State of the blog

01.24.2007

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Well, it's been more than ten days since I last posted. It seem poor little Ciao! is gathering rust. But now that I've got my Fall semester underway (more or less), I finally have a moment to collect a few thoughts from the past several weeks.

The honeymoon was lovely. It was also, of course, personal. But K8 & I enjoyed our time. We started in Rome, then moved through Florence, Venice, and Milan on our way to Paris. We visited a number of museums & other tourist attractions.

Some highlights: the Colosseum, the Roman Forum & the Pantheon, the Doria Pamphilj Gallery, the National Etruscan Museum, the Uffizi Gallery, the Doge's Palace in Venice (where we got a tour of Casanova's dungeon), we saw Da Vinci's "Last Supper" in a small church in Milan, the Louvre, a light lunch at Café des Deux Moulins (if you've seen Amélie you know what I mean), Napoleon's Tomb, the Centre Georges Pompidou, and a large number of other Italian & Parisian churches. Plus, of course, long strolls through some of Europe's most well-known cities.

We've yet to sort through all our hundreds of digital pictures (that's a project for this weekend).

Now we're back in Carlisle, PA. And, yes, it's good to be home.

K8's excited about the Chicago Bears. So we're hosting a Super Bowl party. This is the first time I've ever hosted such an event, so this should be interesting.

Otherwise, I'm keeping up w/ the news & events from Bolivia. The high tension from last week (which saw street violence & deaths between pro- and anti-government supporters) seems to have relaxed. But the news of indigenous "Ponchos Rojos" paramilitaries is, to say the least, disturbing. I still wonder about the chances for a coup — though I suspect that will wait for a new Senate president to be elected (it will likely be a member of the opposition). But we'll see. There's even a new cabinet announced.

Of course, I worry about my friends & family — and especially my parents — in Bolivia (some in Santa Cruz, some in La Paz).

It's now clear that either a) Evo's lost control of the social movements that made his election possible or b) he's deliberately using them as "shock troops" against any member of the opposition (social movements are now deliberately targeting all popularly elected prefects who are not members of MAS, demanding their immediate resignations). Neither is promising for long-term Bolivian democratic stability.

Posted by Miguel at 03:52 PM

Comments

Good to have you back Miguel. Congratulations on the wedding. My wife and I are looking forward to celebrating our 19th anniversary in June. May you triple that.

Posted by: Norman at January 24, 2007 07:30 PM

Weren't you supposed to go to Malta for the honeymoon?

Posted by: eduardo at January 24, 2007 10:09 PM

Hola Miguel

Finalmente veo tus comentarios, cada dia entro a la pagina a ver si ya estas escribiendo algo, me alegra mucho ver que la pasaste bien en tu viaje, pudiste saber algo de Kathira? Yo no se nada.
Por el momento en santa cruz anda tenso, hoy intentarion secuestrar a un hombre que al parecer esta lanzando opiniones contra el govierno... No se mucho de de el. Pero andan intimidando a todos los que piensan distinto.
Nos vemos

Posted by: David at January 25, 2007 08:04 AM

Si no has visto puedes visitar este reportaje de el deber
http://www.eldeber.com.bo/especiales/aniversario/

Posted by: David at January 25, 2007 09:01 AM

Morales changed the military's top-brass for his supporters. That is one reason why he doesn't have to worry about coups. Plus, he is purchasing insurance with the elevation of the ponchos rojos to the level of the national army. One strategy he learned from his friend Hugo. He is just following his strategy. Consolidate power and you'll be in office forever.

I just hope he doesn't take all of Hugo's advice and starts supplying this popular army with arms. Hugo is doing it already. They are even going through military training as we speak.

And, my worst fear is the idea that the juventud crucena and other groups alike are also preparing themselves for the possibility. This wouldn't be that crazy if we just put ourselves in the shoes of the opposition. Would I hear the government calling its supporters to DEFEND the so called revolution, and see the president building a popular army, I would be afraid and would start taking some steps to DEFEND my ideas or opinions. That's just insurance in the case that it would come that far.

Posted by: miguel (mabb) at January 25, 2007 12:49 PM

I have family in Chicago and I guess the big slogan right now is COLTS: Count On Losing The Superbowl.

I thought your wife would enjoy that.

Posted by: Kara at January 28, 2007 01:48 AM