Another Realization a.k.a. 'What happens there stays there'

Another realization that I once again had about my area of research is the fact that in an obvious sort of way it resembles Las Vegas with all its lights at night etc. Of course, it is a lot smaller than Vegas and has an official red light district and in Vegas prostitution is strictly forbidden (not in the rest of the state of Nevada, though). One thing, however, they surely have in common is the saying 'What happens in ..., stays in ...'. Most of us will probably know the saying 'What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas' or at least have heard of it. Of course, it is often mentioned in the context of gambling and people going crazy and party there and all that; if we go down the 'go crazy'-part a bit further, this is what it also means really. People do meet there having affairs, one night stands, meet up with hookers etc.

This actually reminds me of my first visit to the US, in which I completed an internship for a company and some employees of that company went on a business trip to Vegas. One night while drinking one of the women came on to one of the guys and tried to get him into bed using the exact same saying. 'Come on', she said. 'What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, right?' He politely declined the offer, though.

But coming up to what I actually wanted to say in this blog. I actually intended to interview one of the prostitutes and asked her in a very blunt way, but of course she was really secretive about she did and didn't really reveal anything. But her answer also told me a great deal about this area. If you're not living and working here, I believe it is so difficult to actually get and understand the codes and mannerisms and unwritten laws of the area. This is also the imoression that I had one night when I was strolling over the Albers Platz and the Reeperbahn. What you get to see is the face everybody puts on for all the tourists and other visitors of the area in order to get them leave their money here. Similar to Vegas, it's almost all show...and to get underneath this, to get down to what the area is really like, what people are really like, I guess this is just possible if you have either have at least one person that connects you to the inside of it or otherwise you are a part of it yourself.

This will also be one of the difficulties that my main character in my story encounters along the way...