{"id":323,"date":"2019-07-11T07:59:29","date_gmt":"2019-07-11T07:59:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.plantagbiosciences.org\/people\/clare-o-keeffe\/?p=323"},"modified":"2019-07-11T11:49:55","modified_gmt":"2019-07-11T11:49:55","slug":"the-interviews-have-begun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.plantagbiosciences.org\/people\/clare-o-keeffe\/2019\/07\/11\/the-interviews-have-begun\/","title":{"rendered":"The Interviews Have Begun"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This week, I finally started carrying out interviews. I am 5 interviews in and up to this point all have been with fruit or vegetable sellers, some of whom are wholesalers as well. A couple of these ladies (so far all ladies) wake up at 1 am and travel to Long Bien market (the wholesale market which I posted about last week) to start their day. Here they buy their produce, load up their motorbikes, and drive to the market which opens for business at 6 am. Others grow their own vegetables and sell these at the market. All of them have permanent spaces inside the market which they pay a yearly fee for. It’s a busy place with lots of activity inside and there seems to be a good rapport between all of the sellers. Competition doesn’t seem to be a factor even though quite often neighbouring vendors sell the exact same products. I have been greeted with a mix of suspicion and curiosity but all have been very welcoming and there has even been an attempt by one seller to marry me off to her “con trai r\u1ea5t \u0111\u1eb9p trai” meaning very handsome son!<\/p>\n\n\n\n