One month down

I've been here for exactly 4 weeks now. I don't feel like its flown by, but it certainly hasn't gone slowly either - especially not the last 2 weeks. I don't really have much new to report on the work front. I'm still working on a questionnaire (the second draft was a big improvement over the first I think) and the protocol. I sent a copy of the protocol to the epidemiologist here so that he could review it over the weekend. The first thing he said today when I saw him was "It's pretty hard to write in Spanish, no". That is not a good sign. He then asked me how long I've been speaking it and if I've ever written in Spanish. I don't think he did it to be mean, but it was pretty clear that my scientific Spanish writing is quite a bit rusty. Luckily he said he would send me an email with the corrections he thought I needed to make. It is a good thing too because Claudio went to France for a vaccine trial conference and is out of email contact. There are other things on the list too - like writing a consent form. Hopefully I can get close to finished with some things before he gets back and everything will be ready to go. There is still an outside chance that I'll be headed to Cajamarca this weekend but I wouldn't bet the farm on it. If not maybe I'll go over to La Encantada and watch some ceramic making just to get out of the house a bit. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy...