Research Assistant

So, some of you may know that I am trying to finish my masters’ degree while in Uganda through a joint program between Rutgers University and the Peace Corps. Not that a person has to do the official thing; there are plenty of volunteers who found themselves with extra time and electricity (I am not one) and decided to do a masters’ degree online.
Sometimes, I feel as though everything is conspiring against me getting some alone time to really WORK! Last Sunday, I went to the closest place with regular power (2 -3 hours away) and when I got there—power was off! When power was on, I had so much to do for my official job, that my paper wasn’t touched. Then last week, I had millions of visitors—literally- in my intestines- which also hampered progress. It is the rainy season, so getting enough solar power at my school for my laptop is a bit tricky, and the list goes on because this is the Peace Corps.
This all changed last night with the introduction of a new research assistant. There was a miraculous day of sunshine, after which I charged my laptop, but I wasn’t feeling extremely well and there is a lot of drama going on in this part of the country (a new volunteer was robbed by a group of armed bandits, the parish is experiencing some “leadership changes”—just remember that transitions of power here are less smooth than our recent(?) Bush to Obama glide) so I hadn’t done what I wanted for the week.
So, last night (morning ?), at 2:30AM, a new research assistant somehow wriggled through my steel wool and duct tape sealing and began munching on bags in my room. I woke up, grabbed the broom and started banging around. Now, this is fairly normal, the unusual part is that he just would not quit! I chased him all around the outer part of my room and thought he left through the door. As soon as I laid back down, however, I discovered that he was very near my bed. It was about 3:30—and I make a rule of not sleeping with strange rodents—so it was research time! Needless to say, I accomplished what I wanted to do and it didn’t even interfere with the day’s events. Who knows, maybe this research assistant will really help!