February 11, 2005

Friday morning, been up 1.5 hours

Good morning peoples of the blog,

Yo! What's up? How are you doing on this fine Friday morning? I have a feeling that the vast majority of my readership is fast asleep or getting ready to head to bed ("We're huge in Belgium" - hope I got my movie quote right). All is well in the bustling town of Addis Ababa. Another blistering, sunny day is on the way and a whole range of activities are planned. Things seem to be moving quickly now, for which I am glad.

Had an informational interview yesterday with the director of one of the projects around here. She was really nice and gave me lots of good feedback. This may not seem like good feedback to some of you, but she suggested that given my relative inexperience, I would probably need to take up a full internship/volunteer opportunity of up to six months. After that time, if I gained a good reputation, I'd probably be in very good position to find work. I'm glad to know that at least the path is becoming more clear - I can see the steps I need to take in order to reach the employment I want.

I'm working feverishly with a colleague from the University of Washington on research for a paper we want to publish. All of a sudden, there are a number of people showing interest in the data we are collecting. We definitely have the inside track, given our connection with the clinic's doctors and our ability to work quickly in tandem with complementary skills, but we feel there are people breathing down the back of our necks, so we need to move on this. Tomorrow we'll spend the whole day with the clinic's doctors having them read the completed patient charts for the variables we are interested in. This is necessary because no one can read their handwriting. After that, we'll probably do the same thing Sunday. Definitely takes away from time with my wife, which is limited right now with all her travels, but it needs to be done in order to move ahead with work.

Have you ever listened to a cat eat? They are disgusting. (I'm writing this right now because my cat is eating some egg I gave to her right next to me and it's something that's been bugging me anyway, just like when Bird used to eat). In my previous residences, the cat dish was always in the kitchen, a place with lots of activity and noise, where the sounds of a cat chewing with her mouth open wouldn't be heard. But here, in my office, with only the faint whir of my computer to mask the sound, I am treated to the full mastication of my beast. Ugh!

Anyway, focus man. Can't think of too much else to report. Yesterday, in the daily newspaper, predominantly read by foreigners, there was a 2-page spread on the leader of North Korea, Kim Il Jong, and how much he is loved by his people. It was very strange, which I'm under the impression isn't out of the ordinary for said leader, but there was all sorts of stuff about Jong facing down the U.S., and how his political ideology, called something like Juncho, where man is the center of the universe, is the source of North Korea's strength. Did that appear in any of the Seattle newspapers?

Well, I've got to get off, even though I'm in a good mood for writing. There's work that must be done. Ciao.

Ken

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