Another breakthrough! This one of a different sort (also known as the next embarrassing thing Dave did):
So I'm eating dinner last night, and watching TV...nothing special. Beans and rice. And then I look down at my lap, and about half of my dinner is on my lap! Now I'm thinking, ok, I'm a messy eater (as some can attest), but I'm not that messy! So I'm thinking as I continue eating, trying to deduce the culprit....(I'm not the sharped crayon in the box), and then i get to the bottom of the metal bowl...and guess who's bowl has a hole in the bottom of it?!? (if you can, there's the melody of that children's song in the background here). Ahhah! the culprit! So, I carefully get up, shake myself off outside, get some more food and hold my palm under the hole in the bottom of the bowl! After more thinking, I've determined that this fairly sturdy metal bowl has a sizable whole in it because it's a DIY "do it yourself" pot lid, and the hole is meant to let air escape.....other suggestions?
The other breakthrough (and perhaps more substantial from a research perspective): In my first formal interview with a farmer yesterday, he told me (without any prompting) that "he planted (more than a hundred fruit) trees to preserve/create nature". This sentiment, and the way it was freely expressed at the beginning of the interview, is pretty important (I feel) because it indicates that there is something deeper than just planting the trees for sustenance, but is part of a conscious process of landscape transformation. All of which says to me that this IS a good dissertation site, and my recent thoughts about studying land use/land cover change vis a vis reforrestation are probably on track! But that all pales in comparison to the hole in my bucket, dear liza, dear liza...
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
And the road continues...
An update on my constantly evolving plans:
(Taken from a previous email, so obrigado and excuses to the original recipients)
Anyways, it’s hard to believe, I guess, that I’ve been in Brazil for a month, and this settlement for a little over 3 weeks. I’ll be here in this settlement for about two more weeks, which is really good, because I’m just getting to the point where I’m feeling prepared to get the work that I need to done. After that point, I’ll be heading from Eldorado das Carajas (get on google earth/map you fools!) to Maraba by bus, and then am going to opt for the 8 hour bus from Maraba back to Belem, as I flew last time, want to save some $$, and figure it’s a good way to see the country side-although I might cave in and fly after all (I’m basically just telling myself that if I take the bus I can rationalize treating myself to a sweet hotel on the beach for three days before I leave to process and get my shit together (in addition to writing more grant applications for next year! Before I come home…). Once I get to Belem, I’m going to try to rest for a day or two, while hitting some museums I didn’t get to last time, and then am going to meet with some scientist peeps at some research institutions in the city, and then go check out this other MST settlement, called Mosquero, which is on the coast near Belem. Belem is one of the main locations that people take boats down the Amazon from (Belem is where the Amazon empties into the ocean); it’s a 6 day trip down the Amazon from Belem to Manaus, from what I hear it’s pretty boring though, as you’re kinda confined to your hammock along with everyone else for six days…and honestly after five weeks of sleeping, typing, and playing mandolin I’ve had about enough hammock, so although originally, I had wanted to take a little vacation after my time in the settlement and take a trip down the might A…I’m going to have to pass this voyage.
For purposes of my research, which I can explain in more detail later, I’m then going to fly down to the far south of Brazil, to the state of Santa Catarina, where I’m going to spend about a week at a different MST settlement. The basic reason is as follows: so I’m generally interested in looking at the relationship between the MST’s educational program and changing agricultural practices, and the changes in landscapes (both cultural and natural) that occur as result of education and those changing practices; specifically, I’m interested in looking at the MST’s relatively recent emphasis on “agroecology” and how that is or is not affecting educational practices. All of which is a long introduction to the fact that in the South of the country, where the MST is based, and originated, and is the strongest, the agroecological curricula is supposedly very strong. In the North, where I am, which is apparently a locus of land conflict and much more frontier-like (yeee haw cowboy!) the educational program (in general) is much more diluted. To clarify, what I’m talking about is that the MST basically runs its own schools, although it much more complicated that that, as the government provides the majority of the funding and materials etc, but it’s the MST that gains the land, and starts the school and then the govt. comes in later and legitimizes it through resources (perhaps, that’s at least my thought), so there’s this conflict between teachers who are loyal to the MST (about 4 of them) and those who are just normal teachers trying to earn a living. Anyways, from my perspective this division between the teachers is much more emblematic of larger issues the settlement (and likely the movement as a whole) are facing in terms of basically maintaining allegiance after the members win their land rights.
