The bad luck bus

Before I start talking about being unlucky, I should say that I was able to get all of my necessary permits to begin research in just 8 days. I DID walk into that government office on Wednesday and pick up the permit they said would be ready on Wednesday, but even more remarkable, on Thursday I walked out of a government building in less than 10 minutes with the final permit in hand. It was awesome. Now I can begin my research!

My field assistants met me in the city, and we left this morning for Nyota with 5 heavy bags/trunks and 5 rolls of fabric. At the nearest large town, we have to switch to a bus that runs only once per day. It leaves Nyota in the morning, and returns in the evening... except when it doesn't.

When I was leaving Nyota in April, my field assistants came to my house before dawn to help me haul everything out to the road to wait for the bus. We waited. Then someone came by and told us the bus never made it back from town the previous evening because the roads were too bad. We were waiting for a bus that wasn't going to come. I needed to get to town in time to catch a bus to the city, for which I had already purchased a ticket. I had too much stuff to just get on a motorbike, so the only thing we could do was wait for a lift from a passing vehicle. It's very common for people to do that here.

One of my field assistants, T, was using my phone to call the city bus station to get the number for the town bus station to tell them I'm running late but I'm on my way when a lift showed up. It was the car from the research station, and inside was the neighbor lady, the guy who tutored me in Ukenzagapese, and the guy I rented my house from. They threw all of my bags and trunks on the rack on top of the car, not bothering to tie them down (it had a 'lip' on it so things just didn't slide off but they did slide around). There was room for me but not my field assistants, so they said they'd find other lifts and meet me at the bus stand. 

Not far down the road, T passed the car on the back of a motorbike. Not long after that, my other field assistant, B, passed me in the back of a pickup truck. I'd left first but now they were both ahead of me. Around that time I realized that I didn't even have my phone to call them because T had it when I got in the car! The road was terrible and we passed several stuck lorries and I'm amazed that all of my luggage stayed on top of the car (I think because it was heavy). It takes at least an hour to get from Nyota to town by car, so I was resigned to missing my bus and taking a later one. When the car arrived at the bus station, I was thanking the driver and getting out of the car when T and B ran up and told me to get back in! They said my bus had just passed a few minutes ago, and the bus company called the driver and they would wait just down the road for us. All of the other car passengers hopped out, T and B hopped in, and the driver rushed us down the road to catch the bus. 

We drove. We passed 1 small town. Then two. Then three. Then we realized the bus hadn't waited long enough and we had to turn back. We we back the bus station, unloaded my things, and switched my ticket from one bus company to another, just as the other bus pulled up and we hurriedly loaded my things on and I said a rushed goodbye to T and B. It was a crazy, hectic, stressful morning that ended up ok (and reinforced to me how many friends I've made in Nyota), but it all started because the bus didn't come back the night before.

Today we arrived in town at the usual time, but the once-a-day bus to Nyota was completely sold out. They had no seats and no luggage space available. Strike two for this annoying bus. It even left five minutes early this afternoon, which is unheard of. We had waaaaay too much stuff to get on a motorbike, and normal taxis usually can't make it on the rough roads, so we decided to wait at the start of the road to Nyota for a lift. I sat with the luggage and chatted with a friendly 15 year old boy from near Nyota who wants to go to the US when he finishes secondary school. 

After about 2 hours of waiting around, someone with a land rover type vehicle offered a lift to everyone else who was waiting around to go to Nyota (for pay). Everyone would have fit just fine, except this crazy white lady (that's me) had apparently brought all of her material possessions to Ukenzagpia and needed them in the car. There was no roof rack, so they all had to go inside. I sat up front between the driver and an older man. Squished in with my bags were at least 5 adults and 3 or 4 children, probably more, including only one of my field assistants (who sounded like he might have been under one of the bags). I felt really bad for all of them. One guy spent the whole ride half-standing hunched over the driver. That couldn't possibly be comfortable. My lap was covered in bags of bread and my feet were slowly cooking from the heat of the engine. It was hot, bumpy, and uncomfortable (not just physically) but we made it.

