I will try not to inundable you with information about my last two days, but come on, the title is "inundable" (Spanish for inundated, or flooded... one of my many forestry/conservation vocab words)!
Yesterday was the last transect for Karen and me (the 19th of 20 in real life, though). We went out with a bang, literally! Around 75 meters out of 100 of assessing forest damage, the thunder that we'd been hearing rumble all morning decided it would be a good time to arrive over our heads and start raining, after 18 transects without any rain, in the rainy season. Ludicrous. It was a tough transect, too-- selva baja inundable (lowland inundated forest, lots of young trees, lots of brush, very wet, and lots and lots of bugs). Thankfully, we're equipt with waterproof field notebooks, which actually work! You can write on the pages in the rain. Nothing smears. Nothing runs, except the water. Incredible. Bracken was bracken, but it was really rainy for the rest of the day. I somehow came home more caked in mud than everyone else, despite all walking and working in the same places.
We had a farewell dinner out with Karen. Marco and I dropped her off at the bus station late last night; by the time I woke up, Juan-Pablo had arrived from Colombia, been picked up, and had settled into our casa on Av. Bugambilias.
Today, Alex and Irene went to finish the last transect in Los Divorciados while Marco and I took my pair of interns west to train them to do my work for the next six months. What's that? You are also surprised, shocken even, that I have been given a pair of interns? I know, me too! But it's true. I have two interns: Angel, the tall outgoing one who speaks a slight amount of English, and Alberto, the shorter rounder shyer one who did not say a single word in English. They are clearly buddies, but they're required this internship in order to graduate from college, so it's a nice mix of hilarity and productivity. Also, did I mention, they are going to collect data for me for the next six months?
I had a great time in the field today. Most of what I did was troubleshoot the form Marco and I wrote for the interns to collect information with, questions about land use and fire history and all of the other things I won't bore you with that my thesis will be about. Ahem. Anyway. We were at an ejido called Nicolas Bravo, which my advisor worked at quite a lot for her Phd dissertation, so everyone there knows and loves her. In fact, our ejidotario named his daughter after her. So they were all excited that I, Laura's student, was there.
The coolest part might have started with our ejidotario saying, "Oh, there's an old Maya house." We just drove past this crumbled house sitting atop a mound (the Maya liked to build up the land they built their structures on). That house is more than twice as old as the country which I hail from! Just sitting there, in the middle of the ejido! I learned the words in Spanish to inform the interns that "I am a student AND a tourist" before I took that photo. At the next plot, what do you know? More ruins! Unguarded, un-roped-off... Marco mentioned casually that I could go up and see them if I want, so I clearly climbed on top of them and did my intern-supervising from there.
It rained on and off throughout the day. The rest of it was spent getting filthy by walking through burned helechals (plots inundable-d with the helecho, which is Spanish for fern) and standing around on Maya mounds surveying the awesome landscape. Don't worry, I was sure to leave my camera in the truck for the last plot, when we stood on a particularly high mound that offered a complete panoramic view of the landscape and horizon. (I'm so dumb.)
The day ended in an intense workout to prevent Marco, the interns, and my untimely deaths in the torrential downpour. I was behind the wheel in the Chevy truck, which is about 10 years old and only marginally better than The Monster. Shifting that thing was a pretty intense physical workout to begin with, but driving in that storm was a big workout for my brain. The streets in and around Chetumal were inundable-d. Also, the Chevy had crappy windshield wipers and the vent system did nothing to defog the windshield. I drove into town at about half the speed limit, and we clearly survived without incident, as I'm writing about it all now. The streets are still flooded here even though the rain has mostly stopped, but we're all home safely and planning on relaxing a bit tonight: tomorrow is an Ecosur day, Marco's last day, and Juan-Pablo's birthday!
Showing posts with label Español. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Español. Show all posts
16 June 2009
14 June 2009
happy ever after in the market place
I have alluded to my adoration for local foods. Well, a good place to find local foods? Local markets.
