In three hours I leave for South Africa. The trip spans three days, so I am going to be out of the loop for a bit, mostly likely until the weekend. No blogging until I am setup down there.

Wish me luck.

On January 20th, I am moving to Durban, South Africa for a year. Durban will be my base from which to conduct field research around Southern Africa relating to my dissertation. During that time, my wife is taking a year off from medical school to complete a masters program in development at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The move is the culmination of almost two years of preparations on our part. We are excited. Southern Africa is my family’s homeland and going back fulfills a longtime goal. There will certainly be more details to come, but three things are worth noting upfront:

First, I will continue to write Conflict Health in Durban. Writing this site is far too enjoyable to stop now. My best ideas have come from posts on this site, especially those critiqued by commentors.

Second, in addition to regular posts, I am planning on writing a series of posts about my time in Africa. The series will focus primarily on the experience of conducting research there. Hopefully it will both be useful and entertaining for readers.

Third, if you live in South Africa, are coming out for the World Cup (we have quarter-final tickets), or know great people there, please send me an email. Having been spoiled by all the interesting people to meet in the Bay Area, I would love the opportunity to meet more while in South Africa.

Cheers all,