So here we go! Although I've been doing preliminary work for a few weeks now, today marks the first official day of my Independent Study Project (ISP). Emphasis on the I. We essentially have 4 weeks and $450* to go academically wild, interviewing people, tracking down sources, and eventually producing a 30 page paper in Spanish. If you're interested in all the nitty gritty details (not that you should be. in fact, you shouldn't be), here is my proposal.
I just realized that this means that, for the first time in my life, I'm going to have no other responsibility besides studying. Such a weird idea. At Brown, even though I'm a "full-time" student, I feel like I spend more time juggling Jew stuff and West House duties and Safewalk suping and political debate organizing than I do "studying" in the strictest sense of the word (although I am obligated as a former unschooler to point out that obviously these other things are all part of a holistic education experience). Here, it's gonna be just me and Managua. There's only a few other students sticking around here...the rest took off today for other cities and communities. I'll miss them. *tear*
As one of our directors explained to us, research here is, well, different from research in the States. There aren't massive libraries filled with tons of bound resources, databases, and helpful librarians. You have to rely much more on personal interactions - tracking down someone you heard you should talk to, who'll introduce you to a friend who once worked with another guy who would be PERFECT for you to talk to who can get you a copy of this really cool report...
And despite my inicial incredulity (So I can just show up at the leading engineering university in the country and they'll talk to me??), it's worked so far! Starting with one contact, my slate of potential interviewees has grown exponentially. With regards to that engineering university, I literally just walked in, found the Architecture department, and asked the receptionist who I should talk to about my project. He was delighted. He gave me his cell phone number, and told me to call back that night.
Now, if you'll permit me a bragging moment here, all of this was in Spanish. I'm getting purty durn good. When people look at me directly and speak clearly (which, admittedly, doesn't happen enough here...it's a very mumbly society), I'm golden. Anyway, he ended up setting me up with three professors, one of which invited me into her Intro to Cities class that turned out to be kind of...high schooly. She called on students to answer questions, and cell phones were going off, and there was a couple sitting in the back and feeling each other up the entire class. In the seats next to me, of course.
To symbolize my independence, I decided on liberating myself from my facial hair. It's been a fun ride, but I think it was time for the experiment to end. I kept playing with my lips in ways that must have seemed really bizarre to the casual observer.
*Pet peeve: they gave us our stipend in US bills, including hundreds. It's hard to find people who'll change 100 córdoba bills (less than 5 dollars) here. It's so bad that I'll often lie about not having smaller bills when I know I'm somewhere that can give me change.
I just realized that this means that, for the first time in my life, I'm going to have no other responsibility besides studying. Such a weird idea. At Brown, even though I'm a "full-time" student, I feel like I spend more time juggling Jew stuff and West House duties and Safewalk suping and political debate organizing than I do "studying" in the strictest sense of the word (although I am obligated as a former unschooler to point out that obviously these other things are all part of a holistic education experience). Here, it's gonna be just me and Managua. There's only a few other students sticking around here...the rest took off today for other cities and communities. I'll miss them. *tear*
As one of our directors explained to us, research here is, well, different from research in the States. There aren't massive libraries filled with tons of bound resources, databases, and helpful librarians. You have to rely much more on personal interactions - tracking down someone you heard you should talk to, who'll introduce you to a friend who once worked with another guy who would be PERFECT for you to talk to who can get you a copy of this really cool report...
And despite my inicial incredulity (So I can just show up at the leading engineering university in the country and they'll talk to me??), it's worked so far! Starting with one contact, my slate of potential interviewees has grown exponentially. With regards to that engineering university, I literally just walked in, found the Architecture department, and asked the receptionist who I should talk to about my project. He was delighted. He gave me his cell phone number, and told me to call back that night.
Now, if you'll permit me a bragging moment here, all of this was in Spanish. I'm getting purty durn good. When people look at me directly and speak clearly (which, admittedly, doesn't happen enough here...it's a very mumbly society), I'm golden. Anyway, he ended up setting me up with three professors, one of which invited me into her Intro to Cities class that turned out to be kind of...high schooly. She called on students to answer questions, and cell phones were going off, and there was a couple sitting in the back and feeling each other up the entire class. In the seats next to me, of course.
To symbolize my independence, I decided on liberating myself from my facial hair. It's been a fun ride, but I think it was time for the experiment to end. I kept playing with my lips in ways that must have seemed really bizarre to the casual observer.
*Pet peeve: they gave us our stipend in US bills, including hundreds. It's hard to find people who'll change 100 córdoba bills (less than 5 dollars) here. It's so bad that I'll often lie about not having smaller bills when I know I'm somewhere that can give me change.
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