June 9

June 9, 2009

I can not sleep here for some reason. I don’t know if it is because it is always warm, if it is the bed being too short, the bed net, the pot smell, or general noise. I get about an hour of sleep before I wake up, no matter how tired I am. It is getting really old.
Today is an academic day. I have finished reading my first book I bought already. It is some stories told by people during the many conflicts in this country. It allowed for a lot of insight into what happened here and what people went through. A little depressing though, I have to admit.
I also plan on working on the proposal and catch up on writing. I am finding myself to not be very hungry and to get tired of the food already. Hopefully this will pass.
My graduate program has really let me down. They insist on us doing a practicum, but come to find out I really don’t have the tools to do this research yet and am having to teach myself. We are having to write about methods and analysis without having ever been taught those things. I am really pissed that I am having to teach myself this stuff and am then going to have to take a class on it. Real oversight on their part.
I spent the rest of the night attempting to teach myself methods and reading through the foundations materials to prepare myself for the next days meeting. I was luckily still up when Becky got off work and got to enjoy a clear phone call with her this time. She sounded much better than she did the last time we talked. That is encouraging.
I decided to head to bed around 2:30, but didn’t fall asleep till around 4. I ghten woke up every hour until 7:00 at which time I got up.

Everything is Dirty Here
I am not joking. Everything here is covered with a layer of dirt. You lay your white shirt on the bed or brush against the wall and it turns dingy. You get out of a cab an you are covered. In think there is even dirt on my bar of soap. I think everyday that I have gotten a good tan only for it to wash off in the shower. I can literally watch my tan float right down the drain. Everything I own is dirty and even what I think is clean turns out to be covered with a fine layer of red dirt. Not sure if I really like that.