I am a little cranky today because 1) I am severely hung-over and 2) the faunal collection I’m here to study sucks. I'll explain both. Regarding #1, I am staying with friends of the boyfriend of a national geographic intern who I met over the summer. Her bf is British and from London, and it turns out that they are in the right now staying with his mom. But, they have been gone the past few days camping so they asked some of his friends if I could crash at their place. Not only is this incredibly nice and generous of everybody all around, but to top things off 1) I am staying in a guestroom! with a bed! (I was expecting to sleep on the couch) and 2) the boys are hot! HOT! HOT!!! Last night they made dinner and I drank a ridiculous amount of alcohol and stumbled into bed really late. Today was my first day at the museum...ugh.
Regarding the fauna, it’s not a great collection. Less than 200 specimens, and mostly teeth and antelope horn cores, so doing a
taphonomic study to look for tooth marks/cut marks on bones will be kind of useless. And, I just found out, this is only a PART of the faunal collection: other specimens are in Zambia and some are also in South Africa. And apparently most of the bones that were excavated have been lost. WHY did I need to come all the way to London to find this out?
well, at least I am staying with a couple of hotties so all in all it is not a bad situation.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Ich liebe Berlin
Just got back from Berlin where I had a GREAT visit. I have to say I did not have high hopes for the city after all of the trouble I had getting my trip together (in addition to the headache of finding a hotel, I had to go to Germany TWICE to pick up my train ticket – not such a big deal since Strasbourg is so close to the border, but the second time was at 6am the day of my trip to Berlin). Also, French people, at least in Alsace, tend to look down on Germany and Germans, so I’ve never had a great impression of the country. And I’ve always been a little afraid of the language - seems that they smash all sorts of words together and leave out all the vowels, making it near impossible to read, pronounce or understand. I was considering canceling my trip all together but the fact that GW was paying for my train ticket to Berlin kept me going.
A few of the reasons I now love Berlin: The weather – it was sunny and beautiful the whole time I was there. My hostel – right across from the Zoologischer Garten train station of U2’s ‘Zoo Station’ fame. The many varieties of beer – served in huge glasses! Seeing remnants of the former wall that divided the city. Walking through the Tiergarten, which is Berlin’s version of Central Park. The amazingly fast and efficient the metro system. The modern conveniences of an American city combined with the history of a European one. And how is it that I was unaware of the fact that German guys are so good-looking???
The fossil collection I examined at the museum was amazing – 3600 specimens, all beautifully preserved, curated and catalogued. The people at the museum were really friendly, and it’s a wonderful place to work. I’ll be going back there for two months next year to study the fossil assemblage for my dissertation!!!
A few of the reasons I now love Berlin: The weather – it was sunny and beautiful the whole time I was there. My hostel – right across from the Zoologischer Garten train station of U2’s ‘Zoo Station’ fame. The many varieties of beer – served in huge glasses! Seeing remnants of the former wall that divided the city. Walking through the Tiergarten, which is Berlin’s version of Central Park. The amazingly fast and efficient the metro system. The modern conveniences of an American city combined with the history of a European one. And how is it that I was unaware of the fact that German guys are so good-looking???
The fossil collection I examined at the museum was amazing – 3600 specimens, all beautifully preserved, curated and catalogued. The people at the museum were really friendly, and it’s a wonderful place to work. I’ll be going back there for two months next year to study the fossil assemblage for my dissertation!!!
Sunday, September 17, 2006
The joys of single-tasking
When did multi-tasking become so natural that we don’t notice we’re doing it anymore? I was on-line a few days ago for a couple hours, and I could feel my heart starting to beat faster as I was simultaneously responding to emails, purchasing train tickets and posting pictures on my picture blog. After three weeks of glorious single-tasking (entire days spent sitting on the ground and scratching the dirt with a trowel, anyone?), I realized how much of my normal life is NOT spent this way. It’s astounding how easily I fell into multi-tasking and how I could immediately feel and recognize the adverse affects it had on my mind and body.
I’ve always taken great pride in being an effective multi-tasker, but now I’m thinking that this might be part of the reason why I feel like the wheels in my head are always spinning. Often, especially in DC, I get paralyzed by all of the possibilities of what I could/should be doing that my thoughts alone stress me out and I don’t end up doing anything, causing me to put things off until I’ve created a major mental traffic jam.
I once read that when people fantasize about a calmer and more serene life, it’s generally in the context of opening up a B&B in the country or something like that. However, it’s not so much that operating a B&B is attractive in and of itself, but rather we yearn for the luxury of living a slower-paced life and focusing on one task at a time. I, for one, am ready to renounce multi-tasking in exchange for a saner mind. Even if this means getting less done. Will try it out and see how it goes.
