Tirolean Weather in Sandpoint

June here in Sandpoint has seemed a lot like June in Tirol - grab your bike rides between the rains. This morning was such a day. Despite the discouraging clouds, I gambled on the ride to Schweitzer and was quite fortunate that the rain spared me. The forecast actually indicated that rain would hold off until afternoon.

Currently I am working on a Fulbright application with the target institution being South East Europe University (SEEU) in Tetovo, Macedonia. SEEU opened its doors in September of 2001 in hopes of luring more of the Albanian minority into higher education while also establishing a mix of ethnic Albanian and Macedonian students with a goal of easing ethnic tensions between the two groups. English is more or less the default language of instruction for upper division courses.

The four month semester for which I have applied would start in February of 2007. The completed application is due by the 1st of this coming August. My proposal has lecturing and research components. Any computer science related research I conduct is extremely applied.

If I am lucky enough to get the award, Eli would accompany me. We would likely prepare by trying to pick up at least a smattering of the language, but will find advice on which one - Albanian, Macedonian, or perhaps Serbo-Croatian. Macedonian uses the Cyrillic alphabet, posing an extra challenge.

Richard
2005.06.29

Post Solstice

The solstice, escorted by a full moon, has come and gone and June is nearly out the door. Today I'll write a bit about our recent biking.

Eli returned this afternoon from her two days at skürtzendirt (see http://www.skurtzendirt.org). It's a two day mountain bike clinic with catered meals and camping over night - for women only. She really enjoyed it, despite her embarassingly out-of-fashion bike gear (high rise handle bars, basket, no clip-on pedals). It was held at Farragut Park at the south end of Lake Pend Oreille. There were approximately 100 participants and then additional 'staff'.

This morning I biked up to Schweitzer and back, quite slowly. It was only my fifth Schweitzer ride this season, so I am behind schedule. The road is so much busier than when I used to live up there (about 20 years ago). There is not much bike traffic, mostly cars/SUVs with tourists and residents or construction workers in their assorted trucks. I saw some empty piggy-backed logging trucks heading up last week, but none that were coming back down loaded. Maybe Colburn Lake is getting filled with lost trucks.

Tomorrow I'll only bike to make my way about town. I need to make some significant progress on a Fulbright application. I'll write a piece on that possibility next time.

Richard
2005.06.26