Still alive!

Americanos are my new thing. They are delicious-this time around. I first had an Americano in 2016, and at that time I had not found it delicious. This time when, out of desperation (having had a couple of cappuccinos already, in need of another caffeinated beverage because deadlines but unable to bear the thought of anything milky and heavy-) I ordered one last month, I was taken aback by how much I enjoyed it. The barista at Barista (haha) pulled a perfect one- deeply aromatic, not the least bit bitter- and I've ended up ordering it at every consequent coffee shop visit since then. Two cafes did it really, really well, two did it not so well, but yum yum, in general.

I've really enjoyed slowly getting into the world of coffee. I'm still mostly an armchair coffee tourist-I enjoy learning about it most of all though I'm less invested in applying everything I've learnt. I'm not, for instance, interested in building a coffee station in my kitchen with my limited funds. I still drink most of my 'real' coffee in cafes, and that is unlikely to change until I buy an Aeropress (hopefully at a sale this year). However, learning more about coffee has helped expand the world of what I'm drinking. Discovering the range of flavours and aroma has been joyful! I'm no longer limited by my standard-and only!- order of a cappuccino. Additionally, I've started to get really interested in aspects of the coffee industry- the political economy of its production and supply chain, questions of power imbalances within that chain and the ways people are approaching questions of social justice and decolonisation within it, the way climate change is impacting this particular industry, amongst other questions. I would love to explore some of this/all of this further in the coming future.

In some news- I'm finally, finally!, done with the dissertation! Submitted it end of January and and now I await the viva, likely some time towards the end of this year. I have the opportunity to use the months in between to a) think anew of where I want to go professionally, long-term, and b) plunge into some creative personal projects that have been brewing and that I have been mentally playing around with for years (because if not now, when?) an c) start re-building some capital via the world of freelance work.

The post-dissertation world has been wonderful so far. I'm excited about what lies ahead. There will be challenges anew, ofcourse. Like, for instance, learning to balance freelance work with the non-paid stuff I am committed to, both in terms of personal projects and some academic-world related stuff. In the month and half I've had so far, I've either leaned too far into one or the other, and I want to learn to find a rhythm where I am able to devote time to both within a day/within a week, so that I'm meeting deadlines in both spheres. But I'm enjoying this challenge. And-I'm really enjoying being paid B-)