Out to the field

As you can tell by the pace of the blog posting, work has really picked up in the last few weeks (and at work is the only time I have internet). I'm working on wrapping things up in the lab and finally feel like I can start to relax a little. There has been a lot to do, and I'm not exactly sure how productive all my hard work was, but I'm trying to be optimistic about it. I can truly say that I did all I could and gave it my best shot. I have gotten to know the people in the lab even better now that I have had the chance to work along side them, and they are all really great. I'm really looking forward to coming back and being able to work with these wonderful people. Today, since we had a little bit of time, we got to go out to the field to see what it is actually like at ground zero- so to speak. I was really impressed with our field coordinator, Bernard. You could just sense that everyone he was working with really loved him, which is pretty good since he is always coming to get their blood:) I met a few people that provide assistance with keeping track of who gets in the water how often and getting everyone together for the blood draws. It was nice to be able to thank them for their work.

We met one mama who was a sand harvester (most of them are men). I was really amazed at her. She stands all day long shoveling sand from one pile to another, moving it away from the shore to make room for the next boatload of sand coming in off the lake, and when I met her she had a huge smile on her face and seemed incredibly happy. It was a rainy day so most of the workers were not out, but there she was working alone, as hard as ever. I joked with her about how she was so strong and I would never want to get in a fight with her and she laughed and said no she wouldn't fight me because I would shoot her with a gun (she was really laughing as she said this so it isn't as morbid as it sounds, but it was very odd-Bernard explained that many Kenyans think all white people carry guns). As we left I noticed that Bernard gave her some money and she was extremely grateful (she is not part of our study so there was no conflict of interest here). I can tell he really cares about the people he is working with which makes me so glad to know he is the one who will be handling our field work.

The shuttle that takes me home from work is about to come so I can't write any more now but I have so much to say. This has been such a good trip. It was so hard to say goodbye to Chris AGAIN yesterday, and I am very anxious just to be with him for a long time. My mom and our friend Caroline, from Mauritius are here with me and they are wonderful company. Caroline suggested we make crepes tonight, and when a French woman offers to make crepes for me, I don't turn her down! We even found some Nutella here in town. Life is good...more later...