One Page at a Time

So I am in the boat that many before me have sailed, and many after me will sail. And there are also those who have walked the plank or dived off the side, or just plain drowned. I will not be one of them; I will sail the turbulent high seas until I reach land or at least an island, even if it is a swampy, acidic one a la The Life of Pi. I figure if I get to Manhatten, I'll be golden and if I get to, say, Delaware or some such place, I can live with that. All this mumbo jumbo is, of course, my dissertation analogy. It's a big boat with few crew members, but so far, it's just cloudy weather. And by the way, in case you are wondering, I really am this dorky in real life. Yup, this ole land lubber (whose shoulders are too narrow to be a competitive back or breaststroker) is undertaking the possible yet very difficult. And she's going to do it!

My good friend Karla is requiring of me one page a day. Be it notes, actual chapter writing or whathaveyou, I must turn in one page per day to Karla via email, although I am exempt from Saturdays because on Saturdays, I am in a special kind of liminal place aka purgatory. Ok, it's just retail, but really, same difference. I'm on a roll! So far, two pages. But I just got started, so I anticipate a large sheath by the end of the semester.

On another note, I've been dreaming of Peru. Iquitos, my motorcycle, my friend Victor, my family there, Monica...it's hard to not romanticize the whole thing and it's also hard not to just write it off as one big floppy learning experience. I miss it. I really do. And it's funny because I gave a little thing with Michael for colloquium this past Friday about field work. And someone asked, why Peru? Why this project? Why did you choose it? And it really hit me: it chose me. I don't think I would've stuck it all out, from the first jungle hells to the urban craziness if it weren't that Iquitos kept pulling me back to its snare. And yet - kind of like in that Almodovar film, Atame, deep down I have grown to love it, and I miss it a lot. I guess this is a partnership for a long time. There's no question that I love my project topic - who knew I'd become a cumbia junkie? Regardless, here we go! Here's hoping I don't get sick of it while writing my dissertation, and here's hoping I don't go into debt while charging the upcoming trip on the ole credit card! Cheers!