memetic shift

Packing for Extended Field Research in the Upper Amazon

I had written up one of these posts a couple of years ago, but it seems to have been lost in the move to my new server. However, as I get ready to head off in a couple of weeks for yet another season of fieldwork—this time for 3 months in the Pastaza Basin—I am already gathering all my gear together. This is a fairly complete list although I’m sure I’ve left a few critical things off. Any comments or critiques are greatly appreciated!

Clothing:
Quick-Dry Pants (1 Pair) – If you’re going to be hiking in the tropics, there’s a good chance you’re going to get wet. Also quite helpful on rivers, especially during the dry season.
Dress Pants (1 Pair) – Useful for those times you have to go to a meeting or presentation
Jeans (2 Pair)
Shorts (1 Pair)
Button Up Shirt – For going out or meetings
Quick-Dry Shirt
T-Shirts (3-4)
Swimming Trunks
Nice Shoes – For Meetings
Hiking/Walking Shoes
Sunglasses
Poncho/Rain Jacket

Electronics:
Smartphone – iPhone or Android. Preferably unlocked. See the list below for essential apps
Dual-SIM Cell Phone / Unlocked Cheap Cell Phone – If you can’t get an unlocked smartphone, you’ll need some other cheap, unlocked phone for local use
Laptop
Tablet PC – Android-based or iPad. See list below for apps
MP3 Player – Cheap MP3 player that can be given away at end of trip.
Voice Recorder – For those times where you don’t want to use the smartphone to record something
GPS – If you don’t have a smartphone or don’t want to use it, bring a separate GPS unit
Point and Shoot Camera
DSLR Camera + Lenses
Various Cables – USB, Power, Ethernet
Extra Memory Cards (SD + CF)
USB Thumb Drive – At least 8GB
USB Hard Drive – At least 500GB
Travel Surge Protector
Chargers for All Devices
Solar Charger — See this post for an overview of various configurations. Look to spend at least $200 for any usable setup.

Toiletries:
Shaving Kit – razor, extra blades, shaving oil, styptic pencil, aftershave
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Body Wash
Deodorant
Contact Lens Solution – Definitely bring your own if you have contacts. It can be quite expensive in the jungle, when you can actually find it.
Extra Contacts
Wet Wipes
Hand Sanitizer
Medical Kit

Miscellaneous:
Copies of Passport and All Forms – Peru Immigration Form, Yellow Fever and Other Vaccinations, IRB approval, Consent forms, Institutional Affiliations, Community Invitations
Stain Remover Stick
Notebooks – I use about 1 small notebook per month of fieldwork. I prefer to use Fieldnotes or Rite in the Rain, depending on conditions.
Ear Plugs
Leatherman
Business Cards – I use double-sided cards with KU on one side and my affiliate university on the other. Both sides are in Spanish although I think I may make some Kichwa cards this time just for fun…
Plastic Zippered Pockets – For storing miscellaneous items
Business Card Pages – For the billions of business cards that you will inevitably collect
Day Bag
Water Bottle
Tripod
Petzl Tikka XP 2 Headlamp – Headlamps are essential, especially when staying in rural areas. This particular model is a bit pricey but super bright.
Thermarest Trekker Pillow Case – stuff full of laundry and you have a decent pillow wherever you may be.
Poly-Cotton Travel Sheet – for all those times where you’re in a nasty little hotel in the middle of the Amazon
Portable Office Kit – Pens, Post-Its, Super-Glue, Sharpies
CRKT Eat ‘N Tool – Just picked this up recently, we’ll see how it holds up
Waterproof Bags
Tape Measure
Maps
Hennesey Hammock
Microfiber Towel
Paracord
Mini-Flashlight
Mini Umbrella
Watercolors Field Kit

