Tuesday

Dear Friends:

Well, it´s been a bit of a ride. Been in bed with an extraordinarily bad cold for the past two days, but lots of soup and water later and I woke up this morning feeling good enough to at least get dressed and come down for email (missed breakfast). I also want to see the city -- darn it -- and so I´m going for a little walk. Had a meeting yesterday morning, but was feeling so crappy that I wasn´t able to make much of it. But the good news is, I was able to get an appointment to meet a key interviewee. They called today (this morning) and we meet tomorrow 5pm. If nothing else comes of the trip, it will have been worth it just to get to speak with this guy.

A few observations: I still can´t get used to people lighting up in (what to me are) the oddest places. Had to pause a minute when the secretary behind the desk at the poli sci department lit up. The metro is fantastic. The smell going down the stairs was oddly familiar and nice. There are people in the gardens here and I love it. Walking their dogs, lounging about, kissing, riding their bikes, running and every sunday they have a wonderful book fair in the city center. There are great museums and theatres. There are spontaneous street performances, political discourses, and amazing ice creams and, as I mentioned before, snow capped mountains in any direction you look. There´s a lot of pop culture too and lots of people in the streets. I guess one of the things about travelling is it forces you to make decisions (reminds you) about what you like and don´t like, about what feels right and what doesn´t, and what makes you happy, happier, and happiest.

Hope everyone is well.

B.