This update is from El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (Ecosur), in a room that is reminiscent of the Mary Washington cart lab-- people come in, people do work, people drink coffee, there are big windows.
Today we found an ejido in Caan Lumil with many different types of fruits and veggies (plantains, oranges, these little apples, maize) and plenty of invasive ferns. We met some very helpful farmers who shared how long ago different areas were burned, and how they're trying to deal with the fern invasion. It wasn't even on our list of sites to visit, but we spent most of the day mapping it. The sketch got kind of out of control, but I'm going to redraw it tonight. I heard from my advisor, who seems to think I'm doing fine work so far. This is pretty reassuring.
We called it a day a little earlier to try and get the beds from the witch in Bacalar... but no success. However, plans changed at the last minute so only two others are arriving tonight, Zack and Marco from Clark. No one knows if we'll have anyone from UVA or not, or when... so we're making do for now.
We haven't had dinner yet and Alex is being very patient while Irene and I do some work, so I'll just share some photos: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v473/fishius25/Mexico/. Don't worry, I'm not posting every fern photo I take... I'll bake a pie for whoever guesses closest to how many photos of just helechos we have taken so far...
20 May 2009
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/
15 May 2009
No time like the present...
...to finish packing...
I leave in about an hour to pick up Irene, drive home, and be driven to Newark. Dad's kindly taken the day off to do that. He's not the only one I have to thank for helping keep things under control this week. Mom did most of my laundry (and somehow made my clothes brighter than they've been in ages, it's like magic!). Irene continually picked up the pieces of my overworked brain. The usual suspects met up for another upbeat Monday night. Katie and Jamie came over and scrutinized my exam, causing me to throw out a question and have that much less to grade. Cheryl and Gurzo kindly adopted my eggs and bread so I wouldn't have to throw them out. Tom reminded me not to die. The list goes on. Many others have offered laughter and encouragement, and I can't thank you enough.
So now, I just need to throw together my carry on, take out the garbage, and hit the road!
I leave in about an hour to pick up Irene, drive home, and be driven to Newark. Dad's kindly taken the day off to do that. He's not the only one I have to thank for helping keep things under control this week. Mom did most of my laundry (and somehow made my clothes brighter than they've been in ages, it's like magic!). Irene continually picked up the pieces of my overworked brain. The usual suspects met up for another upbeat Monday night. Katie and Jamie came over and scrutinized my exam, causing me to throw out a question and have that much less to grade. Cheryl and Gurzo kindly adopted my eggs and bread so I wouldn't have to throw them out. Tom reminded me not to die. The list goes on. Many others have offered laughter and encouragement, and I can't thank you enough.
So now, I just need to throw together my carry on, take out the garbage, and hit the road!
13 May 2009
Swine? It's fine.
So, people have been concerned about this "swine flu".
Well, let me tell you, that is so last week.
But I've got Tamiflu and an enormous bottle of hand sanitizer, as per my doctor's instructions.
Really though, I'm more concerned about finishing grading my students' exams before I go on Friday morning!
Well, let me tell you, that is so last week.
But I've got Tamiflu and an enormous bottle of hand sanitizer, as per my doctor's instructions.
Really though, I'm more concerned about finishing grading my students' exams before I go on Friday morning!
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!
21 February 2009
Where in the world is... someone else?
The first video on this page was playing on a huge screen in Times Square while I was in the city yesterday evening with my friend Tom. We'd gone to see a show, and it was short so we had a bit of time to wander around afterward and still make the train back to Jersey. I just thought this video was so happy! Also, I am super envious of this guy's grand adventures. Just you wait though, I'm going to have my own adventures!
06 February 2009
exciting and edgy upcoming adventure!
This is pretty exciting news!
After a bit of panic about what courses to take this semester and what direction my thesis work might take, I landed a really sweet field research gig for a chunk of the summer. My advisor, Laura Schneider, had mentioned offhandedly in the past that she might be happy to bring me onto her research, the EDGY project in the southern Yucatan peninsula in Mexico. She looks at land use change, among other things, but a lot of the foundation work for the project includes biogeography and soil stuffs.
She needs someone to do some vegetation mapping for her this summer. She was going to hire someone down there, but then remembered that I might be having a panic attack about my thesis by now, and am interested in this sort of thing and have a small amount of experience in it, too. The conversation went thusly:
"Do you have a driver's license?"
"Yes."
"Can you drive stick shift?"
"YES!"
"Then we would really like you to come to Mexico with us."
Fully funded, at least three weeks of wandering around forests in the Southern Yucatan, near the borders of Guatemala and Belize, with Mayan ruins in the middle of the field site. I'll be driving a truck they have down there, exploring the area and what's growing in it (specifically looking for the bracken fern but making note of the other plantlife, too).
!!!
More to come in the months following. We'll talk more as the end of the semester draws nearer. Meanwhile, I'm going to continue to jump up and down a bit about this.
After a bit of panic about what courses to take this semester and what direction my thesis work might take, I landed a really sweet field research gig for a chunk of the summer. My advisor, Laura Schneider, had mentioned offhandedly in the past that she might be happy to bring me onto her research, the EDGY project in the southern Yucatan peninsula in Mexico. She looks at land use change, among other things, but a lot of the foundation work for the project includes biogeography and soil stuffs.
She needs someone to do some vegetation mapping for her this summer. She was going to hire someone down there, but then remembered that I might be having a panic attack about my thesis by now, and am interested in this sort of thing and have a small amount of experience in it, too. The conversation went thusly:
"Do you have a driver's license?"
"Yes."
"Can you drive stick shift?"
"YES!"
"Then we would really like you to come to Mexico with us."
Fully funded, at least three weeks of wandering around forests in the Southern Yucatan, near the borders of Guatemala and Belize, with Mayan ruins in the middle of the field site. I'll be driving a truck they have down there, exploring the area and what's growing in it (specifically looking for the bracken fern but making note of the other plantlife, too).
!!!
More to come in the months following. We'll talk more as the end of the semester draws nearer. Meanwhile, I'm going to continue to jump up and down a bit about this.
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