Halfway There

By Lucas Gonzalez, Florida State University

Hello everyone! Lucas here with another update from Berlin! I’m approaching the halfway point of my time here, and the experience has been so fruitful.

The biggest surprise has been how much my confidence has grown once I started actually doing the interviews. Last week I finally got to do my first real interviews, and there’s something really special about traveling across the city to sit in someone’s living room and hear their story. My first interview was with a Venezuelan journalist, and I have to admit I was pretty nervous beforehand. There I was, a college student with my phone as a recorder and a notebook, about to interview someone who’s probably conducted more interviews than I’ve even listened to. My mentor Dr. Wass and I spent time strategizing how to approach this without having her slip into “journalist mode” with her responses. He gave me a good pointer to treat these as genuine conversations rather than formal interviews, which would get me much better insights.

But as soon as that first interview started, all my nerves just dissipated. After the first few minutes, I noticed how engaged and connected I felt with what she was telling me. It lasted over an hour but felt like it went by very quickly. Afterwards, we talked for a while and she gave me some new contacts to reach out to. Walking away from that gave me a confidence boost I didn’t even realize I needed. On the way home, I remember thinking about how much easier things will feel when I’m back in Tallahassee putting myself out there in a town I’m more familiar with.

Another surprise has been how reserved Berliners can be, despite this being such a progressive city. When I first got here, I felt social anxiety I didn’t even know I had. My attempts at connecting with people at Venezuelan restaurants were pretty clumsy. I’d order food, bring my notebook to write down participant observations, then after about an hour approach the staff asking about interviews. Unsurprisingly, this direct approach wasn’t really successful.

Two photos taken at the festival of cultures

After discussing this with my mentor, Dr. Wass, I realized my whole strategy needed to change. Instead of the awkward restaurant approach, I’m planning to bring my brother along to make interactions feel more natural and less formal. We also talked about the importance of “giving before taking”—maybe buying someone a beer, genuinely listening to their stories first, and building authentic connections before ever mentioning research. It sounds obvious now, but I was so focused on my research agenda that I forgot about just being human first.

What’s been going really well though is how deep these conversations have gotten. People have been incredibly generous with their time and stories. I’ve had just two formal interviews, but several great conversations with Latin Americans living here so far.  Doing fieldwork at events like the Festival of Cultures forced me way outside my comfort zone, but that’s also where some genuine connections have happened. I think by the end of this experience, my favorite memories will be these conversations.

The biggest challenge I’m facing is that the Venezuelan community here is much more diverse than I anticipated, and I’m concerned I’m only seeing one part of it. The people I’m connecting with had some privilege in their migration journey—they’re married to EU citizens, received academic grants, or had financial resources to relocate. I’m definitely missing significant parts of the story. There’s this Chilean woman I’ve been talking to who goes to Leipzig where there’s apparently a group of Venezuelan migrants in much more difficult situations. She brings them clothes and supplies, and I’m hoping to go with her soon to get a different perspective.

The uncertainty has been challenging to adjust to. I spent every hour leading up to that first interview going over my questions, making sure they could help me understand their lives much better. But what I’ve learned is that being flexible and going with the flow gets me way better information than sticking rigidly to my questions. My research plan has changed a lot since I got here, and I’m sure it’ll keep evolving as I build these relationships.

These next six weeks are going to be interesting. I’m excited to see where the conversations take me, especially as I start building these relationships over multiple meetings rather than one-and-done interviews.

Well, that is all for now once again. I hope all of you reading my blog have been doing well. Also, tell someone you appreciate them today!