Anyhoooo, y’all are probably sick of reading about my poop if you’ve even made it this far, but as that’s all I eat, sleep, and breathe around here, when I’m not playing the mandolin that is….I don’t have a whole lot more interesting things to say! Except that Brazil is a nice country, although very expensive in comparison with other Latin American countries-probably the most expensive actually, a little cheaper than the states, but not much. But the people are really friendly, and the fruit is great, and I’m really hoping to get some chance to explore all the great places that I know are hiding here….so get your asses settled, and then come on down here!
(Taken from a previous email, so obrigado and excuses to the original recipients)
Anyways, it’s hard to believe, I guess, that I’ve been in Brazil for a month, and this settlement for a little over 3 weeks. I’ll be here in this settlement for about two more weeks, which is really good, because I’m just getting to the point where I’m feeling prepared to get the work that I need to done. After that point, I’ll be heading from Eldorado das Carajas (get on google earth/map you fools!) to Maraba by bus, and then am going to opt for the 8 hour bus from Maraba back to Belem, as I flew last time, want to save some $$, and figure it’s a good way to see the country side-although I might cave in and fly after all (I’m basically just telling myself that if I take the bus I can rationalize treating myself to a sweet hotel on the beach for three days before I leave to process and get my shit together (in addition to writing more grant applications for next year! Before I come home…). Once I get to Belem, I’m going to try to rest for a day or two, while hitting some museums I didn’t get to last time, and then am going to meet with some scientist peeps at some research institutions in the city, and then go check out this other MST settlement, called Mosquero, which is on the coast near Belem. Belem is one of the main locations that people take boats down the Amazon from (Belem is where the Amazon empties into the ocean); it’s a 6 day trip down the Amazon from Belem to Manaus, from what I hear it’s pretty boring though, as you’re kinda confined to your hammock along with everyone else for six days…and honestly after five weeks of sleeping, typing, and playing mandolin I’ve had about enough hammock, so although originally, I had wanted to take a little vacation after my time in the settlement and take a trip down the might A…I’m going to have to pass this voyage.
For purposes of my research, which I can explain in more detail later, I’m then going to fly down to the far south of Brazil, to the state of Santa Catarina, where I’m going to spend about a week at a different MST settlement. The basic reason is as follows: so I’m generally interested in looking at the relationship between the MST’s educational program and changing agricultural practices, and the changes in landscapes (both cultural and natural) that occur as result of education and those changing practices; specifically, I’m interested in looking at the MST’s relatively recent emphasis on “agroecology” and how that is or is not affecting educational practices. All of which is a long introduction to the fact that in the South of the country, where the MST is based, and originated, and is the strongest, the agroecological curricula is supposedly very strong. In the North, where I am, which is apparently a locus of land conflict and much more frontier-like (yeee haw cowboy!) the educational program (in general) is much more diluted. To clarify, what I’m talking about is that the MST basically runs its own schools, although it much more complicated that that, as the government provides the majority of the funding and materials etc, but it’s the MST that gains the land, and starts the school and then the govt. comes in later and legitimizes it through resources (perhaps, that’s at least my thought), so there’s this conflict between teachers who are loyal to the MST (about 4 of them) and those who are just normal teachers trying to earn a living. Anyways, from my perspective this division between the teachers is much more emblematic of larger issues the settlement (and likely the movement as a whole) are facing in terms of basically maintaining allegiance after the members win their land rights.
Anyhoooo, y’all are probably sick of reading about my poop if you’ve even made it this far, but as that’s all I eat, sleep, and breathe around here, when I’m not playing the mandolin that is….I don’t have a whole lot more interesting things to say! Except that Brazil is a nice country, although very expensive in comparison with other Latin American countries-probably the most expensive actually, a little cheaper than the states, but not much. But the people are really friendly, and the fruit is great, and I’m really hoping to get some chance to explore all the great places that I know are hiding here….so get your asses settled, and then come on down here!
