11.15.09

my blog posts from now on will probably be small or nonexistant, both because i am very busy and because after posting about some of the crazy things i was witnessing and doing for the past month, things just seem so tame here. i am living at a campsite within the village i'm working in. i am working at the various orphanages, child day centers, and schools to collect statistics on children in need and at risk in the village. the village chairman told me this was the most helpful thing he could think of me to do, so i figured i might as well do it. i was a little disappointed, because i wanted my independent study project to relate to government policy and even international politics, but hopefully i will be able to meet with some local groups here and connect the issue of national politics with the statistics i am finding (i.e. what laws exist to facilitate an increase in government assistance to the community level-groups who are struggling with an overwhelming number of children affected by HIV and poverty?)

i am in a very good mood right now, because we had our first real weekend today and yesterday, visiting a local craft fair and playing guitar/cards. i've still been pretty busy, though, working on internship applications (done!) and research.

i hope you're all having a great time and that it at least is acting a little more wintery in the u.s. (it's hot here, still, which made the 'christmas' fair we went to a little disconcerting).