Office life

I´ve moved up to Managua to start the real working part of my internship. The past few weeks in Granada have been a lot of fun, but (and this will really show what a nerd I am), I am really liking being in the office and working full time on this project. It´s been almost 11 months since I´ve been in an office, but I´m getting right back into the skirts, heels and pencil sharpeners like I never left. (Barb, if you´re reading this you´d love it...meetings ALWAYS start a good half hour late, and everyone expects it. haha!) Working in spanish is, of course, a new challenge. Not only do I have to listen hard to understand what is actually being said, but then I have to process it fast enough to think about the significance of it all...and then respond in some manner that doesn´t make me sound like a complete idiot. But I´m getting the hang of it.

So, what I´m actually doing...I´m putting together an economic and social impact study of HIV/AIDS, in particular, on the Caribbean Coast. There´s a few teams of experts in statistics, epidemology and demography, from a variety of organizations, who are working on separate reports. I´m meeting with them (including government officials) to gather the most important data from their reports, and combine it with what I come up with on the social and economic impacts. It´s a perfect mix of nerdy math spreadsheets and qualitative research. It´s a hell of a lot to do in a summer, but I´m looking forward to it.

Next week I take off in a UNICEF car for a long rough trip to the Caribbean Coast. If you get a chance, check out a map. They don´t have roads per se. Well, they have a road that goes to the capital, but most of the time I´ll be visiting communities along the river, gathering personal accounts and generally getting the lay of the land. That and trying to not get bit by rats. Apparently the rat infestation is a bit overwhelming. delicous.

I´ll leave with this last nugget...I took my security clearance test yesterday (I passed). The whole ordeal was quite serious and I actually did learn some useful things, such as how to tell north by using only your watch and the sun. And how to find north in the southern hemisphere during the night (no north star to guide your way, so it´s a bit trickier). But the best advice was regarding road travel in developing countries (although I feel this could be extrapolated and applied to road travel in all countries)... and I quote, ¨Do not try to copy driving techniques seen in James Bond films.¨

Sage advice.