Three Bribes and $25

Fascinating week ahead. Here's a taste.

(i) I'm heading to Gulu tomarrow morning with USAID for two days of community meetings on reconciliation and reintegration in northern Uganda. Basically, the military and strategic peace talks having been progressing quite well in Juba, Sudan, but little is being discussed about the details of actually rebuilding and re-establishing a community that has been devestated for 20 years. Few international examples are helpful, though post-conflict experiences in Mozambique, Sierra Leone and Rwanda shed light on the massive challenge. For the next three days we'll be hearing from key community leaders on their priorities. My boss claims there is amazing early morning running in Gulu, so I'm pumped.

(ii) Two interesting developments on personal technology and community. Harvard Law School and the Berkman Center are teaching a CyberOne law school class through personal technologies like Second Life, Wikis, Vlogs and Podcasts. It's a pretty fascinating experience that ties into what I tried to elucidate in my Campus Compact paper. ALSO, I lent a hand in designed my first web page for a prominent dance club in Kampala with help from my friend Rebekah! The HTML wasn't too bad by the CSS will take some time to master. You'll see the site soon.

(iii) Those who live in Africa understand the intensity of my excitment when I say: I got books in the mail! I got a few different things, but most interestingly I got Steven Smith's new 'Reading Leo Strauss'. Reading commentary on political philosophy brings me back to my undergraduate days. I'm still hovering between Strauss and Kojeve on the promise of liberal democracy.

In weekend news. I pulled some serious Ugandan hustle after I left my passport in a taxi on Saturday night. Suprisingle, I got it back for only three bribes, one trip to the police station, and $25!