So the time has come when all 8 boards that oversee various aspects of my research, from both Bangladesh and UF, have signed off on my project. With these in hand I was able to get my research team, 6 field crew members and myself, to Rangpur to setup the house I have rented and to begin data collection. Sounds so straight forward, right?!.... WRONG!
I have always wanted to do international fieldwork and am finally getting to do just that. However, it is not the fairytale dream I had always thought it would be... though now that I have gotten into the groove with my team and the work I am singing a different tune. I pride myself on being able to do every aspect of my own research.... the planning, animal sample collection, the lab work, and the final analyses of all the data. In this case though, due to the language, culture divide, and quick approval necessary for this study, I am only able to do one to two of those things completely on my own. I have to rely on the knowledge of the Bangladeshi field crew I hired to know the customs that are appropriate to follow and how much work can be done in what amount of time. This includes what work can be done during Ramadan... something I never had to take into consideration before. Ramadan is a month of fasting that the Muslim religion practices to sort of reset their empathy button basically. They fast from 3:15am to about 7pm each day (water, food, everything!) to more easily know what hunger feels like and to realize how good they have it the rest of the year. I always knew what Ramadan was but never knew what it stood for nor the rituals that are practiced during it. Living with 5 Muslims during this time is quite the eye opener... I have such respect for the sacrifices they are willing to make for their God and the real world results this has on the Bangladeshi community. This time of year is when all charities push for donations and people are likely donating more due to the empathy reset and all. One downfall to living with Muslims during Ramadan is that there is never food when I want to eat! I take iftar with them (the meal that breaks the fast around 7pm) which usually fills me up -- fruits, sweet drink, biryani or hodge podge food. I am asleep when they take sehri (midnight meal) and there are rarely leftovers for me to use for lunch. I have been subsisting on oatmeal, peanut butter, bananas and instant coffee haha. That is living with guys in general right?! I have never had the opportunity to work with any women in the field so I am very used to working with men and living with them - dude roommates included. It has never been an issue -- if anything they knew I was the alpha dog and always asked my advice or for help. Coming to Bangladesh I knew there would be some cultural differences but would not run into any big issues since I have worked with guys my whole science career. Again ... WRONG. The cultural divide is more of a religious divide as the Muslim culture teaches men and women to stay away from each other. Some of the field members run away quickly when we have to take rickshaws somewhere because they are pretty small and you definitely touch the person you are riding with. I have to keep reminding myself that it is a cultural thing not a personal one. We are getting more comfortable with each other and it seems they are more willing to approach me with issues and not Al-Amin (my middle man basically.. very good english). It took some time to communicate my expectations for the research and how I would like it to be done but it seems we have finally reached an understanding. Having a study that includes surveys from humans, mammal sampling (cow and goat), and also mosquito light trap collections is a lot to take on... especially since I have never conducted international fieldwork, human collected surveys or mosquitoes!!! I found myself being overwhelmed the first week and realized I really am jumping into the deep end. This is kind of an incredible feat for a first year PhD student to take on and I am just now becoming aware of that. Somehow I have managed to keep my head just above water and now I am doing freaking back strokes haha. I still haven't managed to find a way to not feel so isolated in the smaller "city" we are living in but it is on my to-do list. I have to go back to Dhaka to take samples this week and will stay for a few days... it will be nice to speak with English-speaking folks, go to a real gym, eat real food and sleep in a real bed. Never thought I would see Dhaka as a relaxing get-away! All in all I am learning so much and we are collecting tons of data... which is the whole reason I am here!!! Side note in case you don't already know -- I have scabies. haha Not sure how I contracted them, likely the dang cute goats but who really knows?! I treated myself and washed most clothes in boiled water (what a process) but I am skeptical I got them all. We will see in a week if I get reinfested! I sincerely miss working out and have noticed that if I don't do anything (situps, pushups, squats, anything really) I am not a very nice or patient person. I have been working on getting more fitness in... #noexcuses right?!
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So, if you follow me on facebook you know by now that my card started to accrue some fraud charges just as I was leaving the states... which means having to cancel my card leaving me no access to my personal or research money. NOT very convenient when I am trying to get a research project going and settle into a new place with a whole new dress code. Thanks to my wonderful, amazing, and incredible father and western union, he was able to wire me money multiple times to keep my research on schedule (I can transfer money online, just not get it myself). Because of the world's best dad we were able to make our first trip to Rangpur, the area where my fieldwork will be conducted. We have villages in 7 of the 8 upazilas (kind of like counties?) within Rangpur District and are living in the 8th, Rangpur Sadar (red star). It is more of a city and we excluded urban villages from our study.
