How did I get to be so sweet? I took lemons and made lemonade...

My friend Carolyn (bless her heart, and her little kickypants) recently nominated me for a Lemonade Award, which is an award for blogs showing great attitude or gratitude. Since I'm a little light on the gratitude, I'm assuming she thinks my attitude is pretty darn positive. Aw shucks!

My feeling of the whole thing is that it's a kind of chain letter that let's your friends, family, or complete strangers know that you really enjoy reading their life stories.

So here are the rules:

1) Put the logo on your blog or post.

2) Nominate at least 10 blogs that show great attitude or gratitude, (i.e. turn lemons into lemonade)

3) Link to your nominees within your post.

4) Let the nominees know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

5) Share the love and link to the person from who you received your award.

Yet it turns out that my Blogosphere is quite small and I really only have 2 nominees. I used to know more people that blogged, but one by one their blogging has fallen to the wayside and I am left with a limited few who, like myself, occassionally find a few free moments to write. So here's a big ol' electronic nod to the 2 people who update, who make me laugh, and are unerringly positive, or at least sarcastic (which in my book is WAY better):

Life in Pencil

Dooce

Fujimori gets shafted

Well, it's been a long time coming and the verdict is out: 25 years in prison for former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori. The Associated Press tells us he was "convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison for death squad killings and kidnappings as his autocratic government battled the Shining Path insurgency in the 1990s." more...

While many of the scholarly works I've read on the recent history of Peru conclude that Fujimori headed a corrupt and corporatist government that abused the human rights of many and devastated the poor with his economic reforms, there is still much positive sentiment and support for Fujimori. The Fujimoristas were at the court in force today, protesting the decision and yelling, "Fujimori innocente!"

This is big, big news, folks. For months I have seen spray-painted messages on walls and buildings in support of Fujimori and now that it's all come to a head, I wonder what will happen. Will this trial effectively close the door on Peru's fear-laden past? Or will this only lead to a much bigger national debate...?

At the very least, it shall be interesting...

Photos from my U.S. visit

Andrew is one lucky, lucky, LUCKY man (Mel, Andrew, Martha, Estee, and yours truly).

After partying in NYC til the wee hours of the morning, we girls enjoy some tourist action in Times Square (Estee, Martha, yours truly, Mel).

This is one of the few moments my camera was functioning properly. I'm glad I caught it, but wish I could have gotten more key shots, like any of the times Jeff was sniffling, or perhaps the eerily large, very Cheshire-cat-like smile Eric had on his face while walking down the aisle.

Jeff celebrates how happily married he is. And perhaps this is a good time to point out that I had no idea how much the Sherer family likes to dance. I think the tables were empty and the dance floor full from the time they let us crazy dancing fools into the reception area until 1AM, when the buses started carting us home.

I wish nothing but all the best in happiness and love for Jeff and Liz. Many, many hugs and kisses to you both!

This semester is killing me

In the first four weeks of this semester, very bad things have happened to me. First, I got a computer virus that only attacked my (then) 40-page annotated bibliography that I had been working on for 2 months; then I got audited by the state of New York for my 2003 personal income tax returns; then a mosquito bit me and my eye swelled shut for 2 days; then I got sick with something very like strep throat but not; and THEN my dog ate the AC adapter to my computer. You could say, quite simply, that the past few weeks have not been good to me. And I can say that I finally got to use the excuse that my dog ate my homework.

But there have also been really wonderful things that have happened so far this semester. My semester started with the tail end of my friends Katie and William visiting me here in Lima, and then, only a few short weeks later, I visited the U.S. for two and a half weeks. I was there to attend my friends' Jeff and Liz's wedding, but I also managed to squeeze in the Presidential Management Fellowship assessment battery, the Foreign Service written exam, 3 weekends in New York City (one with a mini-Penn reunion), a few walks with Minky, a very lovely coffee and a round of ping-pong with one Ms. Chasity (oh yeah, Mo also played with us! He finally realizes I'm a little bit competitive), many sleepovers with Katie, a slightly ridiculous but altogether entertaining happy hour with my grad school peeps, a week with my mom in MA, and a Girl Scouts meeting with my fairy godchild, Sarol, and her rockin' Scout Leader mom, Christy (although I'm still disappointed that there wasn't any singing!).

