tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74395981605880661162012-01-01T20:19:33.722-05:00Our adventures in North Carolina and abroadAndrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.comBlogger3381100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-84263948975020292882012-01-01T15:10:00.000-05:002012-01-01T20:19:33.755-05:00

Last night we got back from South Dakota just a few minutes before the ball dropped in Times Square. We had a great time at home and now we're feeling rested and ready to reset for another busy year. But first let's recap the last few hectic months. Last month I finished my first semester at UNC. I did pretty well on my three courses - Ecology and Evolution, Socio-cultural theory, and

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-84093279692882869422011-12-11T13:48:00.001-05:002011-12-11T13:49:54.727-05:00

Procrastinating my paper today and I found this gem from Wageningen. Pure Dutch. In other news, I've taken the anthropological world by storm with a game-changing paper on quinoa in Bolivia. Fine, not game-changing, but I thought it would be fun to use to cliches in one sentence. If you want a copy, let me know. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1548-1417.2011.01062.x/full

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-49533560049665767362011-11-26T20:15:00.001-05:002011-11-26T20:41:49.459-05:00

We just reluctantly returned from Thanksgiving in Litchfield, SC where we spent the holiday with Andrew's aunt and uncle and their friends.   We had a great time meeting new friends, eating far too much delicious food  and walking on the beach.   The weather was perfect the whole time with not a cloud in the sky.    Below are the views from the condo's balcony which overlooked the ocean

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-22051691649811790332011-11-05T14:55:00.000-04:002011-11-05T17:14:18.018-04:00

Actually I was just at the Raleigh flea market where I met the chairman who, as you probably guessed, sells lots of chairs.  Unfortunately, for him we don't need anymore chairs.  The flea market is held every Saturday at the fairgrounds in Raleigh and is equally good for people watching as it is for buying antiques (err, junk).  And of course no trip to the flea market is complete without a stop

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-20684974013290461962011-10-30T21:08:00.001-04:002011-10-30T21:14:07.486-04:00

A couple of weeks ago we posted pictures of our new apartment.  This pictures weren't very accurate.  Our apartment in fact usually looks like this because we are never home: We really didn't have very high expectations of what life would be like in NC.  People talked about how wonderful the weather is and how great the community is in Chapel Hill but we never expected to like NC as much as we

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-82661996221678845432011-10-22T13:49:00.001-04:002011-10-30T21:14:49.761-04:00

The first school break came at the perfect time to take a little day trip into the mountains and drive down the Blue Ridge Parkway.  We drove over towards Boone, NC and took the Parkway south until Asheville were we spent the night before heading back.  The Parkway was built during the Great Depression as part of the rural revival program.  Along with the building the highway, the New Deal also

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-28004569102415811782011-10-13T16:09:00.002-04:002011-10-30T21:15:29.292-04:00

Finally! pictures of the new apartment.  It's about 4x the size of our last apartment and we can actually sit in different rooms which is pretty awesome.   Luckily Andrew's aunt and uncle had  some furniture they wanted to get rid of so our place doesn't look so bare.  Here's the living room:  The office: The tinsy kitchen which does not hold all of our kitchen stuff.  We've got baking

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-55916888561772868052011-10-05T09:35:00.000-04:002011-10-05T09:35:24.164-04:00

Hi all, anybody still there? We've been super lazy with the blog lately, mostly because graduate school is working me hard. 14 hour days? Really? So I just thought I'd send out an update on what I'm doing and a bit on what Amanda's up to. I"m taking three courses this semester - Evolution and Ecology, Socio-cultural Theory, and Anthropology of Design. Taken together this is about 1500 pages of

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-44613571355089426132011-08-26T15:05:00.000-04:002011-08-26T15:05:49.281-04:00

Just a short post to let y'all know we're still alive. (Yes, I just wrote y'all.) Amanda arrived about a week ago with her grandma and her parents a day later so right now we're all moved in and just moving things around a bit. My first week of classes has been both incredibly fascinating and a bit daunting. My reading load looks to be about 3 books per week (Freud, Marx, Durkheim, etc - so no

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0Carrboro, NC, USA35.9101438 -79.075289535.8716868 -79.105693 35.9486008 -79.04488599999999tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-89682643914063281292011-08-15T14:02:00.000-04:002011-08-15T14:02:06.396-04:00

It's already the middle of August and that means that classes are starting soon. I fly down to North Carolina tomorrow morning and then have a week full of orientations (anthropology department, teaching assistants, graduate school) before starting class and teaching next week. For our last weekend together in Boston we had our last trip to the beach and spent a lot of time packing. Our apartment

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-29067516282609700992011-08-01T13:17:00.000-04:002011-08-01T13:17:00.719-04:00

Two years ago today ago Amanda and I got married. Thanks for two great years, you're still beautiful as always!

