Obstacles and overcoming them

Our first day of pilot interviews gave a lot of insight into what we needed to change; there were numerous issues with question wording, skips, consistencies, etc. Eventually, we’re supposed to complete 10 interviews per day. I sat through 4 and all of them were in Lugandan… meaning a Ugandan had to conduct the interview by reading it from an English version, translating it to Lugandan and then after getting the answer, telling it to me in English so I could input the data – I felt a bit useless. There are supposed to be some done in English but I think it’s going to be very few. We were also supposed to have translated it into the local language to avoid translation discrepancies between different interviewers and other cultural variations… but as of now, it’s not happening. I’m a little nervous about the quality of our data.

On Wednesday and Thursday, Lindsey and I stayed home from interviews to solely work on the database. We had 2 meetings with Nickolas who turned out to be an Access wiz. We finally learned some really useful Access skills and we’re in the process of finishing things up into the weekend. It actually looks really good and it’s giving us a greater role in the project. Interviews were put on hold starting Thursday and the questionnaire is being revised; we should be meeting as a team to clarify some issues and hopefully we’ll set more uniform standards for collecting data.

I also moved out of the house I was in to the other one with Lindsey and Tegan. We have a couple other roommates – Johanna from Germany who is a resident and Sarah from the UK who is doing research in microeconomics. I’m really happy with my new room, too – more sunlight, a wardrobe and a desk. Downside: I’ve seen way more bugs over here. I doused my curtains in Permithrin.

We finally found a good restaurant right when you enter the city – City Top. They have good Indian food and a bar in a separate room before you enter the restaurant. You’re supposed to visit them separately, but we convinced our waiter to let us eat in the bar after he asked his boss for permission. We desperately needed beer.

Today, we traveled further down High Street (just like Morgantown!) and saw some newer sights. It’s interesting. Some parts of town are more segmented – as in, there’s an area of town that’s predominantly furniture making, one that’s tailor and fabric shops, and a couple others. But then, there’s like 100+ different little hole in the walls that sell basically everything, existing everywhere between the only other types, which are grocery, pharmacy, kitchen supplies, and mobile phone shops. And I feel like no one is ever shopping at them except us. There are some great products over here – and by great, I mean hilarious. My favorite today was a maxi-pad called Secrets: no one has to know. I also found some whiskey in mini-juice boxes.

Mzumba! I probably spelled that wrong (CORRECTION: Muzungu!) but that’s the phrase for “white person” that people say to us – while a few add a “how are yooooou?” in a high-pitched, mocking voice. I just wave at everyone and smile and probably make a fool out of myself as they make fun of me :)

I washed my clothes by hand for the first time. It’s really not that bad. You just fill up a wash bucket with Omo and water and get to scrubbin’! Then you wring it out, stick it in the rinse bucket, and ring it out again. The worst parts are trying to get all of the soap out and the fabric getting stiff after lying out in the sun. Once you wear them they pretty much go back to normal, but I’m happy I didn’t bring anything irreplaceable.

I’ve had a rollercoaster of emotions since arriving here. I got really distraught on Tuesday when the project seemed out of control. It also didn’t help constantly feeling sweaty, thirsty, and dirty. Since then, I’ve been better. I’m learning tricks to make myself more comfortable and how to make it out here. Being away has made me realize how much I love home and miss water that tastes normal, clean floors, good showers, the absence of insects, AC, refrigerators that are cold, and coolants in general. There’s still a ton more new experiences ahead though – not to mention, more fun.