I'm a rancher now.

All goes well in France. It’s been over a month since I last posted and a lot has happed. First off, the good news (and therefore not related in any way to SIT), I received the undergraduate research award from UMBC that I applied for. This is great, especially since I have already paid for my trip to London, in the hope that I would be successful. Also, I have been elected into Phi Beta Kappa, which, according to Wikipedia, is pretty awesome. I am looking forward to doing my senior history honors thesis next year, and it gives me an excuse to take a light course load.

A while back I decided to ditch the Research track with SIT because it’s easier and more interesting to do research in Cameroon. Right now the other “Cameroonians” are starting their research, and some of them have absolutely no idea of what they are going to research. I probably wouldn’t either. I’m taking language classes that only involve a small amount of research. My topic is the bureaucratic structure of Aikido in France. Not particularly interesting, but do-able.

I got back 4 days ago from the Ariege department of France. It is the 5th least populated out of 100. All the students were in different villages and we were supposed to conduct some research involving the region. My topic was the Merens horses that are indigenous to the region. It was pretty easy because I was living with someone who raises them. That’s the good part, the bad part was that I was stuck alone on a mountain with a weird French guy who tried to heat his entire house with a kitchen stove. Every night I used 7 blankets (the top ones kept sliding off) and every stitch of clothing that I had brought with me. It was definitely a worthwhile experience, but not entirely fun while it lasted. Much like this semester.

I’ve come back with quite a tan and hay in my hair. Also, I seem to have lost some French ability while I was there, or maybe it’s just that my home stay dad likes to use passé compose, inversion, and negation (at the same time) in his sentences. If you’ve taking French, you’ll know that it’s pretty much impossible to understand when spoken in this form.

I have about 2 and a half weeks to do about half a semester’s worth of research on Aikido. I present my work at the end of the month, and then I have about 11 days of semi-vacation. I’m planning on using some of that time to prep for my work at the British Archives. After that, I have a two day layover in Paris, which just happens to coincide with a Law conference that my Dschang Homestay dad will be attending. I’m hoping that we will be able to spend some time together, and that he will be interested in helping me get a Fulbright award.

I’m looking forward to the summer. I’m not planning on doing much of anything. I don’t feel too guilty about that decision because of this semester, the fact that I already have 128 credits including SIT, and the fact that over the last two summers I have earned 29 credits. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, so I’d better be careful. I’m planning on doing a little research, a little creative writing, and a lot of hangin’ with friends.

A la prochaine