I've been abandoned....

This is probably the most important several days of my work here. Today through Monday I am training interviewers to go out and administer the survey I've developed. Hopefully by Tuesday, the bulk of my work will be finished. At least the bulk of the frustrating part will. It will be nice to have little to do besides data entry and analysis. I can do it on my schedule and in my own language.

It has worked out, though, that things are more difficult than they could be. The person who has been my link to everyone else this summer disappeared to the Refugee camps, probably applying for relocation to the US. That means that I've been left to find other people to make phone calls and organize things. Also, my supervisor has had to run to Vietnam to renew her Visa. There is a limit to the number of times you can cross back and forth into Burma. Eventually you are required to go to another country for a longer amount of time. This misfortune has combined to make a rather tiring and frustrating weekend, but I think things are moving along. My translator for tomorrow is much more capable than today's which should help tremendously.

Compounding the frustration is the fact that most of my friends here are in Umphang this weekend, so I have no one to complain to. Luckily for them, this is the first nice day we have had in weeks. It's only rained an hour or two.

So, things are going relatively well, or at least they are moving forward. Today has been torturous, and I think the next few will be the same. There are only a few of them though, and I think each one will become easier. As I have said, by Friday the survey should be nearly finished and definitely operating without much input from me. The thought of everyone operating independently next week has me motivated to train them as well as I can.

I think I will try to do the data entry and analysis as promptly as possible and then have a vacation. I'm not sure where I will go. Maybe down to Umphang for a few days, up to Chang Mai for a day or two and then take a train to Bangkok. I really have no interest in staying in the city, but I think there are some interesting places in the vicinity.