Marco's dissertation research has to do with commodity exchange and how that ties into landscape changes. He arranged to go to the market this morning with Rossy, the woman who runs one of the food stands at Ecosur, and her husband Elias. After sitting home for a lot of yesterday and knowing I'd be sitting home for a lot of today again, I asked if I could tag along. It was really cool! When we met Rossy, Marco went to find her husband, and she said something in Spanish. I gave my very apologetic, "Lociento, no hablo Español" that I've gotten so good at. Her response? She asked, in Spanish, if Marco and I were speaking English. I told her yes, and then she apologized to me for not speaking English. What? We're in Mexico! She doesn't have to speak English!
(By the way, anyone want to take Español 101 this summer with me?)
Rossy and Elias were both very sweet, speaking Spanish slowly and in short sentences to make sure I was roughly getting what they were saying. They bought Marco and me fresh orange juice to enjoy while we shopped. At the market, there were all sorts of exciting fruits and vegetables, most of which I've become familiar with during my time here if I didn't already know. Marco was taking note of what was being sold, and asking where it came from. Most of the smaller vendors offered foods from within a few hours' drive, but the larger shops had things like apples! From Washington! and plums! from California! We also walked through the carneceria. For the few people in the universe whose Spanish is worse than mine, that's the meat shops. Meat hanging on hooks everywhere. Tons of dead chickens (because they're not too cute and not too bright, obviously). But, I followed Marco and Rossy and learned a lot about the foods from this region and how they're prepared.
I regret that I did not take a single picture at the market. I was trying not to be more of a spectacle than I already am while Marco was trying to do work for his dissertation. I'm hoping to make it back there to get a few photos before I head home.
Most of the rest of the day was spent at the house on Av Bugambilias working... and napping... I went for a walk in the evening for a while, which is when I decided the tree of the day needed to be lluvia de oras (golden raintree). There were some really threatening clouds in the sky, and I found it a lovely juxtaposition between the beautiful yellow flowers on these exotic ornamentals and the dark, fluffy clouds that have yet to let loose, but we suspect that they will within the next few hours...
Marco's dissertation research has to do with commodity exchange and how that ties into landscape changes. He arranged to go to the market this morning with Rossy, the woman who runs one of the food stands at Ecosur, and her husband Elias. After sitting home for a lot of yesterday and knowing I'd be sitting home for a lot of today again, I asked if I could tag along. It was really cool! When we met Rossy, Marco went to find her husband, and she said something in Spanish. I gave my very apologetic, "Lociento, no hablo Español" that I've gotten so good at. Her response? She asked, in Spanish, if Marco and I were speaking English. I told her yes, and then she apologized to me for not speaking English. What? We're in Mexico! She doesn't have to speak English!
(By the way, anyone want to take Español 101 this summer with me?)
Rossy and Elias were both very sweet, speaking Spanish slowly and in short sentences to make sure I was roughly getting what they were saying. They bought Marco and me fresh orange juice to enjoy while we shopped. At the market, there were all sorts of exciting fruits and vegetables, most of which I've become familiar with during my time here if I didn't already know. Marco was taking note of what was being sold, and asking where it came from. Most of the smaller vendors offered foods from within a few hours' drive, but the larger shops had things like apples! From Washington! and plums! from California! We also walked through the carneceria. For the few people in the universe whose Spanish is worse than mine, that's the meat shops. Meat hanging on hooks everywhere. Tons of dead chickens (because they're not too cute and not too bright, obviously). But, I followed Marco and Rossy and learned a lot about the foods from this region and how they're prepared.
I regret that I did not take a single picture at the market. I was trying not to be more of a spectacle than I already am while Marco was trying to do work for his dissertation. I'm hoping to make it back there to get a few photos before I head home.
Most of the rest of the day was spent at the house on Av Bugambilias working... and napping... I went for a walk in the evening for a while, which is when I decided the tree of the day needed to be lluvia de oras (golden raintree). There were some really threatening clouds in the sky, and I found it a lovely juxtaposition between the beautiful yellow flowers on these exotic ornamentals and the dark, fluffy clouds that have yet to let loose, but we suspect that they will within the next few hours...
24 May 2009
Pich-y keen
The six of us spent the weekend in Campeche with the goal of doing a little GPS training, using the anniversary of the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve as a good excuse. Friday was a day of seminars on different conservation research projects going on for the park. However, being that we're Mexico, none of the presentations were in English. By the end of 7 hot hours of presentations, I was a very frustrated girl.