PC Software:
Evernote – It has taken me awhile to come around to Evernote, but now that I have I don’t think I could do my work without it. Previously I relied on OneNote for organizing my mind but the lack of portability really hurt it. I’m not completely sold on Evernote — for example, I don’t like how I can’t write with a stylus on my notes — but it is a great system. Once again, just like Mendeley it has cloud storage, so all my notes are constantly synced and available wherever there is an internet connection.
OneNote – Much like Evernote, although lacking a few key features. However, I use OneNote for transcribing my interviews as the text and audio are linked together.
ACDSee Photo Manager – allows you to organize photos into folders and generally have more control than Lightroom (although Lightroom is excellent for editing)
Photoshop – For editing photos
Mendeley – Hands down the best reference manager available. I just download PDFs to a special folder I made on my desktop and Mendeley (usually) does the rest. The extraction of metadata is fairly decent but I often find myself having to correct it. Thankfully the process is as painless as can be. The cloud storage is essential, though a bit costly over time. Due to the size of my library, I had to upgrade to the “Solar” package which I believe is $10 a month. However, If you want to save a bit of money you can make private groups and store documents within them as Group and Personal storage each has its own quota.
Google Earth – Nice for visualizing GPS data
SkyDrive – For syncing files

iOS Software:
Camera+ – slightly better camera
Evernote – quick field notes, ideas, photos, scans, etc.; can be synced with desktop
Mendeley – mobile version of reference manager
Do It (Tomorrow) – to do list
Photosynth – nice photostitching program that creates a pseudo-3d space
FiRe 2 – excellent for recording audio
GPS Kit – high-quality GPS with offline maps
GoodReader – best PDF reader for iOS
Drafts – for quick ideas
JotNot Pro – Best scanning app on iOS
Google Earth – maps!
Fulcrum – I just started playing with this app recently. It allows you to create ethnographic forms (or any type or form really) that integrate with an online app.
The Night Sky – use it to find constellations
Bump – for transferring files between the android tablet and the iphone over bluetooth
SketchbookX – allows you to draw on photos, multiple layers

Android Software:
Scholarley – Android version of Mendeley
RepliGo Reader – The best PDF reader for Android; allows you to mark-up files
Google Earth – maps!
Evernote – same as other versions of Evernote
Skitch – integrates with Evernote, allows you to draw with stylus (annotate photos, etc.)

Thanks to the following blogs for inspiration: Coding in the Congo, Kitchen Window, Savage Minds, Ethnomusi-Tía, The Savvy Backpacker, Chris Blattman

Videos from 2004 protests in Lagunas, Peru

Finally got around to capping these old VHS tapes that my adviser had in his office. All of these were taken after the attack on protesters in Lagunas Peru on April 21st, 2004. The quality varies quite a bit, especially at the beginning of each tape, but most everything is still intelligible.

Links for September 9th through September 16th

Links for September 8th

Links for August 26th through September 6th

Links for August 11th through August 19th

Links for June 6th through August 10th

Strange routes through the Amazon…

Check out the two roads leaving Andoas; one from just north-west of the airport and the other heading east of the city. Unfortunately the resolution isn’t the greatest on Google Maps, so you might want to look at it in Google Earth.

While the eastern road goes to the Rio Tigre, the north-west/west route runs down to the border of Loreto and Amazonas where it then crosses the Marañon and proceeds south for a bit. From there, it runs east staying just a little north of the Marañon (becoming the Ruta Nacional 5NC) until it hits San José de Saramuró. It then runs up the Corrientes to Trompeteros.

View Larger Map

Drawings about Pluspetrol oil spill by Kukama-Kukamiria children

See more drawings here and here

Huarochiri Manuscript – Chapters 1 through 4

Summaries (in Kechwa) of the first four chapters of the The Huarochiri Manuscript

Capitulo 1

Ñawpa pachaka, exqe wakakuna Yanañamcapix Tutañamcapix kawsarkakuna. Chay k’ipa, chay wakakunaka ch’ikan waka Huallallo Carhuinchowan mixajkuna karkakuna. Mixarka k’ipa, Huallallo gintikunaman kawsayta kurka. Icha, Carhuincho paykuna yalli exqe wawakunata charinata mana uxachurka. Xöqta mikurka. Chayxöq, munaxka kaxpa, yayamamawan wiñarka.

Chay pachaka, q’arikuna pichka p’unlla wañuxka k’ipa kawsarirkakuna. Yuyukunapix tarpuxka k’ipa pichka p’unlla pukurkakuna. Tukuy llaqtakunapi achqa yungakunaka kawsarkakuna. Q’arikunaka pachata ukunchakaman yalli mirarimuxpa paykunapura kichki-kichki kawsarkakuna. Chay xinaka, paykunapak chakrakunata rurankapak urkuman rirka. Chay urku pachata allaxpa aspirka. Kunanpix tukuy urkukunapi chakrakuna tiyan.

