Gifting

We are working in our last community here in Morona Santiago.  Part of the project was to provide a little bit of money to each farmer that collaborated with us to acknowledge his/her time in going out with us and helping us collect our samples.  As a group we decided to give each farmer a little bit less money and then put together a gift for the whole community so that more can benefit than just the selected farmers that we surveyed and we can leave an overall thank you to the community for opening their doors for us.  This turned into quite a bit of work - in each community we needed to target an organization that worked with elders or children, and then approach them and ask what they needed, figure out how much we could spend, purchase the item(s) and deliver them.  In the last community, Proano, we are actually working in 4 different smaller communities. So in total we needed to do this for 6 communities.

This gifting process has been my favorite part of this project. We normally just work with farmers, and do not have such a strong connection with the community at large.  But by finding organizations and connecting with them we've developed a little bit stronger connection with the places where we've been working for months.

The last few days we've been gifting: mostly to childcare centers and in one community a center for elders that provides them lunches and activities so that they are not alone and can eat well. Yesterday we delivered tables and chairs and also some school supplies to a school.  Today we delivered a refrigerator to the elder community center and more materials for children: pack-and-plays, mattresses, learning materials. It's been really nice and hopefully can serve as an example for other scientific research that takes place in communities.

Family time

At the end of August I went to the states to find housing and visit with family. For my birthday I got cake and beer with Simon and Eli...

Hoy

Back in the field in Ecuador...

Today we had a nice hike up a property through jungle, with warnings of "watch out for the biting ants" and "watch out for the stinging plant" and "watch out for the biting flies that leave a larvae under your skin".

It was worth it for the views and streams that we welcomed to cool our heads on the way down, they also contained magical energetic rocks that clean the bad vibes, according to our field colleague, Gerardo.  He gave us one to take back to the house.

On the way home, I identified some of the figures on US coins (they use the dollar here), including Sacajawea, who is found on the US dollar coin used commonly here. I felt like a jerk for not knowing her tribe, which seems absurd here (much more knowledge of indigenous groups, probably since they are more numerous and present).

Celebrate good times

This is a long over-due blog post recounting tales from August - particularly the celebrations of my and Diana's birthdays.  Leading up to the birthdays we had some preemptive relaxation at Arrayan y Piedra, a really nice hotel that allows you to pay $5 for the use of the pool for the day.  We went back to the restaurant with the really nice folks we work with, Dolores and Gerardo and two of their children (Marco and Gaby).


Finally, we had a very celebratory weekend in mid-August for Diana's birthday and 12 of her closest friends and 10 family members came to Macas (they had never been before) for lots of festivities.

First we went to a nearby river where we sat in the cool water and drank beer all day. An excellent birthday event.  Then we had a raucous party at our Macas pad that included food and dancing until the early morning hours.  The next night involved some passionate karaoke singing. All in all it was some great celebrating and especially because I was heading back to the States in a few weeks.

Peru

In 2006 I started working for an amazing organization called Global Explorers that offers conservation/ service themed trips throughout the world, namely to the Peruvian Amazon.  I've worked for 5 summers as an "expedition leader" where I coordinate the trip for school groups.  This year made particular sense because I'm so close to Peru and also because I went with the teacher 2 years ago and he requested me again.  The kids were really great - very quiet and well-behaved and altogether easy to manage.

Dave, the teacher, was also a lot of fun (he's a sarcastic dude from NJ) and I bonded with the other teacher, Mo.  Luckily these teachers know what they're doing and didn't invite parents.  Most of the activities I have experienced before, although a new one was the visit to a manatee rescue center, which included feeding and petting the manatees! Very cute. We also had some fun doing service projects and swimming near pink river dolphins.

On the way back I had several days of travel which included a shopping day in Lima and a day running errands in Quito.  But finally I made it safe and sound back to Macas.

Views from the field

Some days I feel really lucky to have this job. We get to hike around in tropical forest and sometimes through creeks and rivers, often with amazing views. When we're really lucky, we get a glimpse of Sangay, the closest volcano to the region.

Work Pals in Ecuador

Having a research team, even a small one, makes all the difference doing fieldwork.  When I did my dissertation fieldwork I had to make all decisions alone, but now we can discuss everything as a group.  In particular I work and live with Diana, who has become a fun pal for work and play.  Last weekend we went to a nearby hotel that charges a $5 entrance fee to use the pool, tennis courts, and soccer fields.  For an additional $10 you can stay for a buffet lunch, in which we decided to endulge.  We had a good time with a new friend that was passing through town, a Swiss-French guy we met at the nearby bar we frequent.  All in all it was a great day.

The locals we work with are also amazing.  Dolores and Gerardo are a local couple from one of the small farming communities where we work, but more recently have moved to the city (Macas) so that their kids have more work/school opportunities.  Dolores is an amazing cook and Gerardo knows everything about the countryside.  We recognize him most for his weather prognostics, but he also knows most of the plants we find out in the countryside and can build things with scraps and string.  He's like an all-around Macgyver type. And he loves nature.  It is really fun to be out with him and he calls us over to look at orchids or special plants that are medicinal.  This is a really special family.  Dolores makes 6-course meals for us at their country house in the community where we work, including soup, rice, meat, salad, juice, and lentils.  She also loves to farm and be outside.  We talk a lot about plants, recipes, natural medicine, and general community gossip.  Good times.


We have a new member of the team, Tuntiak, who is indigenous (Schuar) and is working on our project in a local indigenous community here since they are a little wary of outsiders.  He has studied ecology in Quito and has traveled all over the world because he is one of the few Schuar people to go to university.  The group picture shows me, Diana, Tuntiak, one of the farmers we interviewed (Luis), and Gerardo.  It's a pretty fun group and we are starting to laugh a lot (mostly at me falling or tripping over something).