Rolling along

We are making great progress in the research project. We visited three more schools today. Things couldn't have gone more smoothly. All of the head teachers were very receptive and eager to participate in the study. We have now visited a total of five schools to meet with the administration, explain the project in detail, and drop off consent forms. We will visit 2 or 3 more schools and then we will have all of our participants!

Tomorrow we return to the first school we visited. We are very excited to actually be conducting the research for the first time (rather than simply explaining the protocol).

In the spirit of full disclosure, I have to confess a personal bias before I say this next part. I really like Lindsay. A lot. Actually, I have a bit of a crush on her. That aside, I think that I can still say with some degree of objectivity, that she is an incredible student and researcher. She is amazingly well organized. She planned for this project in great detail. Her cross cultural communication skills are outstanding. Her attitude in facing monumental challenges is inspiring. I am very fortunate to be here working with her on this project.

Now for 2 fun little side notes.

1. When we rented this little car in Mombassa, I doubt they had ANY idea what we would be doing with it. Every day, we wind our way farther and farther into the interior of this beautiful but rugged landscape. There are good roads in this part of Kenya, but the villages where we are working are located a good distance away from them. To call the tiny little red dirt tracks that we follow "roads" would be a stretch by just about anyone's standards. I honestly cannot believe the terrain that we are covering. I often drive about 1 mph as I precariously pick and choose the best path over the rutted and washed out paths, but I am still amazed that we haven't gotten completely stuck yet.

2. It is really wonderful to be living and working within minutes of a beach that is a picture perfect paradise. We are so close that we can swing by and take a quick dip after we are done working for the day but before it is dark. Can it get any better than that? Yes it can! The beach where we like to go has the cutest infestation on earth. These little guys are everywhere.