Summer Update #1

Seeing as we're already halfway through June, I thought it important to give everyone a brief update on how the summer is shaping up. Other than a week of heat and humidity towards the end of May, the weather here has been beautiful. Although we get pretty erratic swings, with some days warm and sunny and others cool and breezy, the temperature seems to hover around the mid-70s on most days. It's really quite nice. Opportunely, Danie and I just discovered a wonderful little park on the East River that is only a five minute walk from our apartment and is a prime spot for late-afternoon lounging. Just writing that makes me feel guilty.

Of course, it's not all sunbathing and pleasure reading. I've just finished my second week as a research associate (glorified intern) at the Vale Columbia Center on Sustainable International Investment, or, as I'll be calling it from now on so as to avoid carpel-tunnel, the Center. I spent most of last week getting caught up on a project the Center is working on with the government of East Timor regarding its plans to develop an offshore natural gas field. However, this week my research mandate shifted because that project is stalling (just do a google search for: Timor, Woodside, and Australia to find out why) and because the deadline for another project we're working on with the government of Mozambique is quickly approaching. A contingent of the Center's senior staff is headed to Mozambique the week after next, so until then I'm researching successful programmatic approaches to promoting small- and medium-sized enterprise development as a means of alleviating rural poverty through private sector growth and employment creation. I think the biggest challenge so far has been deciphering (and keeping track of) the multitude of acronyms, most of which are in Portuguese. Although my own research interests are not usually so private sector oriented, my work this week has been very interesting from an ethnographic standpoint. Plus I now know more about manual cashew processing methods and Mozambique's export-oriented nut industry than I did before. Hmm, maybe there's a blog topic in there somewhere...

In other news, I landed another job this week. Most importantly, this one is paid! -Aphorism alert- Third time's the charm! After catching wind that one of her restaurant's sister restaurants was hiring, Danie got me an interview with the manager. While I'd like to say that I nailed it, I think his totally sincere, yet noticeably skeptical remark that "[he'll] be happy if [I'm] half as good as Danielle" probably speaks for itself. I'm just thankful to have such nice coattails to ride.

Otherwise, Danie and I have been enjoying following the World Cup. Since we don't have a TV, we've really appreciated the thorough online coverage of this year's tournament. We've also taken to planning our workouts around important matches since our gym has what our apartment does not. Of course, for the truly important matches, we consult this map and then search out an appropriate venue.

Danie has her third closing shift in a row tonight but, thankfully, a day off tomorrow. Keep an eye out for a weekend post...who knows what kind of mischief we'll get into with a Friday afternoon off :)