A Day in the Life of...

Dear blog,

I receive many questions about what I am doing here. This includes "here" in the world more broadly, my life, and my professional quest to reach doctordom, as well as the "here" in the lab in Antigua, Guatemala.

So in an attempt to clarify what I "do," I begin another scavenger hunt, Numero 4: A Day in the Life of...

1) Wake up, shower, be careful not to hit my head on the sloped ceiling. Also be careful not to break the toilet chain because it's a pain to fix. Get dressed and put on my llama slippers that look like this:
2) Eat breakfast. Either Quaker Squares or peanut butter toast. Caitlin Walker is responsible for my craving for Quaker Squares.
3) Get coffee either by making it, or splurging on a tasty latte from Refuge, which is 2 doors down from my lab/house.
4) Plug in speakers to my iPod touch that my lovely cohortmates and fellow bloggers gave me to start the day with soothing or energizing tunes, depending on the mood.
5) Set up my drawing table with fresh printer paper, ruler, pens, etc.
6) Choose my fresh victims, one of many, many bags of ceramic rims which are considered diagnostic for one reason or another. This could be because they are pretty, or are from a definite time period, or just plain weird.
7) Produce a pencil drawing of the cross-section of the sherds. For example:
8) Repeat steps 6-7 until I get hungry or twitchy.
9) Take photos of drawn sherds, such as:
10) Scoot over to the Casa Herrera, where I maintain a desk, in order to scan all the drawings from the day and upload photos. This, unfortunately, involves wearing actual shoes.
11) Basically, from the pencil drawings, I want to have dissertation figure-ready profiles, so I perform some Photoshop magic to trace all the rims. Then filling them in with black, I obtain:
12) Voila! Instant dissertation figures that can be copied, pasted, grouped, etc. by whatever I want to do. For instance, if I want to make a chronological chart of all the ceramics in one type, such as Aguila Naranja here, then I have all the rims already to mix and match.
13) Check on my Words With Friends games. Want to take me on? Get in touch.
14) Read news, check mail, Facebook, etc.
15) Watch movies to escape it all.

Now I don't want you think that all my sherds are all eroded and un-fun as the ones I've shown here. Because sometimes I find gems, like this one:
Now, this beautiful Urita Gubiado-Inciso (Gouged-Incised) piece is cool for a special reason. Take a closer look at the difference in the weathering of the part on the far right:
The sherd to the left side of the break is from a stratigraphic level in the excavation that was deposited later in time, therefore closer to the surface, therefore more vulnerable to the elements. The sherd to the right is from a lower excavated level, which is why it looks a bit less worn.

So what does that mean, blog? It means that the deposit I excavated happened at one time, or over a very short period of time. This pot was broken and thrown down in a big pile of broken pottery as an event, a ritual deposit of some sort, rather than just in the trash.

When did this happen, you ask? Well, the folks over at Beta Analytic, Inc. tell me that this deposit occurred between a 2-sigma calibrated radiocarbon range of AD 230-410, which puts it in the early 4th Century, AD. This falls securely within the Early Classic Maya Period, which means that the people of El Palmar probably left around that time.

Yes, blog, I know what you're thinking. Did the Palmar folks take their show on up to El Diablo, which had a fantastic tomb that dated to shortly after this deposit?

Only time and science will tell!

Sincerely,

James

Los Espots

The great challenge of scavenger hunt N. 3 for me? So few Bolivian companies produce television commercials of note -- or at least worthy of youtube posting -- that I have been scrounging to find something to post. The two main sources of television "espots" as they are known are Bolivia's beer and telephone industries. In particular, I love the Paceña beer commercial whose moral is that if you drink Paceña beer, you will TOTALLY bag a hot gringa (foreign girl).

But what struck me while working on this assignment is how many of the very few commercials available deal with the exact. same. theme.

And that theme? BOLIVIA, we are diverse, but UNITED.

Entel, the largest phone company, has particularly focused its campaigns around the issue of Unity in Diversity. These are nice aspirations, but the commercial must be understood against the backdrop of deepening racial, regional, and political rifts and a series of violent confrontations with racial overtones.

Take for example this Entel commercial, which is part of a series of ads featuring 3 dudes from 3 different parts of Bolivia (three regions known for their inter-departmental tensions) who go traveling across the country on a quest to deliver a wedding dress to a cousin. They encounter regional cuisine, natural beauty, and then, the three upper-middle class guys are saved by an indigenous woman with an Entel cell phone after their car breaks down on the desolate salt flats. In the below short, the longer storyline has been reworked into a series of images showing the wealth of Bolivian cultural diversity -- all united by the Entel slogan of "Entel, uniendo bolivia, desarollando futuro," or "Entel, Uniting Bolivia, Developing the Future."



