Sorry, been lazy. Here are some more from the balcony while it clearer. I have some of the beach and the market I will upload later. Not too much exciting going on yet, mainly working and getting out of the apartment for an hour or two a day to get some exercise and ward off cabin fever. My brother shows up this Sunday and we will do some sightseeing when he arrives.
Ahhhhhhhhhh……….no more 100 degree plus weather!!!! I always forget how much I actually hate it until I get out of it. Although it is a little chilly (Chile in chilly, hahaha!) here, it is sooooo much better.
The trip to get here was long and made longer by a 24 delay when a connecting flight was canceled. Since I have arrived, I have mainly been working on paper and dissertation related stuff with a few outings to the beach for a walk and a jaunt around town to get out and some exercise. Traveling will come later, if and when I get enough done to merit it.
My parent’s apartment is in Vina del Mar, the nice suburb next to Valporaiso. There are more expats, diplomats and professionals here. We are on the 21st floor over looking the ocean. The door of the apartment complex is about 200 meters from the ocean. It was a little cloudy when I took this from the balcony and the sea is pretty rough from an overnight storm. Far in the distance in the middle of the picture partially blocked by the clouds you can see a few tall white buildings is the university that my dad’s Fulbright is at in Valporaiso. The area looks a lot like N.Cali, don’t you think?
The flight arriving into Santiago was pretty incredible with all the snow-capped mountains of the Andes surrounding it. I think we will see more of that city on the way out.
A funny story from the air travel:
The guy in front of me in line at the Tucson security checkpoint was told he could not bring his cologne on the plane. Instead of tossing it, which most people I assume would, he SPRAYED the remainder of the bottle on himself while standing there! Realize that this had to be OVER the 3 oz limit. The surrounding passengers and TSA workers were looking around at each other with bemused horror!
After I got on the connecting flight to Dallas, I had a mini heart- attack when I saw the guy walking back towards the empty seat next to me….thankfully he did continue past with his cloud of odor engulfing the plane. The flight never actually got off the ground so we did not have to endure too long in the same cabin with this guy. Next time along with my ear plugs and eye mask, I think I should bring a mask!
Even though I didn’t vote for her, I am somewhat saddened by the fact that it’s now official that there will be no woman running for president this time around. Although I respect her many accomplishments, I never felt she was the right “first” for our country and whether that’s her fault or due to the way the media portrays her I am not sure. It does seem fantastic and almost impossible to believe that a non-white person could be our president in 7 months and while I am mostly thrilled, a small part of me feels like my “underrepresented in politics” group is getting the shaft for another few years. This was the order that suffrage was instituted and it looks like the way that our presidency will go. Sigh….let’s look to Janet in ‘16 to be our first!
UPDATED: A nice NYtimes editorial piece about Clinton’s candidancy.
I think we now know what Jimi’s father was…. an English Shepherd. I had never heard about this breed before but the second I saw the picture of one it seemed to fit perfectly. The personality descriptions of english shepherds seem to describe him as well (except for the exercise requirements, our dog is a couch potato).
Yes, our dog has a longer snout, shorter hair and longer ears but that we believe is from his coonhound mother.
Here is our little mutt posing in GQ style:
Also, I realized that we never posted that we got an apartment. It is a decent-sized 1 bedroom in West Hollywood. It is an old house that was converted to 3 apartments so it doesn’t have that “complex feeling”. I will post pictures when we get there (end of July) but you can read here about our new town.
…..is made even more boring by knowing what my brother is up to!
Last week (sometime, we are not sure of the day) was Jimi’s 5th birthday. And as most of you know we are great friends with the owners of his sister Lucy (Pamela and Jon) so we went over to their house last night for a celebratory dinner in the doggies’ honor. It means we have known them for 5 years almost too..crazy, huh?
As usual the dogs got cake with candles (which this time was two little beef and brown rice rolls) and some singing. Here are some pictures from the festivities:
Kevin with the birthday pups (Jimi is being camera shy).
Us singing Happy Birthday and the dogs waiting patiently (yes my head is cut off).
Cutting the cake.
Lucy eating her cake.
Jimi eating his.
On my way in this morning I realized how unseasonably cool it is and what a pleasant bike ride I was having. Today it is in the mid 70s and to give you a frame of reference we normally hit 100 degrees by May 15th. Half way through my trip I realize that once we are in LA, 85 percent of the time is going to feel like this! I am so excited!! If I can just get through the last summer here.
On a side note, I think that you can assume that when things are quiet here there is progress other places. I started a longer post a few days ago but didn’t have a chance to finish it. I will write in a day or so but it looks like we got an apartment, my data analysis problem corrected itself and the house is almost ready for the market. As Mr. Rind said in an e-mail to me the other day “Things are moving along!”. Yeah for progress and as my advisor says “More soon”.
