Message from Peace Scholar Kiran

All is going very well, but course work is a big load! It took me a while to adjust but now I am in the swing, reading about 3-4 books a week, or at least learning to skim read.
 
I have also been attending a learning centre, to work through techniques in writing, and reading, and should be getting some reading software as part if unc resources,
UNC resources are great; there is so much to offer students here. and graduate students are very much treated as faculty, invited to hang out with professors, we have had a number of talks, events, but there is so much one has to be quite careful, otherwise, i will not get any reading done, i may have a more than just a dyslexia it seems, and maybe a add as well, but either way the help i get through the learning centre is outstanding, the system for students and resources are amazing, from writing skills, skim reading workshops, free software, it support.
So days like today, I take every opportunity to get time to myself to just sit down and read, or sit in the park.  My professor has also given me access to an office, so I can also go there, 7 days a week, or even in the middle of the night if I need to study. I will probably end up doing so at some point.  
 
I have started some projects on ethnography, and folklore practices, and I have been doing ethnographies on American football as a belief! Religion, exploring American folklore through belief and faith, and meaning making.
But I have also been looking at urban farmers, and how groups, communities are forming new folk traditions and revivals in response to the challenges modernity!
 
I know this semester there is a great deal of theory to take in, but my professor says I am doing well, and I am adding some unique contributions to the classes and the department.
I am using this semester also to forge links between my own discipline of folklore, theory and ethnographic writing together with conflict management and mediation.
So I will likely be attending the American Folklore Society conference in Indiana. Sometime in October. The theme is war, conflict, folklore, and this will be a good chance, to meet those folklorists i am readings about, and also network for dissertation ideas, i may also be able to present the following year.
My meeting with Juan Zarate, former Advisor to counter terrorism, under bush administration, was extremely interesting, to be able to share discussions and get an insider view of white house politics. We ate grits! For breakfast!
There are an abundance of Rotary opportunities, each day about 5! So I need to take a closer look at these when I get time! One of which is to attend, the world peace symposium next year in Bangkok, 115 world peace fellows have been given a chance to attend. I am thinking now however about possibly internship ideas, and at the moment my thoughts are being drawn closer to South America, Mexico, Venezuela, perhaps. There are lots of things going on and it would potentially make good sense to do this, as there are strong links from my departments of American studies.
I have met some White Sikhs, which is also nice, this is a specific community of white American Sikhs, that are unique to the states, this small community formed in the 60s I think, I knew about them from a TV documentary in the 90s, and I met a lady here, whom I will attend the Sikh temple( gurdwara) in Durham sometime, the Sikh temple, is about 10 yards from a Baptist church, and in a Spanish speaking part of town, so even this seems like a great opportunity to do a project . I have met film makers that are keen to do something together. I will likely spend some time on Sundays doing some faith based research relevant to my studies, amongst the various churches here.
I will at some point do a more detailed update, but I wanted to let you all know, that all is going very well,  but a little busy!  And lots to take in.
Oh and I found Typhoo and Yorkshire tea bags, so I now have a kettle as well, and can drink all the tea I want!
 
Randy , the fridge you gave is perfect, keeping all my drinks cold!! Please pass on my best regards also to Pam.
Ian,  say hi to Olive.
  
Kind thanks
Kiran