Much to update...

Well, plenty has happened since I last wrote here.

I've finished one of my most intense and most rewarding semesters ever. The courses I took really helped me to focus on why I continue to go to school (previously, I think my attitude to school was summed up nicely by Chris Murphy of Sloan, "I've stayed in school this long, but still no one will tell me why / they figured, who would know better than I"). Now, I know that I want to study ancient food production and preparation, specifically in Central (Meso) / South America. I've known for a few years that I wanted to do something in this direction, but I shied away a bit because I thought it would be a little self-indulgent and fairly useless outside of digging up more info on the past. But I've come to realize that the way we produce food now, this mass, mono-cropped, chemically laced system we are using now is failing. Crop diversity is dying away and we are opening ourselves up to the potential to great famines due to reliance on single strains of plants, etc. By looking at how societies produced food in the past, and organized themselves to due so, we can see some alternate methods for change, learning from past successes and mistakes. Basically, I see how things are now and I believe they need to change, drastically and quickly, and some of the answers can come from the past. Coming to this realization was my major accomplishment this semester. Added to this, I did really well in my classes, and I feel pretty good about things, academically, this summer.

I've also switched jobs this summer. I no longer schlepp DVD's at HMV, instead I schlepp organic/natural food at Capers, a certified organic and natural food grocery store/deli/coffee shop. I'm a cashier there, and it's way different being a cashier at a grocery store than it is at a typical retail joint. So many vegetables, all with different numbers to remember, and they are new ones to learn every day! I'm enjoying it, though, and they pay much better (though I could use more hours...). The people I work with are great and I actually look forward to going to work at times (no one does all the time, do they?).

Probably my favourite part of the summer so far was having Keegan come out for a few weeks. We all had a good time going to the beach, playing/watching soccer and wandering around town. Can't wait to do it again. Laura and Jon enjoyed it, too, and we will never be able to look at ginger beer again without fondly thinking about K-man.

In other news, I'll be going to Ecuador in a month. I've been invited along with Ross Jamieson, an archaeology prof and my former workstudy supervisor, to go to Ecuador to help him sort his previously excavated artifacts. We'll be down there for five weeks, from September 24 to October 27. I'm pretty excited about it. While it will hurt me a bit financially, due to not being able to work, the fact that he is paying for everything offsets that a little. A full month, all expenses paid in South America? Um, no, I think I'd rather stay home and be a part-time cashier instead. How stupid would that be? I've got some things to buy before going, like a camera and some good rain gear and things will be a little tight money wise both before and after going, but when have things ever been otherwise for me?

Those are the major things that have happened in my life in the last month and a half. Other than that, we've rearranged our apartment. It was starting to feel cluttered and messy and doing this made it feel fresh again, almost like moving, only less packing. Laura took a short vacation home and also had a few days extra off here. It was good to just get to hang out without having to worry about school or work for either of us, if only for a few days.

That's about I can come up with for now. I'll be back on this more regularly now, though. I know I've said that before, but it seems more true now.

Guy