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!
20 January 2009
20 December 2008
Madrina x 2
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.
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.
10 December 2008
Three…two…one…re-entry!
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….
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….
26 November 2008
Andean lungs
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…
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…
22 November 2008
Guilt and guinea pig
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…
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…
07 November 2008
The field!
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...]
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...]
30 October 2008
Copa Grande
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...
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...
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