Behold!! They hold aloft their Entel phones, beacons of light -- of progress -- in the darkness of racial and class division and underdevelopment. The title of the espot seems rather ironic to me. "Somos Milliones" or "we are millions" is intended to capture the notion of richness in diversity, and the song celebrates the millions of dreams or aspirations held by Bolivians. But it also evokes the last words said to be uttered by Tupac Katari-- the dying leader of an indigenous rebellion -- as he was drawn and quartered during the colonial era, and more recently invoked by indigenous movements: We will be back, and we will be millions. That cry has inspired people to seek to radically upend Bolivia's political and economic system. And it has inspired terrible fear in the hearts of those who would rather things stayed the same.

At least rival Viva! has the humility to suggest that Bolivia is united by Futbol (soccer), and not their magical phone lines. Of note here, Cholita soccer! Thick multi-tiered skirts make for more challenging goals.



Finally, a slew of ads preceded the Bicentenial of La Paz last year. Again, Entel.

But the fun of this ad is you get to see a little of the capital, a capital "Full of mysticism, character, and hope." Ahem. So join us on a journey to Our Lady of Peace:



Behold, Mt. Illimani! The Mystical Witches Market! That Cholita holding some gold necklaces! A grandmother instructing her grandchild in the ways of the Alasitas -- or, buying miniatures that represent the various things you hope to get in the coming year, from trucks to American Visas, to a boyfriend (ahem, not that I have ever bought one of those at alasitas...ahem)...all in miniature!... (adapted from Ekeko, the Andean god of abundance). Yikes! It's the notorious construction of the "Triplet Bridges" -- which are perched precariously on unstable soil.Gringo tourists gasping for breath as they walk around the city! Oooh! Our Weather patterns are so unpredictable (It's sunny outside, I should probably take an umbrella)! Arg! The lack of small change for all things (bus fare). Bread sellers who will yell at you. Market Cholas! Zebras teaching us to use crosswalks while being sassy! Look at our Big Modern Buildings!

Because "Celebrating 200 years of Freedom, a gift for La Paz -- full cell phone coverage...Because development is never extinguished. Entel: Uniting Bolivia, Developing the Future" (development "nunce se apague" -- a reference to the unquenchable flame that symbolizes La Paz's "cry of freedom," throwing off the shackles of Colonial domination. Which is like not dropping calls on your cell phone).

And, if at the end of all this you do wanna see that commercial about how Bolivian beer will get you a gringa, click here.

Finally, we are now on a brief blog haitus during the holidays, but Stacey has encouraged me to shake my fist at everyone and remind the cohort that things will recommence with earnestness in 2011. Dammit.

Naija Ads

Ok, so I think Nigeria might be a little behind India on this front because I was somewhat disappointed in what ads I could find online. However, I think these three are still amusing enough.

(3) Wild and Dirty (Nollywood Film)

This one is particularly dear to my heart because I first saw it at the shelter, where everyone kinda giggled over the mention of human trafficking. Also, hear that pidgin! (Apologies for redundant sharing for some of you)

(2) Star Beer

Great shots Lagos and my favorite beer. What's not to like?

(1) Mouka Foam Mattresses

I take Sohini's dancing squirrels and raise her this Bambi meets Sims-esque paradise. With astute cultural commentary of course: solutions to problems with traffic, poverty, light, oil, government--only in your dreams!

Scavenger Hunt 3: TV Ads

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Announcing the Third Scavenger Hunt - TV Ads

Here's the deal: Pick your top 3 TV advertisements from your place of research. Hopefully they are available on Youtube and you can simply get the embed code (look just below the video) and post it into Blogspot. Commentary, of course, appreciated.

Good luck with this foray into the intersection of old and new media!

To start us off, here are my top 3 ads from India:

3) The Blackberry Boys


Coming in third is the Vodafone/BlackBerry ad for prepaid services on BlackBerry. Other than the annoyingly catchy song, I'm a little intrigued by the way that BlackBerry is choosing to change its branding from men (largely middle aged) in suits to hip young men and women. So is this a case of the democratization of a brand or simply a case of rebranding? Of course, both the men in suits and the the hip young men and women appear to be urban and upper class, so while I appreciate, in particular, the attempt to make a brand more gender-inclusive, I'm wondering what a truly inclusive BlackBerry Boys ad would look like.

