The Scene: 9:00 PM, Thursday night, attempt #2 at intense studying/paper-writing.
Motivational soundtrack?
Check. [Guster’s “Come Downstairs and Say Hello,” soon to be followed by an eclectic mix of The Avett Brothers, Liszt, Backstreet Boy classics, Hindi worship music, and of course, the Gladiator Soundtrack.]
Caffeine?
Not so much. Farida, our house girl, did just bring me a cup of her perfectly-sugared Rwandan tea (another thing I’m going to miss), but it’s decaf, I’m afraid.
Procrastination?
Welcome to this blog post.
Looks like tonight’s going to be awesome.
10:00 PM: Paper-writing has commenced! A sample (and by sample, I mean all that I’ve written so far): Straddling a dark past and a foggy future, present-day Rwanda occupies a unique position in history. Sixteen years after genocide unraveled Rwanda’s political, social, economic and judicial fabric, the country has begun to sew itself back together, but with seemingly mismatching threads. The reconstruction of their justice system, for instance, is an interweaving of almost incompatible solutions to Rwanda’s need for prosecution and peace-building: the “hybrid structures” of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), domestic Rwandan courts, and traditional gacaca gatherings, while very different animals, are nonetheless employed concurrently in Rwanda’s push for justice, reconciliation and national progress (Clark, 2007).
You know what? I’m sort of excited to write this paper [as I’m ironically not writing it] because really, how cool is it to write about something that’s so achingly relevant here? Por ejemplo, I was riding the bus to town yesterday, and a Rwandan university student sitting next to me asked me what I was studying…and when I said “justice systems in Rwanda,” he started excitedly bobbing his head, telling me how valuable that research is…and then proceeded to pay my bus fare, because I am “studying something worthwhile.” How motivating is that??
Edward, from Gikondo’s neighborhood bus, this paper is for you.
11:00 PM: I love Caitlyn Sass Jackson, fellow SIT-er and fellow all-nighter-er (?) We’re both dedicated to this sleep-deprivation/work-production schedule, and she’s faithfully sending me motivational texts every hour. So encouraging! In other news: I think it’s time for a mini-Clif bar break! “Nutrition for Sustained Energy”—let’s hope their slogan is right!
11:25 PM: Note—Clif bars—even mini ones—work significantly better than cassava in the whole staying-awake-department. In case you were wondering.
12:11 AM: Just had a Midnight Dance Party inspired by Caitlyn’s texts. Best long-nighter-party-from-a-distance ever! PS. Clif bars = such a win; my energy is so sustained right now, it’s not even funny.
1:00 AM: Energy still amazingly sustained. Studying Kinyarwanda. I think I might curl up in my queen-sized bed though (I need to fully appreciate its luxuriousness before the beds—and rats apparently—of Gulu) and just get up at 6:00 to go to school early.
1:12 AM: Queen-sized bed, you feel nice.
(Now, seriously, on to this paper)
Mary
I'm excited that we've been connected by Guster across the world! around the same time (ish) that you were listening to Come Downstairs and Say Hello I was listening to the Meow Mix version! I am fairly positive that the Meow Mix has been shared with you - if not, it's happening when you get back. actually, even if you already know about it. I am proposing a Meow Mix sing-a-long/dance party when you are back in the States.
ReplyDeleteI hope that the paper went smoothly! I won't comment on each aspect of your post, but I will say that I love all of it - especially the bus fare story.
KIERSTEN. Ohmahgoodness. I'll have to calculate the time difference and whatnot in my head later (too excited to check it right now) BUT we just might have been listening to the Meow Mix AT THE SAME TIME. On the bus from Kigali to Mbarara, Uganda, I listened to the entirety of the Meow Mix and it was fantastic!!! Thank you for making my day from 7000 something miles away :) I love you!
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