otherlleft

Depression stinks. You know it’s true if you’ve ever had it.
Now I’ve started a new blog about depression. It’s all about how much it stinks, but it’s about so much more. Team members can post their feelings, their writings, their frustrations. They can also post their opinions about the treatment options out there. Is there a miracle drug on the horizon? Does therapy actually help? How about magic? Faith? Diet? All options will be open to lively discussion. If there is enough interest an advice column for those that prefer to remain anonymous will be added.
You can check it out for yourself at http://depressionstinks.blogspot.com. Anyone with a Blogger account is currently able to comment, and will be able to become a team member.

I just finished the class on Peasant Societies, and it reminded me that an undergraduate degree is not, never has been, and never will be about the specific course content. Instead, it’s about learning to think critically, solve problems, and see connections. Here’s a couple that I made:

The overlap with my Latin America class wasn’t surprising. However, I discovered that the Zapotec of Mexico are so very good at being peasants that they are less affected by the problems of being Latin American than most people. Latin America, I’ve learned, is the product of five centuries of exceedingly bad business deals. After the Spanish and other Europeans tamed the region through biowarfare, the exploitation began, as most students of history know. It amazed me to discover that all the education and understanding of economics that all the very intelligent people in that region possess hasn’t done a whole lot to prevent them from making really bad decisions regarding foreign countries and businesses, and that the wealth of the region continues to flow outwards due to their inability to see beyond the next paycheck. However, the Zapotec have never given up their subsistence farming practices, and this makes them unusual. Even coffee and sugar is grown on small plots with other crops, and they grow other crops for local consumption (which experts agree is the only way that any Latin American country is going to achieve a stable economy and lift itself out of poverty). True peasants, they are not dependent on a cash economy, so they aren’t devastated by every downturn of the commodities markets. Poor they may be, but unlike others south of our border, they rarely fear starvation.

I was also asked to comment on the life of peasants as a commentary on the “modern world” for my last paper in this class. This is my analysis:
“I believe it could be summarized as a loss of intimacy. We of the asphalt-covered, WiFi-driven, gasoline-consuming, debt-laden United States do not have anywhere near close the level of intimacy that peasants have. They are intimate with their families, intimate with friends and neighbors, intimate with the landowners or overseers of their lives, and intimate with the Earth. By nature of their perilous existence they absolutely must have a great understanding of all these things, regardless of whether the relationship is one of love or hate. There cannot be casual relationships with any of these groups, because a peasant’s life is inextricably linked to his mate, children, friends, neighbors, tax collectors, and to the land itself. It is this intimacy that has been lost in our drive for progress in medicine, food production, and the other various technologies of our cushy existence.”

First course: cold melon soup. The consistency of clam chowder, but cool and sweet, perfect on the morning of a day the promises to be hot.

Second course: French toast with ginger-maple syrup. At first glance it was so thick it looked like slabs of meat. I don’t know what bread the chef used, but it was to die for. I grew up on artificial syrup and don’t always like maple (and I really don’t care for ginger), but this was exquisite.

Third course: pear poached in champagne and nestled in a bed a hand-whipped cream with fruity hints. I even got to use the silverware above the plate for this one.

All yours for staying at the Lefevre House in picturesque New Paltz.