Welll..

Today was a strange day... Like a nice Sunday but quite stressed too, with lots of work to do and DB's sis arriving this evening... Unfortunately her flight was cancelled so she is on a coach which won't get in until 3am! Rubbish!

Did lots of reading today. Have fantastic book about preparing for fieldwork and it has helped me loads - both for future research but also in retrospect... So much stuff I felt guilty about, like staying in ok guesthouses (no AC or 'owt, but you know, no cockroaches all the time either... and hot water... and maybe a hammock...) instead of manky grot holes or eating local food all the time - is actually really normal and encouraged if it means you have a 'comfort zone' from which to poke your head out of and do the hard bits... so was most pleased to hear about that. And there is more of it in other books I will read so think going back to India may be a more positive experience than I had dared to hope...

Speaking of India, I have just had a very odd, but also pleasing and perplexing email from Kuna, my contact in Site One. I asked him if he would help me with my research and be my research assistant, as I am now pregnant and won't be able to come out to India and do the research by myself over a long period of time as I had hoped. Which is all great, because he emailed back almost straight away to enthusiastically say yes. I assumed he would to be honest, as it will mean extra money for him and also research experience to help with PhD applications. It is great for me; he will be able to get my research underway so when I get there I just have to make sure it is on track and tie it up, it means that he can talk fluently to people in Tamil and gain info I couldn't possibly get, he works with my respondant group every day as a social worker - they really respect and like him - and he has brains and, I believe, integrity. It also means the research can be led more by Indian people, lending more authority to it presenting an 'Indian voice'. So this is all *excellent*. Obviously there are pitfalls, I will work these out over the next couple of days as I sort out a 'plan' of sorts for us and the research. Oh, also, he said he is really interested in the research and would like to help it so that is good. I believe him when he says that, as most people in India I have spoken to about it are so pleased anyone from the West cares about them now the Tsunami is long over...

But now the strange things... Firstly, he is flummoxed that I am pregnant and asked if I am now married then. Obviously this is a bit of a sticking point I will have to be delicate with, ethics-wise. I don't want to lie, but then I don't want him/everyone thinking I am a tart either. So... I shall have to ask my Sup about this one! DB wondered why I even told him, but I felt I wanted to be honest as I am not going out in Sept any more but July, and also am not working with them for three months as I promised but 3 weeks... and not even a proper three weeks as I will be having to concentrate on other interview areas too. So I blabbed about Bean and now he is confused because obviously you can't have a baby and not be married! Lordy no. I actually feel a bit bad. But I did have to say - I couldn't go out and be nearly five months gone and in that heat and on that transport (like crammed chickens) and not have anyone know - what if something happened?! I just have to be honest about it. Also, I may well be showing! I may be sick and tired and not wanting to eat local food or pineapple or something. Who knows?! Also, it may even help my cause to be preggers, a woman my age being unmarried and without a family is a strange thing in my research-world... Now I may present as being more 'normal' which will only help with making friends... If they don't find out I am unmarried!!!

Second strange thing is that he has asked me to buy him a digital camera?! He knows what model, I just have to buy it here and then he will give me the money in India! It sounds so dodgy and it is really, but he is really nice and very honest, really. I won't do it - well, I will ask my Sup what he thinks. Anyway, there are lots of shops in India?! In Chennai there are lots of electrical shops. You can buy laptops, mobiles and all sorts for about the same price if not cheaper than here. So I am not sure about that at all. It weirds me out, but I am trying not to let it too much because I don't want it to cast a shadow over our working relationship. Basically, I *need* him. And I really feel that he will be a total asset - the saviour - to, and of, my fieldwork. Really. Otherwise, there is none really. I will not go out for longer than a month so if he has managed a month of interviews etc before I get there - wow! Lots of info! And I can interview the people on the beach and in the restaurants, and go and see the camps etc - which is what I am good at.

So really exciting and a great step forward - my Sup will be sooooo pleased (and relieved!) - yet quite strange... Camera indeed. Tut.

x J