--it's rare to get presents and freshly baked cookies during a study break!
Conclusion: clearly being a senior at Smith is rough, but being a senior and taking 3 seminars is just masochistic. And my masochism continues because I basically had zero time off between finishing finals and getting on a plane to go back to South Africa... which is where I am writing to you all from. Indeed, Eve is back in Africa and loving it :)
So I'm in Cape Town participating in a 3-week symposium on Int'l Mediation and Conflict Resolution which is organized by an American org but taking place at University of Cape Town (check it out)... The classes/training sessions are pretty intense since it's essentially 9-5 every day--particularly hard on me since I am not fully human until noon. But I'm learning a lot about mediation (not mediTation), methods of conflict resolution, and diplomatic skills etc plus meeting some of the top people in the field, as well as the future leaders in the field, aka the other participants in the program. The group is pretty big: 80 people from around the world (DRCongo, Rwanda, USA, Holland, Norway, Colombia is a small sample), of all ages (the range is 19 to mid-30s but most are college age), and all different types of experiences and backgrounds (clueless sophomores to the former assistant to the Congolese President). Clearly there's so much to learn from the other participants and it's such a great opportunity to forge a future network...
Basically I'm feeling like I'm really equipped to solve all of the world's problems... Just give me a year or so and BAM! World Peace ;-)
Anyway, even if those plans don't work out, I'm still having a great time back in Cape Town. Ok, that's not entirely true because I got some terrible food poisoning this weekend and I literally spent New Years Eve getting to know the toilet down the hall... way to bring in 2006, right? I'm back on track now though and I'm loving the hot sunny weather, the food (the kind that DOESN'T inflict 2 days of debilitating illness), the beach, the beauty of the city and all the other wonderful things about Cape Town. I'm especially looking forward to re-connecting with some of the people that I met when I was here last year (or technically 2 years ago now), in particular my precious homestay family in the township. I'm heading back to Langa this weekend to see them and my little sisi Tina who is now 4 years old! And clearly I am bringing her and all the neighborhood kids tons of gifts... I love being Santa :)
Anyway as much as I LOVE sitting in a computer lab while the sun is shining outside, I think I'm going to leave it at that for now... I hope you're all well and I look forward to seeing some of you in the UK in a couple of weeks when I stop through on my way back to the USA!
Well I finally got through the roughest finals of my life thanks to a 4 day extension on some of my papers... Clearly there's no way I could have written 5 papers, which totalled over 80 pages, in just a week. It was very intense and I pulled many all-nighters, but working over XMas weekend wasn't all that bad--it's rare to get presents and freshly baked cookies during a study break!
Conclusion: clearly being a senior at Smith is rough, but being a senior and taking 3 seminars is just masochistic. And my masochism continues because I basically had zero time off between finishing finals and getting on a plane to go back to South Africa... which is where I am writing to you all from. Indeed, Eve is back in Africa and loving it :)
So I'm in Cape Town participating in a 3-week symposium on Int'l Mediation and Conflict Resolution which is organized by an American org but taking place at University of Cape Town (check it out)... The classes/training sessions are pretty intense since it's essentially 9-5 every day--particularly hard on me since I am not fully human until noon. But I'm learning a lot about mediation (not mediTation), methods of conflict resolution, and diplomatic skills etc plus meeting some of the top people in the field, as well as the future leaders in the field, aka the other participants in the program. The group is pretty big: 80 people from around the world (DRCongo, Rwanda, USA, Holland, Norway, Colombia is a small sample), of all ages (the range is 19 to mid-30s but most are college age), and all different types of experiences and backgrounds (clueless sophomores to the former assistant to the Congolese President). Clearly there's so much to learn from the other participants and it's such a great opportunity to forge a future network...
