Hola from Antigua, Guatemala

Hi again,

A quick post to let you know that I've arrived safely in Antigua, Guatemala.  I had a wonderful visit with my parents and grandma this morning. The drove 3 hours (six total) to come have breakfast with me but it meant the world to me to have a couple of hours with them and to feel the love and support of family as I headed out on my trip.

It is always a little be nerve-racking to arrive in a country where the primary language is not your native-tongue. Though, this has become significantly easier over my many years of working in Central American and as my Spanish has improved. Hopefully after language school I will be even more comfortable.

I had a shuttle waiting for me at the airport in Guatemala City and had a nice hour-long Spanish conversation with my driver. He told me all about his life, how he found God, and is now sober for 6 years.  As has been my experience previously in Latin America, my driver was very direct about religion. He asked me directly if I was religious. Where for some in the US we shy away from talking about religion (the old don't talk about religion, politics, or money), here it is a question I have often received and can lead to some interesting conversations.

Later, he thought I was making an error when he asked if I lived alone and I replied that no, I live with my wife. He thought I was mixing up feminine and masculine endings, but finally (I think) understood that I'm married to another woman.

All in all, it was a great hour conversation and he was very complimentary of my Spanish. He was a perfect person to practice with given he was willing to help correct any errors I made (this can be difficult to get people to do- especially when they perceive a status difference between you) and he has learned to speak slowly for us gringos (side note- while very occasionally the slang term 'gringo' can be used as an insult- it is also often just used a 'foreigner' often from the US! This is equivalent to how you might call someone an "American" as a simple description or with the change of your town turn the same word into an insult.)

Well I am off to enjoy Antigua in the rain.

More soon.

Background on my trip: PART 1

Hello again,

I wanted to offer some context to what I’m doing on this trip and why I’ll be in both Guatemala and El Salvador.

First, I am currently a PhD candidate who is A.B.D. (All But Dissertated- meaning I’ve completed all –almost- graduation requirements).  There are two things left for me to do to complete my doctorate. First I need to demonstrate my knowledge of a second language related to my area of study (Spanish) and second I need to write my dissertation (Side note: I’m working on it and don’t you dare ask when it will be completed as that is the single most hated question by any writing a PhD! ;) ! ) .

So, I will be spending two and a half weeks in Antigua, Guatemala in an intensive Spanish immersion program. This will allow me to compliment my informal “field” Spanish with a more educated, formal Spanish that is more appropriate for conversing with government officials, giving lectures, and doing press interviews. As I have stated earlier, I have learned the majority of the Spanish I know while doing fieldwork in Belize, Honduras, Mexico, and mostly in El Salvador. I have participated in field projects at the Cerén site since 2005 and have learned the majority of my Spanish in the town of Joya de Cerén. There are some great local expression and words that are a regular part of repertoire. Fortunately, my dear friends and the guys who have worked in the field with us in Joya (the name we often use to refer to the modern community) have been amazing patient with my Spanish and have done their best to educate me a little more each trip. We have had some wonderful laugh over the terms I’ve mixed up. For example, I once asked our field cook to please pick up some “Church Sauce” at the store. I’d meant to say “English Sauce” (a term for Worcestershire sauce). Of course I went purple with embarrassment but this has turned into a great joke that we laugh about each time I visit.  Learning a second language is not for the faint of heart, as one might very easily confuse words that can lead to serious embarrassment! I am always afraid to say “I’m afraid” (ironic I know) in Spanish, since the work for this is somewhat close to a swear word for fecal matter and I am paranoid I will mix the two up! While it is scary to open yourself up to make these mistakes, it is only through diving-in and being willing to sound totally silly that I have had any success in learning a new language. I’ll keep you posted on all my major faupeaus and try to be brave enough to let you laugh with me, because the only way through it is to find the humor (after of course I turn a nice shade of purple from blushing).

Chris 

Leaving Home...

I’m currently sitting on my plane to Houston writing to you (No I’m not on a fancy wi-fi plane, just going to cut and paste this message when I arrive in Houston). 

So off I go after the hectic packing and organizing of life that comes with leaving the country for a month (making sure bills are paid while you are away and you’ve brought the necessary items along can be stressful!). As promised there were many tears upon my departure.  I waited until last night to put all of my items in my bags and made sure to have my wife there to help talk me out of attempting to bring the entire house in my suitcase. The reason for my delayed packing was that the moment I pulled out the big suitcases and began to put my clothes, field items, and project equipment into bag, my two dogs (Gracie Lou and Theo-also known as Brother) became noticeably depressed. I’m convinced they understand the ratio of bag-size to time away and they showed their lack of enthusiasm for my trip by following me obsessively around the house with tails between their legs (pugs sign of sadness). 

