Katarina in the Mountains

USA v. England

2010-06-27T06:11:00.001-04:00

What an experience all around! The day started early (though apparently not early enough) when Javon came to pick us up around 1pm. We randomly met these folks in line for tickets where they bought our extras for the game. As we made plans to exchange tickets, it quickly turned into ‘we’ll drive’ then ‘come over for a braai at our place first’, which we were quick to agree to on all fronts. The food was incredible and abundant: local sausage, pork chops AND beautiful steaks, not to mention several delicious sides, salad and milk tart, a smooth, subtle desert that reminds you of the holidays.

We left the house a little after 4pm for the 8:30pm kick-off as the stadium in Rustenburg was a 2-hour drive with the last bit being only a 2-lane road for all the 40 thousand fans (!!). Several traffic ques later, plenty of road rage and lots of vuvuleza practice we are pulling into the park and ride at about 7:45pm and getting more than a bit nervous. Several large busses are lined up waiting to take folks to the stadium, however, we climbed onto the one bus who apparently had never driven there before….with only minutes until kick-off she drove us away from the stadium and pulled several u-turns before finally making it to the horrendously planned vehicle entrance for the bright lights, where we immediately hopped off and booked the last bit on our own, making it into the stadium seconds before the teams entered the field!

The energy was electric, though it was rather disappointing to have the reserved fan areas so incredibly mixed with US and England fans, and there is certainly some bad blood. Several hand gesture exchanges could be seen throughout the stadium and one of the more popular chants on our side was ‘1776’.

Considering that we were in a newly renovated stadium, it was rather disappointing that the scoreboard, clock or replay screen did not work, especially when our goal went in… The final blow to the organization of the new stadium, however, was trying to get the hell out. The buses were coming in at exactly the same intersection as mobs of people were exiting and it was completely deadlocked for hours. Our cars were about 5-miles away and not exactly walkable, so we hit up the only bar in the area (full of England fans who were by and large NOT pleased, we heard a few ‘f*** the US’ as we walked in with our garb) while we waited for the crowds to thin out. The frustration was so high that when the first empty buses came to pick us up people rushed the doors, causing some panic and a few injuries.

So after our beers, we qued up again and finally were on our way back to the park and ride where of course, nobody was moving so we settled in with some more beers and plenty of biltong (talk about delicious) to watch the spectacle. In the end we arrived back at the hostal at 4am, almost simultaneously with the various other convoys of US fans returning from the stadium.

Bafana Bafana!

2010-06-27T06:10:00.001-04:00

After an adventurous drive from the Johannesburg airport, we arrived to a busy hostel with plenty of folks from all over excited about the upcoming games. Our first night was rather mellow, sitting around a fire pit in the back yard talking football statistics and comparing country stereotypes while slurping down delicious local beers. The hostel owners joined us later, teaching us some valuable, and some not so valuable Afrikaans.

A few days of walking around Pretoria later, seeing the South African executive buildings, the Voortrekker monument and embassy row, we prepared for the opening games: Bafana Bafana v. Mexico. There was a mall (though think more like beer garden) around the corner from our hotel so we planned to watch there, but were way too late considering the amount of local support and the doors were closed. So the group (about 8 of us) was desperately wandering around looking for a bar minutes before kick-off (as you will see later this is a theme) when we stumbled into Cofi (subtitled eatchillate) where we wedged ourselves onto the floor between large leather couches full of fans (and yes, their vuvulezas). It was rather uncomfortable but a great vantage point for the big game. We were happy to be in a purely South African crowd, instead of the mixed bag that would have been the beer garden where we were originally aiming. The celebration after their goal was phenomenal.

As the game rounded down, the DJ eased up the volume on the tunes and we all easily segued into a full-on dance party which continued through the next game and well into the night. Only once the music really picked up did we realize that we had crashed a VIP room. Not long after we began to boogie we were approached by the folks sitting on the couches in front of us who wanted to test out our dance moves. As a group we did fairly well, and for those of you who know him, not surprisingly, my brother was made honorary African American by the group after teaching them ‘bootie call’.

World Cup 2010

2010-06-03T22:01:00.002-04:00

So, certainly a different set of mountains (though the diurnal extremes are similar to where I've spent the last year and change), but I am off soon to the hills of South Africa where I will be joining soccer fans from around the world to celebrate the 2010 World Cup, the first games hosted on the African continent!

Stay tuned for updates from our trip across eastern South Africa (as we assume you are following the games on your own). After a LONG layover in Munich, we start in Johannesburg for the days leading up to the first game with England, then head north to Nelspruit, just outside the southern entrances to Kruger National Park (one site to find the 'Big Five'), back to Gauteng for another two games, then off to the east coast to camp on the beach with elephants! Hopefully the 4-man can deal with the herds...

More soon. Happy footballing!

Buses, taxis and lots of walking

2009-10-17T18:49:00.004-04:00

Okay, so not surprisingly for those of you who do or have lived outside of the Western work-a-day world, not too terribly much has been accomplished in the past few weeks. At least not much vis-a-vis interviews, though I have been able to get up to my site several times and re-connected with folks. However, between the first week of panic to finish my 'narrated powerpoint' for the November conference (suddenly it was due in early October!) and the many days of celebration in Huaraz for war heros, and independence in the villages, it has been difficult to get up the mountain.

Now that I live in Huaraz instead of Copa itself, I am dependent on the various cars and buses that go up and down the mountain. When I first arrived, the unpaved road up and down to Copa was in terrible shape with huge swaths washed out entirely or deep potholes. Fortunately, last January, the district decided to spend the money to fix the road, and now it is a fairly decent ride (though my parent's might disagree...its all relative). As such, there is much more traffic up and down because taxistas and others no longer fear for the life of their vehicles on the journey. There is even now a bus up and down for the professors of the primary school during the week, which is usually what I catch to go up (at 7am). But, if there is a school holiday, and when the rainy season break comes up (December to March) I have to find other ways. There are taxis that go up and down the mountain, but they charge quite a bit of money for a sole passenger, which is not in the budget. On market days (Wednesday and Sunday) these taxis take carloads of people up and back for just a few soles. Otherwise, I try to connect with the medical folks who go up and down the mountain, even throughout the rainy season, so as to keep the taxi costs down as much as we can. Although it is in their best interest to have me go up and back with them (it lowers the overall cost to have more people) they are less than reliable when/if their schedules changes.

Anyway, this week will not be much different as Copa is holding the annual 'fiestas patrias' to celebrate their independence from the patrons in 1978. It is a full week of celebration (aka drinking) starting tomorrow with a Mass (following by dancing and drinking) then the week is generally a time of less work, more play (and a semi-permanent state of drunkeness), and then Thursday and Friday are the main days of celebration in which there are three story firework wheels, four or five bands which play all day and night, who knows how much beer, all-night dancing in circles around the fireworks structures, and bull running! I was quite surprised about the bull running event, but was assured by several women who have adopted me as their own that I would not be running with the bulls. No kidding ladies. I get nervous just walking near the damn things when they are tethered to the earth. I hope to avoid the majority of the debauchery and participate only in the structured drinking events where fireworks are involved...