It is usually about an 8 hour bus ride, but thanks to a religious holiday there was zero traffic leaving Dhaka (black star) and we made it in SIX! The only way to really explain this bus ride is to compare it to the Knight Bus in Harry Potter. Goes way too fast and swerves through traffic, speed bumps, pot holes and then when the honking doesn't work to move the obstacle the brakes get slammed.... but there is A/C so I can't really complain. Since we got there earlier than expected we went to check into our hotel then left to house hunt. This is not like your ordinary house hunt where maybe you jump on google or craigslist for listings... you just straight up drive around town and pull over when you see a "to-let" sign. We did this for a solid five or six hours, with a lot of my job being "stay here, or else they will try and charge us more". I keep saying that we need a code word for 'hide the white girl' because they often make me stay put or go around the corner when negotiating price for either rickshaw, taxi, or rent! Because I am white and clearly a foreigner, they will automatically try and charge more - they are no dummies. We also ran into a problem with the landlords because it will be me, and my 6 field crew members who are all guys, living in the apartment. A lot of the families were not okay with this setup because they did not understand how that would work since I am not married to any of them. We found a few promising apartments and it is funny how everyone around gets involved... they all have something to say. Which brings me back to the staring... I keep saying I am going to feel so neglected when I move back to the states because I get so much dang attention in Bangladesh. Myself and Hannah, a visiting postdoc from Hopkins (only here for a week, also white female), were sitting in the "taxi" (basically a longer golf cart) waiting for the guys to negotiate something when a band of local Bangladeshi guys come up and start talking to us. They kept saying "you strong" and "you wrestle" while making the arm wrestling gesture... they were very impressed with my guns (even though I was wearing a quite loose salwar kameez). Then they look at Hannah and say "not so strong", which is hilarious because she is a normal, small built girl. They then asked me my weight and when I told them they discussed it for about two minutes and wanted to take my picture but I could not slouch haha. What an ordeal... they were very pleased with my athletic prowess lol!! The next day our plan was to meet with the district commissioner, leader of the entire district, and the police superintendent. This is a formality you must do when working in these places, and letters go along with this. First was the district commissioner where Al-Amin, one of the entomologists on my team, did all of the talking and the commissioner never really acknowledged my presence... very formal. Then we went to the superintendent of police... not so formal. He was very excited to have us and spoke with us, in English a lot of the time, and offered us coffee (hard to come by here), fresh mangos (mango season just started!) and guava. After about an hour of chatting in his office he invited us to his residence... and we were taken there by police escorts! He was very pleased to show us his collection of over 500 pigeons that is made up of over 50 different species that he imports from all over the world.. pricey!! If you know me at all you know I am not fond of pigeons... so I was obviously more pumped about his goats, sheep and cows! He then invited us into his home for some coca-cola, tea cookies, mangos, lychee, and oranges all from his land... Grandma, he is giving you a run for your money! So after a total of about 3 hours, we finally got police escorted home and regrouped to find a place for our goats. We needed to find temporary housing for them as we prepare to set them up in the villages. Luckily by word of mouth we found a small cow farm tucked back about 2 blocks from our apartment. Of course as we show up Al-Amin travels to talk to the man of the house and we are left to be gawked at. This time is was mainly all the women of the household (they all live together in neighboring houses) with their husbands and children. One of the women really clicked with me, though her english was not great nor my bengali good at all. She took my hand and showed me around to all of the houses, offered me tea (had to say no, unclean water), had me sit in their house, showed me my "sisters" i.e. all of her nieces, and let me see the cows. This wonderful family will be watching our baby goats for us as we take them out 2 by 2 to their villages. All that was left was to finalize the apartment by putting down the first month's advance... $123 for a 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom 2nd floor apartment. No... there is no A/C. It is empty and so we need to purchase all of the furniture, fans, kitchenware, etc. Also, it is very common here that we will hire staff to cook, clean, and do laundry - less than $30 a month. I will have my own bedroom and bathroom, and balcony (woo hoo) - while the other two rooms and third makeshift room via curtain in the doorway will be split between the other 6 field members. The main dining area will be used for our mosquito identification table with microscopes and equipment storage. Overall it was an incredibly productive trip and it was really good to see how things run and the issues that might arise throughout the field season. It took about 7 1/2 hours to bus home today and tomorrow will be a nice and relaxing weekend day. |
Steph CinkThis is my way to share both my personal and research experiences with my family, friends and those that are interested.
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