a scholarly venture

B - Everything I hear about East Timor makes me more and more excited. Lately, I have started to think of how to use this experience towards my graduate schooling. I am interested in studying Cultural Anthropology, and most CA programs require at least a year of field study...well I'm going to get two, so I am going to be on the right track. I have contacted a friend who was a PC volunteer in Malawi and is now studying anthropology at NYU. He has given me some tips, well basically one big tip: WRITE IT ALL DOWN. So I will be keeping a detailed journal from the time that I get there. I have been researching grad schools, too. A lot of schools have South East Asian studies departments along with the Anthropology departments, which is neat. The interesting thing is that with East Timor being such a new country, it doesn't have as much published about it as any other country that's been around for a while. So I'm excited about the idea of finding something new. I've ordered a couple of studies from Amazon.com (one was 80 cents used!) done by a lady named Janet Hoskins who is a professor at the University of Southern California. She is one of the only professors who studied Timor specifically (and that was before independence). Another bit of advice from my friend was to read as much history about the country as you can. Travis and I are working on that. So far I think we've bought ten books! Thank goodness for used books at amazon.com, because we certainly can't find books about East Timor at the Lake Charles library. They only have one book that comes up in a catalog search and it is a romance fiction novel.

We're looking forward to this summer and no more AmeriCorps. So far we have a week planned in Arkansas to visit when Lisa is in the US. And then we have a 10 day vacation in June split between the Lake and San Antonio, with both of our families. There should be a throw-down goodbye party on the 4th of July weekend, too...somewhere either in Lake Charles or Iota...and everyone is invited! July will be here before we know it! Yeah!