Nigel, the Sequel

Having survived the feast of affliction, I decided to overcome my stagnating digestive system by going out and buying this thing:




King Nigel is dead. Long live King Nigel!

Chag Sameach

As I grate my thousandth apple -- my one and only contribution to this year's festivities -- I wish all of you as little affliction as possible.

Party!

The president in London, but not me

Ah April. The leaves are turning colours, the shadows are longer, the nights are cooler, and sometimes -- sometimes -- there is a cloud here and there.

March was spent partly working on the preparations for the president's trip to London. She's there now, and speaks at the LSE today. She will also meet with the Queen, Gordon Brown and the rest of the dentally-challenged gang.

Besides that, earlier this week I had to go to Congress to interview a deputy, for a research project. It was the first time I had been there -- inside. What was most interesting was how small and modest their offices were. Congress is not in Santiago, but an hour and a half away, in Valparaiso, so it was a bit of a drag to schelp all the way.

Here's a picture of Valparaiso:



Well, that's actually the nicer parts. Congress is kind of in the middle of a slum, but that's where the old General decided to build it, on the site of the hospital where he was born.

Happy Anniversary

This week marked three years since I moved to Chile. It seems like a lot longer, which got me to thinking, why does it seem longer?

So I figured out that it is not because it has gone by slowly, which it has not, but because so much has happened: I bought an apartment, I published a book that made it on to the bestseller list, I travelled, I got elected president of the political science association, then got sued for that, I was director of the department, I met lots of new people, and fought with quite a few of them, I got to hang out with a couple of presidents (present and former) of Chile, and so on. Lots to fill three years with.

Makes one wonder what will happen in the next three years.

Sorry I have not posted more pictures. I seem to be having a problem downloading pictures from my new camera onto my computer.

Madame President, how are you?

I have not had any entries for several weeks because nothing much was going on: just the beginning of the academic year. I am teaching a first year comparative politics course. Sixty five students, divided into two sections.

Last week, though, was marked by the visit of a delegation from the International Political Science Association, which came to check out our progress in preparing the World Political Science Congress in 2009. The visit went well, I think. Better than expected. A highlight was a lunch in the office of a high ranking government minister -- a table set up right in his office. During the lunch the phone rang and he said, ‘Madame President, how are you?’. If I was more of a conspiracy theorist, I would guess he just got his secretary to call 10 minutes into the lunch to show off.

Because they don't have enough gun problems in schools.....

It really defies logic.