Three month review

Hi, I’ve just returned from my Visa renewal break in Darwin. Thought I should send a brief email to catch you up on my progress and what I’m planning to do in the remaining ten or so weeks here.

I’ve put in a conference abstract for the 2014 Pacific Islands Political Science Association (PIPSA) Conference, and I’m looking at putting another one in for the Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA), which is due in early February.

In terms of interviews, I’m satisfied with what I’ve done in my various district trips (Manatuto, Baucau, Lautem, Ermera, and Liquica), and I will focus now on interviews in Dili. In total, I have 29 interviews, of around 20-40 minutes in length in most cases.

My list of interview targets still has at least eight people on it, and in addition, I plan to chase up members of parliament in the next three weeks. I estimate I will probably have well over forty interviews when the dust settles. I already feel like I’ve got enough for the three chapters I need to fill out, but I think it’s worth the effort to get as much as I can (within reason) while I’m here. One concern I had was about getting a better gender balance in my interviews. Most of the representatives of political parties I’ve interviews have been male. It’s just how it’s turned out in the districts. I’m going to target female MPs to try and get a better balance. Though this does reflect the male dominated/patriarchal nature of life here…

Interviews will start slowing up and I want to dedicate more time to transcribing and translating the interviews I’ve got. I would like to spend as little time as possible, preferably none, having to deal with this task when I return. Would like to hit the ground running with analysis and writing. Speaking of which, I also want to put adequate time aside to draft chapter three while I’m here.

Otherwise, I’m in pretty good shape health wise. No major health issues, just a minor ear infection, which is frustrating but not serious. Humid of course but we had our first major dose of rain last night, which was of great relief. My remaining time here will go quickly but I’m feeling very motivated and keen to get the most out of my time here.

I’ll sign off now, hope all’s well.

Cheers, Evan

Pics from Ermera

Halfway mark

So, I am more or less at the halfway point of my trip here. Twelve weeks down, thirteen to go. It’s gone pretty quickly, as time tends to when you’re busy. It has felt like a very intense period of time for me, particularly the last two months when I began traveling to the districts and doing interviews. I’ve completed 22 individual interviews with representatives of political parties, with at least a couple more lined up. I’ve also conducted a bunch of further interviews with other relevant individuals. Must be close to thirty for sure.

I really don’t know how many I need. I think I may have mentioned in an earlier blog how I was planning to do as many as I could. Well, for various reasons (financial, time, and energy levels) I won’t be doing any further trips to the districts for interviews. I really feel I’ve already got enough but I think I can spare two more weeks in November and early December to chase up some Members of Parliament and a few other stragglers I’ve been unable to meet so far.

The task now is to transcribe and translate the interviews. I deliberately wanted to get the interviews done relatively early so I would have time to do this. I’d prefer to have everything sorted by the time I return home so I can hit the ground running.

Dad returned home last week. It was a really nice time with him; coincided with a flattening of my energy levels. I was able to enjoy the time with him. We did a bit of traveling, including visit to the school he was supporting in Ossuhuna. Photos from that trip are on this blog.

I completed my district work earlier this week in Ermera, town of Gleno. It was so cool there, loved it. I even slept with a blanket one night. Was a very productive trip and it was so nice to get away from Dili. It really is very warm here. And humid. This is what people in the NT would call the build up. Where oh where is the rain? Can’t come soon enough for me. Though I may come to regret these words, careful what you wish for right?

Attached some photos of me from this trip here.

Heading to Darwin for about five days before returning. You can only extend your visa here for three months. I kinda feel like I could come home. But I know there are still people I want to interview here. Once I hit December, I’ll start working on Chapter three, which I hope to complete a draft of by the end of January.

I think I’ll sign off now. Don’t have anything really planned this week. Want to deliberately slow down and catch up on some odds and ends. Oh yeah, really enjoying my gym sessions. Found a new gym here and it is SO MUCH BETTER than the last one. This one has a squat rack! Feeling motivated to get there as often as I can manage it.

Take care, adious, Evan