During my final week for this round of work, a reporter from LA that visited me last year around this time is coming again to follow-up and do a story on the 'life of a researcher'. We are visiting some other sites in the valley that are working on responses to water scarcity and climate change issues (unlike my fieldsite...), including one that is 're-introducing' ancient techniques of water management in an attempt at adaptation. Should be an interesting few weeks all around!

Home Sweet Home?

2009-09-29T09:51:00.002-04:00

Back I am. To be honest I was entirely unsure as to how I would feel upon arriving back in my current country of residence. But when I began the long taxi ride though Lima it was a comfort to see the sights I have come to know so well. For me Lima has been many things to me throughout the past year. There were times when I thought of it as a conceited capital not worth the time, energy and money to visit. That of course changed as I met folks there through conferences, got to know students who moved to Lima from Huaraz for school, and became closer to my Fulbright colleagues. Either way, I am now completely comfortable with the city, and enjoy whatever time I do have to take advantage of wonderful restaurants, beautiful parks, and although the faces of Lima have almost continually evolved, the friendships that have developed. It also helps that modern creature comforts can be found within, which is always a good break from the dusty (or rainy depending on the time of year) frontier town of Huaraz.

Speaking of, I arrived 'home' to a sunny afternoon with a comforting breeze. Fortunately, it has not begun raining yet, and I think I'll have a few solid weeks to enjoy before the deluge happens. This year is El Nino, which means that the highlands will see long bursts of torrential rain. This translates into dangerous times because of the resulting mudslides and of course the damage that type of rain inflicts on agricultural practices and pasture animals.

Otherwise, life continues as normal here. I will be moving back and forth between Copa and Huaraz interviewing folks and observing village life and times.

Peru Take Two

2009-09-24T15:13:00.002-04:00

Crazy. My lovely yet busy time at home is coming to an end. I saw most of my people, had a fantastic time on the beach for my friend's wedding (pictures posted) and even made some good headway on a paper to be presented in November when I return briefly to Athens for the Millennium meetings of the Ecological Society of America. My only complaint is that I did not get to experience a good storm...while I am incredibly happy that it did not storm during the beach wedding, a nice thunder and lighting storm rolling through earlier in the week would have been welcome by all.

On Sunday, I am heading back up to the mountains as a Junior Specialist Staff for the University of California, Davis. A nice help in the final months of my work in Peru. While finishing my own research, I will also be providing insight and interviews for a larger multi-sited work on the local perspectives of glacier loss, which I imagine I have mentioned here before. If not, stay tuned for presentations and papers...

Visiting my country has been really wonderful and I do admit that I am looking forward to returning (somewhat) permanently in the near future. While in the short-term I will be settling in Athens to analyze and write-up, I am excited about potential future movements toward the mid-Atlantic with a J-O-B! All leads welcome!

This is just a short check-in since it has been too long since my more routine posts, but I will be back in touch next month with more entertaining stories from the field.

Enjoy!

Make me down a pallet on your floor...

2009-07-26T23:41:00.004-04:00

It is hard to believe, but after a year of high-altitude living, various unknown live-in intestinal friends, plenty of near misses, insanely jealous Latin men, gigantic slugs, rats, tocosh, incessant honking, urine allies, and too many mind- and ass-numbing bus rides, I get to come home!! For good or bad, it does not mark the true end to my dissertation research days, as I have been hired as part of a larger National Science Foundation project for a few more months. But the upside is that I get to come home for a month and unwind, and from this point on I have a lot more control over my life instead of depending on the kindness of State Departments, that is, if they don't lock me up for living off a tourist visa...

My folks came to visit in May and it was quite a trip. We made it over to the Amazon just before things blew up in Bagua, then explored the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu. As the intrepid travelers they are, they then made their way up to Huaraz, survived meeting the locals and eating cuy, not to mention a few 12+ hour tours around the Cajellon de Huaylas. Fortunately, we missed anything heavy, but we did manage to catch quite a few regional and national strikes. The folks left in early June and I spent a few days moving into and settling my apartment in Huaraz, which is saving my sanity. It is a great work space with wonderful views of the glaciers and overlooks a sweet little plaza which is great people watching. I spent a few weeks working up in Copa then had a quick but great visit from Dabies. We hike Santa Cruz, the more famous trek in the area, on about 1,000 calories...over four days! Word to the wise, do not use Galaxia tour company! July was largely spent planning, organizing and participating in a large conference on Adapting to a World without Glaciers, put together by USAID, The Mountain Institute, and your favorite university, UGA! It was great networking, and I was relieved to learn that I was still up-to-date on the regional research even after hiding out in the foothills of glaciers for a year.

There is not too much to report in these final days. As usual, it has been a roller-coaster, but I am getting lots of work done and setting up some good leads for when I return in September. Copa meanwhile is very excited that I will be joining them for their independence day celebrations in October. It is so wild! Three story spinning firework displays, non-stop dancing and too many cajas!

So get ready folks, I will be in and out of our fair country a bit over the next 6 months or so (namely in September and November), and will be looking for a place to rest my head...'make it soft, make it low, so my good girl will never know, oh make me down a pallet on your floor'...

Esa Kata

2009-04-09T22:10:00.004-04:00

This is how I am known throughout the Callejon de Huaylas, and Peru for that matter....regardless of age, gender, or village/town/city association. It literally means, 'that Kate', but is probably more accurately translated as, 'that crazy Kate' and is followed by a chuckle. And it does not matter what I am doing, I could be dancing like a fool; cursing out the national airline, bank...or really any national entity; using the latest slang; or showing off my (sad) Quechua skills.

Semana Santa, or the week leading up to Easter, was absolutely wild. It is celebrated most dramatically in the sierra, Huaraz espsecially I am told. While I cannot really compare it to other sites, it certainly lived up to its reputation. On Good Friday the entire main street of Huaraz was decorated using colored sand and flower petals to create HUGE images of Jesus, crosses and various other saints. I was blown away by the detail and sheer size of these 'carpets' but amused by those that were sponsored by the national phone company or bank, whose logos were almost as big as the Savior himself.

Lately, I think for the change of season, I have been receiving quite a few nocturnal visitors, and not the fun kind. This last week I was eye to eye with several huge spiders (I am told they are not poisonous...), the mice that have been leaving droppings all over my room, including inside my bed and all throughout my clothes (yeah...), and my all time favorite, several very very large slugs, I am talking four or five inches long and thiiiick. Nasty! Not quite sure what to do about all my new friends...except pray they don't want to be in my bed the same time I am I suppose.

