Drinking from coconut shells with Joel & Katie at the African restaurant around the corner provided a valuable cross-cultural feeling to the month.
Having High Tea with Katie, Albert and friends was another type of cultural experience. While it was totally foreign to me, Katie commented, "this is just like what I do every Sunday!".
Then, mysteriously, around November 12 I received *18* cards in the mail! What? Happy early birthday to me!
On my real birthday, Katie cooked me dinner while Albert conducted. This was hard-core cooking, they even had a schedule. And, it was deeelicious! Good work.
Later I received another bunch of birthday cards, adding up to 21 from my family and a few assorted ones. What a nice family! Wonderful friends also came over to enjoy the birthday evening...
Then, for the weekend I went to Geneva to visit Sam and the UN. The UN was closed, but Sam was there!
We went up a "mountain" and found a winter wonderland at the top! I'm pretty sure that it doesn't qualify as a mountain by French/Swiss standards, but compared to Holland, and considering that we were above the clouds, it was definitely mountainous. It seems likely that this will be the most snow I'll see all year (certainly more than in Amsterdam).
Then I watched a man jump off the mountain. This was slightly terrifying, but once he was properly off the mountain it looked relaxing and fun. At least it did, until I saw the notice posted that indicated that you must be sure to descend quickly, so as not to get in the way of the airplanes.
The Alps! If you take an unmarked snow-covered path upwards for a while, you get to a beautiful vista with a little cafe on top. The French think of everything.
Here is Sam, caught in the "snowfall."
Later, back in Amsterdam, Katie, Albert and I tried out for the Dutch East India Company. I'm pretty sure they would have rejected us, but we were nothing if not enthusiastic.
Captain Katie searches the horizon for... the library? Or is she looking at Central Station?
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the short story of what I've been up to. Of course, I've also been doing some work... although I don't have wonderful pictures to illustrate that. I do have a much more narrow thesis question now, which is:
How has pleasure been incorporated into the Christian discourse of HIV prevention in Africa?
In order to answer this, I am in the process of looking for an NGO that has incorporated pleasure into their Christian discourse of HIV prevention and would be willing to let me come and study what they do and how they do it. While this does not seem to be a big focus of many Christian groups in the US, pleasure is increasingly becoming an important focus in many African communities.
I hope you will excuse the brevity of this summary, but I must get to the market and write a few papers. If I haven't heard from you in a while... please get back in touch!