I’ve always taken great pride in being an effective multi-tasker, but now I’m thinking that this might be part of the reason why I feel like the wheels in my head are always spinning. Often, especially in DC, I get paralyzed by all of the possibilities of what I could/should be doing that my thoughts alone stress me out and I don’t end up doing anything, causing me to put things off until I’ve created a major mental traffic jam.
I once read that when people fantasize about a calmer and more serene life, it’s generally in the context of opening up a B&B in the country or something like that. However, it’s not so much that operating a B&B is attractive in and of itself, but rather we yearn for the luxury of living a slower-paced life and focusing on one task at a time. I, for one, am ready to renounce multi-tasking in exchange for a saner mind. Even if this means getting less done. Will try it out and see how it goes.
Saturday, September 16, 2006
F***** Marathonstrecke
I’m scheduled to go to Berlin next week and study some fossils for my dissertation. Unbeknownst to me until the past few days, when I was unable to book a single hotel room in the entire German capitol that was recommended by Lonely Planet and cost under 60 euros, the Berlin marathon is taking place next weekend. Am currently looking on-line for hotels. Does anyone happen to have any friends/family in Berlin? I am a very good guest. I have a sleeping bag, mattress pad, and will do dishes and/or light housework.
Thursday, September 14, 2006
‘The only thing constant in the world is change’
My younger cousin Joelle got married over the weekend. The days leading up to the wedding were pretty intense, both in terms of my whole family being in the same house and getting ready for the reception (which was at our house in Dambach) but also because of all the emotions that we, or at least I, were feeling. Joelle and I hung out together in Strasbourg last week and I was hit with this feeling of how profoundly our family dynamics were changing. I feel like a significant part of our childhood is over, those days when we would excitedly tell each other about our crushes and boyfriends and first kisses and break-ups. Now she has that part of her life resolved and has created her own little family unit – it will never just be ‘Joelle’ again but now ‘Joelle and Ben’. Luckily Ben is a terrific guy and fits in well with the family and makes a great additional cousin. So it’s definitely change in a positive direction...and after reflecting, I have to laugh a little about how traumatized I tend to get by any sort of change.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Rouspeter
'rouspeter' is, alas, one of those words that does not have a direct English translation. It's a cross between complaining and whining with a little scolding thrown in for good measure, while conveying an attitude of being highly annoyed. Sometimes I think my mom and her sisters are in a 'rouspeting' contest in which each one is desperately trying to win the gold.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
messy
“all you need to do is quiet your mind long enough to realize that you’re not a mess. you just think you’re a mess”
Darren Main podcast (SF yoga teacher extraordinaire)
I feel messy. I feel crazy. I’m in beautiful France, with my mom to cook and clean and take care of me, so that I can relax and focus and renew and work and do whatever I want. And I’m not doing any of that. Well, that’s not true, there have been moments I’ve been able to exhale completely and feel like I’m getting my om back on but most of the time my head has been spinning. I’ve been sleeping a lot because I don’t want to do anything. I’ve been going for walks and starting to practice yoga again and reading some yogic texts but it’s been hard to latch onto that serenity. Most of the time I just feel like I’m getting swept up in the turbulent waters of life. Maybe it’s the craziness of my family, dealing with each other and the emotions surrounding my cousin’s upcoming wedding and my realization that my life here in France has changed, that my childhood summers with my cousins has passed and that we are all now embarked on our own distinct paths, with our seemingly strongest bond being the common thread from our past holding us together. Maybe it’s dealing with the schizophrenic nature of my life, where I live in a different country with a different home and family and set of friends and experiences and memories and even language that I fall into so easily and is rife with memories and has shaped me but is so different and distant from my life in the US.
Deep breath.
Darren Main podcast (SF yoga teacher extraordinaire)
I feel messy. I feel crazy. I’m in beautiful France, with my mom to cook and clean and take care of me, so that I can relax and focus and renew and work and do whatever I want. And I’m not doing any of that. Well, that’s not true, there have been moments I’ve been able to exhale completely and feel like I’m getting my om back on but most of the time my head has been spinning. I’ve been sleeping a lot because I don’t want to do anything. I’ve been going for walks and starting to practice yoga again and reading some yogic texts but it’s been hard to latch onto that serenity. Most of the time I just feel like I’m getting swept up in the turbulent waters of life. Maybe it’s the craziness of my family, dealing with each other and the emotions surrounding my cousin’s upcoming wedding and my realization that my life here in France has changed, that my childhood summers with my cousins has passed and that we are all now embarked on our own distinct paths, with our seemingly strongest bond being the common thread from our past holding us together. Maybe it’s dealing with the schizophrenic nature of my life, where I live in a different country with a different home and family and set of friends and experiences and memories and even language that I fall into so easily and is rife with memories and has shaped me but is so different and distant from my life in the US.
Deep breath.
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