Taking a break...

From a book I am not enjoying for my next presentation in my 'Childhoods in the Global South' class.  It is called "Embodying Morality: Girls' Socialization in a North Vietnamese Commune" and in reality I am almost finished with it but I have not once been really intrigued by anything she writes.  It seems like she is taking very simple observations and trying to turn them into some grand theories and make herself sound way more intelligent than she might actually be.  Basically, it is badly written and I needed to take a break.  What better way to do that then by updating my blog even when I do not have much to say?... ;)

The next few weeks for me are even busier than normal.  (I know all I do is complain about how busy I am right?)  This is the time though for presentations, tests, and papers to start really hitting me as well as me trying to get tons of initial research for my thesis done so that I can start putting together my research proposal and everything soon.  

I also made my first physical contact in an attempt to get a "job" here.  I am limited by the type of residence permit I have which means I can at most only work 10 hours a week however that also requires me to get a much more expensive health insurance rendering it almost useless to actually try to find a job that will even bother hiring me for a few hours a week.  I did see a sign (completely in Dutch) at school though in search of a nanny for two small boys aged 3 years and 4 months old.  I tried to call the woman yesterday but my timing was very bad as I could hear the children screaming in the background.  She asked me to call back later that night which I did but did not reach her so now I am hoping I hear from her and if not maybe try one more call tomorrow to see if she is still interested.  It was slightly entertaining though because she could obviously tell I was not Dutch and we had a confused conversation with a mix of Dutch and English and children screaming as background noise.  Even babysitting for a few hours a week could really help me out financially so I am hoping it works out though I am not expecting too much.  Maybe I should just set up a website that has a "donate here" button and offer some service...would you like a few sentences translated to Dutch or Spanish?  Please make your payment with some recognized brand of credit card such as Visa or American Express, direct deposits into this account are also accepted, low low price of $5 a page with a guarantee of completion within 48 hours.....think I would have any takers?

Eric got me some shelves to try and help me organize my room since I have very little storage space, he also left me with an electric drill (mistake?) maybe I will try putting those together sometime tonight... I'll let you know how that pans out.  I must say sometimes I feel like this is a very one-sided conversation.  What's going on with everyone back in Arizona?  Weather is probably beautiful right now for once....