Learning 'autonomy'

For a couple of years I've been wanting to attend this seminar in Barcelona--and the draw was mostly the seminar, with the city being the perk. I finally received funding to attend this year and as I sit in a train station, class finished and taking a couple days to myself, my mind feels ready to explode with the weight of my attendance.

This is where I went to class

The seminar was many things--not quite what I expected, but also, at the same time, more than I anticipated. I think I made some good connections and I have a lot to think about going into my dissertation writing.

The travel itself was both exciting and daunting. I feel as though all I have been doing since November of last year has been traveling. (I set a record for days home the week before I left for Spain--8 days in a row!) I'll have another week at home and then I'm off to Chiapas again for one last reconnaissance research trip. So yes, travel, lots of it. I feel a bit fatigued. But also very rewarded, because I get to be present in all of these really fabulous places and meet new folks and so on.

My only experience with Europe prior to this past month was the UK, which in my memory feels very different than Spain. In fact,

Furnicular

Spain reminds me more of Mexico than either my experience or my imaginary of Europe. I like using the Euro and I love the underground and the other myriad forms of transportation available--in the past two weeks I have been on the metro, the light rail (yes they are different), high speed train, furnicular, cable car, taxi, bus, and my own two feet. And I have to admit I walked whenever it was feasible distance-wise--and more than I meant to due to my awesome navigation skills (more than once I wandered some miles because I took a right instead of a left--I am a brilliant geographer).

My class was at Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona in a less-touristy neighborhood, which was really nice. Anytime I went to a more touristy venue I started to feel claustrophobic.

Because my visit was only punctuated by short ventures out, there's not the same storytelling to be done. I did take some photos (over here on flickr) and the ones in this post are just a few of my favorites. It was almost impossible to not take too many photos of the rocks in Montserrat and the cathedrals in Valencia--every time I thought I had captured them I saw something new (er...this means, lots of pictures of rocks/bricks and mountains unfortunately)...

I started to compartmentalize things that I liked and didn't about being here.

Un cafe = espresso

Some of my favorite things were:

• espresso to go
• the buildings - mostly just that no matter where you turned there was something fabulous to look at
• the food (meat, cheese, bread, wine...repeat). I had to take myself to the mercado and get some vegetables to feel normal again.
• the transportation (as I've already extolled above) -- also, being whisked through the suburbs, which randomly have 15th century cathedrals or other century castles just hanging out in the general area...

Things I was less enamored by (or at minimum amused by):

Available in cans too...

• dog shit, everywhere. In a city where the majority of green space is defined by trees poking out of patio there's no where to go...
• fashion, there's a whole new level in Barcelona, I felt like a hiker amongst ballroom dancers--also the baring of bras I'm not a prude, but it took a little getting used to
• finding out the hard way that 'clara' translates to 'shandy' and not to 'lager' (as it does in Mexico)
• Catalan. Seriously, I thought I would have a rough time keeping up with Castilian and instead I was faced with not knowing Catalan--oh well.
• getting lost was really easy for me and not nearly as fun as when you're with someone else (read: Joe) 
• Also, when they take all the other place-settings away, which I realize is not necessarily a thing here in particular, but just made my individual travel all that much more visible to me.

  

  single-serving again

I'm finishing this post in a hotel bar near the airport and I feel relieved to be traveling tomorrow.

One last round of tapas and ridiculously cheap and delicious wine. Bed. 3 planes. I arrive the same day I leave, just barely (with 9 hours difference). My major goal this week is to recover from jet lag before I get it again.

The snowline

Broken Top

I'm sure I don't need to explain about all of the crazy weather that we've been having--but we've had an idea to go camping on the holiday and thought we'd check out the snow situation. Since we've been snowed out and lost before we thought a nice day hike up in the mountains (read: get out of the 90+ weather in town) would be lovely for a break and some reconnaissance.

The snow line does not look favorable for our planned camping trip, but it was absolutely beautiful. Also, I've said it before and I'll say it again, I find it incredibly unfair that there should both be snow and mosquitoes at the same time. Ugh.

The trail--now you see it, now you don't

We actually abandoned our effort to do the loop and check out a moraine lake due to the complete inability to continue on the trail from this point. Instead we headed to a lower elevation to check out a more ambling stroll on this beautiful lake with views of Bachelor. Not the challenging hike we were attempting to put in in preparation for a multi-day camping adventure, in which I will have a cameo (I'm hiking back out to catch a flight next week), but a gorgeous view and a nice moment to catch the early wildflowers.

Grass removal plan--step 1

While I was in Mexico I had a thought about a really fabulous way to get rid of a lot of grass in our backyard, which didn't consist of a greenhouse so we could extend the season and possibly grow veggies here. Summer here is really quite fabulous and I love the idea of extending our evenings outside. So when I got back, we discussed it, walked the yard and plotted out a nice circular pattern.

see circular pattern with rope

We also planted some trees and thought about pathways and other privacy/noise reduction strategies that we could initiate this summer and watch grow over the next year or two. You can see the new trees in the background of some of the photos below...

I haven't been home many days since I returned from the field, but we've made excellent use of the days I have been here--it helps that Joe went all pick-axe on the grass on some of the days I was gone. And so, in many steps, we created a fire pit.

 

The sod.

Who needs to rent a compactor when you have a full keg?

 

   

Trying to fit my whole shadow into the circle

DONE.

A very personal inaugural fire, from the dead wood of the bubala

Another reason to dislike grass

"Today's Worst: Eugene"

I didn't need a map to tell me that; my eyeballs are screaming.

Clever

I am my own "single-serving friend."

At least this complimentary beer was Bridgeport.

All programs need this button

click when frustrated...

Our house without us...

It has been over a year now since we occupied our home in the Valley. We were so rushed getting out of it that we never had a chance to put our yard into a more maintenance free mode. I've been by the house a few times when I've been in town, but after 6 months away and spring in full swing, I was met with quite a site. 

It's actually beautiful if you don't think about how many hours it will take to deconstruct it (also that the house is on the rental market). I went to the house with an hour to spare and some shears and a pair of gloves. I knew I would restrict myself to simply cataloging the 'jungle' when I walked into the backyard and I couldn't find the slash pile/compost bins (being too obscured by the blackberry bushes).

Hopefully we'll get an intrepid renter.

The hops strangled the cherry tree.

The compost bins have been swallowed.

The dogs strike again. I hate those guys.

NEVER, EVER plant poppies.

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.