I'm heading south once again, for another summer in Bolivia! The original plan had been to stay for 4-6 months and complete all of my dissertation research but funding got limited, visas were complicated, life intervened. So I'll be there for 2 months (June 4-August 6) instead, making it work!
This summer will be a ton of fun, for more reasons than the usual research, wedding, and parade adventures, because I get to do some extra travelling! I am going to Cusco, Peru, for 3 weeks-- 2 weeks to do some outside research and 1 week to vacation! For those who are unfamiliar with Cusco, here's the rundown of why this is exciting-- Cusco is the Inka capital of the Andes and an amazing city for a bunch of reasons. 1, its architecture is mostly based on Inka stonework, which has survived the centuries of earthquakes much better than Spanish and modern construction. (The Inka were South America's largest empire from 100 years prior to Spanish contact when a catastrophic combination of events (death of their king due to smallpox brought by Europeans, civil war over succession, fragmented colonies, conquered groups eager to rebel etc) lead to their eventual takeover by the Spanish.) So wandering around in Cusco is a huge treat alone. Going along with this, it has some amazing archaeological sites associated with the Inka- a huge fort called Saqsayhuaman (pronounced like sexy woman, see photo), the main Inka temple the Qorikancha, and access to the Sacred Valley, the main area where all the Inka nobility lived. So a week of exploring here definitely won't be enough but it'll be packed with excitement!
Copacabana will still be my homebase for the summer while I continue my own research. This is the first summer I'll be going down with my approved dissertation project in hand so the data collection will be fast, furious, and focused. No more 2 hour work days followed by 6 hour break for me! :) The house I stay in has undergone some renovation since last summer-- the construction of a glass sun porch on the roof! It promises to be nice and toasty during the day, with amazing views of the town and lake. I'm psyched to spend some evening hours there, going through data and writing articles!
Anyway. Keep an eye on this blog for updates and interesting things if you want!