We stayed in Zoh-Laguna this weekend, but since there aren't enough beds there or anywhere, Irene and I were sent over to a hotel. Really, our room was a little hut. It was very cute and very nice, although we found it a little odd that there was no distinct shower or bathtub, just a shower head next to the toilet and a curtain that went around both. Interesting...
Saturday was spent in The Monster, a 1996 or so Chevy Suburban that acts and smells its age. We drove all over the place in and around the town of Xpujil (pronounced Schpoo-heel, it's Maya, as most words with X's in the area are), where Calakmul is, checking some points on a land cover map (think: what kind of stuff is or isn't growing where. This is biogeography. This is kind of what I do.) and basically getting a crash course in local forestry from Birgit. I actually really enjoyed this. We never drove for long, then got out and hiked a little bit, talking about how to characterize different types of tree stands. I know, I know... I'm a nerd.
Today was a similar endeavor, except much, much longer and hotter. The temperatures were well over 100 and we spent over 9 hours in the car, very little getting out and a looking today. It was kind of a wild goose chase to find some types of land cover that we didn't find the day before. Our lunch break was really great though. We ate at a family restaurant in a town called Pich in Campeche. The man who seemed to run the place was very proud of it and would share tidbits about it every time he brought us more lemonade or tortillas. The building we were eating in was a 17th century church. The wooden beams of the ceiling were older than the US. After we finished eating he showed us some photos of some of the oldest families in town and then actually gave us a tour of the little village, taking us down by the Laguna. It was competely dried up. He said there are always turtles there, but not this year. This is the first time in 50 years that it has gone completely dry. At least it's the very end of the dry season at this point; any day now it should start pouring on a somewhat daily basis. Just in time for the intensive field work to start!
A quick language lesson (not even Spanish!): Pich (the town) is named after the Pich tree. There was a really huge, ancient one by the lake but several others around town. The Pich (tree) is named after its seed pod, which is shaped like an ear (which, in Maya, is "pich"). There are a lot of Maya descendents in the southern Yucatan, and we continually encounter them speaking something that the five Spanish speakers I'm working with cannot understand. Every time that happens though, they remember, this must be what Colleen feels like all day every day. And they're right, to a point, but I'm learning... after this weekend, my conservation and forest taxonomy vocabulary has grown quite a bit! (I know, I know... nerd...)
More photos posted!
We stayed in Zoh-Laguna this weekend, but since there aren't enough beds there or anywhere, Irene and I were sent over to a hotel. Really, our room was a little hut. It was very cute and very nice, although we found it a little odd that there was no distinct shower or bathtub, just a shower head next to the toilet and a curtain that went around both. Interesting...
Saturday was spent in The Monster, a 1996 or so Chevy Suburban that acts and smells its age. We drove all over the place in and around the town of Xpujil (pronounced Schpoo-heel, it's Maya, as most words with X's in the area are), where Calakmul is, checking some points on a land cover map (think: what kind of stuff is or isn't growing where. This is biogeography. This is kind of what I do.) and basically getting a crash course in local forestry from Birgit. I actually really enjoyed this. We never drove for long, then got out and hiked a little bit, talking about how to characterize different types of tree stands. I know, I know... I'm a nerd.
Today was a similar endeavor, except much, much longer and hotter. The temperatures were well over 100 and we spent over 9 hours in the car, very little getting out and a looking today. It was kind of a wild goose chase to find some types of land cover that we didn't find the day before. Our lunch break was really great though. We ate at a family restaurant in a town called Pich in Campeche. The man who seemed to run the place was very proud of it and would share tidbits about it every time he brought us more lemonade or tortillas. The building we were eating in was a 17th century church. The wooden beams of the ceiling were older than the US. After we finished eating he showed us some photos of some of the oldest families in town and then actually gave us a tour of the little village, taking us down by the Laguna. It was competely dried up. He said there are always turtles there, but not this year. This is the first time in 50 years that it has gone completely dry. At least it's the very end of the dry season at this point; any day now it should start pouring on a somewhat daily basis. Just in time for the intensive field work to start!
