Moving!

The weeks before leaving for the first leg of my fieldwork in Kazan, Russia were kind of a blur. There was so much to do with getting letters of introduction, scanning massive amounts of library books, and moving that I am amazed I managed to get it all done! We moved everything we own into a 10x15 storage space and tried to cram the rest of it into our small car. Trying to pack for a year especially cold weather items and which books I will need to write my dissertation turned out to be quite challenging. Here is a picture of us and all of our stuff as we are getting ready to leave Kansas!

Introductions.....

Over the next 14 months I plan to chronicle the fieldwork for my dissertation and the resulting adventures on this blog. I was fortunate to be able to receive fellowships to support my research in three different countries, Russia, Ukraine, and Latvia. The first part of the trip will take place in Kazan, Russia June through August 2012 where I will be participating in an intensive language immersion program for Russian. Then I go back to the US for a month, hopefully get my Ukrainian visa and then head to Kharkiv, Ukraine with my husband Matt. We will spend the academic year September 2012 through May 2013 there and I will work with Kharkov Center for Gender Studies (KCGS) at V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. Then finally we will move to Riga, Latvia for more research before we come home in August 2013. I am looking forward to sharing my fieldwork and research over the next 14 months and thanks so much for taking the time to read all about it!