In other news, since I am staying here through May of next year (to even out the academic year...although I might be tempted to stay longer because that will be the beginning of the gorgeous season here in the mountains) I have decided to take an apartment here in Huaraz. This way, I can continue research in Copa and other sites but have a solid, permanent space for an office so that I can begin organizing and writing! Anyone who knows me understands how excited I am to have a space of my own once again. And you know it will be buried in plants! The site is great because they are newly built apartments above a new restaurant that a friend here is opening, which means that when I am up in the field or away in Lima or the states, someone is there keeping an eye out...I also get to poach his wireless internet and his cable which certainly sweetens the deal. This is all still somewhat theoretical, but I am keeping my fingers crossed I can get into the apartment around the end of the month....happy birthday to me!

B-52s and Village People

2009-04-01T13:41:00.005-04:00

Oh yeah, they are alive and well and coming to Lima. Boo yaa!

I find myself at the end of another month here in Peru, the last weeks of which I have spent in the grand city of Lima. But not only in Lima, the neighborhood of Los Olivos, which is an up-and-coming neighborhood (at least parts of it) on the outskirts of the city where lots of folks from Huaraz and other highland provinces land. Still though a far cry from the lush, gentrified oceanfront communities of Miraflores and Barranco where I usually stay while in Lima. And I must admit I was purdy darn scared a few nights ago when I arrived well past curfew, without my cell (second one lost in as many weeks) and no way to get into where I was staying without waking up the whole apartment building! Finally the guard, after calming his dogs which were on the point of attack (there was not a rock in sight) and admonishing me for wandering around after hours, talked some sense into me saying, just ring the bell and ask their forgiveness because you cannot stay out here! I have since embraced living in Los Olivos as it gives me a broader view of the city (via the two hour bus rides) and has a nice neighborhood feeling...at least until dark.

I was in Lima for two weeks full of conferences on water, climate change and indigenous communities and have been bouncing between various different conferences on any given combination of the three themes, with none of them saying much of anything interesting. I did enjoy watching the environment minister speak (Peru has just created an environment ministry this year), but otherwise like any other conference, it was mostly useful in terms of networking. I met another environmental anthropologist who has worked in Ancash as well as Peruvian doctoral students (a rare find) working in hydrology and climate. As one can imagine, apart from economics the social sciences were not represented, but hopefully I can change in the coming months.

In other news, I will be extending my stay in Peru through February or March of next year at least. A large comparative NSF project is picking up Copa as one of their three sites which gives me a few months of funding outside of my Fulbright-Hays to continue research that will benefit both my dissertation and my CV. I will be coming back for two short trips in the fall however, one to celebrate the wedding of D. and A. in September, and then again to present at the first Millennium Conference of the Ecological Society of America and as part of a double panel at the American Anthropological Association meeting in Philadelphia (get ready L.!!) in November, just in time to catch my favorite season.

Chibolos and Water Balloons

2009-03-08T18:20:00.003-04:00

February is finally over. Thank goodness. February in the sierra of Peru means Carnaval, which for all intensive purposes equates to roving bands of teenage boys seeking out targets for their water balloons. In my first encounter, I managed to outrun them, but they caught up with me eventually, soaking me and my pack on the way up to Copa (becuase it ain't wet enough up there). To escape the need for head-to-toe waterproofing, I joing a band of merry dissertators on a trip to the north coast of Peru. We began in Huanchaco, a small but beautiful beach outside of Trujillo, which we used as base camp to explore the ruins of Moche culture: Chan Chan and Huaca de la Luna. Of all the beaches and ruins, Huanchaco and Huaca de la Luna was by far the most pleasant, it is highly recommended. Moving north, we were to originally stay in the beachtown near Chiclayo, but heard that it left much to be desired so decided to stay in the city itself...the first of many disasters that will forever brand Chiclayo my least favorite place in Peru (and possibly South America). Besides the ruins and museaum of Sipan, which are magnificient, there is no reason to visit this city (God certainly never did). The most important city economically in the north, it offers nothing of beauty, few restaurants and only two night spots: a Cuban place that makes a boring Mohito and a bad disco where roaches parachute from ceiling tiles onto unsuspecting breasts....yeah. We loved Chiclayo so much that we tried to leave a day early, but two of us managed to get sick, which trust me rules out bus travel.

Finally we arrive in the bohemian capital of the north, Mancora. Town of huge surf and thriving nightlife, which is periodically overrun by Chilean and Ecuadorian toursts. I had a great time reliving my Chile days. Once you find the ocean through the ramshackle of a town, there is little reason to leave the beach. First because the Panamerican Highway runs through the center of town with zero shoulder, but mostly because the beach is beautiful, the water warm and everything you could ever want comes to you: beer, ceviche... (almost to a fault, at one point when I was relieving myself down the beach from a bonfire, a man walked up very close to me and tried to offer me the rather large fish he had just caught...um, no thanks guy, kinda busy). The waves were so huge, and broke in such dramatically different places each time, that you had to have (and continue to revise on a dime) serious strategy in order to avoid being pummeled. Each success would cause me to laugh delieriosly due to the sheer thrill. Other than the mornings we watched the sun come up after a bonfire, we stayed in a hidden oasis with beautiful greenery and plenty of hammocks.

Upon returning to Huaraz, my computer immediately threw a fit and died, but not before I put all my pictures on her, deleting them from my camera in the process. I am working with a local computer center to try and salvage data, pictures, music and bad US television that is at times my salvation, so hopefully stay tuned...

Limbo lower now

2009-01-20T11:24:00.003-05:00

It is hard for me to believe that it has taken me a month (exactly!) to get back to the blogisphere but indeed it has. I was in and out of my site over the holidays then spent a week finalizing my NSF grant to continue research next year, which I think has a decent shot (current financial crisis aside). To celebrate, UGA wrote me about some accounting rules that I inadvertently broke, and so I have to now front all my research funds instead of living on a loan from them. Actually, they wrote me the day before the grant was due. Good timing. It is not the worst case scenario (yet...fingers crossed), as they will be reimbursing me monthly, but it certainly felt like it for a while. Spent last week collating receipts and writing justifications while feeling like a criminal.

This week, while waiting in the city for final word on the accounting debacle, I am keeping myself busy writing conference abstracts, interviewing regional government and NGO folks, reviewing an article for Human Organization, and outlining a paper to be co-authored with a Fulbright colleague. Meanwhile, folks in my site are calling every morning to make sure I am still planning to return, which I hope to do this weekend. I think they are concerned because I came very close to getting beat on by a sheep(!!) just before I left. He kept circling me and peeing, which I suppose was meant to scare me...and did. He had quite a look in his eye. After Yosep ran around behind him and tied him down, we laughed for about an hour since the sheep scared me more than the huge bulls I walk by everyday without blinking now. Although, knowing that the sheep is willing to come after me, I might rethink my walking paths.

Things I realized I missed this week: roasted pumpkin seeds with salt and soy sauce......mmmmmm; things I realized I loved this week: chocho, a super traditional highland dish of white beans stewed in lime juice with raw red onion and a bit of tomato......mmmmmm. Oh so good! Going for some now!

Happy inauguration!