I was greeted by the neighbor guy and one of the guards, and the two other grad students I'm sharing the house with this time, and they all helped me carry things to the house. I'm staying in the same bedroom as last time. It's great to be back in Nyota. I just hate that bus.

Cautious optimism

On Monday I was told that I'll be able to pick up one of my necessary permits on Wednesday. That would be great, as the other permits depend on this one. Fingers crossed.

In other news, my university continues to amaze me with its fantastically awful money management. I didn't get paid this month. I'm transitioning from one funding source to another this month, and it's not really happening on the accounting end. An 'emergency' payment was supposedly made, but it hasn't reached my account yet and the shit is going to hit the fan in a few days when our exorbitantly high electricity bill will be automatically deducted. Now including my paycheck, I'm waiting for more than $5,000 from the university. All of these payments have been (or in the case of my paycheck, should have been) in the works for at least 3 weeks. I'm making it work, for now, but what a pain in the ass.

Here's hoping that on Wednesday I have a permit and $5000 more in my account.

Getting better all the time

I'm getting good at leaving for Ukenzagapia. Maybe too good, Jon said as we parted ways at the airport. It's become a routine. We borrow our generous friend's car to get to the airport, I know where and when to get food in the terminal, and now I know where the gates are in the different airports because I've flown the same route three times. My bags were 1-2 pounds below the limit and I even recognized one of the women working at the gate.

It's still hard to say bye to Jon though. I was crying in the security line. Anyways. I'm at the connecting airport now and my taxi driver friend Violet will meet me at the airport in Ukenzagapia and take me to my American friend's house. Then I'm going to (hopefully) fall right asleep so I can wake up on Wednesday morning and start jumping through hoops for my permits again.

Speaking of non sequiturs, I know I haven't blogged as much in the past few months. I've started posts but just never finished them. I think I tend to blog more 'in the field' so perhaps blogging will pick up again. I also haven't been keeping up on other folks' blog so my apologies to those bloggy friends out there who I've been neglecting.

2011, not 2010!

A while ago I posted that I should submit an article for a special issue and the deadline was June 1. I lamented that the deadline was then because later I'll surely have even better stuff to submit. Now that it is June 2, I went to close that email (I have the obnoxious habit of leaving emails open in Mail until I deal with them- it drives Jon nuts) and just saw that the deadline is June 1, 2011. So, I guess I might be able to submit something after all :-)

In other news, I just emailed the forms for my permit renewal! Woo hoo! Another big thing off my plate. Now I just have to figure out how to pay them!

Summer priorities

This summer I've got some big priorities:
-submit paperwork for permit renewals (I should have done this a long time ago)
-submit that #!@*%!# little note
-analyze last summer's data
-analyze data for my interdisciplinary project
-work on that review paper that I haven't talked or thought about in months
-figure out how to fund my next field season

I've been dragging my heels soooooo badly on the first one- permit renewal. I'm not entirely sure why, but I think it's partly because I don't really know how to approach this (and am stupidly afraid to ask Sam for help), partly because I'm unsure how to conceptually unify all of the things I need them to approve, and partly because I'm afraid they're going to reject me for some minor oversight or omission. Jon has given me some pep talks, reminding me that really the agency that approves research just wants my money and then to make sure I'm not barbecuing their endangered species or something egregious like that.  I've really got to get this done before I can move on to other things on my list in any significant way, but I would just so. much. rather. be cleaning our apartment or doting on my plants. I'm in one of those homemaking phases when I just don't want to go to work at all. But here I am... Blogging. Gah!

Looking out for each other

I think it's important for grad students to look out for other grad students and share what they know about how things work (or don't) within the department, university, discipline, and academia in general. I certainly make an effort to do this and I've been grateful for useful knowledge gleaned from more experienced graduate students. This morning something happened that reminded me of the importance of this sort of informal transfer of knowledge.

