From the Archives...

I am leaving Tucson tomorrow morning, and moving back to my beloved Montana. People who know me know that I consider myself Montanan, and am more apt to answer this way, even in a foreign country. I am sad to leave my dojo, but I know that more adventures await me. As my friend Ally said, I have many more miles to go before I sleep. She was meaning, of course, that it's a good thing I'm not hitting Phoenix traffic at the wrong time of day, but I think the comment can mean several things.

Anyway. From the archives. Some days in Japan we'd have the most wonderful sunsets. Depending on the time of year, the light would be just right, and I'd have a wonderful view from my balcony. Which had an ocean view, but you had to lean precariously out to see it well. This is one photo of a sunset from my balcony. I do miss the view, as it was kind of fun to look out on the rice paddies.

Meh-hi-co

(Which Buenos Aires are they referring to, I wonder?)

Yesterday, on a whim, I decided to go to Meh-hi-co. Tucson is only 60 miles/100 km from Nogales, the closest border crossing. I had some pesos left from Christmas, so Julia (my roomie from Germany) and I got in the car and drove south.

I honestly thought it was going to be tacky and touristy in Nogales, with the Mexican side looking slightly-US due to the tourist traffic. I was completely wrong. We only had to pass through turnstiles to go to Mexico, and when we came around the corner, it was like we had literally timewarped into another world. I was amazed.

We walked around the streets, and did a bit of shopping. I bought a really cool plate, and Julia bought souvenirs for friends--some comics and a Day of the Dead figurine.

We could have bought hand-woven rugs. The man originally wanted USD $180, but the longer Julia said 'no thanks', we finally had him down to asking for a price of $55!!! She said if she could get a rug for $40 0r so, she'd buy one, and I told her that if we went in and tried to get a group bargain, we could see.

We got out of the touristy shop part, and went for a walk in the neighborhood. We found a hill to climb, and got a good view of the wall separating the developed world from the still-developing. It is a wall constructed of rusty corrugated steel--the same steel siding used on a good-quality shed back home. The top is covered with coiled razor wire, to prevent any Mexican Spidermen from climbing the wall.

The wall, though, doesn't block the view into the US. When we looked over onto the US side, we could see wide, smoothly paved streets mostly devoid of garbage. Houses were painted neatly, and yards were comparable to golf course-smooth quality. On the Mexican side, houses in various stages of dilapitation dotted the hills in haphazard fashion, as though people set up camp anywhere they could find a spot.

There are more photos in my Flickr! account, if you are interested.

'Stealth racism' stalks deep South

From the BBC this morning. So sad to see that racism continues in the Deep South.

"This World investigates the rise of discrimination in America's deep south as six black youths are charged with an alleged attack on a white student, which could see them jailed for up to 50 years.
Three rope nooses hanging from a tree in the courtyard of a school in a small Southern town in Louisiana have sparked fears of a new kind of "stealth" racism spreading through America's deep south..."

To read the whole article, click on the title.

Kamae-te

My teammates at Tucson Kendo Kai will be pleased to know I love my kendo figurine. Even though I'm moving quite soon, I took her (yes, this is a girl) out of the box, and she is sitting on my bookshelf.

When I get everything unpacked at my next permanent destination, I plan to stage her near my Nancy Pearl librarian figure.

Thank you all, for your kindness.

Philadelphia

This last weekend found me in Philadelphia for a job interview with Weill Cornell Medical College-Qatar (http://www.qatar-med.cornell.edu/). It was a busy weekend. I got up at 4 on Saturday morning, and went to the airport, flying out at 6.30 am. If you wonder, I took all hand luggage, so I didn't have to spend time getting luggage or checking it. I flew to Houston, had time for a quick lunch, then flew to Philadelphia. I got to Philadelphia at 6pm local time, and was at my hotel by 7. I walked around for a little bit, as we were right next to a lot of famous things, and then I got some food to take back to my room.

