Roller Coaster Ride

February 21, 2012 - I almost posted a whiny blog yesterday about my frustrating day, but I decided to sleep on it and, sure enough, today was better. My time in Peru has definitely been like a roller coaster with many ups and downs and twists and turns. So rather than subject you all to my whininess, let me just summarize. Yesterday I was feeling a severe lack of support for my research. I got stood up for a meeting that someone else had scheduled (not the first time) and was thinking I was getting nowhere. However, today I had a very productive meeting with a different colleague to discuss recruitment for my interviews. Based on that meeting I put together a plan of action and quickly got approval from my preceptor. I’m so glad to see a path forward for my interviews, since they are my primary reason for coming here. Then I had a nice chat with my new faculty advisor who talked me down from what was probably a terrible plan to try to do, as she put it, “two CEs within one.” (CE is what GW calls our theses. Technically a mini-thesis, although that label doesn’t make it seem any less daunting.) So, I think I’m on the right path.

I’m sure the roller coaster will continue to jolt me throughout the next eight weeks (whose counting) but I have been trying to keep things in perspective. Professional frustrations exist in the States too, of course, and are nothing compared to the major life problems faced by the clients I’m working with at Pro Mujer. Or even those faced by other development professionals. For example, I finally just started reading The Blue Sweater by Jacqueline Novogratz, founder of Acumen Fund, which I have been meaning to read forever. Her stories of being completely rejected by colleagues in several countries in Africa make my experiences look like a breeze. At least I’m not being poisoned by co-workers, and my reports haven’t been lost mysteriously because they don’t want to hear what I have to say. And the fact that she struggled so much and now runs a highly regarded international organization gives me plenty of hope!