Basically I'm feeling like I'm really equipped to solve all of the world's problems... Just give me a year or so and BAM! World Peace ;-)
Anyway, even if those plans don't work out, I'm still having a great time back in Cape Town. Ok, that's not entirely true because I got some terrible food poisoning this weekend and I literally spent New Years Eve getting to know the toilet down the hall... way to bring in 2006, right? I'm back on track now though and I'm loving the hot sunny weather, the food (the kind that DOESN'T inflict 2 days of debilitating illness), the beach, the beauty of the city and all the other wonderful things about Cape Town. I'm especially looking forward to re-connecting with some of the people that I met when I was here last year (or technically 2 years ago now), in particular my precious homestay family in the township. I'm heading back to Langa this weekend to see them and my little sisi Tina who is now 4 years old! And clearly I am bringing her and all the neighborhood kids tons of gifts... I love being Santa :)
Anyway as much as I LOVE sitting in a computer lab while the sun is shining outside, I think I'm going to leave it at that for now... I hope you're all well and I look forward to seeing some of you in the UK in a couple of weeks when I stop through on my way back to the USA!
Monday, November 14, 2005
2 minute update
I'm apologizing in advance that I won't be updating you with my usual loquaciousness, eloquence and humor... I'm keeping this one very short, basically to let you all know that contrary to popular opinion, I have not fallen off the face of the earth. Nope, I'm pretty much still here, clinging on ;)
Ok so rewind to the last update when I was on my way to Greece... Jax and I had a great trip; exploring Athens, eating amazing Greek food, going on excursions (well just one excursion to Delphi), enjoying the sunny weather, dodging sketchy Greek men, trying not to get run over by crazy drivers, counting how many stray dogs we saw, and obviously partying.
Since fall break, I've been working my ass off--juggling lots of academic work and traveling to MUN conferences at Yale and UPenn. In fact, I'm pretty much up at Smith only Sunday evening through Wednesday night, and I've literally had NO social life... Speaking of which I have to get back to the library to work on a draft for my super fun seminar paper on the civil war in Algeria.
I guess I'll be seeing a lot of you in NYC for Thanksgiving :) and I hope to hear from the rest of you soon...
Ok so rewind to the last update when I was on my way to Greece... Jax and I had a great trip; exploring Athens, eating amazing Greek food, going on excursions (well just one excursion to Delphi), enjoying the sunny weather, dodging sketchy Greek men, trying not to get run over by crazy drivers, counting how many stray dogs we saw, and obviously partying.
Since fall break, I've been working my ass off--juggling lots of academic work and traveling to MUN conferences at Yale and UPenn. In fact, I'm pretty much up at Smith only Sunday evening through Wednesday night, and I've literally had NO social life... Speaking of which I have to get back to the library to work on a draft for my super fun seminar paper on the civil war in Algeria.
I guess I'll be seeing a lot of you in NYC for Thanksgiving :) and I hope to hear from the rest of you soon...
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Back to school, sort of...
Hello everyone!!!
Wow, that was enthusiastic. Three exclamation points... (Aline is rubbing off on me, plus it's been a while since I've written one of these). The thing is, it's a lot more enthusiastic than I feel, because I'm tired and I'm sick. Sick and tired you could say, but that's the wrong connotation. I'm tired because it's after 2am and I've been going non-stop all day, and I'm sick because I have bronchitis (which landed me in the hospital on Saturday, but, no worries, I'm a LOT better now).
Anyway, hi :-) I miss you guys, even those of you who go to Smith, because I never see you. Yes, being a senior is not so much about socializing/partying as managing the shit loads (sp? 1 word or 2?) of work that my professors sadistically impose (those bastards), while simultaneously trying to participate in extracurricular activities (such as, for example, being President of the Smith World Affairs Committee... yeah, that's me. Can you feel the aura of power?) AND, most fun of all, trying to figure out what the hell I'm going to do with THE REST OF MY LIFE.
Indeed, apparently there is life after college. I had no idea. In fact, I plan on sort of keeping it that way. After a couple of years of inevitable flailing around the 'real world,' I plan on comfortably reinserting myself into academia, where I will hide for the rest of my life. I will set the world record for 'longest time to complete a PhD.' It'll be fun, I swear.
