Ciao!

End of a long vacation

This last year was pretty much a long vacation for me. Sure, I taught a 300-level class at Western in the Fall. And I helped w/ another 300-level course in the Winter. But by last August, my dissertation proposal was finished, my grant applications sent out.

I trekked to campus twice a week. I didn't take classes. I wasn't actively working on my dissertation proposal. I took up blogging. I took up reading comics (here's my pull list).

I sat. I sat and waited to hear if I'd get funding to work on my dissertation. It was a long, stressful vacation. I'll admit it, I considered what I'd do if I didn't get any funding.

Now I'm on my way to Bolivia in about two weeks w/ a Fulbright. Suddenly, my long vacation is over. I'm both anxious, and nervous. I won't have the kind of time I had this past year to just play chess all afternoon or stay up late watching DVDs. It's back to the grind, back to waking up every morning and going "to work" — which now means reading archive records five days a week.

Yeah, I'm sure I'll have some grand adventures living in La Paz for a year. I'll be in a vibrant, colorful city. I'll be in the political capital of the country I study. But I'll miss my chess matches w/ Dan. I'll miss calling Bay or Josh at odd hours for coffee. And I'll miss waking up at 6pm ...

Posted by Miguel at 05:04 AM

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