As every year my aunt Leona, my father’s youngest sister, is here for a week. My mom thought that this was a good opportunity to use the last box of cheese fondue from last winter. This was the first time I ever had this on the balcony – but really, summer is slowly disappearing, so it didn’t feel too out of place… 🙂
This is also testing out the upload and thumbnail feature of WP. Crossing fingers that it works…
Bad news first – I seem to be somewhat sick. That sucks, because I can’t concentrate and feel quite crappy, especially when combined with the good news:
I’ve got the internship at the Swiss Tropical Institute here in Basel. I hadn’t thought that they still had capacities on such short notice, but they do, and I’ll spend three weeks there from Sept 13, together with two uni friends. That’s what you get from your uni connections – one of my teachers (actually, the one I want to be my mentor for my Masters exams) works there and got us the jobs. Not that we get paid or anything, or that this is something I want to do later in life – but it’s an internship, which is better than having to rush around looking for one…
This of course means that suddenly I don’t have as much leisure time to finish my fieldwork paper and then write my German Lit paper as I had thought. Pity, I’d been kind of looking forward to taking it easy and just working (at my old people’s home – some extra shifts because people are on vacation) and writing for the next two months… Oh well, I’ll try and get it all done nonetheless.
Just not today, as my head is in no shape to do decent work.
Tired, tired. Had to work yesterday morning – getting up at 7am really is too early… 🙂 And last night was quite cold, so despite not being in bed before 1am (because I went to see the excellent Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind with Sibylle) I was up again before eight… I think tonight, after work, I’ll try and get some sleep – I feel as if I’m getting a bit sick. Oh well, no matter – here are this week’s Unconscious Mutterings instead:
I just got an email from Unesco. Apparently they did write to me, but I never received that letter. In any case, my application was denied, as I had thought.
Dear Ms. […],
I am sorry that apparently you haven’t received our letter.
Your application could not be accepted (Decision from 16/04/2004).
Still I wish you the very best for your future career and aspirations.
Best regards,
Markus Voelker
Interim Chief HRM/Training
UNESCO
I have no clue what that decision was, but it was made either just after or even shortly before they received my application, so I’m guessing it’s some internal policy and nothing directly connected with my application. Oh well.
Now the question is whether I should email Brigit about the thing at the Tropical Institute right now, asking whether I could do it in September/October, or whether I want to concentrate on my German Lit paper and do the internship (mainly processing data – very uninteresting, but it’d get me the credit I need) either during the semester or afterwards. I guess I’ll just ask her whether they still have capacities open. *shrugs*
It’s just a pity that I haven’t got the chance to do something that I’m really interested in…
In other news: I’m currently working on the switch from MT to WP – looking quite good, except that I accidentially discovered a problem with WP, where it doesn’t call on the proper mysql database. So it might be another couple of days until the move is complete.
My parents are celebrating their 25th engagement anniversary today. They’ve gone out, to a museum and later to dinner, all dressed up and happy. I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned my parents’ love story here – yet it’s definitely something that has shaped the way I see the world. They’re living proof for all my romantic notions of love at first sight and forever, much more than any movie or TV show…
You must know, they met when they were both over fourty, on 14 July 1979. And if you are quick, you already have put two and two together and realized that that means that they got engaged less than a month later – and if you know how old I am, you know that they were married and had a child on 5 January 1981, not even 1 1/2 years later… Quite impressive for a confirmed bachelor (everyone was convinced he’d stay single) and a nurse who’d come to terms with her spinsterhood when she met the man who changed it all.
They met at the wedding of the brother of a friend of my mother’s, where my father officiated (is that the word?) – in other words, he was the minister. But after the service they got talking, and both say that they knew right away that this was meant to be. Less than a month later, after exchanging letters almost daily, on 10 August 1979, my father drove down to where my mom worked in a rehab facility, and they spent the day together, going for long walks and talking. The very next day, they got engaged.
Their love today is still as strong as it was then, right from the start, despite all their differences in personality and all the ups and downs of everyday life. They have given me so much, but their greatest gift has been their love, for each other and for us children. It’s an inspiration to me, and living proof that there is such a thing as the One True Love God has destined us to find.
I arrived back in Basel yesterday, after spending ten absolutely fantastic days in Scotland with Märrie (plus celebrating her birthday with her family in Germany). Such an amazing country – simply stunning landscapes, fascinating history and friendly people. I’ve posted to the travel log a couple of times and will post some photos one of these days (when the madness of settling back in has calmed down). Also, Märrie posted a bit about why I’m the best navigator in the world and other things of interest in her LiveJournal. *g*
Now I’m trying to sort out what needs to be done after my absence. I need to finish my fieldwork paper (which needs some serious revisions, as I’m sure my editors have noticed) and there’s still the open question of my internship. The European Parliament sent a refusal (apparently they don’t need anthropologists this year, which doesn’t really surprise me) – but I haven’t heard anything from UNESCO. Now, that’s really annoying, seeing that I’ve applied for September. But searching their website for information, I found this:
If your application is of interest to the Secretariat, you will receive a proposal for an internship within four months.
I never really read this carefully before – and now I can’t help thinking that this sounds as if they only contact you if you’re accepted. So that’d mean I can forget about it, because the four months are up – or am I reading too much into it? Opinions?
It’s half past twelve and I’m still not quite ready, mainly because I managed to more or less finish my paper and had to set some stuff up. And I still have to fit a pair of sneakers into my backpack before I can allow myself to go to bed.
Märrie made this – isn’t it cute? Anyway, wishing everyone who reads this a good two weeks – you can catch up with me via email or by reading the travel log…
I’ve been preparing for my vacation and am almost ready now. I’m pretty excited, because I’ve never been on a road trip like this before – Märrie and I will rent a car and tour Scotland for ten days! Exciting, exciting…
I’ve always wanted to see more of Scotland – and renting a car is cheaper and more flexible than taking the train or bus. My only problem is that I don’t have much driving experience, since we don’t own a car – but luckily Märrie is a good driver, so I’m sure we’ll manage.
We’ll also take a tent, but I’ve made it pretty clear that I won’t camp if it’s cold or wet. I’ve been to Edinburgh in July before, again with a tent, and the weather was simply awful. Wet and miserable, and me with a flu. Not doing that again, believe me… 🙂
Am going to post a farewell post when I get back from work (where I will hopefully manage to finish the rough draft of my paper) and meeting Sibylle tonight. My parents will be back then, too – they’ve been on vacation for a week. I’m glad they’re back in time to say goodbye to me!
Unrelated – this week’s Unconscious Mutterings:
Well, turns out that Manu was at the concert, too – and being the huge fan that she is, she wrote a very cool post about the whole show, including a list of the songs that were played.
Check it out, if you’re interested!
Yesterday I went to the Stimmen festival in nearby L̦rrach, right across the German border, to see Melissa Etheridge with Sibylle. It was absolutely lovely Рthe festival is right in the middle of town and had the most wonderfully relaxed summer atmosphere, despite threatening rain clouds.
It definitely was my most laid-back concert experience so far. We sat in a café that was part of the concert area beforehand and then went out when the opening act was playing. There was nothing like a ‘bad seat’ (or better – standing room), and there was no pushing, no pressing, no angry faces. Instead lots of happy people enjoying a kick-ass show. Wow, does that woman have power!
And she seemed to enjoy herself enormously, which affected the whole audience. I was actually a bit surprised at the diversity of people there – a lot of lesbians, of course, but really, people from all walks of life, of all ages and lifestyles. So even when I wasn’t busy watching Melissa rock the stage, I had a lot of fun people-watching. 🙂