So besides all that excitement, life has been pretty decent. Post-Oxford, end of summer, was pretty hectic...Settling back in NYC, seeing my family, catching up with friends, chilling up at the country house, and moving. Yeah, my family moved again. This time, all the way over to the East River! But the new apartment is really nice, perched on the 47th floor of a beautiful modern building. What? 47th floor? That's right. I swear, if you squint, you can see Miami from my living room.
Well after helping with the move (in fact I managed the whole thing bc my parents weren't around, and trust me, it was exhausting amounts of work), I continued moving, all the way back to Western Massachusetts. And, I'm not going to lie, despite my earlier grumbling, it is good to be back... though I definitely needed my (amazing) year away in South Africa/Amherst. It's just nice to be back in such a fun eclectic town, on such a beautiful campus, in a fantastic room (and with a view I might add, though not quite a Miami view), and in such a supportive environment.
The only downside is that I've almost been too busy to enjoy it! I haven't been around much between a weekend in Boston (thanks for letting me crash Stephy), a weekend in NYC, and an overnight in DC for my grandfather's funeral at Arlington (a particularly beautiful and moving ceremony bc my grandfather was high-ranking in the US Navy and was buried with full honors).
...And the crazy schedule continues for the rest of the semester between various conferences up and down the East Coast, and my fabulous upcoming vacation.
And that brings us to the present, because I'm leaving for this fabulous vacation on Thursday evening... Yes, I'm taking fall break (usually a 4-5 day weekend), turning it into a full 8-day vacation, and going off to Greece! This trip has been greatly anticipated because we've been planning it for over 6 months! I'm meeting up in Athens with my friend Jacqueline, who is currently studying abroad in Tel Aviv, and having a week-long adventure... which you will obviously hear all about once I get back.
Anyway I hope to hear from you all soon... Stay well!
Wow, that was enthusiastic. Three exclamation points... (Aline is rubbing off on me, plus it's been a while since I've written one of these). The thing is, it's a lot more enthusiastic than I feel, because I'm tired and I'm sick. Sick and tired you could say, but that's the wrong connotation. I'm tired because it's after 2am and I've been going non-stop all day, and I'm sick because I have bronchitis (which landed me in the hospital on Saturday, but, no worries, I'm a LOT better now).
Anyway, hi :-) I miss you guys, even those of you who go to Smith, because I never see you. Yes, being a senior is not so much about socializing/partying as managing the shit loads (sp? 1 word or 2?) of work that my professors sadistically impose (those bastards), while simultaneously trying to participate in extracurricular activities (such as, for example, being President of the Smith World Affairs Committee... yeah, that's me. Can you feel the aura of power?) AND, most fun of all, trying to figure out what the hell I'm going to do with THE REST OF MY LIFE.
Indeed, apparently there is life after college. I had no idea. In fact, I plan on sort of keeping it that way. After a couple of years of inevitable flailing around the 'real world,' I plan on comfortably reinserting myself into academia, where I will hide for the rest of my life. I will set the world record for 'longest time to complete a PhD.' It'll be fun, I swear.
So besides all that excitement, life has been pretty decent. Post-Oxford, end of summer, was pretty hectic...Settling back in NYC, seeing my family, catching up with friends, chilling up at the country house, and moving. Yeah, my family moved again. This time, all the way over to the East River! But the new apartment is really nice, perched on the 47th floor of a beautiful modern building. What? 47th floor? That's right. I swear, if you squint, you can see Miami from my living room.
Well after helping with the move (in fact I managed the whole thing bc my parents weren't around, and trust me, it was exhausting amounts of work), I continued moving, all the way back to Western Massachusetts. And, I'm not going to lie, despite my earlier grumbling, it is good to be back... though I definitely needed my (amazing) year away in South Africa/Amherst. It's just nice to be back in such a fun eclectic town, on such a beautiful campus, in a fantastic room (and with a view I might add, though not quite a Miami view), and in such a supportive environment.
