Adjusting...

I'm sitting in an internet cafe in a Western strip mall (ahhh....) with Christian music playing in the background... relieving my internet withdrawal. (I was SO disappointed to discover that the wireless networks are actually not yet set up to transfer internet data... basically NO BlackBerry here... sooo disappointed... but supposedly Celtel, a wireless provider, is going to introduce this in the next few weeks/months... )

It's been a bit overwhelming trying to adjust. Of course, it's not as bad as it could have been, because of 2 important factors: the first is that a college friend of mine is transitioning the research project to me before she goes back to the states, and so has been the one giving me all the inside information I'll need to get around and to do my work; the second is that I'm living with a very kind, warm, and welcoming Indian Christian host family in Lusaka.

What is Lusaka like? It's a spread out city-- no skyscrapers or even really tall buildings. well, I haven't seen any at least. The weather is very mild despite it being the middle of "winter" right now; relative warm days with cool nights. I really like how there's very little humidity since Zambia is landlocked and the rainy season hasn't started yet. I haven't been able to "explore"  because I've been with my friend and host family the entire time. One thing I notice immediately is that things are just SLOWER here... business days include 1-2 hour lunch breaks, people don't get things done very quickly, there's quite a bit of bureaucracy.. and just no general sense of urgency. Some stand-out things I noticed: people drive on the LEFT side of the road.... and most people drive reliable Japanese cars.

My living situation is stable, comfortable, and simple. My host family (the Kurians) are a wonderful Indian Christian couple whose children have grown up and moved away. We live in a simple, yet relatively spacious cement/cinderblock house with chickens and a garden in the backyard. There isn't a shower, but a bathtub with large pails... so bathing consists of filling up the pail with water and washing that way. (My parents joked that it was just like Taiwan...) We have good, filling Indian food at each meal (Ms. Kurian packs a lunch for us each day.) They hired two local Zambians to help with the cooking, cleaning, and maintenance of the household, which is a big help. And the Kurians are very faithful people... their bookshelves are filled with Christian books, they attend an Anglican church.. Mrs. Kurian teaches Sunday School and listens to Christian radio stations (and BBC woo hoo).. and they seem to be very dependent on God. The Kurians are also very easy to talk to, and veyr helpful-- my luggage was delayed 1 day (I was freaking out inside...) and Mr. Kurian helped me wade through the airport bureaucracy to get it back. I really appreciate how I feel like I'm going "home" each day.

And the work.... to carry out the experiments, we're mainly working with a social marketing NGO (part of a larger NGO called Population Services International) a  local public health clinic. It's tough trying to remember all the Zambians I've met. So a "typical" day (in the 2 days I've been "working" i.e. following around my friend like a lost puppy dog) has been to first go to the SFH research office to pick up a woman who coordinates the surveyors based at the health clinic... then go to the clinic... then check up on the progress of the surveyors... and then go about strategizing/thinking about how to carry out the pilot and main "experiment" in the future.

The challenges are already apparent-- some workers are quite unproductive, there's definitely a bureaucracy, and the design of the experiment might change depending on logistical/personnel issues.

Oh... need to go now because our taxi is here.

Will write more later.