One of my classmates mentioned that her advisor still hasn't commented on a grant proposal that she has to submit in two days. Certainly a bummer, since his name is on the application and, as Dr. Isis says, she can't submit without his approval. Last year I submitted a proposal with a similar application process. There's a whole bunch of administrative stuff that the university has to do, most of which takes a long time. Herb warned me about this. I asked if she'd talked to Mr. X, the accountant who actually needs to press the button to submit her application. She said, "Who's Mr. X?" (alarm sirens go off in my head at this point). I told her to go to his office straight away because she would need to promise homemade brownies and probably her firstborn child (to several different people, nonetheless) to get everything set up for her to submit the grant in just two days. It might not even be possible.

There were two major ways that this last-minute scramble should've been prevented:
1. Obviously, my classmate should have thoroughly and clearly read all of the instructions for submitting the grant and asked for clarification if she didn't understand. However, this process is different than most applications that grad students in our department go through, so I'm not surprised that she didn't know and I don't fault her entirely.
2. Her advisor should've given her a heads up weeks or even months ago that she would need to do some additional legwork within the university system to submit this grant. Ideally this should've happened early in the process of drafting the proposal.

If someone else in her lab or office had gone through a similar process, I hope that the students would alert each other to such potential obstactles. I feel bad that she didn't know about the complicated submission process before today, but not as bad as I'd feel if she wasn't able to submit it at all. At least now she might have a chance. What if she hadn't mentioned it to me in passing? I guess she probably learned a tough lesson about grants.

Moving forward

It's been a hell of a year for me so far, in both good and bad ways. I lost my grandmother and, most tragically, my younger sister, on two awful consecutive days in February. I passed my prelims in March. I got married in April. Now here I am halfway around the world in a country where I don't speak the language very well trying to begin my fieldwork. It certainly hasn't been a boring year!

It is with some trepidation that I approach my first field season. I'm at the end of my second year of grad school but haven't collected a single bit of data yet.

It's not that I haven't been making progress- the nature and location of my project just means I haven't been allowed to collect data yet. I've written a handful of successful grant proposals that have made the field work I'm about to do financially possible. I received two fellowships. I've successfully negotiated enough red tape in Ukenzagapia to keep a herd of elephants under wraps. I'm learning the language and the culture here.

Clearly, the next thing for me to do is collect data, but my nagging fear is What if I actually suck at this part of science? What if nothing I've planned works at all? What if my labors this summer don't result in anything publishable? What if my ideas really weren't very good after all? What if I'm actually terrible at collecting and analyzing data and all I can do is write about ideas for great projects but not actually do them?

I'll have to be clever. I'll have to be flexible. I'll have to be willing to do something different if things don't work out as planned. I'll have to do it all without any on-the-ground guidance from advisors or committee members and limited access to scientific literature. Hopefully I'll encounter the odd scientist or sciencey-tourist at Nyota with whom I can discuss things, but for the most part I'm on my own.

Herb's parting words were, "Have a good time, and be flexible. This is a time to remember it is fun to do fieldwork, not fret. Do what can be done."

So, here I go, moving forward into my next stage of research to do what can be done. Before the week is out I'll meet my field assistants, arrive at my field site, and start putting these plans on paper into action. Or perhaps I'll be scrapping them entirely. Stay tuned...
scientiae-carnival

oh my gosh!

I've got everything I need! And I've had it since 10 am this morning and I didn't know it! The final piece of step 3 was sitting in my inbox where I've redirected all emails with attachments. How silly of me not to check there earlier today! Oh my. This is awfully exciting.

Almost done with paperwork!

After a relatively successful morning yesterday, I was totally wiped
out for the rest of the day. I had a headache, generally didn't feel
well, and wasn't able to get much done. I fell asleep early and had a
dream in the wee hours that my sister was alive again and I had
another chance to be her sister. Sadly, I realized I was dreaming
something impossible and woke up from my dream. Thus I started the day
feeling better physically but worse emotionally. It didn't get much
better when Jon and I chatted about our finances.

