Tending to the Routine isn't Necessarily Interesting

Now that my course is over and exams graded I am settling down into the penultimate stage of data collection and having "what next conversations." Today I am meeting with my star student a young woman from Iran. She speaks well for her education in Iran - her English was superior and she was normally one step ahead of me in asking questions. Lesson learned: in some countries English is the perfect undergraduate major. She was one of the few fluent English speakers in her ministry, so she was the person who escorted visiting dignitaries around Iran.

This weekend I did a quick analysis of my preliminary data - one, so that I wouldn't bog down when all the data are in and two, to see if anything was showing up. I separated out the surveys where people felt that the collaborations had the highest impact from the others. Trust (no suprise), an ability to delegate work fairly and effectively, and clear benefits to participaing organizations were important. Today I followed up with the non-responding environmental groups. I have been alluding to these findings as a "teaser" which I hope motivates responses. Virtually all the women's groups have checked in. I need to find a way to get the Human Rights groups more involved. When I am in KL I will see what can be done to get more responses from the AIDS Council (a group that has been actively advocating collaboration among its members). Tomorrow I meet with someone who is involved with the disabilities groups and the state's (Penang's) leading think tank.

My lasting memory of Obama's impact: Doug told me that Tomm, our personal trainer and friend, who was raised in the segregated South drove to Charleston, South Carolina, on Wednesday November 5. He visited his parents' grave to tell them that Obama won. I can't imagine anything better illustrates the impact of Obama's election outside the political realm.

Now when people hear I am from the US they typical respond by saying "Obama." These days it is nicer to be an American abroad than it has been in recent years.