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-9143692751567346012011-07-25T17:53:00.000-04:002011-07-25T17:53:00.704-04:00

As I wait out my last weeks before beginning the long, long process that is graduate school, I am constantly looking out for some productive things to do, this usually includes catching up on some reading, making popsicles, doing laundry, or packing for the move - this afternoon let's make that productive thing a blog post. From our little apartment we are about 5 minutes (less than that

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-84442953377192806062011-07-22T09:07:00.003-04:002011-07-22T11:13:16.550-04:00

This past week we've been in South Dakota for Dan's ordination and we had a great time and I think the best way to sum up our time at home is to post a few pictures. We got to the church a bit early on Saturday so we stopped by the farm for a little while. Strange to see it so quiet there. We both a had a great time with our nieces over the last week. Here Keira is in a much more peaceful

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-19653396856770896762011-07-08T16:55:00.000-04:002011-07-08T16:55:22.039-04:00

A few weeks ago the Boston Bruins won the Stanley Cup and the city was kind of excited, though not as much as the Canuck fans in Vancouver. I've heard several people say that winning the Stanley Cup was 'a riot.' However, even with George Washington wearing black and yellow, Amanda and I were kind of removed from the whole thing. We don't really feel like Bostonians and we don't really care about

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-3592537709949769772011-07-07T10:29:00.000-04:002011-07-07T10:29:27.077-04:00

We had a great Fourth of July weekend in Boston this week, we found our way to Ipswich where we spent the day at the beach, saw fireworks and a huge mass of people in Boston and Amanda cut my hair. She did such a great job that I think I'm going to repay the favor by cutting hers.  On Sunday we headed north on the commuter rail to Ipswich, MA. It's a beautiful beach and very quiet once you get

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-15261888772860116712011-07-03T12:09:00.000-04:002011-07-03T12:09:51.777-04:00

May 29. That's the last time we posted anything here. Since then I've become unemployed twice, made at least 7 different revisions to two papers, and had one paper accepted for publication. Amanda has worked like crazy, started the last semester of her master's degree, looked into an herbology class, and made a list of five-year goals for us. Yeah, a lot happens in a month, let's go back a bit.

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-50524645794520272852011-05-29T10:52:00.003-04:002011-10-31T14:20:14.123-04:00

In celebration of my upcoming graduation, I've gotten myself a little present: I've wanted this camera for months and finally its mine! I'm not quite sure what all it does yet but prepare yourselves for some pretty fantastic pictures that are sure to come.   Last Wednesday we went to a Boston Pops concert.  We bought student passes for last season's Boston Symphony performances which now get us

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-86115100789814279852011-05-18T06:37:00.000-04:002011-05-18T06:37:17.660-04:00

ur This month we won a free shipment of coffee from CherryBean Coffee Co. in Parker, SD.  When we lived in SD we purchased their coffee regularly and even knew the founder quite well.  The coffee is fair trade (We hope you remembered to celebrate fair trade day last week), organic and delicious!   *Sorry for the blurry photo - our camera is on its last leg.

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-32248645601471701152011-05-17T15:31:00.001-04:002011-05-17T15:32:21.304-04:00

Related to a post from a few weeks ago on the media coverage of the impacts of quinoa commercialization on quinoa farmers (Is quinoa commercialization hurting Bolivian farmers?), the Andean Information Network has just published a memo on the nuances of these impacts and debunking some of the more outlandish claims about quinoa. See the excerpt below, and I absolutely encourage you to click on

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-77483917838063021402011-05-17T15:24:00.002-04:002011-05-19T13:14:05.172-04:00

Check out the references (and text) of this article: http://ain-bolivia.org/2011/05/bolivian-quinoa-questions-production-and-food-security/

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-53114706491916175292011-05-06T15:41:00.000-04:002011-05-06T15:41:41.581-04:00

Last night Root Cause hosted its Annual Showcase in which we presented awards to social innovators in Boston. Innovators are nonprofits that are finding new and effective methods of responding to persistent issues. The event was a lot of fun. The event was in the Microsoft New England office in Cambridge and afterwards I just decided to walk home instead of taking the train and I'm glad I did.

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-71580875270965235772011-05-05T11:21:00.000-04:002011-05-05T11:21:09.335-04:00

The newly released reports on ending chronic homelessness have been noted on a few blogs recently, so I thought I'd share them here.  How Donors Can End Chronic Homelessness A Solution to Ending Chronic Homelessness

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-64602351440257614132011-04-28T08:36:00.001-04:002011-05-07T15:55:54.535-04:00

I haven't been writing much about my work at Root Cause, but I'm happy to say that we've just released a set of reports for which I was the primary researcher. The reports are on chronic homelessness, homeless individuals who have been without an adequate shelter for extensive periods and who have a mental illness and/or drug dependency. In the reports we outline the problem of chronic

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-61970993540517085492011-04-20T09:30:00.002-04:002011-05-09T21:13:07.593-04:00

Amanda and I are thinking about doing a little retrospective posting in which we would highlight our favorite posts of the last few years and comment on how we feel about those posts, looking back. So before we go through the task of looking through over 300 posts, do you have any favorites? The lava monsters analogy? The experience of semi-legally renewing a visa in Bolivia? French bureaucracy 

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-41086058171872705372011-04-14T10:44:00.004-04:002011-05-14T19:09:57.834-04:00

La Razon and La Prensa, La Paz newspapers, have reported that ANAPQUI (one of two national quinoa cooperatives in Bolivia) has estimated that fifty percent of quinoa produced in Bolivia leaves the country as contraband to Peru.  (El 50% de la quinua sale de contrabando) (50% de la cosecha de quinua sale de contrabando a Perú) So, what some of you may be thinking is, who cares? Farmers sell the