Sunday morning found me trying to wake up with a lot of coffee, because Arizona is 3 hours behind the East Coast. Fortunately, my interview wasn't until 11.30am, so I had some time. I arrived at my interview location, but I didn't get the full time to speak with the hiring committee. The previous person ran late, so I only got 20 minutes! I did the best I could, though, and will follow up with a couple more points in my thank you letter. The committee was also apologetic that I was cut short. I am hoping, though, that I sufficiently impressed the group so that I may have another opportunity to speak with them in Doha.

After spending a bit of time in the exhibits, I changed clothes and went for a walk. First I went to a bookstore, and purchased something to read for the plane ride home (silly me, I only took one book and went right through it). Then, I walked to the Independence Mall, where Independence Hall is located. As there were a heap of people, I couldn't get a ticket to go in, but I looked around the outside.

They are excavating where George Washington's house used to be, so I got to see the site. Just that morning, there was an article in the Philadelphia Enquirer about this. The big news is that people are seeing where there were slave tunnels in the house, so they could go about the house unseen by people. So some racial history is being unearthed, and there are mixed reactions to this. (http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_docid=1194976E3A5CE330&p_docnum=1)

It was interesting to walk around Philadelphia. In some ways, it was like being back in Japan, with all the tall buildings and people. There was a lot of cultural and ethnic diversity you don't find in Arizona. I've always said this, but I got to Arizona thinking I would find cultural diversity. Yet all I see here is white people. It's kind of boring. I really enjoyed being on the East Coast, and would consider working there.

I walked quite a bit on Sunday, and was tired afterwards.

Monday I got up and went to the US Mint. That was really fun, seeing how our money is produced. Then I walked to the train station and got on the train to go to Newark. I had to fly out of Newark this time. The airport was extremely busy, and it took at least 30 minutes to go through the x-ray interrogation. It's interesting that my flight took off an hour and a half late, yet we still arrived on time in Tucson. That was kind of cool.

I'm working on posting some photos to my Flickr! account.

Restaurant Tour

I've recently been on a restaurant tour of Tucson. On Thursday my kendo club (http://www.tucsonkendokai.info) treated me to a goodbye party at Yamato Japanese Restaurant (http://www.tucsonweekly.com/gbase/Chow/Content?oid=oid:75578), where I received a really cool kendo figurine as a thank-you gift. When I get back, I will post photos.

Last night was a Friday Happy Hour with my friend Jamie at Frog and Firkin (http://www.frogandfirkin.com), a British pub on University Blvd. near my house. I enjoyed a piece of the Pheasant Firkin pizza (red sauce, grilled chicken breast, red onions, bacon, & crowned with sharp cheddar cheese), and Jamie had fish and chips. We enjoyed several gin and tonics.

Today I'm in Philadelphia. I have a job interview tomorrow. I'm right next to City Hall. So far I've taken a walk around the area, and there's lots to see. I look forward to going out tomorrow and touring around a bit.

Graduation!

Well, 3 years later, I finally did it. I am now an MLS-bearing librarian. :)

I had two graduations last weekend. My parents came from Montana, and my friends Chuck and Tracy came down from Phoenix. On Friday, I had my school graduation (Social and Behavioral Science). That went really smoothly. I wore a cap/gown and my hood. When I get one, I'll put my picture up. Then, on Saturday, my department had a reception to honor the graduates. That was a lot of fun.

Following the department graduation, we went to Kon Tiki, a really cool Polynesian-themed bar/restaurant for lunch/drinks.

I didn't do the big university-wide graduation. The Spring Commencement is so big that they need to have 2 ceremonies. They split it by schools. Social and Behavioral Sciences is the biggest school on campus, so it was in the afternoon.

Now to find a job...

Librarians in the Movies

And people say librarians are boring, unknown types who stand in corners at parties...
http://emp.byui.edu/raishm/films/introduction.html

Photo of the day...

This was sent out a couple of months ago by a fellow SIRLS student when brainstorming ideas for the new T-shirts.


It could be even more fun if a literacy group picked this one up for their advertising.
(Hint--look carefully at the books)