Traveling with an infant is always a challenge, but being academics, we’re often on the road for conferences and such. Fortunately, Tatiana is a seasoned traveler. She’s been in four countries in less than fourteen months. First, we flew to Munich when she was just four months old for the STELLAR Alpine Rendez-Vous 2009. Next, we drove to Chicago for ICLS 2010 at 11 months. We then flew to Vancouver to visit family shortly after she turned one. Our most recent flight was to Paris. Our flight on board Air France was the smoothest to date. You can read more details of our flight and first few days on Chris’ blog entry.
Chris, Tatiana and I are living in Paris for September and October. We’re here because Chris has accepted a visiting professorship with STEF at ENS Cachan, working with Eric Bruillard and Christophe Reffay. Our hosts graciously arranged for us to stay at Villa Louis Pasteur, which is in the 5e arrondisement, right in the thick of things. We’re within easy walking distance to Jardin du Luxembourg, Pantheon, Musee des Moyen Age, Musee d’Orsay, Jardins des Plantes, Notre Dame, etc. etc. We can see the tip of the Eiffel Tower lit up at night.
Being away from home means that I’m on my own during weekdays to take care of Tatiana. Without my wonderful babysitter, Debbie, it is more challenging for me to be an academic mom. I have little time to write. I have a couple of manuscripts on the go, both close to being submitted to journals. I’d like to get those submitted as soon as possible. As well, the deadline for CSCL 2011 is coming up and I’d like to submit a couple of papers for that based on my thesis. Hopefully, once Tatiana adjusts to the new routine (her sleep and eating patterns have regressed somewhat), I can get back to writing again. I am eager to get back to my research, but I know how much I’ll miss this time that I have with my daughter right now when I go back to work.
It’s also interesting for me being a trailing spouse. Sometimes, I worry about falling behind in my research, but I’m lucky in having a partner who is pretty supportive and is also an excellent collaborator! We work well together.
Well, this blog entry is to be continued later, since Tatiana is up from her nap. More on Paris later.
Leave a Reply