What an unfortunate picture!

Me and Sen

I just had an epiphany

know what my thesis is going to be about. I know what I'm going to write my papers about this semster. Everything is coming together.

In case you're curious:

Indirect Processes and Unintended Outcomes.

That's the general idea. Of course in the context of civil society development and democratization in Azerbaijan. How most political actors don't work directly, and how policies don't usually have the intended consequences, all in the context of a state whose rules and institutions are still in flux and often informal.


yes yes yes yes yes yes

RED IN THE FACE!

Sen eat pen:
Every talk about someone and then realize that that person was in fact there?

Well, that happened to me today. But the person I was talking about is FAMOUS and AMAZING and I wasn't talking trash, but i just feel SILLY.

THe person is Amartya Sen, noble prize winner in economics, ethical development guru, basically i think he's tops! Anyhoo, he's giving a bunch of talks on campus this week (yay!!!!) so today I was having luch with two people, one who also read Sen in class with me, one who didn't know who he was. So I offered a quick explanation of his work, "transformation of the self- remember how we all debated that in class? THe concept of freedom in development, works with the UN." I many have actually said "Blah blah blah" at one point. Well, it slowly dawned on me at some point (later on) that the man at the table next to us, with 2 other guys, was almost definitely the man himself, Sen.

I don't know if he heard me, he probably didn't care if he did, and all that stuff, but gee whiz I feel like a moron!!!!!!!!!!!!

But I saw Sen- Yes!

p.s. Meagan if you read this... we shoulda asked to try his iced tea!

Hijacked by life

First: I've already killed one highlighter. Sheesh!

Second: Today I had a call from Mr. Lee, who I tutored (English) my first year here. I ran into him a few weeks ago at the Korean restaurant here in town. Well, he asked me to tutor his daughter. I said no (which I'm not good at) because I'm just to busy. He asked me to have dinner with his family (we were having problems understanding each other on the phone). Anyhoo, I went and had some awesome Bugoki and agreed to meet with her once a week. I think I'm just dreaming of free Korean food, WHICH WOULD RULE! Because it turns out they own the restaurant now! Yum.

Besides that, I'm getting into the groove of the semester. I have a lot to do, yes, but I'm not freaking out about it now. It's really interesting.

OH! And a big thanks to Rebecca for giving me her bike! It's really light and has a neat hightech looking seat that bounces and it's in great shape. It's at the bike shop getting new tubes. I'm so psyched!

Pie, neoliberalism, carrel.

I have a 10AM meeting tomorrow for class. Yes, that's right. On a SATURDAY. Because we have a 12 deadline. I think it is cray-zee! In terms of courseload, i think this is hte most I've had since my very first semester here, when I was taking all the SPEA core classes and staying up until 3AM crying in my econ book. So tonight, FRIDAY night, I am going to be reading, here, at home, all by myself. PARTY TIME!

But it is intersting, and definitely worth it! The three seminars are flowing along in a cohesive whole, covering similar topics from different perspectives. For example, the current neoliberalism- what this means for democratization, development theory, and state society relations. This has come up in each class, in its own way. VERY satisfying. But i'm reading like it's my job, 5 hours a day in my carrel, more at home.....

This gives me no time to do what I want to do, which is resurrent the IUCLU and write an article on neoliberal groups in the Caucasus for Neweurasia. And sew things. And spend time with friends.

Oh yeah! I baked a pie yesterday. A peach pie with peaches from the farmers market. It is a messy pie, but tasty.

Yeah I'm boring now.

what i do now

What I do now is read! Seriously, three seminars is going to be a lot, but since I'm not working, all should be fine. Here is my schedule!

MWF 9-9:50 4th Year Russian
M 1:45-4:15 Comparative International Development Policy
W 4-6 comparative Democracy
R 2:30-5 State and Society in Muslem Central Asia and the middle East

Yeah, I wish that Russian class wasn't at 9AM. But hopefully I'll spend the time in between that and my next class in my library carrel getting through the intense amount of reading I have in store.

Thoughts on the semester? Well, both the political science classes, being 'comparative' require that I compare two countries (or other units) in the research paper, so I won't be able to write just on Azerbaijan. I was hoping to really focus in on writing things that would be leading me towards my thesis, and I still will, just not as directly.

My professors seem very good, and the classes are good. So I will be quite busy this semester, but hopefully I will get SO MUCH out of it.

ps I here firecrackers, must be because today's a football game (who cares!)