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-23585109906724082792011-04-05T19:57:00.005-04:002011-05-07T16:01:02.274-04:00

Lately quinoa (pictured above) has been in the news quite a lot.  In late January the Associate Press put out an article (Demand for Quinoa a Boon for Bolivian Farmers) which laid out the case for quinoa commercialization as a 'boon to Bolivian; farmers' (which I wrote about here: Quinoa Article in Wash Post) then just a few weeks ago the New York Times published an article (rebuttal?) stating

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-50604369305912766772011-04-04T08:34:00.003-04:002011-05-09T21:16:08.602-04:00

From Tuesday to Friday this week I was in Seattle to present some of the findings from my research in Bolivia at the Society for Applied Anthropology Conference.  I flew out Tuesday afternoon after a half day of work and arrived there at 11 pm.  I couch surfed in Seattle, meaning I stayed at an apartment of a person who had a spare couch.  I had found the person through the couch surfing website

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-1251525139185627062011-03-28T20:54:00.005-04:002011-05-07T15:58:17.548-04:00

Neither one of us has ever really had an addiction problem or one at least that we considered detrimental to our health.  So we never thought we'd need hypnosis or psychotherapy, however, we may have been wrong.  We admit it, we are and have been for some time addicted to the New York Times.  We never thought this would be a problem.  What's wrong with reading the news? Well, the news just got

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-47818298269693769042011-03-14T12:29:00.003-04:002011-05-10T13:24:44.021-04:00

Okay, so life here in Boston isn't quite as interesting as the title would suggest, but would you be reading this if it was called "publications and presentations"? I didn't think so. As my fellowship at Root Cause moves along, I'm continuously working on two publications.  I submitted the first at the end of December to an agricultural anthropology journal and that paper is more or less a

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-36627556838793017522011-02-20T18:56:00.001-05:002011-04-20T12:17:11.872-04:00

As I've mentioned elsewhere, I've recently accepted a generous offer from the Anthropology Department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  The offer includes a three-year teaching assistantship which includes a stipend, tuition, and health insurance.  After the first three years I should be able to either renew the assistantship or find outside funding.  As a way of recapping the

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-57232812145178443022011-02-19T11:45:00.002-05:002011-05-09T21:12:19.138-04:00

Last weekend we had a great chance to see the three Cs in Carolina, Charlotte, Chapel Hill, and Carrboro and we're both really excited to move down in six months.  We flew in Friday night and back out Sunday morning so we didn't have much time to hang out, but we had a good time anyways.  Marlene and John were kind enough to lodge us and even borrowed us a car for Saturday, which we later

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-52720374317835058062011-02-19T11:29:00.002-05:002011-05-14T19:04:52.569-04:00

So quite awhile ago, we promised some pictures of the New England Aquarium which we visited on New Year's Eve and Providence which we visited on Amanda's birthday, finally, here they are. On New Year's we bought Boston's First Night tickets which got us into a lot of activities, museums, and concerts around town, the first thing we did was go to the aquarium.  It was packed with kids and

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-37957240981299192832011-02-18T11:23:00.001-05:002011-04-29T08:57:12.357-04:00

Lately I've been fielding a lot of questions regarding how to cook quinoa and so decided to write a very basic guideline. 1) Most packages will tell you to rinse the quinoa to remove the saponins, but this is always done in Bolivia, so just skip it. 2) Heat a cup of dry quinoa (to make 2 cups of cooked quinoa) in a pan over medium heat, stir frequently.  This will bring out the more complex

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-5516776761005432002011-02-02T12:12:00.003-05:002011-05-07T15:48:57.159-04:00

Last week I wrote about a story which said that the change in weather patterns in Bolivia are affecting quinoa production this year.  I just read another story, published in December, that explained how local agronomists are recommending farmers to change their planting times in order to adapt to the new patterns.  In Science and Technology studies this is called adaptation, in brief, when one

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-4653098163501972032011-01-25T13:36:00.000-05:002011-01-25T13:36:15.325-05:00

There is very sad and worrying news coming out of Bolivia this week.  According to the "La Quinua" blog, the rains haven't come soon enough for the already planted quinoa in Bolivia and there are estimates the eighty per cent of the crop will be lost this year.  Quinoa is typically planted in August, September before the rains later in the year, planting is done according to local knowledge which

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-31671012236145533242011-01-25T12:02:00.002-05:002011-05-08T20:27:19.577-04:00

After a few days of thinking and searching for apartments, Amanda and I are about 99% sure that UNC is the place to go.  Personally, my passion is with anthropological research and writing, which this degree will certainly allow me to do.  I think the job market isn't such an issue either, I'm flexible in working in academia or working with NGOs and I also have pretty extensive connections in

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-59181323271907403652011-01-22T19:31:00.000-05:002011-01-22T19:31:09.821-05:00

So I began this week by fretting over the fact that my GRE scores still hadn't been received by the admission department at UNC, the only thing that really consoled me was my belief that they probably hadn't begun looking at the application yet.  Well, to my surprise, Friday afternoon I received an e-mail offering me a three-year teaching assistantship with the anthropology department at