A quick language lesson (not even Spanish!): Pich (the town) is named after the Pich tree. There was a really huge, ancient one by the lake but several others around town. The Pich (tree) is named after its seed pod, which is shaped like an ear (which, in Maya, is "pich"). There are a lot of Maya descendents in the southern Yucatan, and we continually encounter them speaking something that the five Spanish speakers I'm working with cannot understand. Every time that happens though, they remember, this must be what Colleen feels like all day every day. And they're right, to a point, but I'm learning... after this weekend, my conservation and forest taxonomy vocabulary has grown quite a bit! (I know, I know... nerd...)
More photos posted!
19 May 2009
Day two: still no flu!
Hola again from the internet place two houses down from our house in Chetumal! I actually came down here by myself, and asked if I could please use the internet in Spanish by myself (Puedo usar internet, por favor?), and have clearly had success in this endeavor. Now I´m just carefully studying my pesos to make sure I give them the correct one when I´m done. I´m catching on, no matter how slowly.
Day two in the field: Irene, Alex (after four nonstop days together, Alejandro tells us he prefers Alex, and that no one calls him Alejandro) took on some points in the next state west, Campeche. The day started with a meeting with the Primary Investigator of EcoSur, the EDGY university affiliate here in Chetumal. Birgit, a German native, is actually the only PI who will be present in Mexico this summer. (Rutgers, Clark and UVA each have one, too-- my advisor is the one at RU, but none are coming. It´s frightening how much they all appear to trust us.) She gave us some gear and helped us sort out some details for the next few days before we headed out for the day.
We stopped by the field house in Zoh-Laguna in Campeche. It lacks a proper shower and the internet but does have tarantulas! Don´t worry, people rarely see the tarantulas and there is a water spout and some buckets for bathing. The little town was on the way to one of the sites we needed to visit to search for my helechos (ferns, if you haven´t been paying attention). We actually found a lot of helechos today. Irene got some great photos and GPS points while Alex and I climbed into the bush to get details for my sketch maps.
It was really hot out, but today was slightly shorter. At the end of it we spent some time back at Laguna Bacalar, waiting for a woman to get home who is currently holding the rest of the EDGY beds hostage. We just sat on a stone wall near the Fuerte San Felipe eating some pan (bread) we got from a baker across the street since the woman wasn´t there when she said she would be. I guess EDGY rented some beds to her or something, but tomorrow our cohorts from Clark arrive, so we kind of need more than the two beds that Irene and I have been occupying. Tomorrow morning we´re going back to Bacalar for these beds, and if we have success, we´ll spend the day catching up on our computer work here in Chetumal, and I´ll be sure to post some more photos. If the witch, as Alex has come to call her, is not in, we´ll continue north to search for more bracken.
Day two in the field: Irene, Alex (after four nonstop days together, Alejandro tells us he prefers Alex, and that no one calls him Alejandro) took on some points in the next state west, Campeche. The day started with a meeting with the Primary Investigator of EcoSur, the EDGY university affiliate here in Chetumal. Birgit, a German native, is actually the only PI who will be present in Mexico this summer. (Rutgers, Clark and UVA each have one, too-- my advisor is the one at RU, but none are coming. It´s frightening how much they all appear to trust us.) She gave us some gear and helped us sort out some details for the next few days before we headed out for the day.
We stopped by the field house in Zoh-Laguna in Campeche. It lacks a proper shower and the internet but does have tarantulas! Don´t worry, people rarely see the tarantulas and there is a water spout and some buckets for bathing. The little town was on the way to one of the sites we needed to visit to search for my helechos (ferns, if you haven´t been paying attention). We actually found a lot of helechos today. Irene got some great photos and GPS points while Alex and I climbed into the bush to get details for my sketch maps.