Madrina x 2

2008-12-20T11:53:00.007-05:00

Although I was planning on staying up in Copa through Christmas, last week was wonderfully busy and I have 6 interviews, some 50 GPS points, and 40 imagines of Copa's meeting notes that I was getting increasingly anxious about backing up...especially considering that a colleague was just robbed in Lima and lost two months of work and maybe a day later my host family gave me the 'people think you have a lot of money/life here was scary during the years of terrorism/don't answer your door at night because they might be coming to rob you' speech. So it was either come down to Huaraz and back things up (in 8 places) or sleep with my recorder, camera and GPS receiver in my pants at night...I opted for backing up (and of course the hot shower sweetened the deal!).

Again I got some comments about my last entry sounding down. I was for whatever reason dragging my feet about going back up into the mountains, but felt at home again almost immediately once I arrived. Everyone was happy to have me back and several kids brought me new flowers for my hat, so many that I converted one of my few drinking receptacles into a vase...but it really ties the room together. I think the biggest cause for my hesitation was concern over screwing up the interviews, but to combat the fear I dove right into it the night I arrived and am feeling much more secure overall but note to self: no more blog entries when feeling out of sorts, it is scaring the readers.

On Wednesday I clambered back down the mountain to pick up Claes, the Swedish NPR reporter who was doing a story on climate change affects in South America. Copa was his last stop on the way back to L.A. where he lives (he pitches stories to both American and Swedish NPR, so stay tuned...). We had a great few days of recording and I was impressed at how well the folks of Copa received his huge boom (?) microphone, which intimidated the hell out of me.

After we said good-bye to Claes, my host family and I walked over to Copa Chico (no actual relation to Copa Grande, just the next village over) where I was to be the madrina (or god-mother) of two girls that were graduating from elementary school, Florcita and Cinquena. It was a sweet ceremony followed by food, beer and dancing. As the new madrina, I am now co-padres with two families. Traditionally, the child's parents cook and serve a whole cuy (guinea pig) and whole chicken for the new god parent, but since I had two families, I was given TWO whole cuyes and TWO chickens. Needless to say, most of that 'came home with me' to Huaraz, where I shared it with the Ames family (who own my second home, the hotel in Huaraz). It was a pleasant surprise how effective the ceremony was, after eating together and sharing the afternoon (which of course included a few chelas), I felt quite fond of my new co-padres and look forward to visiting in the future. I am working on getting some video up on my site so you can experience the joys of huayno and other campo pleasures, but connections are slow here so it may take some time...

Finally, many thanks to all those who thought of me over the holiday. I went to the post office yesterday and walked out with 5 packages! I am trying very hard to stick to the many 'do not open until Christmas' requests...but not sure how successful I will be.

Three…two…one…re-entry!

2008-12-10T20:38:00.001-05:00

As usual, I am reporting in with a roller coaster of emotions. With an hour or so before boarding a night bus up to Huaraz where I will spend a few days before going up into the field for a solid two weeks, I find myself dragging my feet. I’ve been staying in the city and grown quite accustomed to creature comforts, good company and delicious food. The good news is that during my border crossing last week, I talked the immigration official into giving me 183 (three?) days instead of the normal 90 before I have to renew my visa again. I was looking forward to planning a trip to Bolivia in March for the renewal, but life is much easier without having to plan around a border crossing. Now I don’t have to renew the thing until early June, which gives me plenty of time to plan a great trip to Bolivia. It will probably be the perfect time for a break before the final push in July and August. But I am definitely getting ahead of myself here…

After putting the final touches on the latest draft of my NSF application tomorrow and Friday, I have my first official Quechua lesson on Saturday. After meeting for a few hours I will head up to Copa until after Christmas. This marks the official start of project work now that everything has been set-up, which is at once overwhelming and exciting. At the moment, it feels like I can really get some good work in the next nine months, but I’m sure I’ll arrive at the end of the summer with a million things still to do. If you can believe it, we will be celebrating Christmas with the exchange of fruit cakes, or panetón. The much sought after panetón is mass produced by the same huge companies that distribute milk and ice-cream throughout much of South America; however, my host family called me from Copa to specifically request panetón from Lima. As far as I can tell, this is like asking someone to bring a Snickers from California to New York, but hey, if some nasty corporate fruit cake will make them happy, who am I to refuse?

Enjoy the holiday season wherever you are! Most of you are probably jealous of my 70 degree days, but I am missing the crisp air, snuggly fireplaces (or fireplace DVDs) and the possibility of snow! The grass is always greener I suppose, although for those who are wishing for my weather, do realize that while I’ve been away, the rains in the highlands have arrived full force, so my re-entry will have the extra twist of determining whether my floor is still in the same place it was when I left….

Andean lungs

2008-11-26T23:06:00.002-05:00

A few days in Lima has really taken the edge off; I’m feeling refreshed and ready to face the field again, although I will first spend a few days out of the country renewing my visa (specific details still to be determined).

Prior to dropping down into Barranco (a hip, up-and-coming neighborhood of Lima) I arranged several meetings with various heavy hitters in academic and development circles of Peru. These meetings have been a great success for general (and social) networking and also helped me to put Copa life in perspective. Although not in so many words these ex-pats, who have each spent 30+ years living and working in Peru, reminded me that I need not be constantly apologizing for where I come from or what I am doing, particularly since it will likely (hopefully) reach useful conclusions on many levels. Taking back a little control of my life in the village will go far in alleviating previously mentioned stressors (that and some noise canceling headphones).

I am taking full advantage of my adjusted lung capacity while spending some time at sea level this week. First day down (after almost two months without running) I jogged 5 kilometers and today I managed over 11, which felt great and is the longest I’ve run in years! No doubt this will not last, but it feels great to do some intentional exercise, as opposed to the typical and almost entirely unintentional work of scrambling up rock walls and climbing down mountains. The extra running also comes in handy with regard to the many yummy restaurants in Lima…

Unfortunately, this month brings despedidas for friends in Lima and Huaraz as they return to their home countries to complete studies or move on to explore entirely new pastures. Following the spirit of international travel and ex-pat circles, others groups will inevitably form, but these folks will be missed (and should expect visits in the coming years). Not sure yet what the Huaraz good-bye will look like (it will have to wait until after my border crossing), but we are sending off the Lima folks in style with a little help from Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, a fun Argentinean ska/Latin-rock band, this Saturday.

Happy Thanksgiving for those who are celebrating! Fulbright and the U.S. Embassy are throwing us a Thanksgiving party/dinner tomorrow night which will certainly be interesting. No doubt there will be a Peruvian spin and we are all anxious to see how that will turn out…

Guilt and guinea pig

2008-11-22T17:24:00.003-05:00

My second week of living in Copa went well, which I am especially happy about since one of my committee members joined me there to help me think about framing my project and to get to know Copa. He immediately fell in love with it, although he thought he would constantly compare it to other field sites in Peru, and as a result will be working with me in a larger comparative project on perspectives of glacier retreat. Quite exciting! We had a full week: hiking up to the glacier itself and making glacier ice snow cones, participating in a large-scale eucalyptus tree planting, weeding a corn field and preparing it for winter rains, escaping for a day to soak in the nearby thermal baths (where I might consider going regularly to bathe…), and sharing mutual concerns with the director of the national park over some well-deserved drinks.