Ñawpa pacha pichkokuna yalli sumak kajpika lorokuna kakikuna pukapix killupix karkakuna. Ch’ikan waka Paricaca xutiyuk chayaxpa antisuyuman Huallallo Carhuinchopak ch’ikan obrakunata pichokunatapix ñanpichurarka.

Ch’ikan waka Cuniraya tiyarka. Runakunaka Cunirayata muchaxpa nirka, “Cuniraya Huirachochagu, pachaman runaman kawsay kuj kaxpa, mana ima mutzuyarka. Chakrakunata runakunatapix charin.” Ñawpa pacha, sinchi chamba ñawpa, runakunaka — awajkuna xina –pampaman cocata xitaxpa Huiracochata muchaxpa nirka, “Cuniraya Huiracochagu, ñukata kay llankanawan yanapay.”

Capitulo 2

Ñawpa pacha Cuniray Huiracochaka waqcha xina kaxpa tzuntzu cushmata churarka, nin. Mana payta riksirixpa usa xina payta pitwirka. Icha, chay q’ari tukuy ayllukunaman kawsayta kurka. Xöq ximilla chakrakuna rurankapak xöq sisata xitaxpa larkata rurarka.

Ch’ikan warmi waka tiyajpimi Cahuillaca xutiyuk karka. Tukuy wakakuna paywan kanata munarka. Icha, Cahuillaca doncella kaxpa mana paykunata munarkachu. Chaxna, jamas xoq q’arika payta tuparkachu. Xöq p’unlla chay warmika lúcuma yura uraypi awagujpimi Cuniraya pichko tukuxpa chay yurapi ichiyarka. Payka xöq p’ukuxka lúcuma wayupi paypak millallita jundachixpa chay warmi kaylla xitarka. Chaxna, Cahuillaca chay wayuta mikuxpaka chichu karka.

Isqon killa k’ipa xöq wawata charixpa chayrak doncella karka. Xöq wataka paypak wawa ñuñurka. Tukuy runakuna tapurka, “Pitak paypak yaya kan?” Xöq wata k’ipa, paypak yaya riksinkapak payka tukuy wakakunawan Anchicochapi juñuyta charirka. Tukuy wakakunaka sumak churanata churaxpa chayaxpa chaypi tiyarka. Cahuillacaka wakakunata nirka, “Pitak paypak yaya kan?” Sapan waka nirka, “Payka mana ñuka churi kanchu.” Chay waqcha wakata rikuxpa mana payta tapurka. Kaxna, payka paypak wawata paypak yayaman richurka. Chay wawa chay waqcha waka Cunirayaman llukarka.

Kay waqcha rikuxpa p’iñaxpa chay warmi paypak churita lutzaxpa mamaqochaman rirka. Cunirayaka sumak kuri churanata churaxpa payta katirka. Chay warmika Pachacamac chayaxpa runa xina exqe rumita rikurka. Icha Cuniraya katixpa katirka. Payka xoq condorta rikuxpa payta tapurka, “Maypi Cahullica kan?” Chay condor nirka, “Kayllami kan.” Chaxna, Cunirayaka payman nirka, “Tukuy punamunta wañuxka wiwakunata mikuy. Xoq runa payta wañuchijpimi kanpak pay wañurka.”

Chayxi, xöq añista rikurka. “Maypi Cahuillaca kan?” tapurka. “Chay warmika karu-karumi kan,” chay añis nirka. “Chaxna, p’unllapi ama puriy. Tukuy runakunaka mana kanta munanka.” Yalli ñawpakman, pumata riksirirka. Chay puma nirka, “Payka kayllami kan. Ña quchuyarigun.” Chaymanta Cuniraya payman nirka, “Tukuy llamakunata mikuy. Runa kanta wañuchixpa atun raymipi kanpak umata churaxpa tuxunka.