The only downside is that I've almost been too busy to enjoy it! I haven't been around much between a weekend in Boston (thanks for letting me crash Stephy), a weekend in NYC, and an overnight in DC for my grandfather's funeral at Arlington (a particularly beautiful and moving ceremony bc my grandfather was high-ranking in the US Navy and was buried with full honors).
...And the crazy schedule continues for the rest of the semester between various conferences up and down the East Coast, and my fabulous upcoming vacation.
And that brings us to the present, because I'm leaving for this fabulous vacation on Thursday evening... Yes, I'm taking fall break (usually a 4-5 day weekend), turning it into a full 8-day vacation, and going off to Greece! This trip has been greatly anticipated because we've been planning it for over 6 months! I'm meeting up in Athens with my friend Jacqueline, who is currently studying abroad in Tel Aviv, and having a week-long adventure... which you will obviously hear all about once I get back.
Anyway I hope to hear from you all soon... Stay well!
Friday, August 05, 2005
PhDs and cocktails
Sorry if I've been a bit lax about updates recently... since I've finished my internship I don't have free internet access anymore ;-) Though I enjoyed and learned a lot during my stint at Africa Now, I have revelled in my newfound freedom... God knows what I'll do when I actually have a real full-time job. Unfortunately this freedom has been slightly curbed by the classic British summer weather, which basically means you always carry an umbrella, a sweater, sunglasses and sunscreen because you simply never know... Some of my plans have been hampered by inclement weather, meaning I've spent a couple of days just lying in bed reading all afternoon, which, if you know me, is rather close to my idea of heaven.
On other days, I have been keeping myself busy and doing classic Oxford activities like strolling through the botanical gardens, going punting (which involves a long, rickety boat, a long pole, and usually lots of Pims and champagne...) and going to my book club (aka embracing the inner geek). In fact, my inner geek loves Oxford and wants to stay here forever... she particularly loves the fantastic celeb spotting (little sample of people I've met here: Toni Morrison, Stephen Hawking, and Kofi Annan--the night before the terrorist attacks).
But don't worry about me! Despite the obscene amounts of reading (13 books in 7 weeks), the inner geek is still 'inner' and the party girl exterior has her fun too... There have been a fair share of crazy nights in Oxford... In fact my group of friends reflects this dichotomy exactly--an even mix of PhD students and bartenders (you know I love my bartenders).
Well I'm actually off to visit some of the touristy attractions in Oxford this afternoon, I'm trying to fit in all that stuff in my last few days... And I guess I'll be seeing most of you in NYC next week!
On other days, I have been keeping myself busy and doing classic Oxford activities like strolling through the botanical gardens, going punting (which involves a long, rickety boat, a long pole, and usually lots of Pims and champagne...) and going to my book club (aka embracing the inner geek). In fact, my inner geek loves Oxford and wants to stay here forever... she particularly loves the fantastic celeb spotting (little sample of people I've met here: Toni Morrison, Stephen Hawking, and Kofi Annan--the night before the terrorist attacks).
But don't worry about me! Despite the obscene amounts of reading (13 books in 7 weeks), the inner geek is still 'inner' and the party girl exterior has her fun too... There have been a fair share of crazy nights in Oxford... In fact my group of friends reflects this dichotomy exactly--an even mix of PhD students and bartenders (you know I love my bartenders).
Well I'm actually off to visit some of the touristy attractions in Oxford this afternoon, I'm trying to fit in all that stuff in my last few days... And I guess I'll be seeing most of you in NYC next week!
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
How everything turns away quite leisurely from the disaster...
It’s been a while since my last update, sorry ;) Though I’ve been rather busy, it’s more a lack of inspiration that’s to blame… and the fact that internet was cut off at my house on July 1st (personal email at work is generally frowned upon… oops).
Anyway, Oxford has been treating me very well. I actually just decided to extend my stay by a week (home on Aug 8)… and of course it started raining exactly 10min after I got off the phone with my British Airways booking agent—-classic.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve perfected the distinctive skill of being the 3rd wheel. This is mostly thanks to Steph and Elliot who I have had the pleasure of staying with on my occasional weekend/overnight excursions to London.
