Catching up!
What a whirlwind it has been! I attribute my lack of updates to "travel brain," in which I am feeling very disconnected from real life. I am doing all the things I've set out to do, but they are in a bubble, isolated from the real world. This is probably in large part because I have no grounding force here: I'm on my own, all decisions have to be made by me, and there's no one to do me any errands or favors. I have no routine and my time has been extremely flexible. But nonetheless, let's catch up!
Berlin
The interviews in Berlin ended up being wonderful. I had a German/IS interpreter for my discussion with museum staff, and just as in Ottawa, they hit a lot of the points I was expecting them to hit. The same goes for my work with deaf participants, of which there were two. As I expected, it was more an "interview" structure than a discussion or focus group, but as both participants work in the museum field, it made for a really great conversation where - once again - they confirmed a lot of my hypotheses. It feels really cool for that to be happening. Obviously I have all these ideas, but I can't just use my own opinions, I have to get outside confirmation for my research. And it's being confirmed!
This night picture was much worse, but I wanted to share it with some enhancement, because this is the Berlin Wall on Bernauer Straße.
Amsterdam
My arrival in Amsterdam was delayed three and a half hours due to Deutsche Bahn issues and the weather, but I made it. I love Amsterdam, and I really wish I had scheduled more time for it. I joined a free Dutch Sign Language (NGT) tour at the Dutch Resistance Museum, and while I don't know NGT, I picked up about 40% of the content in part because I could read along with the exhibition text in English (the tour focused on the Cas Oorthuys exhibit). I also paid €80 for an International Sign tour at the Van Gogh Museum, which was fantastic - it was 1:1 and I understood 100% of it. I suspect it's quite unusual to drop that kind of money on a private tour alone, but it's part of my research!
I got to see Prikkiedik again! I love this cat. Thank you PRIK staff for always being so wonderful!
London
I was a bit hampered by the 25th and 26th being holidays, but I knew that was coming. I managed to find one museum to visit on Boxing Day, at least. This was definitely the easiest stop of my trip, because I had a wonderful, cozy home base at my friend Mindy's (🩷🤟🏻) and I didn't have to navigate anything in a foreign language. As expected, well-funded museums like the Science Museum did a great job with accessibility and inclusion, and lesser-supported places like the Museum of Brands did not. I wish I could've stayed much longer in London, too.
I borrowed Mindy's coat for some of my walking around, because London was twice as warm as I was expecting. I didn't need a big winter coat at all on this trip! I wish I hadn't ripped my leather jacket the night before I left - it would've been perfect and so much more convenient.
Buenos Aires
I've just finished a couple of days of trotting around town, and my first interview is tomorrow, with the staff at Museo Casa de Yrurtia. Buenos Aires has been a challenge for a lot of reasons, but mainly because English is not spoken much. I think I've settled in enough, though, to feel confident about tomorrow! Or at least that's what I'm telling myself, right? 😉
How have I only taken one selfie in three days?! I think that reflects my stress level - it's crowded here and I don't want to stop to take pictures. My buddy here, though, is Clemente, a character from Carlos Loiseau's comics.
That's it for now. Next update will almost assuredly be after I am home. I'll put a reminder on my calendar!