Staying connected is key...

There are a number of reasons that I have come to greatly dislike my new student loan servicer:
1. The fact that the fed sold my loan to them in the first place
2. The fact that when it was sold to them they tried to collect on it immediately even though it is in deferment because I am a full time student.
3. The fact that they considered my deferment null because conducting fieldwork for my dissertation does not fall under the rigid rules for full time in-school deferment.
4. The fact that they made me deal with all of this while I was in the field.

These are just some things that make me wish I had more choice in who is going to benefit from the payback of my MA debt.

But this, this takes the cake:

email subject: "Proven steps to successfully pay back your loans"

By "liking" Great Lakes on facebook I will not default on my loans. Wow. Nevermind the job market, economic crisis, and neoliberal stance on funding education, as long as I stay connected I'm on the road to success.

Sigh.

Culture shock

I finally realized how hard it is to be back in the states. All I had to do was grade student papers...sigh.

And.....scene

This week I said my goodbyes, which was harder than I thought it would be. And now I am in the city wrapping things up, with just the weekend left. I have been longing for this coming weekend--homesickness in this case wins out over scholarly pursuits in my emotional tug-of-war.

It is difficult to leave, and difficult to explain whether I will be able to return--it's all based on funding. There will be a number of changes in the co-op between now and the end of summer. With the coffee harvest at a close things are quieting down. Workers will return to their communities, to plant and pick corn, beans and squash and to perform maintenance in the cafetal. The cooperative will meet to elect new leaders, and a new generation of farmers will take on new roles in their communities and within the fair trade network. The timing of my trip was aligned quite nicely with the coffee harvest and the activities related to it. I hope that I will be able to return to see the other side of the coin--what does coffee farming look like between harvests? I expect it looks like corn farming. We tend to discuss coffee producers as though coffee is their sole purview--but in reality, for small producers coffee is cash, corn is life.

I spent my last day with the co-op observing the shipment of their coffee destined for the U.S. There is a truck now at the port in Veracruz with 200 or so costales of Chiapan coffee, waiting to ship out. They will repeat this process 3 more times before the end of May. Each truckload represents a shipping container destined for the US, Switzerland or Japan where the coffee will be roasted for the 'local' market.

And I am now packing up my things, also, in a way, waiting to ship out.