Those excursions were very frequent over the first few weeks, but recently I’ve been staying in Oxford a lot more—not because of the terrorist attacks in London, though those did rather shake me up, considering I was on a bus in London at the time of the attacks (and I would have been on the tube if I hadn’t been lazy and taken a taxi to the bus station… very clear lesson learned here: lazyness is a lifesaver).
But no, despite my luck, it’s more Oxford itself that keeps me here. I just keep meeting loads of interesting people and making new friends every time I go out, which undoubtedly sounds very corny but is also true. Plus, I’ve been on a few dates, though they’ve all been somewhat involuntary. Well not so much involuntary as accidental, think less sleazy-villian-kidnaps-innocent-woman Arnold Schwarzenegger action film, and more badly written overly serendipitous romantic comedy with B-list actors.
Well, in other news, my favourite neighbourhood graffiti was painted over this week. No more shall my daily walks to work be spent pondering whether “strict adherence to any religious dogma is intellectual suicide.” I am now sadly limited to the somewhat less eloquent musings about President Bush… On that tragic note, I leave you.
Anyway, Oxford has been treating me very well. I actually just decided to extend my stay by a week (home on Aug 8)… and of course it started raining exactly 10min after I got off the phone with my British Airways booking agent—-classic.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve perfected the distinctive skill of being the 3rd wheel. This is mostly thanks to Steph and Elliot who I have had the pleasure of staying with on my occasional weekend/overnight excursions to London.
Those excursions were very frequent over the first few weeks, but recently I’ve been staying in Oxford a lot more—not because of the terrorist attacks in London, though those did rather shake me up, considering I was on a bus in London at the time of the attacks (and I would have been on the tube if I hadn’t been lazy and taken a taxi to the bus station… very clear lesson learned here: lazyness is a lifesaver).
But no, despite my luck, it’s more Oxford itself that keeps me here. I just keep meeting loads of interesting people and making new friends every time I go out, which undoubtedly sounds very corny but is also true. Plus, I’ve been on a few dates, though they’ve all been somewhat involuntary. Well not so much involuntary as accidental, think less sleazy-villian-kidnaps-innocent-woman Arnold Schwarzenegger action film, and more badly written overly serendipitous romantic comedy with B-list actors.
Well, in other news, my favourite neighbourhood graffiti was painted over this week. No more shall my daily walks to work be spent pondering whether “strict adherence to any religious dogma is intellectual suicide.” I am now sadly limited to the somewhat less eloquent musings about President Bush… On that tragic note, I leave you.
Friday, July 01, 2005
Euro-tripping
After last week’s pre-MTV interview freak-out, I am currently freaking out because I’m actually going to be on TV tomorrow!! It’s on MTV International but I have no idea what time my segment is airing, meaning I expect all of you in Europe to be watching MTV all day tomorrow… But no worries for those of you in the USA (or you non-satellite TV people in Europe), I’ve got a special Xmas gift in mind ;)
Anyway post-blowing the minds of the MTV producers, I flew off to Amsterdam for the weekend to meet up with Ivan and a friend of his… We had a great, albeit brief, weekend in the original city of sin. We visited the Van Gogh museum, walked along the canals, saw some monuments, wandered interminably through the red light district (thanks for that Ivan), which literally has red lights everywhere, and may or may not have smoked some quality marijuana (I will neither confirm nor deny the previous statement).
Overall it’s a really cool city and, despite the legal drugs and prostitution, it actually felt sort of clean and healthy. Everyone cycles everywhere (Ivan can attest to almost being run over several times), there’s no rubbish on the streets (the canals are another story), the architecture is cute (though some building seem to be gradually falling into the canals), public transport is clean and safe (well not so much for stupid tourists who stand on the tramway tracks), and the city is generally bright and airy. Basically I’m a big fan of Amsterdam and I definitely recommend checking it out…
I got back to the UK on Sunday evening and hopped over to London for a couple of days for a series of lectures/panels on the G8 and on ‘why does Bush care so much about Africa?,’ which was particularly interesting because the title was not meant to be facetious… As you can imagine, some of the Africans in the audience def got a little riled up during the Q&A.