Since returning to Lima, I started my internship with the State Department. I am working in the Consular Section, but, please, don't send me your visa and passport questions. I hear nothing, I know nothing, I say nothing. It has now been 3 weeks of the internship, and I cannot wait until it's over - if only because that means I'm graduating! FINALLY.

For those of you who are curious, I have already heard back from the State Department and OPM for the PMF. I once again passed the Foreign Service Written Exam and have been asked to fill out some essay questions to move on to the oral assessment. I'll let you know if I make it to the next stage in the process. On the down side, I just found out today that I did NOT make it to the Finalist round for the Presidential Management Fellowship. The letter they sent me said something about how I should feel good about getting as far in the process as I did, but it doesn't feel so good when you don't get all the way through, I'll tell you. But I suppose that will teach me for telling people that the "assessment battery" felt ridiculously easy. Shows what I know. Well, whatever, perhaps when I go out for my next degree, I can apply again (that's right, folks, you can only apply once per degree).

Finally, more good news. I am currently in the process of planning my first ever trip to Machu Picchu, with my good friends Eric, Marilyn and Celia, who are all descending upon Peru in May. The strange thing is that the Inca Trail permits for May are already gone, so that should serve as a warning to all of you who want to visit. If you want to hike the classic Inca Trail, plan in advance! Luckily, my friends are adventurers so we're planning an alternate hike, in which we plan to freeze our tushies off at night, eat well, walk all day, and be really impressed by our first glimpse of the ruins. I, for one, am completely psyched!

That leaves me with nothing else to tell for the time being. I am sorry it has taken me so long to post, but I haven't forgotten any of you, I promise.

New Year's, Arequipa, Katie and William

A lot has happened since my last post, but I am finding it difficult to find the time to write. We recently had a flurry of activity here, starting with the Thanksgiving holiday, then both Anthony's and my birthday celebrations, and ending with the 12 Days of Christmas and the culmination of 2008 with our New Year's Eve van celebation (which includes me, Ali, Anthony and a Nalgene bottle full of wine in a rented van, cruising through Lima on the way to the airport to pick up Katie and William).

2009 already began with a bang, not to mention a totally deserved hangover (read the aforementioned bit about that Nalgene bottle full of wine), and a whirlwind tour of Arequipa. We had friends from the U.S. in Peru for 2 weeks, while I diligently tried to get SOME grad school work done, and now it's time to become a hermit once again, and work my tail off until I finish this annotated bibliography that's kicking my tush. There is a lot of work to do, but when it's done, I'm celebrating by traveling to the U.S. to see family, friends, and doctors, to take a few potentially career-altering tests, and to attend Jeff and Liz's wedding.

In the meantime (i.e. while I continue to ignore this blog), I've posted a couple pictures of what you've missed...

(Yeah, that would be me, attempting to make hot chocolate on New Year's Eve and failing miserably to get it into the cups.)

Katie has this thing about posing for pictures. This would be us skipping (like dorks) through the Santa-whatever Monastery in Arequipa.

Me, Katie and William somewhere in the desert that is Arequipa, with a lonely vicuna in the background.

How I LOVE the baby animals! Chivay is in the background...

I made Katie and William help paint a school as part of their penance for visiting me. Their reward was to watch me and Ali play frisbee on the beach (Punta Rocas).

They're just happy because they were finally going paragliding.

Maggie is now less of a woman

We are the cruel, inhumane parents that took our little baby to the vet to get her spayed. Luckily the hardcore drugs have now worn off and she is able to smile again. She just can't quite walk through doors without slamming into the door frame... (Oh yes, we are laughing.)

Something funny happened on the way to the kitchen

Anthony and I were in the living room, and I was on my way to the kitchen, when we noticed something slightly bizarre. Usually our afternoons are full of the dulcet tones of Grace and Monster Dog (aka Maggie) wrestling, while Pookie the Jungle Kitty sits calmly under the plants in the backyard and surveys his jungle kingdom. Or sometimes, to shake things up, we listen to the dulcet tones of Pookie the Pansy as he whines about the fact that Monster Dog has pinned him to the floor again and is chewing on his ear.

Yet on this particular afternoon, we noticed something awry. Monster Dog was running in pointless circles around the backyard, her uncontrollable puppy tongue slapping the side of her face. Not more than two paces behind her was Pookie the Jungle Kitty, tearing up the lawn at breakneck speed. Our cat was chasing our puppy. CHASING. OUR. PUPPY.

Kudos to you, Master P. Way to grow some.