I went to breakfast trying to be more optimistic but was disheartened
that I hadn't heard from the man who was supposed to call me yesterday
about completing step 4. I left breakfast resigned to the fact that I
probably wouldn't complete step 4 until the end of the week, but I
returned to my room to find a text message on my phone saying step 4
was ready and I should pick it up before 10 am! So I hopped on a bus
and rushed to the office, made it back here within an hour, and step 4
is DONE.

Now I'm only waiting on step 3, and all I CAN do is wait. As soon as
it is ready I can tell my field assistants to meet me in the city, and
then we can go to Nyota!

Cautious optimism

It's just after 10 am on Monday morning and I'm mostly through steps 3 and 4! I brought all the necessary paperwork to an office this morning and the man I spoke with said step 4 would be completed and ready for me to pick up tomorrow morning! Step 3 organization confirmed by email that they have received all of the necessary paperwork and will let me know when it's ready.

This leaves me cautiously optimistic that I may have all the paperwork I need to begin my research by Tuesday or Wednesday. Then I could leave for Nyota!

This morning at breakfast I met an anthropologist who did her dissertation work in Ukenzagapia. She said she expects to accomplish only one thing each day here, and was impressed at how quickly I was able to complete step 2. It feels good to be making progress.

Some progress towards field work

After nine separate visits to the same office on four different days,
I have completed step 2- just in time for the weekend. Next week I
have to do steps 3 and 4. I think the earliest that I can leave for my
field site is Wednesday. Bummer.

I have absolutely no weekend plans that don't involve my computer or a
book. I'm not terribly motivated to go on a day trip by myself and I
really do have a lot to do so unless something more exciting presents
itself I'll be at the hostel or internet cafes all weekend working and
reading.

One thing I plan to do this weekend is write for the June Scientiae
carnival. I haven't written for Scientiae in ages, and I think the
last time I did my submission didn't make it into the carnival. June's
theme is Moving Forward. I can definitely write about that.

Speaking of blogs and blogging, another goal this weekend it to catch
up on blogs for the first time in months (like, since before
Christmas). The list of blogs I read while I'm here in Ukenzagapia is
getting cut because I'm exclusively using a feed reader. If it's not
in the feed, I'm not going to use the bandwidth for the rest of it
unless it's really compelling. Pictures also don't work so well
offline, which certainly makes Dr. Isis's blog less enjoyable. Also,
I'm less likely to comment on other blogs. I've hardly done this
anyways the past few months (which is partly why I think there are so
few comments here), but if you've ever commented on my blog there's a
pretty good chance you're in my feed reader.

I've finally abandoned Safari for RSS feeds (it's really sucking for a
lot of things now) and moved to using NetNewsWire. Does anyone out
there have other suggestions for standalone applications for reading
feeds offline? I'm not sold on this program yet but it's what Jon uses.

The runaround

*sigh* I have no idea yet when I'll be able to leave the city, head
for Nyota, and begin field work. The best case scenario is probably
Sunday. I sailed through step 1 without problems but there are 4 more
steps that must happen before I can begin my research. I'm part way
through step 2 and step 3 simultaneously, but 3 can't be done before 2
is finished. There's a slim possibility that step 2 will be finished
tomorrow, but Friday is more likely :-(

If step 2 doesn't finish until Friday, then I'll have to stay at least
until Tuesday or Wednesday because steps 3 and 4 can only happen on a
business day. GAH!

I knew this might happen. Sam mentally prepared for it last year. At
least the hostel where I'm staying it relatively convenient to do all
of this running around.

I've got plenty to do while I wait. Today I started private language
tutoring classes for 1-2 hours every weekday until I leave the city. I
also have lots of reading and writing to do. I STILL haven't submitted
the grant that my prelim proposal was written for. I very much
intended to finish it before I left but everything took longer than I
thought it would. That seems to be a theme for me these days. I
suppose I should start being exceedingly pessimistic in my estimates.