Sunday I will travel to Lima to visit with some national characters and give a presentation at Fulbright about the work I’ve been doing thus far…this seems to be coming at an ideal time as I grew increasingly frustrated last week with the language obstacles and just generally being constantly under what feels like surveillance. While I was prepared for the people of Copa to speak mainly Quechua, the reality has been eye-opening. Not only am I unable to communicate with over half of the population, but those that do speak Castellano speak it ‘poorly,’ or mejor dicho, functionally. The result however, is that I can barely understand what they say to me nor do they fully understand what I say to them. Obviously this makes much of my work difficult and beyond that I am very uncomfortable not being able to speak clearly with, or in some cases, directly to people. Not to mention my own Castellano suffers due to lack of practice and less than ideal examples, so I become a real mix-up of three poorly spoken languages, which is exhausting. Beyond this, or perhaps in part because of it, I am feeling more and more as though I am walking on eggshells (a skill I have acquired but am tired of) with regards to how I eat, what I do, who I visit, when, what projects I am supporting in the community and how I dress. I have finally convinced (I think) a local friend that just because I arrived in Copa only three weeks ago does not mean I only just arrived on this earth, and that yes, I do know how to fry an egg and keep bugs out of my sugar (although my mother might disagree). In any event, the anonymity of Lima will be a welcome change for the week before returning to full-speed ahead in December.

Before leaving Copa for my travels to Lima, I was able to finally secure a field assistant who will also serve as my Quechua-Castellano translator, set-up regular Quechua classes with a professor in a nearby town and record my first test interview (after several more tests the real deal will start up in January). Today I finally met with the Quechua professor I’ve been bugging for months and we’ve set up bi-monthly classes and he will find folks to transcribe my interviews. All in all, things are moving forward…I think.

Meanwhile, some friends from Lima made the trek up to Huaraz to visit me and we hiked to Laguna 69 today, a glacial lake at 4800 meters. It was an absolutely wonderful trip and although it is the rainy season, we really lucked out and had some amazing panoramic views of several heavy hitters in the Peruvian glacier scene (photographic proof coming soon). To celebrate our now going out for what we are told is great Thai and then likely some dancing…

The field!

2008-11-07T15:54:00.009-05:00

Holy s***...I have officially completed my first week of field work. Arrived in Copa the day after Halloween (with the appropriate and expected exhaustion that comes from a long night of celebration) without having a clue where I would be landing. During my last visit to the site, which unfortunately fell on a day when everyone had left the town to do their weekly shopping, I left the task of finding me a place to stay in the hands of J., a man who volunteers as a connection between the village and the main health center for the district a few hours below. I was pretty nervous about what sort of place he would come up with, but it has far exceeded my expectations in many ways!

Life in Copa is going very well thus far, although the real work has not quite begun. For now, I am allowing for time to get to know the area, and for folks to get to know me. The area is stunningly beautiful with 180 degree glacier views in the morning before the clouds roll in and everyone in the village has been amazingly receptive and friendly ('gringa, come to my house and visit!' which is every anthropologists dream). I've managed to introduce myself at a community meeting (to a round of applause if you can believe it, and even a question about what exactly is the meat of anthropology), scheduled some visits to the glacier, commandeered maps from the engineers installing potable water and waste water systems, and learned a few Quechua phrases. The rains have even temporarily stopped, thankfully, which allows me a much larger window for exploring. Apparently this is the last reprieve before it really starts coming down in December...and continues to do so until April!

The room I'm renting is part of the president's one-story adobe house near the center of Copa Grande. It has its own entrance and the door into their house is half-locked (I picked up a second lock in Huaraz this weekend to fully privatize the space...the two kids love to just barge on in and stare at me, which is really enjoyable as you can imagine). The living situation is great and I have electricity which makes life so much easier in a million small ways. The worst part being the bathroom situation. The outhouse, which theoretically I have no problem using, is about three feet high and has no door, so you have to squat in all kinds of odd angles to get into the damn thing, remain squatted for the entire duration of any and all business and then chicken shuffle back out. The lack of door would not be a problem if, say the bathroom faced away from the house, but no, it looks directly at the most used space and exposes you absolutely. Not really a problem for the other women, since they are typically wearing polyeras (knee-length skirts) which allow them to just squat down without any fuss, but I've not yet gone totally native (although I will very soon) so struggle a bit. It is really difficult and makes for grumpy trips to the lou in the morning. The health director told me to harass the family about it since they should be installing an ecological bathroom anyway...something I thought would be out of line but with her blessing will get right on it and even put in for some construction costs.

This weekend I am bringing up a gas stove and some other creature comforts (like a pot and frying pan) and found a carpenter in Copa Grande who is making me some chairs and a bookshelf that will be ready on Wednesday. The kitchen being the most important and exciting piece, as I will no longer be at the whim of the family for breakfast and dinner, which along with lunch, looks a little something like this:

Breakfast: if you are lucky, fresh milk, otherwise hot water with sugar; a serious bowl of potato and egg soup and fried pork bits or other much less appetizing pieces of pork
Lunch: another hearty bowl of potato and egg soup followed by a heaping helping of rice, about 15 potatoes and again, if you are lucky, a piece of chicken or really really lucky, boiled corn which is absolutely delicious. The local corn won't be harvested in March and until then it is a rare treat. [On special occasions, like when the gringa comes into town, they fry or roast guinea pig, which is super yummy as long as you are not expected to suck out the brains, which may be scrumptious but I simply refuse...]
Dinner: you guessed it, another bowl of potato and egg soup occasionally accompanied by the local alternative to coffee (quite scrumptious and even good for you!)

Their motto, apparently, is work hard, eat hard. I try to explain in a variety of ways that I eat like a cat or have different types of work than they do so don't need the calories, etc. but nothing seems to really work as far as making my portions any smaller. The women respond by telling me that the men in Copa prefer larger women so I should fatten up...and I don't really know what to do with that quite yet. Women speak little Spanish, less than I do really, so our conversations are often misunderstood or confused past the basic name, nationality, and current occupation. They are all psyched about my hat however and are exciting about getting me into a polyera, which will no doubt happen sooner rather than later. Men are typically bilingual, unless they are much older, but who wants to talk to men all day?? But the Quechua will come...

One of my committee members arrived yesterday for a week to get to know the village and the Callejon de Huaylas. My work will fit into a larger project of his that compares tropical glaciers in several other sites around the world, so he is here helping to dovetail our interests. He was a very significant influence in the development of my project (long before he contacted me about working together) so our interests are quite closely aligned already. He has been here less than 24 hours and has already provided a wonderful amount of guidance, empathy and help with methods and other matters of the field. We will hike up to the glacier, follow the canal system around Copa, and visit with families throughout the larger district of which Copa is a part. It will no doubt be a busy and productive week!