Today I was sulking. Really sulking. And trying to distract myself from my misery by doing anything else I could (hence the blogging). My data collection for my thesis is done. I have a little bit of analysis left using a program that for the most part has made my life much easier. This last week, however, it has made my life hell. Nothing I try would make it run and I have tried a lot. I was running out of patience and threatening to quit science to anyone who would listen.
This is the last thing I have to finish before I can press full steam ahead on manuscript and dissertation writing. Being finished is so close I can almost taste it. There were two options on the table with the software not working. One, find someone to help me troubleshoot (which will be hard) or two do all of the analysis over by hand which would likely take an additional month.
I was wandering the halls of the building where I use the software talking to myself about how unfair life was to me. First my advisor leaves and I am all alone in the lab and now I will never graduate from this awful situation, I have wasted almost 6 years of my life, etc, etc. Drama, for sure.
I run into a professor in our department, one of the nicest and sweetest people I know. He is wearing a strange contraption on his left leg and has crutches. Being the always good-natured, friendly guy that he is, he smiles and says hello. Hello, I say, what happened to you?
He described how he had been hit by a car while on his bike. I cringed, every cyclist’s worse nightmare. It was at night. Did he have lights? Yes, lights, a helmet AND a reflective vest. And then the worst part, it was a hit and run!! The driver of a white truck hit him in the bike lane and then slowed down slightly to make sure he was alive and then took off. They never found out who it was. He had to have surgery, months of physical therapy still ahead. His leg may never be the same again. At this point I am indignant and the tears of anger start to creep in. It felt a bit like if someone told you your favorite kindly old neighbor was mugged and the watch that his long dead wife had given him was stolen in the mugging. How unfair!! And those of you that know me well are very familiar with my overactive sense of empathy and reaction to injustice.
I am so sorry, how awful, I keep saying. It’s OK he says. I look at him and it’s a little strange. He is still smiling happily as he always does and is not really phased. What can you do about it? He says. I am a little dumb-founded that he is so calm.
After our conversation we both head our own ways. I start thinking about his words…what can you do about it? What CAN you do about it? What can you really do about anything that happens to you? My problems with the image analysis software don’t seem so awful anymore. And I decide in a moment of enlightenment that what happens to you in life is not really what matters. In fact, it’s how to react to what happens to you that determines how happy you will be.
I feel calmer, things will be alright. In the grand scheme of things I am a very privileged person. I will get through this awful part of graduate school and get my PhD and move on with life. If it happens a month later than I wanted than so be it. Why add getting pissed off to the additional work load. What would that help?
As soon as I think these words and take a deep breath, TWO incredible things happen. Almost instantaneously I get two e-mails from quite possibly the only two people on earth that can help me debug the program in a timely manner. I have a phone date for tomorrow with one of them and a meeting on Monday with the other. Hurrah!!! Is this a cosmic coincidence? Perhaps, but I prefer the alternative explanation better.
And as of things could not of been more serendipitous, during my usual evening reading of Neuroscience writer, Jonah Lehrer’s blog, I find he links an article that discusses the very same thing. Granted it is primarily a very long and fascinating New Yorker piece about elevators but intertwined in article is the story of a man who is trapped in an elevator in NYC building for 41 hours. But it discusses all how after the horrible ordeal he is righteous and angry and seeks compensation and sues for damages. He is relatively unsuccessful in seeking recompense and his life unravels in front of him. Perhaps he muses had he returned to work and tried to move on he would be in a better place now.
I encourage reading of the entire article if you are not elevator phobic (it details all the ways an elevator can fail) and watching the security tape of the man that is stuck in it (don’t worry it is sped up and only 3 minutes long). It is truly fascinating
But really the whole point of this is that to pass on my new feeling of enlightenment. Crappy things WILL happen and that getting overwhelming upset and distraught will not help. Proclaiming “life is unfair” gets you nowhere. I think this strongly resembles the Buddhist philosophy of keeping an strong, steady inner self while living in a tumultuous world.
And so while I feel like waves are crashing on every side of me while I try to get this chapter of my life finished and start the next one I will try to keep myself from falling apart emotionally at every obstacle. It just adds another obstacle.
Wish me luck!
While I am wasting time (and being very, very frustrated by the very last of the data analysis for my thesis being thwarted by a buggy imaging analysis software) I thought I would show you a picture of the magnolia tree in my parents backyard. It was sent a long by a neighbor since they are in South America for the semester. Its blooms are incredible this year.
Seeing my childhood yard and the magnolia tree I used to climb makes me miss the first days of real spring back in the midwest. You are so grateful for the temperatures to return to tolerable after the long winter and the air smells incredible….yes, I am getting nostalgic…. I am trying to imagine the smell.
Here in the desert I don’t get that immense excitement when spring arrives because it’s never really that cold. But being as cold-intolerant as I am I think that is something I can give up.
Enjoy!