Outdone...I think not!
Well, to my happy surprise I seem to have been outdone! For the moment at least...
My wonderful wife has updated the blog with all sorts of nice photos, and even a video...now I gotta figure that out...
Anyways, so I've posted a number of small tidbits and a larger rumination for y'all to nibble on (much like I try to get the remaining meat off the bone in the stew pot...which you wouldn't believe without a picture...and I don't have one...yet). Anyways, so enjoy!
My wonderful wife has updated the blog with all sorts of nice photos, and even a video...now I gotta figure that out...
Anyways, so I've posted a number of small tidbits and a larger rumination for y'all to nibble on (much like I try to get the remaining meat off the bone in the stew pot...which you wouldn't believe without a picture...and I don't have one...yet). Anyways, so enjoy!
Breakthrough!
Well, a relative one at least (I'll take whatever kind of forward steps I can get, actually I take whatever steps and try to see them as forward in the long term, but this was already 'pre-formatted' as really positive)
So for those who don't know, part of my research is geographic in nature. Specifically, I'll be using mapping technologies (such as Geographic Information Systems, or GIS) to look at how the landscape has changed within the settlement over the last
50 or so years (although these MST settlers have only lived on the land for 13, I'll be using aerial photographs and other remotely sensed data, such as from satellites, to understand the state of the landscape prior to when they arrived). As I'm anticipating, combining these various mapping technologies will help me assess whether forest cover has actually increased or decreased within this landscape as a function of the land management practices of these settlers (i.e. see former posts about tree planting). My basic hypothesis is that as opposed to conventional scientific and anecdotal wisdom, deforestation is not a unilinear process that is associated with migrant settlement, rather, it is much more complex, and is often tied to other land management practices, such as reforestation. Anyways, that's the slightly longer end of it...
So the "breakthrough" is that for my research I really need a pretty decent quality map of the settlement, so that I can digitize it, and overlay other data that I will collect later back in the states, such as aerial photographs, satellite images etc. Anyways, before coming down to Brazil I had no idea how big the settlement was, and was under the delusion that I could map it. Well, at 15 km on its side, and with between 6000 and 8000 residents, mapping this very rural area (complete with lots of barbed wire and not-so-friendly cows!) would be practically impossible. So I realized that I needed a map that was already prepared. Dan (see previous posts) informed me that the settlement's leadership almost certainly had to have a map for governmental purposes, so...I finally got up the kutzpa and asked the settlement leader (who talks with a very strong accent that makes him sound like Marlon Brando (sp?) in the Godfather, which to me is just perfect!) Anyways, he was more than happy to oblige and so showed me the maps that the government had prepared at the time of settlement. Without a photocopier I took approximately 100 different photos of the maps, to ensure that I got all the best combinations of the data, and now have what I need to begin the lengthy process of creating a digital base map of the settlement. This will be a fairly long, and time intensive process. First, I need to collect 4 GPS points that I can use to "georeference" the images (i.e. the locations of things like bridges that I can find on the map and also find in person). By taking these 4 GPS points I can basically take the photo and then underlay that on a map of brazil, and all of the features, i.e. rivers, houses etc, will be in the exactly correct location (assuming the original map was done well). That's the quick and easy part. The much longer part is creating by hand the 1200 or so "feature classes" or polygons, or basically shapes around each individuals home, the roads etc. If only there were a macro (or automated way of doing this...thoughts my GIS/programming audience?). The whole purpose of digitizing all these features of the original map image, is that once i have them digitized and integrated into a database I can overlay other data, such as forest cover in 1950, 60, 70,80,90,2000,2010, and then "query" certain locations, i.e. to look at someone's property (which might be covered with over 300 fruit trees that they've planted) and to be able to say that looking at specific landscape units, i.e. an individual's backyard, which I can now find easily because it is part of the new database, one can see that "X" occurs, or does not occur....anyways that's the long of it...
So below is a blurry image of a small section of the map.....
