Time for a Re-Set: Challenges 5 and 6

Who knew that a little pull to a medial collateral ligament (MCL) could take a person so far off her game?  It's been over a month, and I'm still limping.  Any attempts at running are distant memories, and I learned the hard way last week jumping up to grab a silly exercise ball that my knee is NOT jump-ready.  However, I am pleased to report that I am slowly starting to get back on track.  I need to do a major overhaul of my entire list of 2011 Challenges, given that the knee injury sidelined some, and my upcoming trip to Jordan has placed different ones front-and-center.  But this post is about two challenges that are being dusted off -- and one's even being put on the fast track. They are rock climbing (Challenge 5) and the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) book project (Challenge 6).

Rock climbing had fallen completely off my list of activities on Saint Patrick's Day when I hurt my knee but I'm happy to report that, with a little help from two friends, I got to get back on the Saint Mike's climbing wall last week.  My ever-patient student, MDG collaborator and climbing coach Amanda was on hand to help, and Alyssa, another student and MDG collaborator took up my challenge to try it out for the very first time.  She managed to get all the way up on her first go -- impressive.

Here's Amanda showing Alyssa how to tie the ropes before she starts her climb

Alyssa coming down after her impressive first climb all the way to the top

Me trying to learn how to lean to the side for more leverage in a hold -- it's harder than it looks!

As for the MDG book, we need to get into our speediest mode for two reasons.  One is that we need to get a substantial amount of the text actually written this summer.  Early summer is also when we're headed out -- in four country case teams and with incredibly generous support of the office of the Academic Vice President of Saint Mike's, Karen Talentino -- to make it all happen.  Last Friday we got a chance to share some of the work in progress at Saint Michael's College's third annual student symposium. I'll be doing a whole post on the MDG book project and where we're at with it, but for now, wanted to post some pictures from the day of students involved in the MDG project presenting at various research venues throughout the day.

Here are Alyssa and Jerry working on a poster presentation on how Ecuador is doing on the Millennium Development Goals

Connor (part of the team for MDG 2) reporting on the problems of water scarcity for the refugee population in Jordan that we researched together last summer with Siham

Alexsis (part of the team for MDG 8 and the Palestinian Territory case study) giving a presentation on her last summer's Provost Grant research on the financial crisis in the EU

As I mentioned above, there's a ton of work to be done this summer, and teams of students (and I) will be writing feverishly in the months ahead.  But for now I wanted to send out a little post as a shout-out to the students on this project and what they've already accomplished.  Now it's back to our last two weeks of school -- classes this week and finals next -- to finish out the semester.

I made Jerry and Alyssa (Team Ecuador) and Matt and Annie (Team Bangladesh) pose with me  in front of their posters on those topics

Getting Back on Track Part I: Challenges 6 and 5

I'm only a little more than a month into this year's challenges, and I've discovered something important.  Staying with things that are hard to do is much tougher than just trying them once. But happily, this weekend felt like a chance to get back on track on a number of fronts.  Before the Superbowl was over, I had put in some time with three of this year's challenges, namely:

Challenge 6: Write a Book with SMC Students

On Saturday twenty of us had a four-hour writer's meeting. Here we're having a discussion about different possible book titles.

Challenge 5.  Become a Better Rock Climber

After ages of saying we would, this weekend Leah, Siham and I finally all went rock climbing together.  Leah's an expert, Siham had never been, but now we can't wait to all go the next time we're in the same place at the same time.

Challenge 2.  Become a Better Cook

Sunday night while the rest of America was eating chili, pizza and wings, we made noodle kugel and challah (pictured here) together with matzo ball soup and potato latkes for the ultimate high-carb meal

The weekend started off on a great note, because the Saturday MDG writer's meeting meant that a number of alumni authors were visiting from out of town and staying at my place.  Friday night first Shaleen, Kate and Julia rolled in, followed by Siham and Leah. Everyone had various things they needed to do Saturday morning (such as try to do a long run on the miserable snow-packed sidewalks outside), but brunch at Penny Cluse was obviously a non-negotiable necessity.

The afternoon writer's meeting was probably our most productive yet.  It last for four hours, and we went over chapter outlines, our book proposal, produced chapter summaries, worked through some logistical issues, and had a great debate over the book title.  We've got it narrowed down to two, but our final vote was a 10-10 tie, so we're doing a re-vote this week on-line to include the writers who couldn't make it to the meeting.

Kate took notes on the board for much of the meeting.  Here Connor's asking about something she wrote

Annie, Josh and Leah (three of the four members of the MDG 7 team) during the title debate

The MDG 5 team -- Siham, Amanda and Lauren -- working on their chapter summary.

Team MDG: Back row: Chris, Jason, Alexsis, Michelle, Lauren, Kate, Ben, Connor, Jerry and Jackson. Front row: Siham, Alyssa, Claire, Kate, Julia, Shaleen, Amanda, Leah, Annie and Josh

After the meeting was over, the plan was for a few us of to go climbing at the Petra climbing gym, but once we stepped outside we realized that a snow storm had started. So after a couple of hours of finding parking spaces that weren't in parking ban spots for everyone, those who were staying at my place went to dinner at the Farmhouse and then back to my place, where we were joined by a few other students and alum.

The next day Leah, Siham and I finally made good on a plan we'd been talking about for a very long time -- going rock climbing together.  Leah is an expert rock climber, and used to be an instructor for the Wilderness Program.  Siham had never gone, and I hadn't been since before Christmas.  Although Siham had her doubts initially, once she got to the top of her first route, she never looked back.  Leah taught us both a lot and we have all definitely decided that rock climbing will be an activity we will try to incorporate into any time we get together from now on. 

Leah demonstrating the flexibility and balance that is just one of the many reasons she is a great rock climber.

Siham, on her first-ever climb to the top of a wall.

Since this is getting to be a very long post, I think I'm going to split it and do a second one that covers the Jewish food cook-a-thon that Josh and some other friends and I did during the Superbowl last night.  In the meantime, I'll just close by noting that, thanks to some great students and friends, this year's challenges are getting back on track.  Weekend snow storm or no, the book meeting went off without a hitch, and it was great to have a chance to hang out with so many alumni; here's hoping the rest of the winter goes so well.