It was really hot out, but today was slightly shorter. At the end of it we spent some time back at Laguna Bacalar, waiting for a woman to get home who is currently holding the rest of the EDGY beds hostage. We just sat on a stone wall near the Fuerte San Felipe eating some pan (bread) we got from a baker across the street since the woman wasn´t there when she said she would be. I guess EDGY rented some beds to her or something, but tomorrow our cohorts from Clark arrive, so we kind of need more than the two beds that Irene and I have been occupying. Tomorrow morning we´re going back to Bacalar for these beds, and if we have success, we´ll spend the day catching up on our computer work here in Chetumal, and I´ll be sure to post some more photos. If the witch, as Alex has come to call her, is not in, we´ll continue north to search for more bracken.
18 May 2009
Trial by fire... literally.
My first day in the field started out with two strikes against it. One, Irene and I barely slept last night. By the time we loaded our points into the GPS last night, it was kind of late, but then the neighbors kindly left their dog out last night, and it howled and barked and whined. The. whole. night. Irene was so disoriented that she woke up an hour early at 3.30 and then kindly woke me up as well to make sure I was ready to go in time. So, the day started in a super exhausted way.
Second, and anyone who has ever gone anywhere with me before will not be too surprised: guess who got carsick? We´re at the internet shop two houses down from ours, so I won´t be uploading photos tonight, but when I do in coming days, take a look at the road and you´ll see why. Hours and hours of bumpy, curvy, unpaved roads. Fare thee well, breakfast.
So quite obviously the day started out not in the smoothest way. It was interesting to be in Mayan territority though. We were searching for my fern (helecho) in places several hours north of here and not having much success early on. Eventually we were shown some by a few farmers in one ejido, and then had several more failures, including a multiple mile hike that yielded no results under the high sun. Ugh. We passed some fields that were actually in the process of being slashed and burned, so I learned a bit about the agricultural season. Right now is the typical time to be burning fields, right before the rainy season really gets going. There was evidence of this all over the place.
Eventually we found some large patches along the highway near where we thought we´d find some helechos, though not the exact point. With the help of my cohort and manager, I´ve got some GPS points and some really sloppy sketch maps that I´ll of course go back and correct. Photos to come in days following. All in all, Alejandro, Irene and I spent over 14 hours in the field today, with mixed failures and successes, but we stopped by another lovely lake on the way back to our Casa Amarillo (yellow house). It´s raining pretty hard right now so the heat has broken at least temporarily, so I think I´ll sleep well tonight... if the dog stays quiet...
Second, and anyone who has ever gone anywhere with me before will not be too surprised: guess who got carsick? We´re at the internet shop two houses down from ours, so I won´t be uploading photos tonight, but when I do in coming days, take a look at the road and you´ll see why. Hours and hours of bumpy, curvy, unpaved roads. Fare thee well, breakfast.
So quite obviously the day started out not in the smoothest way. It was interesting to be in Mayan territority though. We were searching for my fern (helecho) in places several hours north of here and not having much success early on. Eventually we were shown some by a few farmers in one ejido, and then had several more failures, including a multiple mile hike that yielded no results under the high sun. Ugh. We passed some fields that were actually in the process of being slashed and burned, so I learned a bit about the agricultural season. Right now is the typical time to be burning fields, right before the rainy season really gets going. There was evidence of this all over the place.
Eventually we found some large patches along the highway near where we thought we´d find some helechos, though not the exact point. With the help of my cohort and manager, I´ve got some GPS points and some really sloppy sketch maps that I´ll of course go back and correct. Photos to come in days following. All in all, Alejandro, Irene and I spent over 14 hours in the field today, with mixed failures and successes, but we stopped by another lovely lake on the way back to our Casa Amarillo (yellow house). It´s raining pretty hard right now so the heat has broken at least temporarily, so I think I´ll sleep well tonight... if the dog stays quiet...
17 May 2009
Hola desde Chetumal!
(Hello from Chetumal!)
Irene and I arrived safely yesterday! I didn't say so sooner because we've been recovering from our travels. We arrived at our house in Chetumal about 24 hours after I woke up to pack and get going. Dad dropped us off at Newark but there was some debacle when all of the flights to Mexico were consolidated and we were not on the final flight. The nice ladies at the check in fixed this, and we were off to Houston. I finished getting my grades in during our layover, and looked up my own final grades on Irene's Blackberry right before we took off, so my semester literally ended as I was about to leave the country. I passed GIS! Moving forward with my life now...