It is always hard for me to leave my home and I think that is a good-thing. It means I love my family and my life, but the call of Anthropology has also been a love, so with the amazing support of my wonderful wife, off I go again on yet another adventure. Having the loving support of friends and family makes a world of difference. I was lucky enough to have both my wife and a very dear friend of mine provide yummy airplane snacks as bon voyage gifts. Snacks are key in the age of having pay for plane food and given I’ll be arriving after midnight.

So, a note as I’m starting this voyage- if you didn’t read my earlier post, there is a very good reason I’ll be sleeping in Houston tonight. I did not want to arrive in Guatemala City around 9pm and then try to make my way to Antigua. I have nothing against Guatemala City but as a woman traveling alone it is not wise to arrive in an area I’m less familiar with alone and then attempt to journey on the roads at night! Please take this advice in your own travels. Also, I have the most amazing parents and grandma (Nanny) who are making a 3 hour drive from San Antonio to Houston just to get to have breakfast with me. I could not be more grateful for an opportunity to see my family or their continued love and support of me! I am blessed with such a remarkable family and though the time will not be nearly long enough, I know it will fill me with the love and support to make the month away all the easier.

Up, up and away!

Chris

The Adventure Begins...

Hi all.

Well, today is the day I set off for the field yet again.  I'll be flying into Houston tonight and spending the night there tonight, then continuing on to Guatemala in the morning.  For any of you looking to travel this is very important... I made sure to stay overnight in Houston so that I'd be arriving in Guatemala City during the daytime.

If I had not done it this way I would be arriving in Guatemala at 9:30pm at night and then trying to travel from Guatemala City to Antigua at night. This would be a very bad idea for any traveler, but especially being that I am a woman and alone this is not a great idea. Thus, I'll be spending the night in Houston and arriving in Guatemala in the afternoon. Please keep this in mind in your own travels. Any city can be dangerous (even your own), but when you are traveling to an unfamiliar city you must be all the more careful given that you lack an emic (insider) perspective and knowledge of the area.

Okay, now to finish packing and then a tearful goodbye with my wife and pugs. The hardest part of being an anthropologist is leaving behind my family as I travel.  Luckily my wife will be joining me in Guatemala next week for my birthday on the 4th of July!

These are hard faces to walk away from for a month (Pugs Theo to the left and Gracie to the right) !

Stay tuned and here we go! 

Chris

Here we go again...

Hello again.

It is summer time again and for anthropologists that often means time to go back into the field. So, here we go again! I will be setting out for Guatemala and then El Salvador at the end of this week.

The plan for this summer is a bit different. If you are new to the site, welcome and feel free to start at the earliest posts from last year and work your way to the present to catch up or in the next few days I will post a summarized version of our past project and current goals. 

Those of you who followed my blog last summer will remember we had a large archaeological project underway.  This season we will not being doing the excavations we did last year, but instead will be following up on some of our last year's work on ancient and modern planting techniques. Having found ancient planting methods no longer in practice today, we decided to have local farmers plant manioc (a tuber crop) the 'old way'. This summer will be all about working with these farmers to understand how these techniques might differ and also to see the results of our test plantings.  We are also preparing to submit a proposal for additional archaeological research at Ceren for the summer of 2014, so I will be keeping you updated on that as well.

My summer journey will begin in Antigua, Guatemala where I will be attending an intensive Spanish immersion program.  Having worked in El Salvador since 2005 I am able to communicate in Spanish, particularly in the region where I work and with farmers, but I am still lacking in fluency and formal Spanish.  One of the 'hazards' of anthropological research is that you often pick up that language in the area you are in- slang, bad-habits and all. Also, in my case my Spanish vocabulary is very skewed towards archaeological terms!  Learning a language in the field can be extremely rewarding and useful, however, it is also necessary to continue gaining fluency in the formal language for press conferences, lectures, and meetings with officials.  One of the requirements for a Ph.D. in anthropology is often a degree of fluency in a language related to your research. Thus, this Spanish program will aid my research and help me meet one of the requirements of my PhD.

I will keep you updated in my progress and also share the experience (frustrations to be sure) of learning a new language. My hope is that many of you will have the opportunity to participate in a similar program and anthropological fieldwork in the future. This blog will help you understand what we do as anthropologists in the field and a little bit of what to expect when you set out on your own adventures.

Welcome back to my blog and I look forward to writing to you in the weeks to come.
Chris  

Documentation and Field Reports

All archaeology is only as good as the documentation that accompanies it.  Archaeological fieldwork is inherently destructive and the archaeological record is a non-renewable resource. This means that we only get one shot to excavate something and once we have the context, provenience, and associations are gone from the world existing only in our minds, what we write down, and our photographs.  This is one reason that looting, illegal stealing of archaeological materials, is so destructive. Artifacts themselves are not nearly as important as the context in which they are found.  Looters are only interested in the flashy, profitable objects and so they destroy the archaeological record destroying context, provenience, and associations without recording it.

