Work

First a brief apology: I was not able to get the photos I promised from yesterday's post onto my USB key for tonight. Hopefully tomorrow.

Today I was a workhorse. Last night after posting here, I posted an ad online looking for participants and interviewers for the study. This morning, I received several phone calls, and I think tomorrow I might be able to start arranging a training session where the interviewers practice their craft by interviewing one another. My goal was to have this session by the end of the month, and it looks like I'll at least come close, which is good. I spent the afternoon at the middle school again, and found three girls who seemed interested in being interviewed, and if their parents are interested, I'll have lots of willing participants. As a side note, the girls confirmed the wisdom of me hiring someone else to do the interviews when they simultaneously burst into laughter when I spoke Haitian Creole.

And when I wasn't recruiting, I was hard at work on my dictionary project, getting lots of entries in today. I've got over 500 entries from the creole side of the dictionary, and I'm well on my way to having over 1000 by the time I leave.

So things are looking up, which is good, because I get worried from time to time. I get a bit shy and awkward when it comes time to ask for something I need from people who are strangers or in an authority position. This can make it very stressful when I need to ask people to participate. I much prefer when people offer to help, because I feel way less guilty about taking them up on that offer.