I may have also underestimated my internet needs. Yesterday I got my
3G USB modem working and signed up for 500 MB per month. My plan was
to use it for small things in the city but go to internet cafes for
sending or receiving large attachments. But, connecting my own laptop
at an internet cafe can be far more difficult (or expensive) than you
expect. The transfer rate can also be agonizingly slow. I tried to
send an attachment to Leo tonight and it failed to finish before the
cafe closed so I ended up sending it over 3G anyways. That combined
with checking my bank account online and sending & receiving a few
other emails used 8.5 MB in only 20 minutes. And really, I need to
reserve most of the volume for when I'm at Nyota with few other
internet options. Maybe I should sign up for an unlimited 3G plan with
another provider while I'm in the city and save the remaining 16 MB/
day for Nyota. If I have to be here for another week it may be worth it.

Somewhat unexpectedly, I haven't made any traveling friends yet. This
is probably a record for my longest time traveling alone (I wrote
about traveling alone last year). I haven't yet walked out of this
hostel to go anywhere with anyone else this year. Thankfully, I also
seem to attract fewer guys who want to be my friend and talk my ear
off so walking alone isn't so bad. I did run into some Canadians who I
met when I stayed here last year, but I've only really seen them at
meals at the hostel. It's kind of lonely. It sure was awesome to have
Helen around last year. I could really use someone to talk about my
research with.

Internet strategies

I'm quite proud of what I got accomplished today. First thing after breakfast I went to get my permits and I was back at the hostel by 10 am! Long time readers may recall that I did not get permits when I was here last year. Thankfully I did not run into any complications- yet- this year.

It is great to have my permit. However, there are still three or four more bureaucratic steps (hoops?) that I must go through before I can actually go to my field site and begin research. Today I made significant progress on two of those steps, which involved photographs, printing, photocopying, and faxing. Tomorrow morning I hope to have a better idea of when I'll be able to head for Nyota (my field site).

Last year I made a fast friend, Helen, at the hostel. She and I would go sit in the lobby of a swanky hotel and nurse very expensive sodas in exchange for their free wireless. Well, I guess they decided they had too many backpackers in the lobby bringing down the class average, or too many of us were cheapskates. Either way, they now charge $20 per day. I found a different hotel I can't afford to stay at that only charges $10 per day, so that where I am now trying to make the most of my 24 hours.

Yesterday I wrote several emails (including a few blog posts) and sent them all when I got online today. It's really satisfying to do that.

Soon I need to figure out how to get online with the 3G USB modem I bought. I'll use it to check email when I'm at my field site, but the prices can be quite high so I need to be careful of my usage. Typical plans are in the range of 10 MB to 1 GB per month (uploads and downloads combined). Per MB charges range from about 2 cents to 30 cents, depending on the plan. In preparation for my switch to volume-based internet useage, I downloaded SurplusMeter. Clearly from my usage so far, things like large email attachments and podcast downloads will be out of the question on the USB modem. I'm stocking up on podcasts right now at the hotel while I have this fast and already paid-for internet connection.

That reminds me that I should be searching for literature right now because pdfs start to add up in the MBs as well. Better stop blogging and start working.

packing, logistics, and insurance

This trip requires a bit more logistical legwork than my scouting trip required last year.

First of all, I'm bringing a lot more stuff. Last year I think I only had 45 pounds total, and I think this year I might have 45 pounds of books and paper alone. I really have no idea yet since I'm still waiting on some of my equipment.

Bringing all of this equipment isn't without risk. I contacted the insurance agent who handles our renters insurance policy and I was able to add everything except my computer. I can't insure my computer under our renters insurance because it technically belongs to UBC. Everything else, as long as it is 'mine' (no matter which grant funds were used to purchase it), are covered.

I also just bought travel health insurance for myself and Jon. My student health insurance would pay to evacuate me but does not cover any out-of-country medical expenses. Better safe than sorry. I used Multinational Underwriters for both of us. Their application process was simple and it was recommended by someone in Chip's lab who had the misfortune to have to use her travel insurance a few years ago.

Thankfully, I'm not going to have to handle all of this equipment alone. Someone from the local university will meet me at the airport so that I can drop off most of the equipment there in a safe place. I'll have to spend at least a few days in the city to get my paperwork sorted, and then my two local field assistants will come meet me in the city to help me get everything out to my field site. It will be such a relief to have them with me while I travel with all the equipment.