Documentation is how we not only preserve the past but learn from it and share that knowledge with the world. Our 2011 field season at Ceren was extraordinarily successful. We have written a field report that outlines all of our findings and the most important aspects of our 2011 research.  Given the importance of documentation we leave the last week of the field season for writing reports and submitting all artifacts to the national museum. This report is submitted to the government of El Salvador and is available in English and Spanish. We will turn these chapters into further publications in academic journals and presentations at academic conferences.  Take a look and let me know if you have any questions!

CEREN 2011 FIELD PROJECT FINAL REPORT:
http://www.colorado.edu/anthropology/people/bios/documents/THEREPORT2011_001.pdf 

To do and not to do for fieldwork life in the tropics...

Doing archaeological fieldwork is so much more than just digging 'stuff' up.  Many students find that learning archaeological methods is only one challenge to life in the field.  Archaeological fieldwork affords a remarkable opportunity to learn about present day cultures in the area that you are living in. For most budding archaeologists the experiences of field-life are truly unique and become valuable memories for the rest of your life.

Since fieldwork is highly variable based on the specific archaeological record, your living conditions, and the local climate, I thought I would share a list of To Do and To Not Dos of fieldwork in the tropics. Many of these are likely useful for fieldwork elsewhere, but some are more specific to a tropical climate. Archaeological fieldwork often pushes you physically, socially, and culturally. These experiences can be very challenging, fun, and education. So just a few tips:

1. DO bring sunscreen, bug spray, a complete medical kit, and anti-itch creams.  (Med Kits should have at least: bandaids, second skin for blisters, anti-itch creams, Advil, Tylenol, Tums, Pepto-bismal, Imodium, athletic tape, tweezers...)
2. DON'T expect the bug spray to work and DON'T forget to reapply your sunscreen regularly!

3. DO break-in your tennis shoes and hiking boots before going into the field
4. DON'T forget to bring comfortable flip flops for around the house.

5. DO stay aware of plants and animals around you (as one botanist told me- if the tree bark is peeling don't touch it or you might be next to peel!)
6. DON'T ever reach into a hole or crevice if you cannot see inside it! Also DON'T ever touch snakes, critters, or other animals of which you are unfamiliar!

7. DO appreciate the beautiful world around you and explore your surroundings as much as possible. You never know if or when you will have the opportunity to return so be sure to see make the most of your experiences and take lots of pictures.
8. DON'T wander without doing background research first-  there might be many dangers you never even thought to be concerned about! Just ask around, google, or check a guide book to make sure you are educated about your surroundings.

9. DO work on speaking the local language. Even if you blunder your way through it, your attempt to speak the language is usually appreciated greatly. In my experience people have always responded positively to my attempts at speaking a local language.
10. DON'T travel to another country without learning the basics of the language (Please, Thank You, You are Welcome, Excuse me, May I have, Help, How are you?, Good, Bad ... or any other basic key phrases that might be useful)

11. DO try to appreciate and keep a good sense of humor about field life. If you are freaked out by the creepy crawlies then make a game out of counting the number of bugs or variety of types!
12. DON'T let any bites, cuts, or scratches that look very strange or unusual go unattended.

13. DO shower everyday if possible and be grateful for it, especially if you are one of the lucky ones who gets a warm shower!
14. DON'T reach up and touch the shower head if it is one of the Electric Showers where electric current is used to heat the water in the shower head.

15. DO make friendships with other archaeologists as well as the local people who work with you, live nearby, or you see regularly.
16. DON'T be surprised by culture shock. When you first arrive you might feel disoriented, overwhelmed, extra tired and confused.  This is normal.  If you are there long enough, upon returning home you will feel a similar experience that we refer to as reverse culture shock.  These are great opportunities to see the variation between life in different cultures, so take notes on anything that seems strange to you (as soon it will become normal).

17. DO remember that your cultural rules don't apply. It is best to get a feel for local customs related to etiquette, dress, and particularly appropriate behaviors between men and women. 

18. DON'T forget that in a foreign country the same laws, protections, and cultural rules do not apply.

19. DO try new foods, drinks, and experiences- especially when individuals are offering to share their food with you! Some of the most touching moments I have experienced have been when people who deal with true poverty and hunger offer to share their food with me. This generosity is hard to even describe.
20. DON'T feel ashamed if you just need a taste of home every once in a while! Sometimes a peanut butter and jelly sandwich helps me get through the day.

I could list many more, but these are just a few to get you started.  My field experiences always allow me to grow as a scholar and a person. If you are fortunate enough to attend field school, volunteer on an archaeological project, or run your own excavation do your best to remember to appreciate it. Field life can be very challenging but also greatly rewarding.