Amartya Sen is awesome!

My aha! moment this month was this (and I hope this makes sense, because it's like an explosion in my head):

I can link my specific CED project in Montreal (very concrete) with Amartya Sen's capability approach to economic development (VERY theoretical)!!

This may seem banal and very simple, and my explanation of it is very boiled down and summarised, I admit, but actually being able to take what I learn in the academic setting directly into the real world is pretty amazing (and those of you have done an undergraduate degree know where I'm coming from!)

Don't get me wrong, I think my B.A. prepared me for starting to work in my field and I value my education up to this point very much. But actually seeing how I can put into practice such a theoretical philosophy - read some Sen and you'll see just how theoretical it seems - is one of the most exciting things to happen since I started my Masters.

Ok, back to my literature review ;)
See you later!

After autumn comes...

It's November already? I have been really excited about winter this year because we bipassed it completely last year, but now that I'm cold all the time and only two of our heaters work, I'm not so sure anymore. Hopefully the skating and snow-shoeing will make up in fun what I'm lacking in warmth.

November also means I'm halfway through my first semester of my Masters program! My three courses this semester have definitely kept me busy, and I'm wondering how I'll fit in two more next semester, but overall I'm having a blast. My biggest time swallower is the first of a four-seesmter course called CED Project. This fall I'm doing all the preliminary research for this project, which will take place in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. Having done all the statistical research in my first month, this month I concentrated on primary research - interviews, focus group discussions, surveys - so that I am actually getting advice and feedback from people directly in the community. My project idea is beginning to take shape and I'm so excited/nervous/terrified to actually get it started next summer.

In October, Charlie and Alix and I went to the Botanical Gardens for their annual Chinese lantern festival. It was actually the first time I'ven ever been and it is so stunning. The Montreal Botanical Gardens have a really close relationship with the Chinese Botanical Gardens, and so alot of our expositions and gardens have Asian themes and styles. This lantern exposition takes a year to complete: around this time of year, the Montreal team draws the designs for next year, then they send the designs to China, where each piece is hand-made, which takes a few month, and then they have to ship them to Montreal to arrive around July, and its taks almost two months to put them all up!