Stop, Collaborate and Listen

I think that I am made most aware of cultural differences between my home country and my host country during community field work. I always work with a student from the local university while walking door to door to collect data in the community. We walk at a steady pace; though to my partner I am 'always in a rush' or ' walking too fast.' Usually I can attribute this to excitement, I know exactly how little time I have left here and I know that I want it to be spent in a worthwhile way. 

                              

 My field partner this past week, Raymond, is a pro a taking things calmly and in their due time. It’s a trait that he seems to share with many of the people that we work with. And also a trait that I feel the local language lends itself to. Conversations in Tshivenda begin with a greeting that almost feels rehearsed in the way that it flows back and forth between the two speakers. We start with hello, then a greeting that is dependent on the time of the day, which is followed by a question asking how the other person is or how their day has gone. This greeting is a few phrases long and it took me quite a while to get completely comfortable with speaking it in Tshivenda. After the greeting the conversation style turns to a slower pace and becomes more thoughtful.

One aspect of field work that has surprised me is the way that community members respond to our presence. Usually before we are able to say anything or explain why we are there, the person we are talking to has rushed off to get chairs for us to sit or asked a child to retrieve them. No one here speaks more than pleasantries while standing, all other communication has to be done while sitting. It’s a habitual thing that has caused me to look more closely at my own ways of communication with people. (and has also lead to me being called out when my habits don’t exactly align with those around me.)

My time in the field has led to so many wonderful experiences, along with moments of extreme confusion. I feel that I learn the most in those moments just after express that confusion, when I look over to my field partner after we’ve left a house and ask him to ‘Tell me everything that just happened and explain it slowly.’ Allowing myself to pause in these moments and process large chunks of information with my field partner has led our collaboration to be so much more rewarding than it would have been otherwise. It has also reminded me that living in the moment is so much more important than counting them down.