Two days until I leave. Tonight Jon and I are hosting a visiting scientist and tomorrow my interdisciplinary cohort is meeting with him all day. I'd better get a move on.

why travel agents are still useful

Friday was  a total whirlwind in which I ran all over the place, including through the airport.* Now we're in Jon's hometown finishing up the wedding preparation** and trying to iron out important details for my upcoming trip to Ukenzagapia.

Last year on my way back from Ukenzagapia I flew some insane path on a non-refundable ticket that took more than 36 hours and resulted in my bags being severely delayed. I have vowed  never to fly that way again. I've raised my standards for international flights. I just can't risk losing my bags because this time their contents will be even more valuable.

My higher standards (among other things) have resulted in higher ticket prices this year. Someone at the museum who frequently travels to Ukenzagapia recommend that I contact a travel agent. The power of the internet and plethora of cheap airfare sites makes travel agents seem unnecessary, but this travel agent saved me $300 on my ticket and my fare is refundable. Amazing. I think that it is worthwhile to consult a travel agent for international travel, especially one that specializes in the region where you are going.

Jon got his tickets through the same travel agent, though his are more expensive since he's flying at abusier travel time than me. Now that we both have our tickets to Ukenzagapia, we submitted all of the necessary paperwork for our visas. I leave on May 15!

*We made an embarassing public transportation mistake followed by a bad decision that resulted in us checking our bags only 30 minutes before our flight. Only one of the bags made it at the same time we did.

**It is supposed to be beautiful and sunny on Saturday with a high of 80° F. Fantastic!

Greetings from Ukenzagapia!

I meant to post before I left but my family was visiting and there was much to do, so I didn't Sorry readers! FYI, I definitely won't be posting as much as usual while I'm here. Today is the first day I've been able to get online with my laptop (it was much more difficult than I anticipated).

Well, there is good and bad news. The bad news is I won't be getting my permits in time to really do anything. The good news is that I can just wait and pick them up next year without paying the fees again. I found this out on Wednesday morning, so now I'm working on what to do instead. I knew this might happen, especially since the short notice I gave them, but it's still a bummer. I was getting excited about the idea of catching critters, which definitely won't happen now.

I met a Brit at the hostel who was by herself and I for some reason had a hunch that she might be here for research. My hunch was quite right. She's in a very similar situation to me, except that she hasn't even tried to get permits yet. She's in the first year of her Ph.D. and is here taking language classes and trying to get a sense of what her project will be. We had a great conversation about my situation and she suggested I join her language class. This is the first of three weeks but they haven't done much yet and since I have a bit of prior experience with this language I'm ok having missed the first few days. I went this morning and I'm planning to finish the 3-week course, then head to my field sites as a tourist.

This is the first time I've really traveled by myself for any length of time, and so far I think it's ok. The hardest part is being such a conspicuous westerner on the streets. I got totally ripped off on something I bought on the street the first day, but it could've been worse. Something like that happens to everyone so I'm not going to beat myself up about it. It's annoying to always have men trying to talk to you on the street and you don't want to be rude but you just have to. Acknowledging a greeting is like giving them permission to follow you and talk your ear off. I think I'm getting better at the "Don't even bother talking to me" walk and facial expression. I just have to act disinterested and calm. It's not like they're dangerous, they can just be annoying. Now that I have a friend to walk with it's not so lonely and we've been helping each other out since we're in remarkably similar situations. I'm also really glad to have a friend to practice my language skills with.

So, now that I'm going to be spending the next two weeks and the end of this one in language classes, I've got to figure out where I want to go this weekend since I don't really want to spend two straight weeks in the city.

Ok, this has been a jumbled post. I'll post again another day (with pictures! I decided to buy a new camera) but I'm not sure when. Stay tuned!

The last place you look

I had to find my yellow fever vaccination card tonight. Of course things are always in the last place you look, but often it seems like you find them in the last possible place you could look.