After all the excitement in London (which included a reunion with my friend Casey who I haven’t seen in FIVE years), I’m now back in Oxford sitting at my desk in the office, where I’m clearly getting a lot of work done. I’m basically just killing time before leaving early this afternoon. The office is quite chilled out… classic NGO, highly educated, slightly hippie vibe, where the whole "9 to 5" thing is open to interpretation-- for instance half the office randomly decided to go to Wimbledon on Wednesday afternoon and we’re all going to Shakespeare in the park next week.
So work is cool and the Oxford social life is gradually getting there. I've met some really cool people (yeah I'm talking about you Muthoni) and my housemates are a rather eclectic but very cool bunch… Mandy and Nick, who have been together for a year, just finished university at Oxford Brooks and now have jobs in Oxford until further notice (it’s the kind of place you can get sucked into, think Northampton/Amherst). Beth finished Uni last year and bartends at a very trendy bar near my house. Her French boyfriend Ben, who works at the same bar, basically also lives with us. Then there’s Marius, an Afrikaner from Jo’burg who I think is unfortunately developing a crush on me, and Maria, a Spanish student with severely limited English (luckily Mandy was a Spanish major).
Our house is cute, with a nice garden in the back where Beth and her bf practice flaring (flipping bottles around Tom Cruise style). As previously mentioned, I live in the studenty, quirky, multicultural area of Oxford… Just a little sampling of stores on one block to give you an idea: a Brazilian art gallery, an antiques store, a tattoo parlour, an internet cafe, a discount hardware store, a little hair salon, and an über trendy tapas bar. Plus there are tons of restaurants in the area, and alongside the fastfood places and the more traditional Italian/Asian stuff, there is some more exotic fare: Jamaican, Polish ("the vodka specialists"), Indian vegetarian, a Vietnamese noodle bar, and more Kebab take-aways than are strictly necessary.
Ok all this food talk has suddenly made me realize that I haven’t actually eaten today, besides nibbling on some fair trade nectarines in the office… Off to lunch and then London for the weekend!
Anyway post-blowing the minds of the MTV producers, I flew off to Amsterdam for the weekend to meet up with Ivan and a friend of his… We had a great, albeit brief, weekend in the original city of sin. We visited the Van Gogh museum, walked along the canals, saw some monuments, wandered interminably through the red light district (thanks for that Ivan), which literally has red lights everywhere, and may or may not have smoked some quality marijuana (I will neither confirm nor deny the previous statement).
Overall it’s a really cool city and, despite the legal drugs and prostitution, it actually felt sort of clean and healthy. Everyone cycles everywhere (Ivan can attest to almost being run over several times), there’s no rubbish on the streets (the canals are another story), the architecture is cute (though some building seem to be gradually falling into the canals), public transport is clean and safe (well not so much for stupid tourists who stand on the tramway tracks), and the city is generally bright and airy. Basically I’m a big fan of Amsterdam and I definitely recommend checking it out…
I got back to the UK on Sunday evening and hopped over to London for a couple of days for a series of lectures/panels on the G8 and on ‘why does Bush care so much about Africa?,’ which was particularly interesting because the title was not meant to be facetious… As you can imagine, some of the Africans in the audience def got a little riled up during the Q&A.
After all the excitement in London (which included a reunion with my friend Casey who I haven’t seen in FIVE years), I’m now back in Oxford sitting at my desk in the office, where I’m clearly getting a lot of work done. I’m basically just killing time before leaving early this afternoon. The office is quite chilled out… classic NGO, highly educated, slightly hippie vibe, where the whole "9 to 5" thing is open to interpretation-- for instance half the office randomly decided to go to Wimbledon on Wednesday afternoon and we’re all going to Shakespeare in the park next week.
