It's always the 4 day work weeks that seem the longest, right? We had Tuesday off for Buddha's birthday (based on the full moon, which was exceptionally clear and lovely).
My editors and I are meeting on Saturday, so it's been a crazy rush to bring several chapters to a point where they can be reviewed and discussed. We owe the book to the press on July 1 and a lot of reviewing has to happen before then. I can't believe how quickly June is sneaking up on us.
Some of the work has been a lot of fun. On Sunday, accompanied by a trusty translator that I picked up on the soccer field, I went to a refresher training for BRAC's community health volunteers. We interviewed a few individually to get a sense of how much time they spend working, who their customers are, what they think of BRAC's incentive based payment system (they do not get salary, just a mark up on their drugs and fee-for-service on some activities), and how advertise their services to their community. We learned a lot!
But that's the glamorous part. Most of the time, I'm camped out with my netbook and several forms of caffeine, trying to get the words on the page.
North End Cafe humors me, bringing me the occasional Americano or, as the sun rises and my sweet tooth wakes up, a mocha, a piece or two of short bread, and this last week, some of the first lychee of the season! I hear that they only get better as they get bigger!
Sometimes the table at North End is insufficiently for the paper required to fuel my mad writing (got asked yesterday is I'm writing madly or madly writing--it is usually unclear until the end). This is my desk, covered in reports, proposals, presentations, and other resources where I'm trying to track down the precise numbers of HIV testing centers created, responsibilities of coordinating bodies, and other scintillating details that I'll spare you. And just for the record, that is WATER in the Smirnoff bottle. This is non-fiction that I'm writing guys, not Hemingway.
My editors and I are meeting on Saturday, so it's been a crazy rush to bring several chapters to a point where they can be reviewed and discussed. We owe the book to the press on July 1 and a lot of reviewing has to happen before then. I can't believe how quickly June is sneaking up on us.
Some of the work has been a lot of fun. On Sunday, accompanied by a trusty translator that I picked up on the soccer field, I went to a refresher training for BRAC's community health volunteers. We interviewed a few individually to get a sense of how much time they spend working, who their customers are, what they think of BRAC's incentive based payment system (they do not get salary, just a mark up on their drugs and fee-for-service on some activities), and how advertise their services to their community. We learned a lot!
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| The shashtya shebikas of Badda, a neighborhood in Dhaka |
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| Pretty sure that they switch me to decaf without asking at some point. Probably good for all of us. |
North End Cafe humors me, bringing me the occasional Americano or, as the sun rises and my sweet tooth wakes up, a mocha, a piece or two of short bread, and this last week, some of the first lychee of the season! I hear that they only get better as they get bigger!
Sometimes the table at North End is insufficiently for the paper required to fuel my mad writing (got asked yesterday is I'm writing madly or madly writing--it is usually unclear until the end). This is my desk, covered in reports, proposals, presentations, and other resources where I'm trying to track down the precise numbers of HIV testing centers created, responsibilities of coordinating bodies, and other scintillating details that I'll spare you. And just for the record, that is WATER in the Smirnoff bottle. This is non-fiction that I'm writing guys, not Hemingway.
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| Life before google? |
Today I have an appointment to interview BRAC's chairperson and founder, Sir Fazle Abed (that's right, he's been knighted by the Queen of England). Pretty cool that in one week I've been able to span the whole of BRAC--the frontline workers all the way up to the man at the top. But that's the easy part! The devil's in the details of getting in on the page!
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1 comment:
Wishing you a happy Friday and no writer's block :) Love and miss ya!
P.S. We're headed to Costa Rica so we should chat when I get back in June.
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