Well, finally this thing is taking off. Yesterday, I showed up at the University, but the person I was meeting had forgotten that I had made the great voyage from Berkeley to Medellin and that we were to meet. Luckily, she got my message and we agreed to try again today. Gloria is great lady, she is the director of research at the Institute (Instituto de Estudios Politicos - Institute of Political Studies). She got her BA in Anthropology and did her graduate work in politics. She has a lot of experience working with displaced populations, and I could not found a better mentor for my time here. We had a long meeting in which we discussed everything related to my research, and now I am officially attached to Universidad de Antioquia, I even have my own desk at the Institute!!!
Everyone was very welcoming, and they are all great people to have around because of their extensive experience working with displaced persons here in Medellin. I feel really lucky to have the honor to work with such an amazing group of people.
As is expected, first things first. I have a ton of reading to do, as I started doing archival research to make sure I don't do something someone has already done, and to understand what has been done and in what context. So, right now, the plan is to do archival research, attend talks about Internal Displacement every Thursday for 4 hours in the afternoon, and my first visit to a displaced settlement will be in two weeks.
Needless to say, I am very excited, not only about this, but also because I recently found out that I am the new Anthropological Undergraduate Association (AUA) president at Berkeley. I have tons of ideas that I want to implement, and I'm working with a great team of people.
I guess all I have to say right now is: LIFE IS GOOD!
Everyone was very welcoming, and they are all great people to have around because of their extensive experience working with displaced persons here in Medellin. I feel really lucky to have the honor to work with such an amazing group of people.
As is expected, first things first. I have a ton of reading to do, as I started doing archival research to make sure I don't do something someone has already done, and to understand what has been done and in what context. So, right now, the plan is to do archival research, attend talks about Internal Displacement every Thursday for 4 hours in the afternoon, and my first visit to a displaced settlement will be in two weeks.
Needless to say, I am very excited, not only about this, but also because I recently found out that I am the new Anthropological Undergraduate Association (AUA) president at Berkeley. I have tons of ideas that I want to implement, and I'm working with a great team of people.
I guess all I have to say right now is: LIFE IS GOOD!
It is great to hear you are learning as much as you can about the work that has been done with IDPS in Columbia and trying build upon rather than recreate what has already been done.
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