On November 7, Tom and Polly Tatton were here to visit the Primrose International Viola Archive. To honor their many donations to our circulating and archival collections over the years, we took them out to dinner at Gloria's Little Italy. The Daltons, the Bigelows, Bruce and I and David Day were all in the dinner party. All the violists were sitting together at one end of the table; Polly, David, Bruce and I were at the other end, and we had wonderful conversations. The work that David has been doing in Belgium over the years came up in conversation. Polly asked David about languages spoken in Brussels, and after he said that he could speak French but not Flemish, he said, "But I really wish I spoke Arabic...the area around the archives is sometimes called Little Morroco and I think that I heard Arabic there more than either French or Flemish." "Josie speaks Arabic, " I said. And then David talked more about the scanning work that our students from BYU are doing in conjunction with Internet Archive.
Somehow, not quite sure how, things moved from Josie applying to go to work next Spring or Summer (not sure which or if it is both) on the scanning the students do in Brussels to the fact that David was going to Brussels in November. He had a student who was going to go, but she had some passport issues. So he was going to go without a student, but then Josie has a passport and can go...
So, at the eleventh hour, he asked library administration for approval for funding to pay her wages while she works there, and the next thing I know, Scott, who is the acting university librarian, calls me and tells me it is a go, and to talk with Cyndee, her usual work supervisor, to arrange the time away from her duties here. Then David had some upheaval in housing plans. Since he had planned to take a student, he had arranged housing for her with a volunteer he knows well who continues work on the Internet Archive project while there are no BYU students there. But when his student fell through, he told her he would not be needing her housing for the student. When he contacted her again about bringing Josie along, she had company coming from Italy and would not have room for Josie, but she has a good friend who owns a bed and breakfast, and he would be willing to give David a good deal on the price.
Scott came in yesterday morning and asked me if everything was a go, but I said that David had run into a snag about housing, so I wasn't sure. And Scott said, yes, that could definitely be a deal breaker. But then David told me that he would arrange for the B & B and that he would pay for it himself. I was like, you know, you can back out and just say you changed your mind and don't want an assistant. But he said, no, he had thought about it and he really wants to have an assistant to do the "gopher" work so that he can concentrate on research, because he will get much more done that way. So, when Josie had time to meet with David yesterday afternoon at 2 pm, he booked her flight. It was getting to the now or never stage, since he was leaving early this morning.
So...she is going. I have a netbook for her to take; she will buy a sim card at the airport so she has a phone. The owner of the B & B is an Arabic speaker so she can practice Arabic, but he also speaks English and French. David also is following up with the Relief Society President to see if instead she can stay with a family. When Josie arrives, she is to go straight to the archives. By then David Day will know whether she will be staying at the B & B or if he has been able to arrange for a family stay. He has Saturday and Sunday to work that out...so it is sort of like sending her into the unknown, and is kind of scary to me.
However, all my own students are like, "That's so cool!" The young are so fearless. I remember being that way myself...
http://www.bruxelles.be/artdet.cfm/4469 - this is the archive they are working at.
Somehow, not quite sure how, things moved from Josie applying to go to work next Spring or Summer (not sure which or if it is both) on the scanning the students do in Brussels to the fact that David was going to Brussels in November. He had a student who was going to go, but she had some passport issues. So he was going to go without a student, but then Josie has a passport and can go...
So, at the eleventh hour, he asked library administration for approval for funding to pay her wages while she works there, and the next thing I know, Scott, who is the acting university librarian, calls me and tells me it is a go, and to talk with Cyndee, her usual work supervisor, to arrange the time away from her duties here. Then David had some upheaval in housing plans. Since he had planned to take a student, he had arranged housing for her with a volunteer he knows well who continues work on the Internet Archive project while there are no BYU students there. But when his student fell through, he told her he would not be needing her housing for the student. When he contacted her again about bringing Josie along, she had company coming from Italy and would not have room for Josie, but she has a good friend who owns a bed and breakfast, and he would be willing to give David a good deal on the price.
Scott came in yesterday morning and asked me if everything was a go, but I said that David had run into a snag about housing, so I wasn't sure. And Scott said, yes, that could definitely be a deal breaker. But then David told me that he would arrange for the B & B and that he would pay for it himself. I was like, you know, you can back out and just say you changed your mind and don't want an assistant. But he said, no, he had thought about it and he really wants to have an assistant to do the "gopher" work so that he can concentrate on research, because he will get much more done that way. So, when Josie had time to meet with David yesterday afternoon at 2 pm, he booked her flight. It was getting to the now or never stage, since he was leaving early this morning.
So...she is going. I have a netbook for her to take; she will buy a sim card at the airport so she has a phone. The owner of the B & B is an Arabic speaker so she can practice Arabic, but he also speaks English and French. David also is following up with the Relief Society President to see if instead she can stay with a family. When Josie arrives, she is to go straight to the archives. By then David Day will know whether she will be staying at the B & B or if he has been able to arrange for a family stay. He has Saturday and Sunday to work that out...so it is sort of like sending her into the unknown, and is kind of scary to me.
However, all my own students are like, "That's so cool!" The young are so fearless. I remember being that way myself...
http://www.bruxelles.be/artdet.cfm/4469 - this is the archive they are working at.
1 comment:
Family stay all arranged. Phew!
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