TOC

If you want to skip all the posts about me complaining about school, the fun stuff in Colombia starts here. And the first photos start here. Holidays in Colomia start here and are particularly excellent.

It all seems so long ago ...

You may have been wondering ...

No, I'm not dead. I've just been occupied with everything else but email and blog. I'm trying to catch up though ...

So here's what's been up lately ... well, the main thing anyway: After almost a year of work, my joint masters thesis is done. With tables and charts and whatnot, it comes to 90 pages single-spaced. It is, unfortunately, written in French but I'm committed to translating it into English (it's of no use to most people in French). More unfortunately is the intense disappointment of realizing that the guys grading you hadn't read it. At our (15 minute) thesis defense (such a pathetically short time) they asked one question, which was largely irrelevant given what we had written. We weren't the only ones they ignored, but we were still really pissed off. So I leave Sciences Po with a bitter taste in my mouth on academic matters, but with great memories of everything else.

Now that work and exams and everything are finished, I've been having a nice time relaxing. We've had a few dinner parties at my place in the last week, including, after my last exam, a baked chicken and champagne event that started at 2:30pm and lasted until 1:30am. Last night I made couscous and we played cards until 2:30am. Tonight we're going to the theater then catching a supposedly crazy Japanese jazz band called Soil and Pimp Sessions at my favorite club, La Fleche d'Or. Then there's 80s night tomorrow at the Piano Vache (Piano Cow), and surely other funness this weekend. Then, Claire, Olivier and I head to Greece in a week. We'll have a day in Venice then spend 36 hours on a ferry to Athens, followed by a trip to a distant island for some free camping.

Until next time ...

brownies, migrant workers, French writing, and Greece

It's been a while, eh? I know, I know, I've been very bad about updating, but it's not because I don't love you all anymore. I'm just having a great time here in Paris when I have free time, and getting crushed with work the rest of the time. So I don't write many emails, and I certainly don't blog. I don't even know why I'm writing today when I have to turn in my thesis in two weeks, and we've barely got anything written.

Anyway, what's been up lately? Lots of cafes, lots of boring pasta. Last night was special though. Claire and her sister came over, and we had a brownie making contest. My recipe is a little unconventional and because of a technical problem my batch turned out a bit soggy. But they were still good. By the way, if you've never had pasta carbonara, definitely try it. The egg really does cook on the pasta.

Other than that? School. And lots of it. The database for our Colombia study is finished, and we're finally analyzing everything and getting some interesting results. It turns out the last year of work on this project wasn't for nothing! Otherwise, I'm doing work for my other classes.

Speaking of which, it may seem a little late to be realizing this, but it's really hit home in the last two weeks how much easier it is for me to function in English. Out of three presentations this semester, the one in French I absolutely bombed (I have the worst grade in the class), whereas the ones in English were half improvised (i.e. not read verbatim like many people do), and they went very well.

The moral of the story is that going to school in France can be great, but don't go because you think the classroom education might be better -- it's a different style that's hard to adjust to, so you don't get as much out of it. Thank god I had a fair amount of classes in English, because those are the only ones I did well in. I just don't get the French academic writing style, or how to do a 10 minute presentation on anything, or create an amazing outline before starting any writing project. They're obsessed with outlines (plan in French), and while I know how useful they are I just can't bang them out like the French kids do.

Related to this ... we're doing the thesis in French, English, and Spanish. I refuse to write it in French, because it slows down my brain too much and it turns out badly anyway. But Margot doesn't write very well in English and will probably be writing a bit more than me. But a French thesis is absolutely useless to me, so I'll translate the whole thing into English. Then we have to publish it in Colombia in Spanish. This should be fun.

But when that's all done, sometime in July, I'm taking off for a Greek island for two weeks with my Greek buddy (malaka!) who was with me in Colombia, along with a few friends. After that? Who knows? I'm interviewing for gigs in SF and DC in particular, but nothing is decided at all. So I'll probably be back sometime in August, but not necessarily in the Bay Area. Life will surely throw out some surprises, so maybe I could even end up in Guatamala or Argentina or China or something!!!

Anyway, back to work now.