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-86374046545530763542011-01-11T09:18:00.001-05:002011-04-28T09:48:02.124-04:00

It's been about a week since I started my fellowship with Root Cause and now it's official as I have a bio uploaded.  http://rootcause.org/andrew-ofstehage-social-impact-research-fellow So far I've spent my time finishing a project from one of the last fellows here and researching for a new topic to write a report on.  I guess I don't know how much I should say about my work, but I'll be

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-4860387400373083342011-01-09T22:50:00.004-05:002011-05-31T14:43:30.365-04:00

EDIT: This article was in fact written by the AP and is no longer available on the Washington Post website. NPR's link to the story is still working here. This past week the Washington Post published an article on the impact of quinoa commercialization in Bolivia and I suppose it's worth a read.  It greatly simplifies the impacts, overestimates the negative impact on child nutrition, and

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-19313221330367331182010-12-28T14:02:00.002-05:002011-05-07T16:07:19.643-04:00

This was Boston when we left: ...and this is what we came home to: Sunday morning we were cursing ourselves for booking the 6am flight home, however when we realized we were the last flight from Chicago to Boston and everything else had been cancelled we were extremely happy to have gotten up at 3:30am.  We ended up getting around 18.5 inches total and had to deal with 45 mph wind but really

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-27064648040434563482010-12-21T15:03:00.001-05:002011-04-20T19:28:57.129-04:00

It appears that my PhD applications are now mostly out of my hands and I can reflect a little on the process so far.  I'll give a short description of the process that I followed, but do so without knowledge of the results, and therefore the conclusion of whether it's a post on what to do or what not to do. So, in May 2010 I had just returned from my research in Bolivia and had begun to develop

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-80428764450195424882010-12-07T13:07:00.002-05:002011-05-09T08:41:31.036-04:00

I'm doing some writing at the Boston Public Library and grabbed some guide books for West African countries, I was pleasantly surprised to see Timbuktu on a map of Mali, one of the countries that we could be invited to.  I'm often annoyed at people who travel for the sake of traveling, the same people who name statistics of how many countries they've been to or how many miles they've been to

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-39355026681375879312010-12-05T13:13:00.001-05:002011-06-17T14:42:00.152-04:00

I read an interesting article on a quinoa blog a few days which demonstrated the work of USAID in Bolivia as well as an impressive use of quinoa. The program, supported by funds from USAID, is run by a women's group in Oruro and the business is to transform the pannicles of quinoa into pieces of art.  As you may know quinoa can be quite a range of colors and these women are using that trait to

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-32935457752343601392010-12-02T12:22:00.000-05:002010-12-02T12:22:18.362-05:00

Sub-Sahara Africa! I just gave the Boston Peace Corps office a call and here's the dish: We've been nominated to Sub-Sahara Africa, beginning in October 2011, I'm nominated for agricultural extension and Amanda for Community Development in the health sector.  I'll have to take French classes, so we can assume we're going to a French-speaking country in Sub-Sahara Africa.  Peace Corps has

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-41311894670005645762010-12-02T09:18:00.000-05:002010-12-02T09:18:46.456-05:00

Amanda and I have been basically writing applications since July to fill in the gaping hole in our post graduation plans and it seems things are coming together.   Yesterday I submitted the first of seven PhD applications and began the long committee process that that entails.  Most of these applications are due in December/January and are decided in March or so.  Now, I"m not only applying for

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-11299490647045671782010-11-24T10:12:00.001-05:002011-05-14T19:01:15.819-04:00

Disclaimer:  This post is not to be taken seriously under any circumstances!  It is the opinion of Andrew and not neccesarily shared by Amanda (surely it's not) or the staff at "On Anarchy and Archiving." It is to be read as it was written, a diversion from serious endeavors. I was in CVS this morning and had to take the escalator to the second floor to find the contact solution section and this

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-57670853100932410022010-11-17T21:04:00.000-05:002010-11-17T21:04:54.260-05:00

James' comment got me wondering, where do you all think we should go if we volunteer for the Peace Corps?  You can suggest a region or a specific country, but we'll love to hear your thoughts. This http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=learn.wherepc is where the Peace Corps sends people. So, Botswana? Mozambique? Ukraine? China?  What do you think?

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-10150325484554687502010-11-16T18:23:00.000-05:002010-11-16T18:23:21.016-05:00

Today we had our nearly four-hour interview with the Northeast branch of the Peace Corps and our recruiter told us that he would nominate us for a region within the next few weeks. So, we haven't written much about the process and maybe it's time to recap. Just before leaving for Holland we both submitted an online application through peacecorps.gov which included our basic information including

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-12489984757319482192010-11-15T20:50:00.003-05:002011-04-20T12:18:45.630-04:00

I've started a new blog as space to air out some anthropological theories and my perspective on them.  I'm still finding out for myself what I will write on the new blog, but I've started writing in case you're interested.  It's geared towards anthropologists and development workers so it may not be that interesting to read for people outside of these occupations.  This is kind of the reason that

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-35271951855729305282010-11-11T20:31:00.002-05:002011-05-11T09:33:20.921-04:00

We recently went to NYC to see one of Andrew's friends from the Netherlands and Bolivia before he ran in the marathon.  Its only about 4hrs to NYC and its pretty cheap so we should probably go again sometime as we still haven't seen the Statue of Liberty or some of the other major museums.  The above pictures are from Times Square or near it. Central ParkWe also went to Salem, MA in October.  

