waiting time

I have been doing a lot of waiting recently. Waiting for my research advisor to get back to me with her comments on my paper so that I can take those into consideration and make edits and all that good stuff. Currently, I am choosing to wait by doing some sun bathing on my roof. I have to get some color and appreciate the sun before I go back to winter. It is just so gorgeous here, but it seems like it is always the most beautiful on days that I have to do the most work. This option is perfect because i can appreciate the gorgeous port city I live in while staying close to my computer to see if my advisor has gotten back to me. I am also listening to some Manuel Garcia, which I recommend to everyone. I saw him live a week or so ago and his songs are wonderful.

The paper is going well. A very close to finished draft is due tomorrow. I feeling good about it. And i am definitely not worried about the academic standards of my program. I have decided that my new standard is to be confident enough in my final product to send it to my favorite professor at Oxy and the women I have interviewed here in Chile. A bunch of them has asked to see my final product and they definitely deserve to, considering they have offered me their time and expertise. I feel really lucky to have been able to spend time with the group of women I interviewed. They are incredibly smart and dedicated to improving the lives of Chilean Women. I guess they were glad to see that a young woman was so interested in their work and what they have to say because tehy were incredibly generous with their time.

María de los Ángeles, a boss of a woman that I had the honor to interview, was super duper amazing and actually got me invited to the annual presentation of the National Service of Women at the Presidential Palace. We went together yesterday and it was really cool. The Minister quoted Mar´â while I was sitting next to her so I was obviously sitting with the right crowd. Once the presentation was over, María and I waited for the Minister and she came over the say hi. María told her taht I was here researching political representation of women in Chile. The Minister told me to come back to Chile and run for political office here. That might be pushing a whole other level of imperialism. It was overall just a funny experience.

My friend Emie is coming on Thursday night and I am super stoked. It is really out of the blew, we decided the whole thing on Saturday, but now it's happening it it will be great. I am looking forward to showing someone around this city that I love so much. I currently have exactly 2 weeks left in Chile. Which is absolutely crazy, but I want to make sure and take advantage of my last days here. Once i turn in my project, I will really feel free to live the Valpo life.

My advisor just sent me an update so I am going to go up to my friend Rose's house to do some writing. She lives close and has a good space to work in. Plus, I get to look over the whole city and ocean as I wor, which is pretty awesome.

Love from Chile!