Moving Forward

Soooo while there's lots I could say about the past three weeks which included a surprise Birthday Party, a visit from Claire, a bunch of drama, a neck injury and a cranky x-ray technician, I thought I might instead speak to what my blog is actually about: my research trip.

Revisions:
So we'll get the most uninteresting thing out of the way first, last Friday I finally got my ethics revisions, a week and a half later than I had originally expected. The good news was its was only minor revisions so I didn't have to resubmit 11 copies only two. The bad news is that the revisions actually required me to take actions beyond just puking some more words onto the page.
However, with some mild perseverence and a trip to the ISES office (described below) I finished my ethics proposal a day earlier than I anticipated. So now its been sent off to my supervisor and is expected to arrive at the ethics office for further consideration next Friday! Horray!

ISES:
One of the major questions on my ethics revision list was what I was going to do to keep myself safe in South Africa as I spent probably 10 out of my 40 pages explaining how I would keep my research participants safe and little about keeping me safe (which I guess is important). So when I approached my thesis supervisor about how to tackle this question he suggested I go to the International Student and Exchange Services Office who were happy to sit down and talk about my trip for me. While the office is significantly smaller than Carleton's it seems to be much more focussed and carrying about the students. The representative who I was working with Amy, gave me so many pointers she practically wrote my revision for me and suggested some stuff I hadn't thought about like registering with their office and making sure that I have evacuation coverage with my ensurance. In any case, the session also motivated me to finally make an appointment with a travel health clinic where I'll be going tomorrow morning.

Contacts:
Ever since the first individual I contacted turned out to be quite firey and contacted my thesis co-supervisor to tell her how "incompetent" I was with no basis for doing so what so ever, I've been somewhat hesitant at contacting my ever growing list of potential interviewees or people who may be willing to help with my research. Last week I got around to e-mailing some more of them because time is getting short including a lady named Margalie, a Congolese woman who my co-supervisor suggested might be able to help find me accomodations in South Africa.
Unfortunately as I found out once I contacted her she had returned to living in Congo but she mentioned she might be able to help me find a few more connections. After not having heard anything from her in over a week I assumed the worst and started looking into accomodations myself. However tonight I checked my hotmail inbox to find that Margalie had not yet in fact found me someone to help find accomodations but had convinced an upper level United Nations official with the Congolese mission working Pretoria to help me with my research! On top of that she told me she was going to South Africa tomorrow and she was going to be in touch with two other women who she thought might be able to help with accomodations!
I was so incredibly surprised by this e-mail that I was nearly dumb founded. I am so incredibly greatful to this woman who I've never even met and have no way to thank other than through words on a computer.
I guess now I just have to worry about how to phrase my e-mail to the new UN contact :D.

Upcoming Excitement:
So the next few weeks are going to be chalked full of visitors and adventure. My mom and aunt are coming up from Mississauga tomorrow for 5 days and will depart on the same day Adam arrives for a visit next Wednesday! Following that Adam and I will hop on a plane to Ottawa Sunday where I will visit with my mom (Again!) my aunt and all of my wonderful friends!

Anxiety and Anticipation:
So I am experiencing a whoke range of emotions about my trip. I am extremely excited about going to Geneva and Pretoria for normal touristy reasons as well as for my research. I am excited to meet people from other parts of the World and talk to them about things which are close to my heart and I'm even more excited to experience a new cultures.
I'm a bit worried though as well. I've come to terms with the fact that I may experience crime for a second time abroad on my trip and while this makes me nervous I'm convinced I can handle it better than while I was in the Netherlands. I'm nervous about the potential short comings of my research or not finding what I'm working for. I'm also extremely nervous about how I'll deal with culture shock when I'm so far away from my friends and family in a place very different from what I've ever experienced before.
All that being said I continue moving forward, reading daily, working on my ethics proposal and shopping for "essentials" for my trip. And every day I inch closer toward a trip which is sure to be nothing short of life changing.