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-43164421567118043732010-10-05T15:58:00.001-04:002011-04-20T15:49:48.473-04:00

Now that we're both living in Boston and our lifestyles have changed a little, it may be time for a new name.  I'm no longer living an anarchic life, more like a homemaker's life, but a home-maker who doesn't dust. Amanda is still studying, but is no longer studying archiving so that doesn't make sense either.  Should it be called "On home-making and librarianship"? Or "On writing applications

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-87792315560583549202010-10-05T15:55:00.001-04:002011-04-20T12:20:24.248-04:00

Fall has arrived in Boston and we've had a little bit of cold and rainy mixed with a little bit of cool and sunny.  After a summer of muggy heat Amanda's happy and I'm used to this after living in Holland for a month so we're happy. I'm still unemployed but working on finding work and there are two good leads that I should have news on within a week or two.  In the meantime I've kind of

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-81469060753861418132010-09-26T21:25:00.003-04:002011-05-09T08:39:05.642-04:00

We've just uploaded a bunch of pictures from the trip to Picasaweb.  Follow the link for more pictures. From the link, just click on the 'Netherlands' link. http://picasaweb.google.com/113893071322488428438

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-16394970446298126332010-09-26T16:15:00.001-04:002011-04-20T19:35:17.293-04:00

We're all back from the Netherlands and I think the whole trip went really well.  We all had fun and saw a lot of new things and a few old things with a new perspective. The canal boat in Utrecht was really fun.  We saw the city from  a different level and got off our feet for a few hours. Leiden is a nice little town with some picturesque Dutch scenes. The apartment in Utrecht felt like

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-73735666516874245272010-09-22T04:21:00.000-04:002010-09-22T04:21:52.654-04:00

Andy's mom reporting again: This morning we are preparing to go to the train station with Amanda so she can get back to her studies in Boston. We will miss her our last 2 days here! She has been a delightful tour guide, and (unlike Andy at times) she consults the maps so rarely steers us wrong. Yesterday we stumbled on to a delightful cafe for lunch. We had walked quite a ways on our way to a

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-6957606615259740002010-09-19T15:48:00.000-04:002010-09-19T15:48:53.464-04:00

Amanda and I just before graduating with diplomas as cheese tasting experts. Mom and Dad watching the carriages, cows, and cars on the train ride from Amsterdam to Leiden. Buying raw herring in Leiden. Our beautiful kitchen. Our beautiful living room and deck. Beautiful central Utrecht.

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-52480541491657284442010-09-19T11:31:00.002-04:002011-04-20T15:51:27.350-04:00

Pretty slow connection here so we just have a few more photos up. Us at the harp recital in Amsterdam. Dad preaching in the heart of the Red Light District in Amsterdam. After the recital. This is a brown cafe near Waterlooplein, Amanda's favorite apple pie can be found here. We all enjoyed the fries with mayo. I was happy to see a statue of Multutuli, a pioneer in the fair

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-5644170125057447372010-09-18T02:05:00.001-04:002011-04-20T12:20:43.040-04:00

Houses in Amsterdam. Andrew eating some raw herring, quite tasty, but smelly and slimy. Mom, Amanda, and Andrew on the boat tour. Mom and Dad at a picturesque canal in Delft. The new church in Delft. Us on the trip to Leiden. Dad made a friend in Delft.  

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-71240453952174213422010-09-17T17:23:00.001-04:002011-04-20T15:51:46.840-04:00

Well I've been back from the UNC conference for a few days now and trying to enjoy the brief break before I get back to working on a proposal and on publications.  The conference went amazingly and I really feel like I've  confirmed the feeling that I want to continue in academics. These are my people.  My paper and presentation were well-received and I received a lot of interest from some

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-75385490984236153612010-09-16T15:51:00.000-04:002010-09-16T15:51:28.646-04:00

Andrew's Mom reporting again from Amsterdam. We have been here almost a week now and the only casualty seems to be my heels which are causing me endless pain. But my trio of travelling companions are slowing their pace to let me keep up at times and listening to my whines without derogatory comments, so we continue on. On Wednesday, we walked endlessly in the rain--my water-repelling coat was

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-35945323594339610142010-09-13T15:24:00.001-04:002010-09-13T15:28:53.467-04:00

I've been ordered to produce a guest blog from our travels--and since I depend upon Amanda and Andy for tour guide services and instructions for getting back to the states, I will comply. Amanda has been our most capable tour guide since Saturday morning when we met in Iceland. Without her, we'd likely still be sitting near the baggage claim in the airport. We've put more miles on our feet than

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-76111693048511260632010-09-05T07:43:00.002-04:002011-05-17T15:39:20.706-04:00

It's been a busy week since I defended my thesis and I had really expected it to be a relaxing time to re-connect with friends here.  To recap, I got a 9 (out of 10) on both my thesis and internship and I'm very happy with this. The defense took about 2 hours and an extra hour in which the professors debated about how to finalize the grade.  I was mostly asked about my definition of key terms,

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-58687051988867668492010-08-31T13:49:00.000-04:002010-08-31T13:49:05.623-04:00

If you're interested in watching graduation you can watch it live or watch a video afterwards be following this link - http://www.wageningenuniversity.nl/UK/newsagenda/agenda/MSc_230910.htm - and clicking on the link that says 'live internet broadcasting of the ceremony.'  Call me or Amanda if you need help getting it to work.