So work is cool and the Oxford social life is gradually getting there. I've met some really cool people (yeah I'm talking about you Muthoni) and my housemates are a rather eclectic but very cool bunch… Mandy and Nick, who have been together for a year, just finished university at Oxford Brooks and now have jobs in Oxford until further notice (it’s the kind of place you can get sucked into, think Northampton/Amherst). Beth finished Uni last year and bartends at a very trendy bar near my house. Her French boyfriend Ben, who works at the same bar, basically also lives with us. Then there’s Marius, an Afrikaner from Jo’burg who I think is unfortunately developing a crush on me, and Maria, a Spanish student with severely limited English (luckily Mandy was a Spanish major).
Our house is cute, with a nice garden in the back where Beth and her bf practice flaring (flipping bottles around Tom Cruise style). As previously mentioned, I live in the studenty, quirky, multicultural area of Oxford… Just a little sampling of stores on one block to give you an idea: a Brazilian art gallery, an antiques store, a tattoo parlour, an internet cafe, a discount hardware store, a little hair salon, and an über trendy tapas bar. Plus there are tons of restaurants in the area, and alongside the fastfood places and the more traditional Italian/Asian stuff, there is some more exotic fare: Jamaican, Polish ("the vodka specialists"), Indian vegetarian, a Vietnamese noodle bar, and more Kebab take-aways than are strictly necessary.
Ok all this food talk has suddenly made me realize that I haven’t actually eaten today, besides nibbling on some fair trade nectarines in the office… Off to lunch and then London for the weekend!
Friday, June 24, 2005
Africa via Oxford? Another Eve update
When I left you last I was on my whirlwind Eurotrip, somewhere between Italy and France. The week in Milan was very ‘divertimento.’ It’s a nice city, but one that needs some tweaking, such as air conditioning (NOT optional when the temp. averages 32°C in summer), maps of bus and tram routes (it’s always a bit of an adventure when using public transport in Italy… who knows where you’ll end up!), and functioning ATMs (when one stops working, apparently the entire system shuts down… another example of practical Italian thinking).
Other than that, there are some things that the Italians have just right. #1 on that list is clearly FASHION and SHOPPING (gentlemen, you may skip the next few sentences). Now, all the big designers are in Milan but at the same prices as NYC, so going to Armani/Prada/D&G/Gucci is a waste of time. However, there are tons of nice boutiques that are very reasonably priced by European standards. And yes, I did do some serious damage in the shoe department ;)
Another thing that the Milanese have right is ‘aperitivo’—evening cocktail period where for the price of one drink you have an open buffet with tons of salads, pastas, breads etc It’s a fabulous way for financially constrained students to basically get a free meal (and by financially constrained, I mean broke from shoe shopping).
So in addition to the shopping, eating, drinking, and sightseeing, France and I left scorching Milan for one day and took the train down to the coast. The train ride was an adventure in itself and I think the whole day can truly best be captured through pictures.
Anyway, after Milan, I spent a long weekend in Paris before heading back to NYC for a whole 4 days. A logical stop-over on my way to the UK, don’t you think? Actually I went back home for my sis’ high school graduation (congrats again Anne-France!), which I combined with a week of packing and partying. I had a great send-off party at Luna Park, a very nice outdoor bar in Union Sq park, and later at Cain (yes, I still heart Cain, despite the door bitch).
Anyway I moved to Oxford last weekend. My neighbourhood is pretty, um, interesting… Lots of students, plus soap-dodging hippies who drive old Saabs and walk around bare-foot, East Asian immigrant families who own taxi companies and ten thousand small grocery stores apiece etc. It’s the quirky multi-cultural part of Oxford, which is a nice way of saying that I don’t walk around alone after dark. But it’s all good, I survived Langa ;)
Unfortunately, my grandfather passed away last week, which was obviously very sad and hard to deal with since I’m so far from my family. However I’m quite busy with discovering Oxford and meeting new people that I haven’t been too depressed. Plus I started my internship at Africa Now last week and it’s going really well… The office is small and quite laid-back. We listen to music and the director makes coffee and tea for everyone (you better believe I love this role reversal). Some of the work I’m doing is the classic boring stuff like writing press releases and processing donations (donate online now!), but other things are quite cool like compiling case studies and being interviewed by MTV News.
