OK. So I was looking around for what to do this summer. Last summer, I got a grant to learn Portuguese in Brazil, which was a wonderful experience and taught me tons. I got that grant because I want to do work in the Amazon when I’m done with my master’s.
So, for this coming summer, I’ve come across this program, which I think I could get funding for. I’m really excited about even the possibility of being able to do this program, but the loony-tune I’m dating thinks you’d have to be nuts to want to spend your summer this way.
So I put the question to you, Dopers of varying levels of sanity–if you got a grant that covered at least most of your expenses, would you want to spend your summer doing the U of AZ field school in the Andes and Amazon?
What the everloving heck does this guy think would be a good thing to do with your summer!? That program sounds amazing! He’s the one who’s nuts.
I mean, I can understand if that sort of thing isn’t exactly your cup of tea, so you wouldn’t want to go yourself, but to think someone else “would have to be nuts” to want to do it? Especially if the expenses were covered? Zoinks.
I really would like to know what exactly it is about it that he thinks is objectionable.
Quibble: it’s ASU, not U of AZ. Don’t make that mistake around anyone from ASU, or University of Arizona, for that matter
What are the loony-tune’s specific objections to your wanting to do this? Does s/he not want to be apart from you for the summer, or think you should be spending your summer doing a co-op or internship? Or does s/he just think this wouldn’t be your cup of tea?
My sister went on a field study (in biology, with ASU) and liked it. But she had to get rabies shots and a whole bunch of other shots, and that alone would have meant I would never go (I have a phobia of needles).
Personally, I know this would not be my thing, and I wouldn’t go. But I think that, if you really want to work in the Amazon, you should do this. You’d be more certain then whether that’s what you want to do. Not that I think you shouldn’t work in the Amazon or anything, but I was sure I wanted to get a PhD in astronomy until I started doing actual astronomy research and found out it wasn’t much like I thought it would be…
How does the loony-tune feel about you wanting to work in the Amazon after you get your master’s?
OK, fine, I will out myself as the lovely Scribble’s boyfriend, and comment on her gross misrepresentation of the situation, and my comments thereto.
(1) She’s totally nutsoid cuckoo, but in a lovable fashion
(2) Nonetheless, this is obviously something that is perfect for her
(3) But not something that is my cup of tea
(4) The bone of contention is whether this is something that MOST people would like, or something that is far too hard-core way-off-the-beaten-path for most people, even people who generally like to travel, and something that would only appeal to people who are very interested in travel, culture, languages, and nature, and have no reservations about flinging themselves into a totally unknown situation in a not very highly developed part of the world for months on end. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. In fact, it’s quite admirable. But it is not commonplace.
Look–maybe I’ve cast my BF in an unfairly harsh light, here. He thinks it’s admirable that I’d want to do the U of AZ program this summer, but he’s not a big travelling- and language freak like me. He’d never choose to do this program himself, but he’s encouraging me to apply for it, since he knows how excited I am about it. He’s told me that he admires me for my adventurousness and for my commitment to my academic and career goals.
He does think I’m insane. But he thinks I’m insane in a fun, cute, endearing and sometimes impressive way.
OK, MaxTheVool, I’d agree with you that it’s not for everybody. But I may be biased- the closest I will get to roughing it these days is staying in a hotel where you share a bathroom with other rooms…
Well, really, the bone of contention is whether or not my tastes in travel and coursework are so rare as to merit being called “totally nutsoid insane.” I firmly maintain that they are not, and I predicted that at least one Doper would post with a, “Gee, I’d go on that program in a heartbeat!” sort of response.
So far, I seem to be winning this argument. Nyah, nyah!
See, that’s because you entitled the thread “would you spend your summer like this”, not “would you NOT spend your summer like this”. Who’s going to read your question and respond in the negative?
I talked to one of the guys who runs the program at ASU, and he told me that I can both do the intensive Quichua (which is what I’d get the funding for) and take the plant biology/ethnobotany courses. Yay!
Oh, and I talked to the woman here who runs the grant program I’d be applying to for funding. I told her briefly about the ASU thing and asked her what my chances of getting the grant would be. Her first response, without even having to consider it was, “Oh, yeah. We’d do that.” It turns out that she knows about the ASU summer course and would love to send someone on it but hasn’t yet had anyone to send. Ha!
Yay!! It looks like I might well be going! Wahoo! Yip, yip, yip!
Now I’ve got to get people to give me recommendations, get a copy of my transcript, fill out the application, write the essay…and get it all done in 3 weeks. Yowza! Wish me luck.
Shirley, I would love to have you come. I’ve never had a Sherpa before. I’m sure it would be fun to have a baggage-toting slave. I don’t think you’d have a lot of hard work to do, either, since I can’t imagine toting a heck of a lot through mountains and rainforest.
That’s just a failure of the imagination. With a sherpa, you could tote lots of stuff through the rainforest. Plenty of changes of clothes. A portable shower. A gramaphone to play to sooth the savages. You know, expedition stuff.
And add me to the list of folks who would do this if it were paid for by someone else, and if I didn’t have a job to worry about, etc, etc. I’ve always wanted to see the Amazon basin.