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-19485701775060008802010-08-31T10:17:00.000-04:002010-08-31T10:17:15.965-04:00

Yesterday, after a thesis defense that lasted two hours instead of the normal thirty to sixty minutes, I received a grade for my thesis and with that I completed my requirments for graduation at Wageningen.  I got a nine (out of a ten-point scale) for my thesis and so it had to be checked by the head of the chairgroup to determine if it deserved a nine, she agreed this morning and now it's

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-19026337908184079142010-08-29T06:38:00.000-04:002010-08-29T06:38:03.660-04:00

It's been raining for three (or four?) days now and EVERYTHING is closed today (Sunday) so, if there was any doubt, I'm now officially in the Netherlands.

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-37252087380684105042010-08-28T16:11:00.000-04:002010-08-28T16:11:29.486-04:00

Quinoa recipes galore at the New York Times. http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/series/recipes_for_health/quinoa/index.html?scp=1&sq=quinoa&st=cse

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-80870956912762345262010-08-25T12:25:00.000-04:002010-08-25T12:25:35.721-04:00

Well, I'm back in Wageningen to finish up things here on my thesis and I had to hit the ground running.  A day and a half after arriving (today) I presented my findings to a group of fellow students and now I've finished the tasks for my thesis.  Now I only have to defend my thesis and I'll be finished with my master degree. The flight was as long as it always is, though it seemed longer from

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-46107415373673748862010-08-20T20:11:00.000-04:002010-08-20T20:11:06.628-04:00

Dear tourists of Boston, I'm glad that you think that Boston's a nice place to visit and I do get a kick out of your "I love NY" shirts, whether they're an intentional dig or unintentional irony. But, please remember that the Boston Public Library is not a human zoo. I come here to write and study, not to be in your photos. I agree that it's a beautiful building and I appreciate you documenting

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-58454927022894016262010-08-16T18:18:00.005-04:002011-05-14T19:11:12.289-04:00

It finally feels like we're a (relatively) normal married couple. We live in the same country, the same state, the same city, and even the same appartment.  Imagine that! We've been keeping busy as best we can.  Amanda is working at the law firm and at the career resource library. She'll start school soon and keep working a lot.  As I've been finishing all of my work Amanda's been making all the

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-10596005298138282902010-07-13T09:59:00.001-04:002011-04-20T15:52:01.801-04:00

I've finished my first thesis draft and now branching off into a mix of activities.  While I wait for comments from my supervisors on my thesis and the subsequent editing, I've started work on a paper that I'll present at a workshop at UNC-Chapel Hill in September and I've begun sending out applications. The first draft of my thesis came out to 115 pages, which is a lot less than I'd expected to

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-58327567351109170382010-06-09T13:43:00.001-04:002011-04-20T15:52:19.996-04:00

As we said in our last post, we won't be writing much anymore.  I did think, however, that it would be good to give an update on my transition to more or less normal life.  I've been spending a little bit of each day in libraries writing out a little more each day.  The average thesis should be around 100 pages at Wageningen and I've already got more than 50, it looks like the final thing will

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-49093681455245761632010-05-26T19:14:00.002-04:002011-05-09T21:11:35.250-04:00

On our last days in Arequipa we went to the Colca Canyon, the second deepest canyon next to another nearby which is the deepest, where we would stay one night before coming back and then to Lima and home. In Arequipa, we saw a museum with the famous Juanita. Juanita is a mummy of an Inca girl who was sacrificed to the mountain right around the time that the Spanish arrived. She was found in 1995

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-70485479720959764262010-05-23T20:19:00.002-04:002011-05-10T13:25:28.220-04:00

On the last leg of our Peruvian tour we stopped by the famous Pisaq market near Cusco and then arrived in Arequipa soon after. In Pisaq we did some Christmas shopping (think about that when you're going mad in November) and in Arequipa we've been going to monasteries and watching Andean condors. The Pisaq (or Pisac) main market is on Sundays when the local farmers meet to barter goods and

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-73615635696162190862010-05-18T22:21:00.002-04:002011-05-14T19:10:57.779-04:00

Because of the devastating rains in May,getting to Machu Picchu is definitely an adventure in itself.  We were picked up from our hotel at 7am, rode for 2.5hrs in a bus, and 1.5hrs in a train before we finally got to Aguas Caliente where we stayed a night before finishing the trek.  Its not an overly great town to spend even half a day in with basically just restaurants and tourist shops.  We

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-21571135976871882922010-05-18T22:00:00.001-04:002011-05-14T19:01:49.032-04:00

The trip is going pretty well and nothing like the flight debacle has happened since. We've been to several museums (Inca museum, textile museum, regional Cusco museum, Santa Catalina monastery, contemporary art, and a few more), did a horseback tour of a few local Inca sites and a bus tour of a few farther afield. With no further ado, the photos. This is the Cathedral on the Plaza de Armas On

