Not the greatest month for a researcher

Frustrating is the word of the month. Okay, I will admit that I am rather OCD with my scheduling and time management. In college, I was that girl who had her schedule down to the hour:
8am-wake up and eat breakfast
9am- run for 30 minutes
10am-shower and study for macro test....
I actually had a boyfriend who once got mad at me for scheduling him into my day. Whoops.

Anyways, I had planned to use the month of January to complete my activities in the district of Kelluyo. I assumed that four weeks would be enough time to get everything done. The goal was to get an interview with the provincial and district mayors, complete focus groups in at least four communities, and not get incredibly sick from the ridiculous amounts of potato that would await me.

Instead, I have only accomplished interview and focus group work in one community. The provincial mayor continues to be a pain in the you-know-where (this is roughly effort number four to get in touch with him...he is currently in Lima for who knows what reason). I haven't been able to coordinate with the district mayor, but hope to as I am planning on returning to Kelluyo for community visit number two next week. Oh, and the upside...I have only had one occasion of being fed too much food...quinoa with fried eggs. Imagine eating a soccer ball amount of oatmeal. Yeah, not fun. I lucked out because, since I was consuming the massive ball so slowly, I was not offered a second helping like my companions. Shucks. Oh, and I thank my parents at this moment for the extra stomachs medications they brought during their trip.

The other MAJOR bummer of the month occurred at the national level thanks to President Alan Garcia. He has decided to close the National Council on Decentralization (CND). When I was informed of this my mouth dropped....literally. The problem for me is that the entire purpose of my work here is to share with the national leadership in the CND the perspectives of the local participants in the rural region. More importantly, the rural peasants are expecting this from me. My contact in the council has resigned, and I am waiting for the political dust to settle to figure out how to approach the new authorities on decentralization. An additional trip to Lima may be awaiting me...*sigh*....

Oh, and things are additionally held at a standstill after tomorrow evening as the festival of the Virgen of the Candelaria is about to begin. The insanity that is about to come will be shared in future entries...but if you want a sneak peak of the craziness about to explode in Puno, Peru check this website:
http://www.geocities.com/img04fes/page_02.htm