Limbo lower now

It is hard for me to believe that it has taken me a month (exactly!) to get back to the blogisphere but indeed it has. I was in and out of my site over the holidays then spent a week finalizing my NSF grant to continue research next year, which I think has a decent shot (current financial crisis aside). To celebrate, UGA wrote me about some accounting rules that I inadvertently broke, and so I have to now front all my research funds instead of living on a loan from them. Actually, they wrote me the day before the grant was due. Good timing. It is not the worst case scenario (yet...fingers crossed), as they will be reimbursing me monthly, but it certainly felt like it for a while. Spent last week collating receipts and writing justifications while feeling like a criminal.

This week, while waiting in the city for final word on the accounting debacle, I am keeping myself busy writing conference abstracts, interviewing regional government and NGO folks, reviewing an article for Human Organization, and outlining a paper to be co-authored with a Fulbright colleague. Meanwhile, folks in my site are calling every morning to make sure I am still planning to return, which I hope to do this weekend. I think they are concerned because I came very close to getting beat on by a sheep(!!) just before I left. He kept circling me and peeing, which I suppose was meant to scare me...and did. He had quite a look in his eye. After Yosep ran around behind him and tied him down, we laughed for about an hour since the sheep scared me more than the huge bulls I walk by everyday without blinking now. Although, knowing that the sheep is willing to come after me, I might rethink my walking paths.

Things I realized I missed this week: roasted pumpkin seeds with salt and soy sauce......mmmmmm; things I realized I loved this week: chocho, a super traditional highland dish of white beans stewed in lime juice with raw red onion and a bit of tomato......mmmmmm. Oh so good! Going for some now!

Happy inauguration!