Coming and Going

                I did my first round of training on ‘qualitative methods and ethical considerations’ with my research assistants today.  I am fairly certain that if you had asked me a year ago if I would be able to feel confident putting on a training for a group of Swazi university students on qualitative research methods (and also finding those students in the first place) in the relatively near future, I would have said: “What in the world is qualitative research?” 

                My relative newness to the field notwithstanding, I think it went pretty well.  I have a good feeling about them, they’re a sharp bunch (lucky me), who seem genuinely interested in learning about new ways of doing research.   I like teaching, in general, and I like watching the evolution of understanding that happens even over the course of a few hours.  As we spent a lot of time on informed consent and fairness to the participant, I won’t actually go into much more detail than that.  After all, even if your respondent is happy speaking to you, is it fair to report out what they had to say if they didn’t know you were going to be telling other people when you spoke?  (Did you follow that syntax?  Good.  The correct answer is ‘no.’) 

                I make my presentation to the Ministry of Health one week from today.  I have very little idea what to expect, hopefully it will go pretty well.  Keep your fingers crossed next Friday that I perform my 15 minute song and dance in a way that Ceasar finds entertaining.  Otherwise it’s being fed to the lions of “oh-shit-whats-my-plan-B?!” for me.  I’d really like to try and avoid that.

                I keep trying to find a day to go out to Steenbok.  I really, really want to.  Just thinking about it makes me smile.  But it seems like every day I make a plan (I love that phrase, btw.  Very Swazi) every time I make a plan to head out there, something comes up for that day.  I need to see an apartment, or have a meeting, or prep for a training.  Now its looking like Tuesday.  I so badly want to go soon.  I want to see Izora and not let go of her for the whole time I’m there.  I want to hear from Latoya and see Jabu and her baby.  I want to give so many of my teachers the biggest hugs.  There are so many people who were my community and my family for so long.  Now that I’m settled in, every day that I think about just being three hours away from them and not getting to see them makes me a little bit crazier.  Tuesday.  Absolutely.  I am clearing my schedule.