FML!!!!!
Do you ever feel as if you just want to
stand up, flip the little table in front of you over, spilling all its contents
onto the floor and then screaming in frustration until your lungs give out, and
one finished just glare at anyone looking at you just incase they might think
about making some smart ass comment to you?
That is exactly how I am feeling today, that is how I have been feeling
for the last month, and I am very tired of feeling this way. Oh, and incase you have not understood it I am
going to just plainly state that this blog post is going to be one where I
whine and bitch my little heart out.
I just have to start at the beginning so
that you can try to understand the frustration that I am actually
experiencing. I arrived in Jogja around
the 6th of December and immediately got sick and basically lay in my
room for a week. During this time I
contacted the professor that I had met in Norway and who I would be having as a
supervisor while here. He was unable to
meet me until about a week and a half after I got better. I thought the meeting with him went quite
well, he told me that he knew of someone who could be my assistant and
translator and that they would be back in town in about a week. I was also
given permission to use the research center for the department as a work
place. Sounds great right?
Well, a week passes and no sign of this
person who is supposed to help me.
Christmas rolls around and I take four days on Bali and come back, still
no sign of the person that is supposed to help me. I therefore contact the professor I had met
two weeks ago who then goes on to put me in contact with this mystery
person. I meet him the next day and it
turns out that I have seen him wandering around for the past week even said hi
to him without knowing that it was him who would be helping me. We have a nice little talk and I tell him
that I am about ready to start doing interviews and I talk with him a bit about
where I could hold my interviews. He also tells me that he would like to take
me out on a trip to see some different places before I start with the
interviews. At the time I think this
sounds like a nice thing and we could maybe hold a few interviews while on this
day trip. Well, a few days later I am
ready for going out on this trip and he tells me it will be another week before
he can do this since he was busy with other things.
Finally on the 16th of January
he has time and we set out. He also
tells me this day that we wont be able to do any interviews since I do not have
my letters and papers in order through the district offices. So I sit down on
the back of our moped and think “WTF why has he not mentioned this before now…
I have been waiting on his ass for weeks.” At this point I would also like to
mention that I had received a letter of invitation from the university down
here and I honestly thought this would be enough. So, after quite a nice day of
looking at Merapi (this was really a nice day and I will try my best to upload
some pictures of this in a blog update soon) I find out that I can expect the
letters from the research center to be done by the end of the next week. This
was because the one person that could actually write the letter was sick and
the one person who could sign the letters was out of town. Great!
So I wait for the letters and finally get
them around the 26th of January and head off to start on my
interviews. My spirits were high and I
have a friend with me that would help me with my interviews since the guy that
was helping me was not great in English.
We arrive at the village office and our letter is rejected. Apparently
we need some other letters. So heading back to the research center (it had been
a long day, driving for about 3 hours on a moped, getting a bit lost and having
a flat tire). At the research center we talk with the administration there and
find out that he professor I met during the beginning of my trip had kind of
just pushed me off onto the center and told them to help me without saying much
else. They were unsure of what they were
supposed to do, none of them were that good in English so I could not
understand what most of them said either way, I had no idea the whole center
was supposed to be helping me and I had not had any contact with said
professor. Either way we are told that the right letters will be made for me
but since it is Friday it will have to be next week.
On Tuesday my letter are ready and we are
able to go to the Province office to apply for permission to do research. After an hour or so there and a bit of
twisting of the truth I get my golden letter and we are off to the Regency
office to get some more letters. We go
there and after about an hour and a half we have those letters in hand and take
off to deliver like 12 different letters to different offices that will need
them. Once this is in order things go
quite well. I get in a few interview and
then it is the weekend and my translator helps me find a new translator since
she has prior engagements that she will have to fulfill.
So this past Thursday I meet my new and
third translator and am ready for Monday and to get started. On Friday evening I happen to look into my
passport and see to my surprise that my visa has expired. This came as a bit of
a shock since I was very sure that it was to last for my entire trip. So I have either just not noticed that I
would have to renew it or I have seen it and then it has slipped my mind again,
something that is very possible considering how stressed I have been lately.
This evening I also get a text from my translator telling me that she will not
be allowed to help me because her father is not allowing her to go into the
area where I will be doing translations.
Something about the area being too dangerous.
So now I am very much looking forward to
Monday and hopefully getting my visum in order, meeting translator number 4,
and trying to extend my stay her in Indonesia for a few more weeks!
Yes, I know some of these problems are my fault, like the problem with the visum and yes I probably should have been a little more aggressive when it comes to meeting and staying in contact with the professor. So if you read this and have the urge to write me some smartass comment then please go break all your fingers (this was the nicest thing I could come up with).
And I leave you with one the pictures of Merapi. Will try to post another happier post soon!
