New Month, New Project

A couple years ago, Andy and I each picked a subject we knew nothing about and studied it for a month.  THIS year, along with one of our closest friends, we have decided to study the same subject for a month.  We wanted to pick a subject none of us knew much about, so we chose South American history AFTER the conquistadors--which is where USA history text books usually stop even mentioning our southern neighbors (and that was BEFORE the Conservatives started the rewrites--once they're done, we may not even HAVE another American continent). Totally excited about our new adventure, I headed to our branch library.

Our branch library is THE coolest little library I have ever seen.  They have concerts, event for kids all the time, clubs--and we can borrow anything from the network of libraries in the area, so even its small size is not a factor.  However, I had decided to just drop in and browse the books on South American history--assuming they had them .  And eventually I found them--there were three, sandwiched in a tiny section with other "unimportant" parts of the world--Africa, Antarctica, countries we haven't been to war in.  At first I found it surprising that the library had more books about Princess Di than about the entire continent of South America.....until I remembered that I know more about Princess Di than I do about the entire continent of South America.  So.....we picked well. 

First step:  Find a map and figure out what countries we're actually talking about.  Did I mention I know next to nothing about South America?  Yeah--wasn't kidding.......