Tonight we literally took apart the office to find my yellow fever card because tomorrow I have a doctor's appointment to get ready to go, and if I can't find the card I might have to get re-vaccinated. Jon's makeshift desk is mostly supported by five boxes full of books and miscellaneous papers. I knew the the card had to be somewhere in one of those five boxes. The first four boxes had nothing even remotely close. As soon as I opened the fifth box, I had a feeling it would be in there. This box contained various letters, photos, notebooks, and miscellany from the three big trips I did during college. The last time I needed my yellow fever card was when I studied abroad in college, so I had a hunch it was in there somewhere. I cursed when I got to the bottom of the box because I still hadn't found it. But then as I started putting things back in, I realized there was an envelope I hadn't checked yet. Lo and behold- there is was among ticket stubs, receipts, and business cards.

Replacing my yellow fever card is one less thing I have to do before I leave in less than three weeks. I thought I'd been vaccinated for nearly everything you can be vaccinated for (except, ironically, HPV and the flu), but I realized last week that I'm due again for tetanus and typhoid. I imagined those things would last forever when I got them in college.

Visas, forms, more red tape

Right now I have to complete two seemingly insignificant lines on my visa application, but I'm waiting to hear back from Sam about what to put on them. I really wanted to get this out today but it looks like it will have to be first thing tomorrow morning instead. Arg!

Today I learned that it is cheaper to get a money order from the Post Office than to get it from my bank, even though I am a bank customer. How annoying that I learned that after I paid my bank $5 when the P.O. charges $1.05. (Obviously I am very frugal because I care about that extra $3.95).

I had to fill out some paperwork today for the advance of funds I'll get to cover my travel expenses. They are giving me an advance even though the university hasn't received the funds yet from Grant B. It's all very complicated. International field work takes a lot of logistical planning with substantial lead time. I think I've done a pretty good job staying on top of things but I haven't been perfect.

I think I'm hungry. I'm kind of cranky and just want to go home but I'm waiting to hear from Sam. On the bright side, today is a beautiful day.

Another one done

I just finished another grant application. This is my fourth grant application this year, not including the NSF GRFP. I have another one due in two weeks, and probably another one right after that. So far I have secured $1500 (my plane ticket) and I need about $10,000.

Yesterday Sam really grilled me about my international travel, experiences with culture shock, thoughts on poverty, ability to be strong and flexible, and my mental health. I know he just wants to make sure I'm capable of working at his field site, but it was a little intimidating. But, I think I did a good job of staying positive and strong rather than being intimidated by his questions. I know I can do this.

Then Sam described the painful process of getting permits to do the work I want to do to mentally prepare me for what to expect. There are three separate things I will need to get in-country before I can start my field work at Nyota, and I might have to spend three weeks in the capital city going to offices every day and being very firm but polite in order to get all of them. Geeze, that's practically my whole summer field season. On the bright side, I should only have to go through that lengthy process once, because thereafter it will be renewals which should only take a few days.

In order to start this lengthy permitting process, I need to write a clear, comprehensive plan of the type of research activities I'll be doing for my entire Ph.D. in 6-10 pages in the next two weeks. You see, it has to mention everything I might possibly do so that two years from now if someone says, "You don't have permission to do that with critters," I can point to the line in my permit application where I mentioned that possibility. Otherwise, I run the risk of having to go through the arduous process described above more than once. (Remember this is all in addition to my university's required animal protocols).

I hate forms but I use my time well

I messed up my class schedule this semester (only officially, it's fine in real life) so I have to submit the forms to correct it. I have to go around and get lots of signatures and then take them to some distant place on campus. It's just an annoying pain to have to do this.

As a side note, I feel like I've used my time really well this week. It was very busy, but I think I was productive and efficient while at school (read: I didn't read many blogs at work). My courses this semester seem to require so much regular reading that I really have to stay on top of it. This weekend I'll work on big things like my paper, grading (60+ lab reports- eek!), and grant writing. I have three grant applications due on/around March 1. This semester feels like it has the potential to really get away from me but at this point I think I still have things under control and can really keep it that way (for the most part).