These people are fools

Fed up station owner shuts off gas pumps

The basic story: a gas station owner is tired of high gas prices so he shuts down his pumps for a day in protest (getting nationwide news coverage in the process).

Choice quote:

Maria McClory, 38, drove 10 miles out of her way to buy a diet soda from Pollack's station after seeing local television coverage of the protest.

"I just wanted to support them and thank them for making a statement," said McClory, who drives about 100 miles a day for work in her sport utility vehicle.

One hundred miles a day. That's astounding. Worse though is that there is no mention of fuel standards, conservation efforts, that thing in that sandy country where people keep getting blown up -- oh yeah, that war thing ... Instead, we are supposed to worry about this poor station owner not making any money despite high prices and the fact that his kids might not be able to drive.

One thing I dread about returning to the US is having to listen to people seriously worrying about this while making such stupid buying decisions and being so dense on energy issues. The debate is settled everywhere else in the world (even where car usage is rising quickly, it's a luxury not a "right"). What will it take for Americans to wake up?

I leave you with a second choice quote:

The company usually makes 8 to 12 cents per gallon after suppliers' prices and credit card fees. On Wednesday -- the day before the protest -- that added up to $3.49 for a gallon of unleaded gas.

Schwartz called that "outrageous" and said even he can't fill up his SUV at that price.

"If it keeps going like this, my kids will never be able to afford to drive," said Schwartz, who has an 18-year-old son and 15-year-old daughter.

Sniff sniff ...

I hope I never own another car. Even a Prius.

Internal decapitation

Ok ok, I know it's puerile, but I can't help passing this along:

Woman survives 'internal decapitation'

Choice quotes:

Shannon Malloy was critically injured January 25 when a car crash slammed her into the dashboard. Her skull separated from her spine, although her skin, spinal cord and other internal organs remained intact.

***snip***

Ghiselli said a will to survive kept Malloy, 30, alive long enough for surgeons to insert screws in her head and neck and attach a halo to minimize movement -- no easy task.

"My skull slipped off my neck about five times," Malloy said. "Every time they tried to screw this to my head, I would slip."

France is not in decline and the last thing it needs is "reform"

Great post on DailyKos and European Tribune on the state of the French economy:

France is not in decline and the last thing it needs is "reform"

It is hard to find, in the international media, commentary on the French elections that does not suggest national decline, a stagnant economy, a hopeless employment situation, an unrealistic 35-hour working week, and the urgent need for "reform" if France is to get back on the road to growth again.. "Reform" is here between quotes, given the extent to which it has become a more or less explicit codeword for a one-way agenda: liberalizing the labour market, weakening union power and State regulation of business, and reducing taxes. Cheaper workers, it is assumed, will lead to greater competitiveness, higher profits and, therefore, more jobs.
The problem is that this programme is based on a view of economic reality that is neither impartial nor complete.

Read on ... (very highly recommended)

skating, databases

I went skating on Friday night. Ok, so since I got back to Paris I've been skating everywhere to avoid taking the metro, but this was special: a chance to really test out my new wheels and bearings, and my first "randonnée" since getting back to France!

Right, um, not that you know what that is, or care, but I'll tell you anyway. It's basically 5-10 thousand inline skaters whizzing around the streets of Paris every Friday night. Lots of fun, really fast, occasional injuries. In short, it's soooo much cooler than going clubbing! (right ...)

I was at the head of the pack this time, and that meant seeing the streets empty ahead of me. It's funny seeing people dash one last time across the street as the onslaught of skaters arrives, it kind of looks like people dodging sniper fire or something, except that the only danger is getting stuck on the wrong side of the street for at least 15 minutes as the group goes by.

In other news, I'm still working hard on the database for my thesis, but yesterday I hit a milestone of finally having entered ALL the questionnaires! Now it's just a question of fixing all the little problems, doing something about missing data, and generally spending hours and hours and hours tweaking little bits of data, but at least I don't have to carry around any questionnaires anymore.

So that's my life right now: skating and databases. And the occasional cool movie with Claire and/or my roommate. And complaining about school. And worrying about the big thing on everyone's mind: What happens next??? What's the real world like again?