Reporting from Moscow

Sorry for not being able to keep you up-to-date better these last couple of days but I have had very limited access to the internet. There is an interesting irony in the fact that during my trip in Ghana a few months ago WiFi signals were ubiquitous but that here in Russia -the first country to conquer space- internet is proving far more difficult. Now I am back in Moscow though and hopefully will be able to send you a few more reports. 

We have returned a few days ahead of schedule as the work in the field was essentially finished. I must confess I am rather glad to be back. Moscow is a far more interesting city to explore and I am excited that the change in schedule will allow me more time to do so. Bizarrely enough I even find myself with a rather full social agenda as it turns out a number of my friends/ acquaintances/ colleagues are here at the moment as well!

Work has been an interesting challenge these last few days. In particular, interviewing people through a translator is something I have never done before. At times it is like that movie "Lost in translation". The person I am interviewing will be giving a minutes long reply, only for it to come back to me in 2 or 3 summarised sentences! Fortunately, I am in the possession of a brand new voice recorder so this time I will be able to play back all the interviews and even get them translated in full later on. My interviews have taken place in some rather odd places, ranging from park benches to a tiny little bedroom where 5 people sleep together. Work sure is different from those days in the lab purifying proteins! 

Now that I am back in Moscow I will spend the remaining time transcribing and analysing these interviews. And of course: seeing those Moscow sights because I think you will agree that - although pretty- sights like these just are not quite in the same league!