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-19664268223436918832010-05-13T22:30:00.001-04:002011-04-20T15:52:31.791-04:00

After a very long day of traveling I arrived in Lima around midnight.  The worst part was getting through customs.  My flight, plus two from Los Angeles arrived at the same time making the situation chaotic.  The first day we spent walking around the historical center.  I accidentally ate a salad at lunch but it didn't make me sick.  I also brushed my teeth with the facet water.  The second day

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-90502192892673202192010-05-09T20:48:00.001-04:002011-05-14T19:05:17.589-04:00

I just read an interesting article from a few years back on a Bolivian community in Virginia, near Washington DC. It's worth a read. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A55539-2001Apr23?language=printer

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-58290043822858350762010-05-09T12:54:00.001-04:002011-04-20T19:42:36.874-04:00

I arrived safe and sound in Lima yesterday morning after a long, but interesting trip from Oruru. I left Oruro in a bus on the 5th at around noon and we arrived at the border about 4 hours later. At the border we got our exit stamps from Bolivia where I had no problems and we went to the Chilean side which was actually about 5 minutes by bus away. It was kind of strange, almost like we were in a

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-73570760690541886802010-05-06T19:47:00.001-04:002010-05-06T20:21:12.490-04:00

I'm spending the night in Arica Chile and I'll have a bus from Tacna Peru tomorrow afternoon (19 hours) and will arrive in Lima on the 8th in the morning. So, I don't have a real story or anything, but I'm bored and I'd like to put a few stories to paper. So a couple days ago I was in La Paz to speak with the president of ANAPQUI and a friend from Uyuni, in the afternoon I had lunch at a little

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-39197381862474483992010-05-04T09:50:00.002-04:002011-05-09T14:50:29.903-04:00

I've finally finished my internship at the Arboretum. Above is the main building where the library and archive is. Most libraries do not have plants, but since this is a botanical library its only fitting to have a couple.  As you can see the plants are massive.  This started out as a normal house plant and its now a little out of control.  This is a table owned by the original founder of the

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-90149626218347638412010-05-02T15:59:00.002-04:002011-05-09T14:50:53.211-04:00

This photo is of one of my favorite advertisements in Uyuni. The first line is pretty good, 'we offer him the specialty of the house.' Obviously it leaves one to wonder who 'he' is and if the speciality of the house is available for everyone or just him. Also, what is the specialty of the house. But that's not so bad, we're confused, but at least we have an idea about what they want to say. That

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-34040675524689464212010-05-02T14:41:00.003-04:002011-05-17T15:39:02.907-04:00

An interesting property of quinoa is that the skin of the seed contains saponin, which is a bitter substance that prevents or reduces insect and bird damage. This allows farmers to use less insecticides or none, but is something that must be removed before the seed is considered edible. It's a rather labour intensive process for farmers and so they usually sell it unwashed. It's also a reason for

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-87160715662187997652010-04-30T11:47:00.000-04:002010-04-30T11:47:53.711-04:00

Since moving briefly to Oruro I've been quite shocked at how much I'm spending on food. Here is my regular day: For breakfast I have two saltenas for a total of 4 Bolivianos. Lunch is at a nice 'healthy food' restaurant where I have a salad bar, tea, pito(a quinoa drink), soup, main course and fresh bread for 10 Bolivianos. Dinner then, is at one of the stands around town that could be salchipapa

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-19162265824860809332010-04-25T16:18:00.001-04:002011-05-09T10:11:31.527-04:00

I'm doing some writing in a coffeeshop in La Paz and thought I'd put some more photos on the blog. This is the famous Challapata market, the bags are full of quinoa. This is me jumping in the salar. This cactus looks like a ballerina I think. You be the judge. This is 800 year-old quinoa! Yum yum. There are photos of fieldwork in San Agustin and of the Salar at the picasaweb page here.

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-2783410194505354932010-04-25T15:07:00.000-04:002010-04-25T15:07:33.497-04:00

It's been a few days since the climate conference and I suppose I haven't felt much like writing about it yet, but here it is. Last Wednesday I left Oruro on bus for Cochabamba and arrived in the early afternoon. The first discussion I attended was pertaining to solidarity and cooperation between movements based in the north (Europe and the US) and the South (everywhere else). Specifically on

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-43742094309837417222010-04-20T19:40:00.003-04:002011-05-09T08:35:42.301-04:00

This is a story published in The Atlantic on January 20, 2010. Follow the link at the bottom to read the second page. I find it very interesting. It's more or less the story of how quinoa became an exportable commodity. Quinoa: The Story of a Cursed CropJAN 20 2010Stephen Gorad first saw quinoa on a trip to Bolivia while he was living in Chile, in the 1970s. A Boston-based mystic named Oscar

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-13529321914400791372010-04-18T13:47:00.003-04:002011-05-09T21:06:50.535-04:00

Since last Monday there has been a blockade in Avaroa on the Chilean border. People from the whole region have gone to protest the lack of electricity, decent roads and lack of water. They are also concerned about the exportation of minerals from the region and the fact that all profits go straight to La Paz without any local benefit. Two days ago they began tipping over containers of mineral

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-26879425972911406292010-04-18T13:46:00.000-04:002010-04-18T13:46:58.604-04:00

