Luckily the map was very accurate, and the sign was clear, so we went in. There were about 6 people inside, all seated, who of course turned to stare at us as we walked in. Not sure what to do we stood for a minute, then found seats. My plan was to observe and then insert ourselves into the mix once we knew what was going on. The only confusing part was many of those waiting had the same uniform on, were they delivery people?
But, in true Balinese fashion, after flashing a smile at one woman, which she returned, I attempted to mime to her, asking if we should just go up. She smiled again, and then started talking to us in English, saying that we should put our postcards in the box, and then he would call us. We did so, the man called us, told us the price (in English!) and before we knew it we’d successfully mailed things in Bali. If you don’t get a postcard in 2 weeks, never fear though, this is the first test batch, and I still have 2 more countries to visit!
Then it was off to school, where we had more frustrations, misunderstandings and confusion. Though that may sound awful in reality it was fine, and though the days are definitely getting longer and more involved, I can feel that we are going to make real progress in the next few weeks. For now my group is pursuing the relationship of teen pregnancy and high school dropouts. Tomorrow is our first day of field research, so we are working on doing more research tonight and then starting out bright and early tomorrow morning to try and meet with schools, organizations and find other resources.
Lessons Learned:
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