Sunday, July 20, 2014

New-ness

So I am back on campus. The fieldwork left me completely exhausted. Not just physically but mentally too. I could not bear to look at another book or paper or draft of anything I wrote. I returned about 3 months back and I have just been in limbo ever since. Yes there are days when I go to the library and get a lot of work done, I look up other research studies, send out drafts and even make presentations. But there are more days when I am just not able to do anything. So in the middle of all that a much overdue honeymoon (or 6 month anniversary) was long overdue. Oh it was such fun! Except of course the bit where we travel up from nyc. My feelings about traveling back to ITH from nyc have now been consistent for a while - I simply hate it. Doesn't matter if it's a shortline or the campus bus or even the flight. And Newark - easily the worst airport EVER. Anyhow back to the 2 weeks in Hawaii (yes, 2 weeks!) - so beautiful. The beaches, the hikes, snorkeling, kayaking, fish tacos, 'poke', random chats with locals, it was all so good.
There's something about a 'honeymoon'. I always used to think it's over-rated. But I now realize it actually gives you time and space to get to know your partner in a different way. By that I don't just mean the sex. Given that I've known him for a few years now I went in expecting nothing to feel new or different. But it did - in a very nice way :)

Now we are gearing up to move further up north. Haha, as if we haven't had enough of the east coast and it's winter in particular. But then again Maine is supposed to be very beautiful - I wonder what that means since ITH is nothing short of that. Also, up there they have amtrak and the ocean, so we are all in all looking forward to it. However moving home is not easy. We've all done it before. The dates, the boxes, the drive up there, purchases for the new house…..sigh…too many adult decisions all of a sudden.

I think I'm becoming more emotional than I was. Don't know if it's something that happens once you hit 30 or once you get married or something else. I think about my parents, my brother, some of my friends, my husband ( :p ) and I get emotional. I think of all the love I've always been surrounded by, of all the experiences I have been fortunate to have, of being able to hold my ground, of being able to work this hard. And I get emotional. Just the next phase of life I guess.

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Monday, January 27, 2014

hmm


So it’s a new year and lots of new things have happened to me. The wedding was an absolute dream. Two in one day were crazy but crazy in a nice, fun and very special way. I still browse through the wedding photographs now and then. We really did look very good that day! Haha! I’m glad it went off so well. It was elegant and beautiful and everyone who mattered was there with us.
The post-wedding week was hectic with festivals, fatigue and departures. My departure to the field was the last one. It was easily one of the hardest things I’ve had to do. I was so emotionally distraught I finally broke down into tears. RG and the parents then tried to cheer me up. One day at a time, doing really good work, with the worst/longest period already behind us – I would get through this just fine.
So I left to train my survey team. And then the survey began. My day begins at 5am, I leave for the field at 6am and return by 5 pm. Every day brings a new story. Often times the phlebotomist drives me insane with his stupidity (honestly he is really very dumb!). Sometimes team members have personal issues. Sometimes it’s just that the village is uncooperative or too big or it’s too hot or something else. But for the most part it’s going well. The tabs are intact. The enumerators are doing well in terms of the survey. Our transportation is solid and we have a proper system in place for the blood-study. For the rest there should be a post on the research group blog coming up soon.