Category: Field Diary
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Field Note #7 — Being Lonely and Shifting Focus
Kichwa word of the day: fakchaman = “cascada” / “waterfall” Hi, how’s it going? Day 18 here after a week-long hiatus. I’ve got the usual setup: sitting at my desk cocooned in my sleeping bag, watching my cup of tea get cold, sheep grazing on the hills outside my window, and of course, having the…
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Field Note #6 — Making the Unfamiliar Familiar
Kichwa word of the day: mishki = rico / delicious! I use this one a lot. To start today’s post I am sharing with you this photo of my Papa José. At first I was just taking photos of the adorable guaguas de pan, shaped like little babies and horses and usually shared on Día de…
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Field Note #5 — Lost in Translation (Sketchbook)
Some Linguistics humor to wrap up my day… (Puta means “whore” in Spanish. While in English the /b/ sound is more firmly voiced and held longer, in Japanese it’s a softer, more “staccato” consonantal sound that’s very close to the Spanish bilabial stop /p/ —so the two come out sounding dangerously similar.)
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Field Note #4 — Being Sick in the Field
Kichwa word of the day: sumak kawsay = buen vivir / good living Okay Karma, you got me good. In my previous post I bragged about how I managed to escape the wrath of altitude sickness, and it’s almost as if as soon as I hit “Publish,” my body decided it’s time—bring on the headache, the…
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Field Note #3 — Finding a Sense of Family Abroad
Kichwa word of the day: Kayakaman = see you tomorrow! We made it to the Andes! It’s my second night at the field site, and aside from the distant barking of stray dogs and the muffled hum of motorcycle engines rushing through these narrow streets, the entire parish is quiet. “Everyone’s asleep by now,” my…
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Field Note #2 — Packing for Fieldwork (Sketchbook)
My flight to Quito is less than a week away what the f … And I have not yet figured out what to bring to the field. As per usual it looks like I am leaving my packing to the eleventh hour. I’m convinced I don’t know how to do it any other way. But…
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Field Note #1 — Navigating the Researcher-Participant Friendship
Five weeks left until fieldwork begins. Holy moly guacamole my dudes Things are getting real now: my flight to Quito has been booked, the IRB has approved my proposal, and I’ve started purchasing equipment—but the most exciting update is that my focal participant and I talk every day now via Messenger. This is the girl…
a grain of nice 