wow this spring break has been spectacular. i've done so much but so little. it's nice to not have to rush around making deadlines and whatnot... and i'm obsessed with keds. amy and i started out by going to the art store and picking up supplies, made a bracelet out of black and brown glass beads, did some sewing, watched volver (kind of), started reading a sand county almanac, went to the beach to take photos, spent a day in little italy taking more photos and ate at mama santas, went to a local dive bar with a friend, did some spring shopping and got my hairs cut and eyebrows done (finally, greatly needed). see? so busy but so relaxing at the same time. glorious. so, here are some 35 mm treats for you from my adventuring.
down in little italy.
the lovely amy at lounge leo's.
a really cool painting
in a little italy gallery.
the peter b. lewis building downtown.
my better half :)
back to athens now. this quarter looks promising. i've been thinking a lot about refocusing my field of study within my major. i want to delve into the abyss of foreign aid, but not just any foreign aid, sustainable aid. i though a lot about the kind of aid countries in africa receive, or any third world country, and it's the wrong kind of aid. the people don't know how to provide for themselves, and even if they did they wouldn't know where to begin or be able to acquire the necessary skills or equipment without help. although charity and government funding is a nice gesture, in most cases desperately needed, it would be more beneficial to establish a sustainable aid program through which people are taught a trade or taught ways of helping themselves instead of being taught to expect life necessities or that they don't need to do anything, relying on aid.
a lot of these issues lie in the way third world governments are structured, actually impoverishing their people, basing their operations in corruption and predation as opposed to repatriation of domestic funds, the way it should be. if these people can't fight back, which in most cases they can't, they become dependent on foreign aid instead of their government. so, without causing conflict, the way to cure this curse would be to teach poor, rural populations that they can provide for themselves and live well. this will eventually cost less for those countries providing aid as well as the environment from constant shipping/polluting that is done in the process, stimulate non-existent economies, and reduce static parts of the world that affect the global economy negatively. i'm not saying that every village needs to become a thriving metropolis, but the people need to be empowered, given the chance every human deserves, being enabled to take care of themselves and not relying on others. pretty peace-corps-esque, but it's interesting and it's needed, and there's nothing wrong with a little bit of peace-corps-ness.
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