Chayxi, xöq atukta riksirirka. Payka nirka, “Chay warmi karumi kan.” Chaymanta Cuniraya nirka, “Runakunaka mana kanta munankachu. Kanta wañuchixpa paypak ukkuta karatapix xitanka.” Chaxna, xoq wamanta riksirirka. Payka nirka, “Payka quchumi kan.” Chaymanta, Cuniraya nirka, “Achqa atawta charinki. Tukuy pichkokunata mikuy. Kanta wañuchixpa kanpak umata churaxpa tuxuxpa xoq llama wañuchinka.”

Jakay, lorokunata rikurka. Paykunaka payman nirka, “Chay warmi karu-karumi kan.” Chaxna, Cunirayaka nirka, “Runakunaka kankunata mana munankachu. Q’apariykunata uyaxpa kankunata katinka.” Kaxna, tukuy alli willayta uyaxpa paykunata alli imakunata kurka. Icha, tukuy mana allichu willayta uyaxpa paykunata mana alli imakunata kurka. Kaxna, payka qochaman rixpa Pachacamacman tigramurka. Chaypi chayaxpa Pachacamac exqe uxuxita rikurka. Paypak mamaka Cahuillacata rikunkapak qochaman rirka. Chaxna, Cunirayaka chay jatunin wambrata changarka. Icha, wajka wambraka urpi tukuxpa jananpachaman rirka. Chaymanta paykunapak mama Urpayhuachac xutiyuk kan.

Ñawpa pachaka, mamaqochapi mana chawlakunaka karkakuna. Urpayhuachaclla paypak wasipi uchilla qochapi chawlakunata charirka. Cunirayaka piñarixpa mamaqochaman tukuy chawlakunata xitarka. Chaymanta, achqa chawlakuna mamaqochapi tiyan.

Axallan, Cunirayaka mamaqocha waykuman rirka. Icha, Urpayhuachacka, paypak changaxka wambrakunamanta uyaxpa, Cunirayata katirka. “Ñukaka pikikunallata sakinata munani.” Chay warmi xoq pugruta rurarka. Icha, Cuniraya nirka, “Ismagrini.” Chaxna, payka tukuy pachapi achqa runakunata parkumurka.

Capitulo 3

Ñawpa pachaka, kay pacha puchukayta munarka. Xöq llamaka mamaqocha pachyamunanta yachaxpa mana mikunata munarkachu. Llamayuk ancha piñaxpa xöq sara quruntayninwan chuqlluta xitaxpa nirka, “Mikuy achqo! Chaypi sumak k’iwa tiyan!” Icha, chay llama runa xina rimarka, “Utik, pichka p’unllamanta mamaqocha pachyamunka. Xinaka kay pacha puchukunka. Qixpinkapak Huillcacotoman rixun.”

Huillcacota urquman chayajpimi chaypi tukuy wiwakunaka tiyarka. Condorpix, pumapix, atuqpix, wanakupix ñanpi karkakuna. Ancha kichkinakuxpa tiyarka. Tukuy urkukunata pampajpi chay Huillcacota mana yaku jundaxka karka. Ña yaku jawapi tukuy pacha kaxpa mana chay urkupak puntopi karkachu. Icha, chay atukpak chupaka yakupi karka. Xinaka, paypak chupa yakupi kaxpa, chay chupa yana tukurirka.

Pichka p’unllamanta ña yakuka uraykuxpa chakirirka. Icha, chay yaku pachapi tukuy runukunata wañuchirka. Chay q’ari urkupi sapalla kaxpa llaki sentirirka. Chaymanta payka mirarimurka. Payka tukuy gintikunata rurarka. Chaymanta kunanlla pachapi runakuna tiyan.

Capitulo 4

Ñawpa pachaka Intika wãnurka, nin. Chayxi, rumikunapura makanakurkakuna. Morterokunapix, muchcakuna xutiyuk kaxpa, gintikunata mikunkapak kallarirkakuna. Llamakunapix gintikunata katipayankapak kallarirkakuna. Cristianokunaka yuyaypi kay rimay chay tutapuru Jesus Cristopak wãnuxka k’ipamanta kan. Ch’ikan runakuna, mana cristianokunachu kaxpa, paykunapak yuyaypi posible kanata iñinkuna.