We arrived in Cancun without any problems. The flight was mostly empty so we each had a row to ourselves. Debacle two: the bus from the airport to the bus terminal wasn't running according to schedule because no one is coming to Mexico these days (why?). We ended up taking a rather expensive taxi ride, and then waiting two hours for a bus to Chetumal. We departed at midnight, and five hours later, we met Alejandro, the project manager in the area. He took us to the house and picked us up again around noon to get some things from the market. We slept for maybe 5 hours, and then didn't eat until late in the afternoon, almost 24 hours after our last meal at Houston George Bush International Airport. Ugh.
So today we're feeling a little better rested and we've had more regular meals. We met with Alejandro in the morning to discuss what work needs to be done, and the plan is to start tomorrow at 5AM travelling to an ejido (a sort of farming village-- there's 20 in all that I'll be visiting in the coming weeks) about four hours away. He'll work with us at least the next few days. After we were done talking work, Irene and I took a bus to Bacalar for an afternoon at Laguna de Bacalar, a gorgeous lake. It was a really lovely, relaxing day.
I am slowly learning some important words in Spanish, most notably today: catira (blond). Apparently, it's very obvious that I'm not from around here, and everyone's assumed that Irene is my guide. It's kind of hilarious.
So, things are going just fine so far, except for one very, very important thing that I left in my apartment. Honestly, I was just crushed when I realized forgot it: my Trees of North America: a guide to field identification. So many amazing trees here, and I don't know what any of them are. It's pretty sad.
However, you can see in photos that life has gone on without my tree book: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v473/fishius25/Mexico/
Irene and I arrived safely yesterday! I didn't say so sooner because we've been recovering from our travels. We arrived at our house in Chetumal about 24 hours after I woke up to pack and get going. Dad dropped us off at Newark but there was some debacle when all of the flights to Mexico were consolidated and we were not on the final flight. The nice ladies at the check in fixed this, and we were off to Houston. I finished getting my grades in during our layover, and looked up my own final grades on Irene's Blackberry right before we took off, so my semester literally ended as I was about to leave the country. I passed GIS! Moving forward with my life now...
We arrived in Cancun without any problems. The flight was mostly empty so we each had a row to ourselves. Debacle two: the bus from the airport to the bus terminal wasn't running according to schedule because no one is coming to Mexico these days (why?). We ended up taking a rather expensive taxi ride, and then waiting two hours for a bus to Chetumal. We departed at midnight, and five hours later, we met Alejandro, the project manager in the area. He took us to the house and picked us up again around noon to get some things from the market. We slept for maybe 5 hours, and then didn't eat until late in the afternoon, almost 24 hours after our last meal at Houston George Bush International Airport. Ugh.
So today we're feeling a little better rested and we've had more regular meals. We met with Alejandro in the morning to discuss what work needs to be done, and the plan is to start tomorrow at 5AM travelling to an ejido (a sort of farming village-- there's 20 in all that I'll be visiting in the coming weeks) about four hours away. He'll work with us at least the next few days. After we were done talking work, Irene and I took a bus to Bacalar for an afternoon at Laguna de Bacalar, a gorgeous lake. It was a really lovely, relaxing day.
I am slowly learning some important words in Spanish, most notably today: catira (blond). Apparently, it's very obvious that I'm not from around here, and everyone's assumed that Irene is my guide. It's kind of hilarious.
So, things are going just fine so far, except for one very, very important thing that I left in my apartment. Honestly, I was just crushed when I realized forgot it: my Trees of North America: a guide to field identification. So many amazing trees here, and I don't know what any of them are. It's pretty sad.
However, you can see in photos that life has gone on without my tree book: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v473/fishius25/Mexico/
13 May 2009
next destination: Mexico!
Oh hey!
Some of you may have heard, because I'm excited and tell anyone who even slightly expresses interest in what I'm up to these days: I'm going to Mexico!
