First Interviews and big beach party

Dear all,

Another week has passed, and this time a week with a lot of activities. The first interviews have been held, there was a ceremony for the new utrasound in the clinic and there was a nice party on the beach.

This week the work really started, but it's much more difficult than I expected. There is a huge communication problem caused by cultural differences. Of course it is more a challange than a problem, after all it is something that can be over come.
The first interviews really were hard to do, I had a very unsatisfied feeling after monday, so I changed the questions a bit and talked to my interpreter on how to do it differently. Because people here do not say when they do not understand something, because they are so afraid of 'loss of face', it is hard for me to know whether they understood me or not. My brother Simon has been coaching me on the problem with helpfull tips and listening ear (is there such an expression in english?). I can't even explain how happy I am that I have someone here who I can talk to about my research and the cultural problems.
Wednesday I did another session of interviews, and even though they did go a lot better, it is really hard to make the people talk and open up. It is probably also shyness that makes them reserved in answering. On friday I tried a new approach, asking them a lot of irrelevant questions, easy to answer, such as what did you do yesterday? Just to get a little idea about their lives and have them get used to talking to me. The questions are easy to answer, because it is not too personal, in comparison to questions about abortion and contraceptives. However for me it is sometimes not easy to listen to the stories they tell me. A lot of women have miscarriages and abortion really does seem to be used as a form of contraceptives here. I am surprised they tell it so easily though. They probably do it because they think I have knowledge in medicine because I met them at the clinic.

What fun stuff did I do this week. Well I did have a few dinners again. Francois Crabbe had come down from phnom penh to be here for a little ceremony. The clinic received their first ultrasound, so there were some 'important people' who did some speeches. However on monday night they first went out for dinner, and I was invited too. The things I eat here would usually be more or less out of budget for me, but if you are invited you do not have to pay. I did feel more or less out of place as a student, but everyone was very nice to me. On tuesday Mr Serirath knocked on my door and asked if I wanted to join me for dinner. Which I of course accepted. He is a nice Khmer guy who is helping me out a lot.
The rest of the week I stayed more or less in the guesthouse as the interviews were tiring.
However yesterday was an exception, and I went to a party somewhere along the beach. It was crazy. We drank 'buckets', which are small buckets filled with Rum, Coke and Red Bull. "Me and my bucket" were having a lot of fun on the dancefloor, and somewhere along the line I was dancing in the sea around some fire, and there were shows with fire. It was so much fun, and after all the hardwork of the week, it was very enjoyable to just let go, and party.

Well I think this sums it up nicely for this week. I again added 3 pictures. One of a buddha statue somewhere along the beach, another one of me and marcelm the swiss guy, and one of the ultrasound ceremony.

I cannot wait to read all your messages again. They are very uplifting to read. Sometimes it does get a bit lonely here, just being by myself, and than it is wonderful to know you guys are still thinking about me.

Marnix how is the moving going? I cannot wait to come and see your new place. BTW did Barca win that game you were talking about?

I heard there is actually snow again there? Here it is really getting very hot. Although we had a lot of rain here last week, the streets were just big mudpools. I am still waiting for the perfect sunset up on sihanouk mountain at Wat Lau. Hopefully I can show you pictures of that next week.

Lots of Love,

Loes

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