So for those who don't know, part of my research is geographic in nature. Specifically, I'll be using mapping technologies (such as Geographic Information Systems, or GIS) to look at how the landscape has changed within the settlement over the last
50 or so years (although these MST settlers have only lived on the land for 13, I'll be using aerial photographs and other remotely sensed data, such as from satellites, to understand the state of the landscape prior to when they arrived). As I'm anticipating, combining these various mapping technologies will help me assess whether forest cover has actually increased or decreased within this landscape as a function of the land management practices of these settlers (i.e. see former posts about tree planting). My basic hypothesis is that as opposed to conventional scientific and anecdotal wisdom, deforestation is not a unilinear process that is associated with migrant settlement, rather, it is much more complex, and is often tied to other land management practices, such as reforestation. Anyways, that's the slightly longer end of it...
So the "breakthrough" is that for my research I really need a pretty decent quality map of the settlement, so that I can digitize it, and overlay other data that I will collect later back in the states, such as aerial photographs, satellite images etc. Anyways, before coming down to Brazil I had no idea how big the settlement was, and was under the delusion that I could map it. Well, at 15 km on its side, and with between 6000 and 8000 residents, mapping this very rural area (complete with lots of barbed wire and not-so-friendly cows!) would be practically impossible. So I realized that I needed a map that was already prepared. Dan (see previous posts) informed me that the settlement's leadership almost certainly had to have a map for governmental purposes, so...I finally got up the kutzpa and asked the settlement leader (who talks with a very strong accent that makes him sound like Marlon Brando (sp?) in the Godfather, which to me is just perfect!) Anyways, he was more than happy to oblige and so showed me the maps that the government had prepared at the time of settlement. Without a photocopier I took approximately 100 different photos of the maps, to ensure that I got all the best combinations of the data, and now have what I need to begin the lengthy process of creating a digital base map of the settlement. This will be a fairly long, and time intensive process. First, I need to collect 4 GPS points that I can use to "georeference" the images (i.e. the locations of things like bridges that I can find on the map and also find in person). By taking these 4 GPS points I can basically take the photo and then underlay that on a map of brazil, and all of the features, i.e. rivers, houses etc, will be in the exactly correct location (assuming the original map was done well). That's the quick and easy part. The much longer part is creating by hand the 1200 or so "feature classes" or polygons, or basically shapes around each individuals home, the roads etc. If only there were a macro (or automated way of doing this...thoughts my GIS/programming audience?). The whole purpose of digitizing all these features of the original map image, is that once i have them digitized and integrated into a database I can overlay other data, such as forest cover in 1950, 60, 70,80,90,2000,2010, and then "query" certain locations, i.e. to look at someone's property (which might be covered with over 300 fruit trees that they've planted) and to be able to say that looking at specific landscape units, i.e. an individual's backyard, which I can now find easily because it is part of the new database, one can see that "X" occurs, or does not occur....anyways that's the long of it...
So below is a blurry image of a small section of the map.....
Pretty things
Pretty things abound if one keeps one's eye (and camera lens) open! This is a flower of the Inga tree (try finding that anywhere outside of the Amazon!). I think I included a photo of it's delicious fruit before, but if not I'll attach another one below (after all one can never have too much Inga).
The Next "Brazilian Idol"
When I get tired of listening to myself (unbelievable, I know, but it does happen)...I like to support local talent. This is one of the children of the house I'm staying at (I think...as there are nine of them about the same age I tend to get them confused with the neighbor's children!). It's always fun to watch the kids "play" most have never really seen, much less held, a musical instrument, so they get really excited. I tried teaching one of the older kids a simply song, but they were much more content to "jam" on it until it was woefully out of tune...lucky for all of us I have a tuner! (which they're perhaps even more interested in!-look it can hear me from 3 feet away, now 5 feet, now 10 feet!)
Now I know where it got it's name...
I'm not sure if there is a word for when an item's name is also it's function...but if so, "pick" would certainly be it! I refer those with the little raised bumps (the picks, not my arm! for which their functionally superior at alleviating the itching) ((# 1 thing on my list of "to bring to Brazil next time"=anti-itch cream)
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