For my masters thesis, I'll be studying the bracken fern invasion in the southern Yucatan peninsula and its relationship to fires in the area-- mostly slash and burn agriculture, but potentially with a nod to wildfires/hurricanes too (I can only hope to include natural hazards!). Yes, I am excited! Yes, I will take pictures! No, I do not speak Spanish! Thankfully, I have been teamed up with my fellow geographer Irene, whose Spanish is exponentially better than mine (she's from Venezuela). She's going to be doing some preliminary work for her Phd dissertation, too. I'll drive the truck, she'll speak the Spanish. It should be pretty excellent!
Right now my life is a whirlwind of grading my students' exams and getting all of the things I need before I leave on Friday morning. Many thanks to my kind mother for doing my laundry and my kind father for taking the day off to drive my research cohort and me to the airport!
Some of you may have heard, because I'm excited and tell anyone who even slightly expresses interest in what I'm up to these days: I'm going to Mexico!
For my masters thesis, I'll be studying the bracken fern invasion in the southern Yucatan peninsula and its relationship to fires in the area-- mostly slash and burn agriculture, but potentially with a nod to wildfires/hurricanes too (I can only hope to include natural hazards!). Yes, I am excited! Yes, I will take pictures! No, I do not speak Spanish! Thankfully, I have been teamed up with my fellow geographer Irene, whose Spanish is exponentially better than mine (she's from Venezuela). She's going to be doing some preliminary work for her Phd dissertation, too. I'll drive the truck, she'll speak the Spanish. It should be pretty excellent!
Right now my life is a whirlwind of grading my students' exams and getting all of the things I need before I leave on Friday morning. Many thanks to my kind mother for doing my laundry and my kind father for taking the day off to drive my research cohort and me to the airport!
31 March 2009
rabid excitement!
As my trip to Mexico draws slightly nearer, we're beginning to discuss the details. I meet next Tuesday with Laura and my friend Irene, who is Laura's GA, who will be going to Mexico with us, who will be my partner in crime. Laura is from Colombia and Irene is from Venezuela, so at least I'll have help with the Spanish (funny how 9 years of German and a year of Mandarin won't be the least bit useful for this adventure).
In the meantime, in sharing my excitement about this trip with a few people, a biology teacher I sing in choir with at church reminded me to look into malaria medication. Oh yeah. I like to think that would have occurred to me without her suggestion, but it was a good suggestion anyway. The only other countries I've been to so far are not known for malaria, or really anything else in particular (except maybe Mad Cow?). I looked up some information on the CDC website, only to find that I need a few vaccinations in addition to malaria meds: Hepatitis A, rabies and typhoid.
This is just one of the things I need to address in the next six or fewer weeks before I go. We'll be hammering out some more specific details on Tuesday, but this trip is going down sometime in the next month and a half!
In the meantime, in sharing my excitement about this trip with a few people, a biology teacher I sing in choir with at church reminded me to look into malaria medication. Oh yeah. I like to think that would have occurred to me without her suggestion, but it was a good suggestion anyway. The only other countries I've been to so far are not known for malaria, or really anything else in particular (except maybe Mad Cow?). I looked up some information on the CDC website, only to find that I need a few vaccinations in addition to malaria meds: Hepatitis A, rabies and typhoid.
This is just one of the things I need to address in the next six or fewer weeks before I go. We'll be hammering out some more specific details on Tuesday, but this trip is going down sometime in the next month and a half!
28 February 2009
Español 101
Today, I went to Pennsylvania to my cousin's house to celebrate my uncle's 70th birthday. I always enjoy seeing my family, and it turns out that Kathie and her family aren't that far away from me here in Highland Park.
Upon my return home, I found that my roommate had put Post-It notes all over our kitchen and the contents of our refrigerator to teach me the Spanish words for things. She's Puerto Rican, so she's really excited for an excuse to teach me Spanish. Let's be honest, I probably would have picked up some eventually anyway, but this Mexico trip with the EDGY project is a pretty exciting reason to learn immediately!
Upon my return home, I found that my roommate had put Post-It notes all over our kitchen and the contents of our refrigerator to teach me the Spanish words for things. She's Puerto Rican, so she's really excited for an excuse to teach me Spanish. Let's be honest, I probably would have picked up some eventually anyway, but this Mexico trip with the EDGY project is a pretty exciting reason to learn immediately!
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