[So I swore to myself that I would not be eating anything while in Huaraz since they feed me as though I am an elephant in Copa, yet I find myself eating a banana split while catching up on life outside my adobe hut...]

Copa Grande

2008-10-30T11:43:00.003-04:00

Ask and ye shall receive, when it rains it pours, pick your poison....after tracking down folks I unintentionally stood up my first week here, I managed to schedule a full week of site visits. It was a brutal schedule, up at 5am everyday enduring hours of bumpy truck rides on steep, scary roads up through high altitude peaks, but I saw quite a bit of the valley and all the sites on my short list. Of course, I ended up choosing to stay in one of the first villages I met: Copa Grande. For those in the know, it is a short walk from Vicos, a well-known village due to a 30-year Cornell anthropology project. It is known mostly for its in-fighting and general discord. Fortunately, Copa is nearly its opposite.

The impending move is very exciting, and not a little bit scary. I have not yet laid eyes on my specific living situation, but I know that there will be no electricity or running water though there is cell phone reception. Crazy world.

In the last few weeks I've managed to add some new friends to my local family just in time to celebrate one of my favorite holidays: Halloween. It is still a new holiday here, so the costumes are quite basic (if you can even find something for an adult) and they don't quite get the play on social commentary angle that is so prevalent in Athens. One friend wants to go as a potato! I thought briefly about going as a typical Peruvian party girl but figured that nobody wouldn't think I was dressed up at all! Not to mention it would attract some attention that thus far I've been able to avoid for the most part. What officially shut down the plan though was that I tried on the obligatory tight pants yesterday and while N. was surprised to find that I had a body and kept telling me how good my badonkadonk looked, I absolutely could not stop laughing at myself. So now I'm thinking about going as a construction worker....

I met some of the new additions when marching with Copa Grande in a small health demonstration (informative in nature) and fortunately they live nearby for the next handful of months while they carry out their year of rural medical service. There is talk of a group house in a nearby town where I could crash on occasion....bless them! Meanwhile they are regaling me with tales of their adventures in the valley and laughing with me about how many potatoes I am going to eat in the next 10 months (a LOT). I'm just holding out for choclo (corn) season because I can eat corn all day (unlike boiled potatoes with no salt, sauce, butter or anything to choke it down with)...they start harvesting in March and I already cannot wait.

I'll be sending good vibes up north on Tuesday although will be blissfully (or painfully) unaware of the outcome until I am back in range for a few hours next weekend to pick up B., one of my committee members and an academic rockstar who is coming to check out my field site and make nice with the natives. Until then, eat some macaroni and cheese for me...

At least the view is beautiful!

2008-10-19T20:35:00.003-04:00

So I have shockingly little to report since my last entry. What started out as a promising week quickly changed when I again fell victim to the Peruvian weight-loss plan and had to abandon several scheduled visits into the field. Once back on my feet I spent the whole time trying to reconnect with the folks I had to ditch earlier in the week, a seemingly impossible task. After practically forcing a poor social worker from a town over to meet me at her house on Friday night to talk about how she can help me (yeah, really ridiculous) I proceeded to get terribly lost in her neighborhood and had to call her a million times to help get me there. The damn street numbers went from 200s to 800s to 500s back to 200s then 800s again...absolutely impossible. Thankfully she is a sweetheart, and even better, was excited to have me work in her field site since she is being moved to more desk-based work. I am going there on my own this week sometime and she is taking me on Saturday to see what her work has been about: ecological bathrooms, which I think is a septic type set-up, but I'll let you know.

The Huascaran National Park Office is being surprisingly helpful. Fortunately, there is an ulterior motive...one park officer has been selected by Fulbright Peru to do master's work in the U.S. and his English is not quite up to speed. We quickly agreed that I would help him in exchange for his help with finding a research site. They are taking me to a site on the other side of the Andes this week, which is said to be beautiful and very friendly, a killer field work combination if you ask me.

After banging my head against the wall with my other contacts, I reached deep into my bag and emailed a high mountain guide that a friend from last year suggested. The guides, especially the high mountain guides, really are pieces of work egotistically so I was not super keen on going to them, but was feeling a bit backed into a corner. He turns out to be very friendly, keen on the project, speaks Quechua, and on top of it all, has done high mountain treks with Lonnie Thompson, a big time glaciologist who works in the Andes on tracking glacial loss. It is a rather perfect fit and we are going to check out some sites nearby this week. Depending on how those go, I will probably hire him to take me to some sites quite a ways north this weekend.

I really, really hope to make the decision on where to spend the next 10 months of my life this weekend and actually move my butt up there early next week. However, time lines such as these are not my friend lately so we will see how it goes...I keep telling myself that at least the view in the meantime is beautiful.

Sexy Women

2008-10-09T18:35:00.010-04:00

Okay, this is FAR overdue, but I was aprovecharing all my time with D. before we went our separate ways last night: I on a 16-hour overnight bus ride back to Lima, and her towards her last week in Peru before heading back to a new job, house and civil status. We had an absolutely fantastic two-weeks exploring Cuzco and trekking through the mountains of the Sacred Valley. I am working on getting pictures up...

We began hiking at Chayacancha (3500 meters) along the Rio Blanca looking up at the Umantay and Salkantay glaciers (about four hours outside of Cuzco). Throughout the morning we expected our guide to take a sharp turn at any moment and begin leading us straight uphill...the nervousness was tenable. After lunch, as the trail began its inevitable ascent, above us on Salkantay it began to get quite stormy so our guide suggested that we set up camp. We disagreed and decided instead to brave a few more hours of vertical hiking into the mountain to camp at the planned spot. Fortunately for us, the rain passed and we made it into the campsite just as dark settled, to sleep at 4200 meters. Salkantay pampa was a beautiful site, just below the glacier, but bitterly cold even with all our possible layers.

The next morning we were greeted with mate de coca in bed before beginning an hour of rough uphill to the Seven Snakes pass, our hightest point at 4600 meters. This was the beginning of our longest day of hiking, all downhill from the high mountain pass to puna, through cloud forest, and even to the doorstep of the selva. We spent our second night camping in a field with horses, pigs and chickens but with a lovely view and only 15 minutes from a natural hot spring. This was a day full of wonderful scenery, however our view of the glacier and other mountains was obscured by clouds (a consequence of trekking during the rainy season).

After again being greeted with mate de coca (we finally figured out it was not out of kindness, but instead to ensure we got up) we spent the next day doing more downhill, except kindly more of a rolling trail than the ski slalom angle of the previous day. Another lovely day of scenery down to La Playa at 1600 meters, which we wrongly assumed would be a river beach campground. Sadly mistaken, we were instead greeted by a camping spot at the intersection of cancerous chickens, bus exhaust and stagnant water (with the requisite mosquitoes). A literal hole, or perhaps more fishbowl, as we were gawked at non-stop. While eating lunch we casually asked about alternatives and our guide just as casually suggested that we could pack everything into a minibus and ride an hour away to the resort hot springs of Santa Teresa and camp there. We all jumped at the idea and while we were skeptical about where we were heading, were thrilled to be leaving.

