Acknowledgements

Over the past two weeks I’ve found myself thinking more and more about the people that have made my work possible. Something about living comfortably in Dar es Salaam has helped me to appreciate my family and friends, and those that I rely upon for moral, intellectual and financial support, much more. The amount of sun that I am getting might be one of the root causes of this change. My new thankfulness might also stem from the many incredibly intense connections I’ve made here since arriving in January. It is also possible that I am simply paying more attention to social interactions. Each day several total strangers impart their vast knowledge to me. Listening intently to them, rather than learning exclusively from books or the Internet, is certainly helping me to feel like I am part of a community. Perhaps when my fieldwork winds down and I have to sit in front of my laptop day and night to pump out the dissertation I will once again find myself feeling like an isolated academic. Right now, however, I am engaging with people and am filled with gratitude. I hope that by writing several acknowledgements at this time I am not in some ways “putting the cart before the horse.” My doctoral supervisor, Dr. William D. Coleman, has warned me to not get ahead of myself in the past. He knows that I am a slow learner when it comes to the art of being patient. As I sit here at the New Mwanza Hotel near the shores of Lake Victoria while I wait to interview several key cotton sector insiders, I am concerned with two things. First, the pressing matter of whether I will eat my tilapia fried, poached, crumbed or king-sized. Second, my substantive preoccupation: the feeling that I need to express how grateful I am to all of you. I will work on my acknowledgements over the coming weeks and post them here. Sorry for being lax on the updates. I’ll post my thoughts on the past week soon!