Five New Letters to My Name
It's official: I'm a double-master: a MAMBA! As final grades posted
last night, today I have a sense of closure on the last two and
a half year's journey thru grad school. Big thanks to my family
(Mom and Don for being patrons of the businesswoman), friends
(Dave S and Ana P in particular, as we shared the journey &
many a project together - see grad pix of us & familia at
aprilpics.shutterfly.com), my landlady/roommate Allison for giving
me and my African wonderdoggie a warm and happy home and taking
her out for me late school nights, my neighbor Kim & countless
other friends for giving me a shoulder to cry on so many days
and nights when I was so sick I thought I wouldn't make it, my
professors for imparting their wisdom and knowledge… Ok,
I'll keep my academy award speech brief, but I couldn't have done
it without all of you helping and encouraging me in myriad ways.
So what's next, you ask? Spending NYE randomly roaming the DC
streets and boarding a plane the next day for Rio.
Brazil… sounds too good to be true. The friendly, laid-back
people, the rich culture, the beautiful beaches, the beautiful
booties … paradise lost. More than a few people have predicted
I won't come back from there any time soon; Of course, I've read
enough to know that Brazil isn't all pretty: the crime-ridden
favelas controlled by druglords, the extreme income inequality,
largely drawn on racial lines (although I am told that Brazilians
literally identify themselves by their literal skin color–
caramel, cocoa, almond, cream – rather than a simple black
and white). But as the brilliant series City of Men depicts, even
in the heart of the favelas there is a vibrant life and culture
that I look forward to glimpsing (one of my contacts, an Aussie,
lives with a host family in one of Rio's largest favelas).
Anybody who knows anything about me knows I am a cheapskate –
in part due to earning an income under the poverty line (that
happens when you only work a few months out of the year), but
also because I love the creative challenge of doing more with
less, be it putting together a outfit for under $10 or a two-month
tour of Brazil for $1,000.
So I've got a free frequent flyer ticket & free beds/couches
lined up all along the way, mainly courtesy of a revolutionary
site called couchsurfing.com – I stayed with a woman in
Amsterdam via the site and not only saved money but saw sides
of the city I never would have otherwise. There is some favorable
self-selection going on here too, as most people who would even
consider hosting strangers in their homes are likely to be free-spirited,
open-minded, giving and adventurous – the type of people
I like to meet. Indeed, I will be greeted at the airport in Rio
by one couchsurfer, and have offers to visit two more who live
in the "country" an hour outside of Rio; another couchsurfer
in Salvador has agreed to host me for several weeks (we'll see
how that goes… don't want to overstay my welcome).
I'm also going to be scouting out fair trade artisanal products
for the Culture Shop (cultureshop.com), and have a comrade in
fair trade who just got a Fulbright to work with fair trade producers
from Recife, so I'll be visiting her there and hopefully making
some connections. I will also be doing some research for a socially
responsible business network called Net Impact via their NI Ambassador
program. And I've got contacts with Brazilian mediums, healers,
rock bands, and more through my dear old friend and professor
Stanley Krippner, who has spent several decades doing parapsychological
and cross-cultural psychology research in Brazil and umpteen other
spots around the globe. Oh, and my neighbor is from Salvador,
where I will be spending Carnaval, and his brother has a samba
band there, which I am going to try to hook up with to participate
in the parade, as I was a samba dancer in one of my former lives
(the Bay Area one). While most people would go to Brazil to chill
on the beach, I suspect I'm going to be just as busy a bee as
usual.
So my agenda down there is mostly fun/learning oriented –
dust off my samba skills, continue my quest to learn Portuguese,
take up capoeira, try my feet at surfing, etc. My mom and stepdad
will be meeting me at the end of Carnaval to travel for a week…
That will definitely be a hoot, based on past international adventures
with Maman.
The last few weeks I plan to start up the job search so hopefully
I will land back in the States with a glowing tan for the interviews
I will have lined up (gotta think positive!) I'm mainly looking
for socially responsible/fair trade-type businesses where I can
put my new business skills to work while doing something meaningful.
The longer-range plan is to get some new skills under my belt
and then some five years down the line use them to start my own
business or else take those skills abroad again working with entrepreneurs/market
development in developing countries. But we'll see what really
happens… It's the journey, not the destination, and though
I feel like I'm still waiting to arrive, I'm certainly loving
the ride.
Oh yeah, my health. I was indeed diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue
Syndrome, albeit a mild case, but the fact that it is an afterthought
should tell you I've made great improvement -- though I'm now
at a high plateau somewhere between sick and well. I am at about
80% of my normal functioning but still only at about 20% athletically
(4 moderately paced miles is now my limit versus 20; I've got
the energy to hit the bags for 15-20 minutes -with rests in between
rounds - but couldn't even begin to think about sparring). Stress,
colds, alcohol – all hit me twice as hard as they normally
would. But on an average day, you would scarcely know the difference.
I know my limits now and as long as I stay within them –
which I mainly do – I'm pretty hunky dory. I'm very very
very grateful for my progress and thank you all for your kind
thoughts and deeds while I was in the valley of illness this summer.
I've enjoyed hearing end-of-year news from some of you, from birthing
babies to birthing films… keep the news coming! Wishing
everyone a very happy, safe, healthy, productive, fun, satisfying,
and all-other-things-good 2008!!!
