Bungalow Life

The bungalow

Our living room

My work space

Luke's work space (doubles as the kitchen table)

Cozy kitchen

In LA

Luke met me at the airport last night and we had a midnight picnic on the beach before heading home to the bungalow. I got settled in this morning and now I'm already set up to work at his studio. Pretty tired after all that's been going on the last few days (in Arizona, back to DC for a conference and to see Bruce, then out to LA) but I'm super happy to be here. Pics coming soon.

The Boss

Tonight I'm seeing my other boyfriend in concert, then tomorrow I'm off to LA. Life is good :)

LA Bound

My big dreams this past year have been to finish my dissertation, fall in love and move to California. Still working on the dissertation but the rest has come true. I met Luke when he was interning in DC this spring but he is a graduate student at a prestigious art school in LA where he does documentary film. At least that is what I tell people. In reality he is getting a MFA in Media Design with a focus on alternative portraiture. After two months of dating I still can't quite tell you what that means. But you can check out his work here.

He just moved back to LA for summer classes and next week I will be joining him. I found someone to sublet my apartment for a month and luckily I am at a point with my work where I can pretty much be anywhere while I am writing. So in addition to being with Luke this gives me a chance to test out whether the reality of living in California is as good as my fantasy. All in all, perfect :)

Two Students

Posting Hiatus

Yikes, it's been a while since I posted. I've got lots of good excuses - adjusting to being back in the US, getting over a bad case of bronchitis, trips to NYC and Chicago for conferences that I presented at, trips to Philadelphia and the Outer Banks for fun, dissertation madness that includes a week-by-week schedule through the end of the year. But the biggest distraction has been....

I'm in luuuuuuuv.

International Humor

What do you get when you put together two Americans, a Swiss, an Australian, and a night of watching You-Tube videos?

A pretty weird mix.

I've been fortunate to have made some great friends in Joberg, and since we couldn't agree on a movie to watch tonight we spent the evening looking at You-Tube videos. Everything from political satire (me), Billy O'Connolly monologues, Jesus v. the Terminator, and 'kicked in the nuts' scenes (not me - but why a bunch of guys would find this funny, I don't know). A very eclectic and enjoyable night, and something that would only happen when you're traveling.

Huge

This week has been monumental for two reasons: I am finished with data collection for my dissertation, and I said goodbye to something I loved and let it go before it was past its prime.

Tomorrow I'm leaving for Johannesburg, where I'll spend the next week sorting through the last of the collection I've been studying. But essentially, I'm done. All the YEARS I've spent planning this trip, applying for grants, figuring out logistics.....done. Hard to believe. I could have stayed longer and kept on with the study, but I decided a few days ago that it was time to move on. I've had a great time here - the research has gone really well, it's beautiful, I'm in great surroundings, I have the time and money to stay.....but I feel deeply that it is time to go back to DC. So I've decided to leave, and am saying goodbye to the last part of my trip.

My February Horoscope

'You appear to be on the cusp of a massive evolution within, thanks to a crowd of planets twinkling in your house of transformations.'

Yes.

I'm coming home

...at some point.

I'm really in no hurry to leave. The work is going really well, I've made some exciting research discoveries, I am collaborating on a paper with a South African scientist, I've been invited by another South African paleoanthropologist to study the fauna from a site near Joburg, and it's full on summertime in the southern hemisphere.

Helloooooo!

Since my last post from Nairobi, I've been to:
Maputo and Inhambane (Tofo Beach), Mozambique
Mbabene, Swaziland
Johannesburg, South Africa
and now.....middle of nowhere, South Africa, aka Bloemfontein

Lots going on, lots of adventures, new experiences, learning lessons, progress both in terms of my dissertation research and inner work.....more soon.

Still in Nairobi

This sign is hanging in my office....likely put there by another graduate student.

Not Reassuring

From one of my professors:

'There was an American student when I was in Nairobi last Fall – I can’t remember her name – but she ended up in the emergency room with amoebic dysentery. The Drs. quizzed her on what she had eaten the last several days and decided it was lettuce. She said that she had bought it in a supermarket, sealed in plastic with “triple washed” printed on the outside of the package.'

Petite Power!

This was pretty funny, for those of you who saw the announcement yesterday....
(from The Huffington Post)

TMI (too much information)

I went to see a doctor today and he gave me antibiotics to take care of a number of different organisms that could be making me sick. Did not want to go the route of stool samples, which involves three days of taking a dump in a plastic bag and sticking it in the freezer to take back to the doctor. No thanks. So hopefully I'll be feeling better soon. I'm ready to lay out on the beach in Mozambique already.

Be Thankful

From a poem, author unknown:

Be thankful when you don't know something,
for it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations,
because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge,
because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes.
They will teach you valuable lessons.

Happy Thanksgiving To Me

Wow, it's been three weeks since I last posted?!?! I was feeling kind of down after the election - I thought it was from being homesick and tired of Nairobi and working at the museum. I'm sure those all played a part, but then I started having the symptoms that I remember all too well from being sick with a parasite last summer. After a week of that (along with a lot of denial) I gave in and started taking a 'just in case' supply of medication that I had. The medication, obviously, works by killing the parasite. This means there are all sorts of unpleasant side-effects to the human as well. So I went through all that and finished the medication on Monday. I have not been feeling any better so I finally decided to see a doctor today but for various reasons that went nowhere. And my symptoms are consistent with the parasite I had last summer but the medication I took does not seem to have worked. So this afternoon I went to the 'chemist' (pharmacist) and got another drug. It's a single-dose treatment, where you take 4 pills at once, and can be pretty sick for the next 24 hours because the drug is so strong. I was reading the accompanying info and it spoke about 'toxicity levels', which is really not something you want to read about when it comes to medicine you're about to take. I spent most of the day at home and am about to take a bath and give myself plenty of time to sleep tonight so that hopefully I will feel better when I wake up tomorrow.

I am envious of all the good food that people in the US will be eating (and enjoying) today. After the chemist I went to the market and made myself a Thanksgiving-inspired dinner:

From The Onion

Black Man Given Nation's Worst Job

WASHINGTON—African-American man Barack Obama, 47, was given the least-desirable job in the entire country Tuesday when he was elected president of the United States of America. In his new high-stress, low-reward position, Obama will be charged with such tasks as completely overhauling the nation's broken-down economy, repairing the crumbling infrastructure, and generally having to please more than 300 million Americans and cater to their every whim on a daily basis. As part of his duties, the black man will have to spend four to eight years cleaning up the messes other people left behind. The job comes with such intense scrutiny and so certain a guarantee of failure that only one other person even bothered applying for it. Said scholar and activist Mark L. Denton, "It just goes to show you that, in this country, a black man still can't catch a break."

http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/black_man_given_nations

also....

Nation Finally Shitty Enough To Make Social Progress

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/nation_finally_shitty_enough_to

and....

Bush: 'Can I Stop Being President Now?'

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/bush_can_i_stop_being_president

Today is a good day to be an American abroad

It's been a long time since I've been able to say that.

Kenya is engulfed in Obama-mania, as I heard someone refer to it. The president declared today a national holiday so the museum was closed and we had the day off. On the streets, amidst all the Swahili spoken around me I can constantly pick out the word 'Obama'.

And living in DC just got a whole lot more exciting too!!!

Good Night

I'm going to bed early because I'm getting together with some Americans at 6am tomorrow for a breakfast election party. We're hoping that we'll wake up to a new president...