Driving up to Santa Teresa did not calm our nerves as we initially landed in the construction of a hotel. Once we were inside, however, fear subsided as we set up camp next to two large natural hot spring pools. All other reservations melted away as we realized there was not only a small store with important survival items like chocolate and Doritos, but also plenty of beer. We quickly realized however, that while it looked like an oasis, one had to stay in the pools or the tent to avoid being eaten alive by the thousands of mosquitoes. Any exposed skin was immediately attacked...we left there with hundreds of bites that continue to itch like crazy today. Through the following week we were identified as having been around Machu Picchu by fellow travelers through our bite covered arms and legs. Thankfully the mosquitoes went away at night (strange twist), so we were able to enjoy our beer while lounging by the pool as soon as the sun went down. We were also the only folks to camp at the springs, so had the place to ourselves. And we were smart enough to buy a few big bottles of beer before the place cleared out...it was lovely.

We awoke early the next day with large welts on our bites and slightly less ready for the day than previous mornings (surely that does not coincide with beer availability) and prepared for what we didn't realize was the most difficult day yet. We drove back towards the trail where we hiked several of the 40,000 kilometers of Incan highways to get an alternative view of Machu Picchu from the Yactupata Mountain over the Urubamba River, from 1500 meters to 2800 and back before lunch. After climbing up, we were able to rest at the Incan ruins of the same name before the knee jolting hike back down.

That afternoon we boarded the tourist train to Aguas Calientes where we found more beer, plenty of palta and hot showers! Although there are buses that shuttle tourists from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu, we decided to haul ourselves out of bed at 4am to hike the hour of steep steps up to the site where we stumbled into line with the masses of clean, fresh-faced tourists. Once in the ruins we were regaled with tales of how Machu Picchu was 'built with love', although we were hoping to get more on how exactly the love built them, or used them... The ruins were wonderful, and significantly less crowded than any of us anticipated, but the highlight for me was our final hike, the hour scramble (as in, on hands and knees) up Wayna Piccu, the well-known mountain just behind the ruins, where additional temples and terraces awaited. Already fantastic views were made better by the fact that while waiting in the line to enter (only 400 people/day) we were all questioning whether we really 'needed' this last hike or would rather just lay in the grass with the alpacas (we were exhausted). We rallied, climbed and were thrilled with the reward.

A fantastic time was had by all with the mosquitoes and the threat of camping at La Playa being the only negative aspects we could come up with that evening while lying nearly comatose in bed after our second round of hot showers.

Trout to the Pepper

2008-09-26T15:44:00.005-04:00

After the shortest of plane trips, I arrived in Cuzco two days ago and am staying in a great farmhouse in San Blas, which is an old, old neighborhood high above the main plaza of Cuzco. It is quite a breathtaking hike home, literally, but the views from our old farmhouse are wonderful. The owner entertained us last night with stories of when his family lodged folks from surrounding villages who came into town for markets, before the current reign of tourism. They have set up a lovely courtyard with amazing panoramic views of all of Cuzco, including Ausconcate (the largest glacier in the area) when the weather is clear in the early afternoon. Today we sat in the courtyard sipping mate de coca, playing cards and watched a snow storm pass over the mountain range across the valley.

Cuzco itself is quite charming. Between Lima and Huaraz, I have only been exposed to rapidly developing cities that are in desperate need of some architectural assistance (granted Huaraz was leveled by an earthquake in the 1970s so would look dramatically different today otherwise, and Lima is so big there is no unifying style or design), but it was a breath of fresh air to see the old colonial churches built on even older incan walls (that you are not allowed to touch, by the way). Most everywhere you look there is either old, old stone, or white plaster with various shades of blue painted on doors, windows and other adornments. Almost all the streets are cobblestoned and those leading away fom the main plaza up to our neighborhood are quite narrow with less than a foot of elevated stonework for walking.

Last night D. and I found a great regae bar with an Argentinian band in the heart of San Blas, which is wonderfully bohemian. They actually let the women dance by themselves! And, yes, we hippie danced and yes, it was lovely. However, we were otherwise on our best behavior due to the fact that we are living at 3400 meters and at this altitude adult beverages have an extra kick, although I guess it makes us cheap dates.

Tonight we had a meeting with our Salkantay tour guide to go over last minute details and met the fourth girl joining our group (the jury is still out on whether a small group is better). On the way to the meeting, we discovered that it was International Tourist Day and in our honor Cuzco was throwing a big parade with the traditional hours of dancing and music (not that they need much of an excuse down here). Interestingly, several of the dancers held signs about various efforts against climate change, but of course, I had left my camera at home. It would have been a fantastic opening shot for my dissertation.

Tomorrow, Salkantay!

The Real World: Lima

2008-09-23T22:21:00.003-04:00

I arrived back in Lima to the surprising calm following the disintegration of a love triangle among my housemates while I was away. We celebrated by having all-you-can-eat sushi (note to self: quality not quantity) and checking out the local jazz house, which had a Brailian Choros band...not exactly jazz, but enjoyable all the same.

Was woken up the next day by what sounded like an angry call from the Fulbright Peru office about my visa and high-tailed all the way across the city to meet the Peruvian Fulbright representatives. Turns out, what sounds like anger on the phone is really just the need for speed since local phone calls are absurdly expensive. Scared me though. They are going to 'fix' my visa so I don't have to renew it every three months by taking short trips to Bolivia, Brazil or Argentina....drat, I mean, great. I also learned of several events over the next months that require my attendance and therefore additional trips back to Lima, including a meeting at the embassy about the 'dangers' of Peru. I tried to tell them not to worry since I had plenty of pepper spray, but attendance at the meeting is non-neogitable.

While at the Fulbright office, I met the other Fulbright-Hays student in Peru who is here carrying out a historical analysis on how the violence of the 1980s and early 1990s has affected the evolution of leftist political parties. We spent the day discussing our research and are both excited to have a sounding board in-country. I am talking her into visiting the highlands and she has offered a couch for when I come into town.

Although I was unable to settle on a fieldsite while in Huaraz last week, I am currently focused on preparing for the Cuzco - Machu Picchu - Arequipa circuit that will begin on Thursday. Stay tuned for pictures and stories from the trail...

Huaráz

2008-09-21T22:17:00.004-04:00

[Warning! Below is the rant of a very congested woman, but stay tuned for the lighter side of mountain life...]

Well, I had a day of reprieve from the bus ride into the mountains (ask if you dare) before being struck down with….no, not that…a common cold. But a gnarly one in my defense, although I’ve never taken well to not being able to breathe or sleep, two of my favorite things. Fortunately (or not) my plans are moving slower than I had hoped (shocker) so I had today to try and nurse myself back to health. Although it is not going well so far…I’m feeling worse. Perhaps I will try the much loved beer cure.