What?!! Yeah, I’m being interviewed by MTV news because of the work Africa Now is doing for the Make Poverty History campaign (makepovertyhistory.org). For some reason, I’m the only one available and the director thinks that I’ll be great since I’m young (aka MTV audience age) and supposedly articulate and knowledgeable the issues. However, I am clearly FREAKING OUT. The interview is tomorrow afternoon in London!! AHHHH!!
Ok, must chill… *breathe*… Anyway I’ll obviously let you all know when it’s airing, but I think it’s only on MTV Europe.
Well, after my first TV appearance, I’m flying to Amsterdam for the weekend to meet up with some friends which is probably exactly what I need right now, if you know what I mean. Anyway I’m off for now… More info about Oxford, my housemates etc on the next update.
Other than that, there are some things that the Italians have just right. #1 on that list is clearly FASHION and SHOPPING (gentlemen, you may skip the next few sentences). Now, all the big designers are in Milan but at the same prices as NYC, so going to Armani/Prada/D&G/Gucci is a waste of time. However, there are tons of nice boutiques that are very reasonably priced by European standards. And yes, I did do some serious damage in the shoe department ;)
Another thing that the Milanese have right is ‘aperitivo’—evening cocktail period where for the price of one drink you have an open buffet with tons of salads, pastas, breads etc It’s a fabulous way for financially constrained students to basically get a free meal (and by financially constrained, I mean broke from shoe shopping).
So in addition to the shopping, eating, drinking, and sightseeing, France and I left scorching Milan for one day and took the train down to the coast. The train ride was an adventure in itself and I think the whole day can truly best be captured through pictures.
Anyway, after Milan, I spent a long weekend in Paris before heading back to NYC for a whole 4 days. A logical stop-over on my way to the UK, don’t you think? Actually I went back home for my sis’ high school graduation (congrats again Anne-France!), which I combined with a week of packing and partying. I had a great send-off party at Luna Park, a very nice outdoor bar in Union Sq park, and later at Cain (yes, I still heart Cain, despite the door bitch).
Anyway I moved to Oxford last weekend. My neighbourhood is pretty, um, interesting… Lots of students, plus soap-dodging hippies who drive old Saabs and walk around bare-foot, East Asian immigrant families who own taxi companies and ten thousand small grocery stores apiece etc. It’s the quirky multi-cultural part of Oxford, which is a nice way of saying that I don’t walk around alone after dark. But it’s all good, I survived Langa ;)
Unfortunately, my grandfather passed away last week, which was obviously very sad and hard to deal with since I’m so far from my family. However I’m quite busy with discovering Oxford and meeting new people that I haven’t been too depressed. Plus I started my internship at Africa Now last week and it’s going really well… The office is small and quite laid-back. We listen to music and the director makes coffee and tea for everyone (you better believe I love this role reversal). Some of the work I’m doing is the classic boring stuff like writing press releases and processing donations (donate online now!), but other things are quite cool like compiling case studies and being interviewed by MTV News.
What?!! Yeah, I’m being interviewed by MTV news because of the work Africa Now is doing for the Make Poverty History campaign (makepovertyhistory.org). For some reason, I’m the only one available and the director thinks that I’ll be great since I’m young (aka MTV audience age) and supposedly articulate and knowledgeable the issues. However, I am clearly FREAKING OUT. The interview is tomorrow afternoon in London!! AHHHH!!
Ok, must chill… *breathe*… Anyway I’ll obviously let you all know when it’s airing, but I think it’s only on MTV Europe.
Well, after my first TV appearance, I’m flying to Amsterdam for the weekend to meet up with some friends which is probably exactly what I need right now, if you know what I mean. Anyway I’m off for now… More info about Oxford, my housemates etc on the next update.
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