I just got back today at noon from a short trip to the salar. We left yesterday around 11:30 and made a stop at the train cemetery before going on to Colchani where we could be artesanias. From there we entered the salar. The Salar of Uyuni is 12,000 square kilometres and goes 1-12 meters down. Underneath is lava rock and then water. It’s an amazing site. The salar is pure white and the salt is

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-58150771350756337632010-04-16T20:03:00.001-04:002011-04-20T15:54:56.246-04:00

I know I've taken a prolonged absence from the blog and I apologize.  Its been a chaotic semester and Andrew's travels are undoubtedly more interesting, or unpredictable at least.   I'm a research assistant for a history professor and I've been reading and summarizing philosophy books every spare second I have. Just head over to Amazon and search Sources of the Self by Charles Taylor and read

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-21553339159363323912010-04-16T19:35:00.004-04:002011-04-20T15:55:03.176-04:00

With less than three weeks left in Bolivia, my schedule is really filling up. So here´s how it looks. Tomorrow I´ll go on a two-day salt flat tour including a trip to a quinoa museum. When I get back I´ll have two final interviews in Uyuni before moving to Oruro for the rest of my stay. From there I´ll go to Cochabamba to go to at least one day of the world climate change summit there. After that

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-86246793812364789122010-04-15T17:46:00.000-04:002010-04-15T17:46:04.117-04:00

Some more photos

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-32963233571591032182010-04-15T09:56:00.000-04:002010-04-15T09:56:28.030-04:00

I just returned from a 6-day stay in the community of San Agustin and it’s been an interesting and relatively productive week, though far from perfect. Let’s start from the beginning.Last Friday I left at 11:30 on the weekly bus to San Agustin and arrived 6 hours later in the town. I arrived with a name of a woman who may have lodging and little else, so I asked around for the woman. I

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-33873877698768086132010-04-09T10:34:00.001-04:002011-05-14T19:06:45.207-04:00

With the regional elections over, it may be important to see what the importance of these elections is. Under the new constitution, Bolivia is undergoing a shift from a central governement to a more federalized one with much more local and regional autonomy, including autonomy for indigenous communities. So, it´s a much different socialism than what I think most people expect. It´s far from the

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-88330763307824719542010-04-07T16:20:00.000-04:002010-04-07T16:20:20.265-04:00

From what I've heard, the elections have had mixed results. MAS, President Evo Morales' party, won the majority of governorships including one in the formerly solidily opposition Department of Pando, but they lost most of the mayor positions in the 10 largest cities. Bolivia is moving towards a more Federal type of governement with more autonomy for Departments, Municipalities, and indigenous

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-2595631731914168262010-04-04T19:35:00.000-04:002010-04-04T19:35:40.962-04:00

Besides being Easter Day, today is Election Day here in Bolivia for governor positions of the Departments and mayoral positons of the municipalities. I believe Evo's party, MAS, is favored in most polls, but we should know the results soon.  My reason for writing is that for election day, it is prohibited to drive unless you have a special permit that says you need to drive to reach the polling

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-79969839867356820502010-04-03T20:13:00.000-04:002010-04-03T20:13:38.986-04:00

EDITOR’S WARNING: This piece was written in a state of writing induced fever and some parts may be read as political, though they are not intended as such. Also, it’s really long and not as care-free as many of my recent posts. Also, I wrote this from a hammock. Consider yourself warned. I’m not sure if I’ve retouched on this subject yet and so I’ll do so know. While I was preparing for my

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-75830453494329746642010-04-03T16:06:00.002-04:002011-05-14T19:08:36.649-04:00

Last night I came upon a Good Friday parade (parade is a bad word, but I don't know the word for a sad parade) going through La Paz. So without planning anything, I ran into a cool cultural sight AND the vice president. It was basically really sad music and a group of twenty or so men dressed up in religious outfits carrying a representation of Jesus; all followed by the congregation of each

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-90049320624916172372010-04-02T12:09:00.001-04:002011-05-09T10:15:38.018-04:00

I'm passing Semana Santa (Holy Week) in La Paz as I can't imagine anything going on (or for that matter anything moving) in Uyuni. Friday and Monday are national holidays and Sunday are the regional elections so I doubt I would get a thing done there. So, I opted to come to La Paz to see a few museums that I've missed, clear my head a little and get some writing done. Today everything is closed

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-23457292535400763052010-04-01T19:06:00.003-04:002011-05-09T08:38:07.700-04:00

When you see all of these bags of quinoa, you may wonder why they don't just consolidate them into one or two bags, it's all the same right? Quinoa is quinoa, no? Well I'm here to say that's not the case. Each of these bags is distinguished by types of quinoa and grades of quinoa. There are 4 general types of quinoa: pink, white, black, and pisankalla. For each of these, there are several grades:

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439598160588066116.post-2290514721072312632010-04-01T14:59:00.002-04:002011-04-20T15:55:18.056-04:00

Chavez and Morales Announce Plan to Merge Venezuela and Bolivia into One Country by 2011 Follow the link for a very interesting and provacative article. Try to remember what date it is today. Also, lots of new photos on picasaweb, check them out by following the link on the right.

Andrew and Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212503327413630201noreply@blogger.com0