Shortly after writing my last entry on December 14, I headed off to Rio de Janeiro for my big Christmas and New Year’s Eve adventure with Kent (my dear friend of more than ten years) and his mother. It was a great time lounging around Rio and enjoy the good life.
The next after arriving home on January, another wonderful friend, April from Portland, came to visit me for two weeks. We trekked up to the Iguazú falls and then to the province of Corrientes for a little R & R for a couple of days before heading back to the craziness of the capital.
Some of you may be asking at this point, does she work? Yes, in fact, I work…quite a bit…I tell you. In fact, as if writing a thesis weren’t hard enough, I decided to completely change the topic after having worked on the original topic for nearly three months. I never have been one to take the easy road. So by mid-January I was in full swing of reworking my thesis. Having worked for several years in Portland, as many of you know, with youth from a variety of backgrounds, I decided to focus my studies on a researching how plural social networks are constructed and how they impact the lives of second generation youth (typically defined as children of immigrants born in the U.S. or who arrived before the age of five years old). From January 15-March 5, I madly reviewed literature on a variety of different takes on the topic. During the process, I made up my mind that my thesis would not be complete without field researcher so I wrote up a plan and received funding from Rotary to conduct interviews with second generation students, their parents, community leaders with the various immigrant communities in Portland, and other folks that work within these communities. I won’t go into the details of the paper because frankly it would likely take me all of this entry and more just to explain the two theories, segmented assimilation theory and the “field theory” by Pierre Bourdieu, that I am utilizing to conduct my analysis.
During this time of writing my literature review, I had another dear friend, Cristela, visit. This time I stayed at home in front my computer while she headed off to explore Uruguay. Below is a picture of an "asado" or BBQ that we had on my rooftop.
Oh, I forgot to mention that I got a boyfriend somewhere in all of this time. His name is Andrés and he is wonderful. :-) To celebrate my turning in my literature review, he and I took a few days to visit Uruguay (such a paradise). It was also a perfect way to celebrate my "30th" birthday!!!
By mid-March I was in Portland running around from sun up to sun down and more conducting interviews and attending events as part of my thesis research.
Since arriving back to Argentina in April, I have been busily analyzing the data and writing my thesis. Two chapters down….three more to go.
I also have recorded three songs that I have co-written with Andrés who happens to be an excellent musician and composer. We are putting together a CD. I’ll keep you posted.
And yes, it’s a little bit crazy, but I started a little entrepreneurial endeavor: selling my baked goods. It’s called Postres Juanita Mayo (Jane May’s Desserts). Ha ha
Only a little over a month is left before I turn in my thesis, graduate, and then head off to my next big adventure for my applied field experience: SENEGAL! I will be living in Yoff outside of Dakar, the capital city of Senegal while working on a non-formal education project that supports young adolescent women who work as maids. I’ll be living with a family and learning to speak French! After finishing my time in Senegal, Andrés will come to travel with my throughout N. Africa and a little bit of Europe.
I’ll be better about writing once I am in Senegal (I promise…well I’ll try anyhow!)
