On with the research

Friday, Oct 5, 10:55am.

I jump off the bus and dash madly into the Facultad de Derecho. I have a meeting at 11am (I think) with my research advisor, Prof Rafeal Durán. I have no clue where his office is. Nor am I sure what department he´s in. Crap. Crap Crap Crap. And some choicer words than that.

Ok, calm down. ask the porter.

"On the first floor, go to your left. His office is in something something something."

What? No time, it´s now exactly 11am, which means I have about 10 minutes if he follows spanish time, 0 if he doesn´t. Run Run Run. Upstairs, left. Ok. "Department of Social Work." Er. Maybe. After checking every office in the department, I work up the courage to ask one of the profesors hanging around.

"Rafael Durán? Constitutional Law. Wait, let me check. Yes, that´s right, constitutional law. Political science." I ignore the fact that he just gave me TWO departments to search in the negative 5 minutes I think I have, thank him, and skedaddle. the Dept of Constitutional Law is locked (of course) and political sciene is a no-go. My new shoes are giving me blisters the size of quarters and I´m now 15 minutes late. Ok. Maybe the meeting was at 11:30? Please God.

Either way, I´m now convinced that Prof Durán is on his way to the department of constitutional law, so I cool my heels for a few minutes and try to figure out a way to keep them from developing more blisters. Ouch. Five minutes later, I limp downstairs to double-check that I´m waiting outside the right department. Nope. Turns out that spanish mumbling I didn´t get earlier was actually "Department of International Private Law." Argh.

Then low and behold, I see my advisor strolling through the door. thank god. my trials are over. hallelujah.

He´s a nice man, Prof Durán, and very clear about what I am and am not going to be able to accomplish in my time here (only 2 1/2 months left? Damn...). I´m going to have to write the actual report when I get back to the states, but my background research and fieldwork I´ll still be able to do here. Which means I´m legitemently doing a research project here. Which is awesome.

Niki´s a happy (and veerry busy) girl. Some things never change.

lata ya´ll