As we all know, the work (whatever it may be) moves forward one step and back eight, then a leap to the side… etc. Según eso, I made two useful contacts this morning, finally heard back from another set of people via email that will be important, and arranged to sit in on a 4-hour introduction class to an intensive Quechua Ancashino language program on Friday. Not bad for a half days work while feeling like your head is a balloon the size of the moon. However, it is obvious to me that my selection of a field site will not happen this week (hark, the NSF reviewers sing). On Thursday I am going to meet some folks in two villages to the north, but I fear they are too far away from the glacier to suit the needs of the project, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed. There are several other positive possibilities and I’ve now figured out two solid and rather poetic ways to portray the ideal geographical location of my proposed work (a pie de los nevados or la falda de los nevados) which will certainly help the selection process.

This morning when I first figured out the set backs (and there are several) it caused a bit of panic, but during my sick day, I was able to console myself with the realization that I proposed to begin village work in November so I need not stress too much or try to jump too fast if things are not right. An important thing to remind myself of regularly, apparently. Otherwise everyone is very gracious and helpful. Several have given me locally authored books on water issues, along with the dissertation of a colleague who I met last year that works on disasters related to increasing glacial instability. I must admit, it was a bit heavy to hold the thing (freshly signed) in my hands…am I really supposed to write one of these?!

Back to Lima on Sunday...

Miraflores

2008-09-08T13:50:00.003-04:00

Alright, I have arrived safely (but not altogether soundly) in Peru and am ready to sink my teeth into...oh, who am I kidding, I'm just trying to keep my head straight for the time being. That said, I have a meeting tomorrow and am heading up into the mountains this weekend to scope out and hopefully land on a specific field site. I'll spend a week up there, then return to Lima for a few days before heading down to Cuzco to see my wonderful friend D. and hike Salkantay, one of the Incan trails leading to Machu Picchu. After the trek, D. and I will travel to Arequipa where she has been staying with a wonderful host family. I will spend a few days there with her, then head back up to the mountains and begin the real work...whatever that is.

I realize that I should take advantage of being in Lima because, while I wouldn't say blend exactly, the presence of a gringa is hardly news and I don't constantly feel like a sore thumb. This morning I braved the smog, the terrible music (currently listening to Girls Just Wanna Have Fun blaring outside my window) and the constant honking to run a few miles along the ocean. Fortunately, Miraflores has a wonderful park all along the cliffs with running and biking lanes, as well as a serious skate park, dirt biking loop, tennis courts and plenty of green space. This is all complete with occasional signs from Coke reminding us to eat healthy and exercize which in turn reminds me of the commercial that high-fructose corn syrup just came out with to battle their bad reputation. Has anyone seen it? Other than getting lost in my neighborhood trying to get to the park (all of two blocks away) and being asked if I was freezing (its 67 degrees outside), it was a pleasant morning run which will be repeated.

My base camp here is interesting. A family run apartment in a complex that feels a bit like Melrose Place (lots of young, hip professionals and students). My particular apartment has several other travelers (from Italy, the US and India) and a lazy dog. I sleep under a poster of Che next to one of Snoopy as a toy soldier (and another of a young girl reading in a nightgown across the room), which makes complete sense...somewhere. I am becoming more accostomed to my new situation by the moment, although there have been a few relapses, and am fighting off homesickness rather well (mostly because I haven't had a home in several months). I have to admit, however, that I do daydream about the sweet little apartment I'll find back in Athens...

Down the shore

2008-08-11T23:07:00.004-04:00

Not really, actually I was in Philadelphia for the weekend, visiting my best friend from Bucknell. I must have heard one of my favorite mid-Atlantic phrases, 'down the shore,' about a million times. It really just makes me chuckle...and in fact, I will be going 'down the shore' later this week to visit my aunt and take in some sun. Philadelphia was great, L. and I moved all over the city, had drinks around South Street, Fishtown and Girard, enjoyed a South Philadelphia block party, slurped on wonderful Italian ice and submitted to (and giggled through) the time-honored tradition of pedicure, complete with a serious massage chair.

Otherwise, various items are showing up that I've been ordering for the big move. I got a great pack, lots of gizmos and gadgets, and some snazzy wicking clothes. The most anticipated is the solar panel that I will use to charge my laptop and various batteries for camera, GPS and flashlights. This is a rather critical element since I will be without electricity for weeks and sometimes months at a time while living in the highland communities. Solar panel laptop chargers don't have a great reputation among my colleagues, and I'm sure without the help of my electrical engineer of a father, I would surely have found myself with the wrong wattage, amps, or volts. That said, we have yet to test it out so who knows.

Next week I'll be heading back down to Georgia...

Folly Beach

2008-07-03T00:03:00.004-04:00

Hello out there. The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of camping, Athfest-ing and yard sale-ing with the usual crew (in the usual state), but I finally made it to Charleston and so now have some time to breathe, unwind a bit and begin to focus on the upcoming changes. Being in Athens, or maybe the lack of a real break since last summer, was keeping me too close to the research and feeling suffocated. Distancing myself has allowed my mind to open and the next steps are becoming clearer, and more exciting. Even a short trip to Charleston has reminded me of the excitement that comes from new people, places, and experiences.

Of course I am working while in Charleston, and as with most work it has bursts of excitement and insight but is moving slower than I or my PI had hoped. But such is a rapid fire pilot project. Fortunately, my house mates and I have made regular trips to the beach in the evenings for long walks along the ocean. I miss it dearly and vow to spend a summer by the ocean at some point in the near future, perhaps after I submit my you know what (it that shall not be named). Now the only question is which ocean...? Suggestions welcome, although I will require an ocean without little plastic castles along its shoreline.

I'm off for now. More interviewing in the morning and, of course, I must figure out how to best catch the 'award-winning' fireworks display off the Ravenel Bridge on the 4th. It has been years since I've seen fireworks over water and there are few things that bring me such joy.

Here goes nothing

2008-05-28T21:01:00.003-04:00

This, I suppose, is my reaction to the plethora of networking sites...

This past year has been intense. I recently reached a significant and long-awaited moment in my academic career, found out I have at least 12 guaranteed months of dissertation research ahead of me, and am successfully collaborating with other heavy-hitters on several projects. And it's only getting started.

In about a month I will move to Charleston temporarily to explore how various sources of information about tropical cyclones move through vulnerable communities. It dawned on me today that this work will happen during hurricane season...a fact that is entirely outweighed by the fact that I'll be living on the beach for a few weeks.

Directly after that work, I will 'liquidate' my life in Athens and move in with my folks for a few weeks before leaving for Peru (more on that later, I'm sure). Fortunately I will be staying with my folks at the peak of the blue crab season, which in addition to more waterfront living, is certainly the culinary height of my summer.

So I suppose that will do by way of introduction for now. Hopefully, I'll get better at this...