Ian finally chimes in...

Hi,

So I've definitely let Laura take the lead on this here blogging thing. What with my academic pursuits and her lady of leisure time we let her run the blog-show. I'm going to quickly try to recap two of my past trips now a little after the fact.

Korea - March 14-21
South Korea was a great little hiatus from the heavy Italian food. The slightly lighter fare (hopefully pictured in the slides) provided me with a great array of Bibimbaps, Bulgogi, and small dishes of different vegetables. SAIS definitely represented it's impressive alumni connections and was able to set up meetings with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a Korean political “think tank”, Hyundai heavy industries (Hyundai's son was a SAIS grad), and the former Foreign Minister Dr. Young-Kwan Yoon. We also spent a night at a temple which included waking up at 4:30 am for silent morning yoga, followed by silent walking meditation, and then a silent ceremonial breakfast. The silent part was a challenge for my loquacious self but I did complete all tasks without a peep.

South Africa - June 18-30
EL COPA MUNDIAL!!!!! BAFANA BAFANA
Well as many of you know I tend to support the USA and French teams in World Cups so, their relatively poor showings didn't help my experience, but it was still amazing.
I went to the following six games:
Cote d'Ivoire v Brazil; Soccer City, Joburg (Was so hopeful for Cote d'Ivoire)
Argentina v Greece, Polokwane (Maradona literally fell over after a shot hit the post)
USA v Algeria, Pretoria (BEST GAME- Stayed at the stadium chanting/singing for an hour after the game, also may have been on Algerian television)
USA v Ghana, Rustenburg (Was on TV in the US with a sad face afterwards)
England v Germany, Bloemfontein (Looked like a goal from where I was sitting, although didn't mention that on the German fan bus ride home)
Japan v. Paraguay, Pretoria (Dressed as referees in the stands for the second time and was let down by the Blue Samurais)

The trip worked out really well and we shared a house in Linden with an assorted group of friends and two coworkers. Drove around with five big guys in a small red (clown) car.

I also did some reseearch for the African Studies department while in South Africa on the minibus transportation system's reaction to the Rea Vaya bus system which is being implemented. This clash of two transportation systems from the global north and less developed countries was really fascinating and if anyone wants the paper let me know.

I'll try to upload photos for these two trips. I'm now back in Haiti for the next month and a week, so the internet will be slow. I'll try to blog a little bit while I'm down here, as I'll have extra time since there's a curfew for most of the NGOs in town.

a dopo


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