2) Cadbury Silk


At number two is an ad for Cadbury's Dairy Milk Silk chocolate. In addition to liking the song, I love the perfect contentment the guy derives from eating the chocolate bar. On the gender analysis front--I like that it is a male figure that is seen indulging in chocolate, instead of the usual chocolate = women (There's a related version of the ad with women dancers). I particularly appreciate how he treats himself to the chocolate bar after what seems to be a good meeting--and hey, who hasn't done that... Ok, before I give myself away, on to number one...

1) KitKat

Some of you may already know my partiality for this ad, so the number one slot won't come as a surprise. But, beyond singing squirrels there is something charming about the earnestness of the squirrels in this rendition of old-school Bollywood melodrama (it is an old Bollywood number), particularly in contrast with the vaguely too-cool-for-school hip young guys, who keep turning up everywhere with their fancy technology.

Naija Chop: Egusi Soup & Semo

As some of you may know, I have been living in the land of expatriates for the past couple weeks, after stumbling onto the most awesome housesitting gig yet. This was fantastic for many reasons (air conditioning! running water and hot showers! imported American toilet paper!) but the well-equipped kitchen meant I could finally cook for myself, which was not so great for my local food stories. However, a week-long trip to Kano provided great relief in that department.

Thanks to Katie's most wonderful network up there, I was able to stay with several different families throughout my visit. One of my most memorable nights, though, was with her good friend Grace, who taught us how to make egusi soup, arguably the most popular dinner in Nigeria. I don't know if it counts as "evocative" or "emblematic" (high orders that stress me out for blogging purposes) but it certainly seems close enough after my own long delay on this post.

So, without further ado, I humbly present to the Cohorticulture scavenger hunt committee and to the interwebs at large, a lesson in Egusi preparation, made in the courtyard of Grace's small concrete bungalow in the "village" outskirts of Kano. Tony Bourdain would be at home here right?





Like with all Nigerian foods, you start with palm oil. A LOT of palm oil. Like a quart or two. Grace emptied out most of this bag, promising that she was actually reducing the amounts since some foreigners don't like it as much. This explains a lot about why half my pants don't fit anymore.





Next, you add ground up melon/pumpkin seeds (the yellow bits) and a ton of local spinach (the green chunks). The palm oil (red stuff) envelops these and basically deep fries them, along with some onion, dried pounded crayfish, lots of hot pepper, and Maggi bouillon "flavor cubes".






At the end you can add your meat--chicken, goat, beef, or fish. Since all of the goat and beef was gone for the upcoming Sallah festival, we got fish. If you're lucky, it's freshly roasted fish from the market like this one. If you're not, it's the much stinkier dried fish. Both are sold in markets and roadsides from big trays precariously balanced on the top of people's heads. Oh, and if you are really really lucky, someone takes the time to piece them apart and remove (most of) the prickly bones inside, which I still haven't acquired the skill to remove and often swallow whole by accident. Also note awesome bending--another necessary skill I haven't acquired.





And that's your soup, giant puddle of deep frying oil and all. Mmmm. Next up, the starch. Tonight, we made semo, which is basically a huge mound of sticky cream of wheat. Here is my friend Bic, helping stir in the semo flour over the modified trashcan/cooking bin.





For extra fanciness, Grace swirled each lump of finished semo in a calabash shell to give it that round professional look. Note also the food coozie/thermos, brilliant and ubiquitous solution for life with microwaves. Here we were saving some for Grace's husband.






Finished setup. The giant portion size of that carb component also explains a lot. And if you look closely, you can even see the wedding sticker on my bowl, a favorite party swag item for all kinds of celebrations.





... But of course, we actually didn't have light, so here is what it all looked like without the camera flash. Unfortunately, my fingers were too sticky with palm oil to actually bust out the camera during eating, but the idea is that you pinch off small balls of the semo (or any other starch) and use your thumb to indent it and scoop out the soup. Messy for me even with light, but super sloppy without. But still completely delicious.

¡La hoja de coca no es droga!

In fact, I think I would have slept for 72 hours straight without it in Cuzco.

The Second Scavenger Hunt: Foooood

In order to avoid being further shamed cross-continentally by Susan, I shall post for the second scavenger hunt...

While Kolkata's street food is famed and delicious, it is known to consider considerable gastrointestinal distress to the untrained stomach, and even well-trained stomachs. So, my cousin and aunt decided to take Caitlin and me to Haldiram's for a more hygienic version of Indian street food and snacks.



Front, Left Tray - Chole Bhatura or curried chick peas with fried bread.
Front, Right Tray - On the left is Pav Bhaji--most popular in Maharashtra, including Mumbai--is bread with curried vegetables. On the right is dhokla, or a steamed snack made from chickpea flour, eaten with tamarind or mint chutney.
Back tray: Dosa--not really street food--but popular South Indian dish of rice crepe with sambar or spicy lentils.

While all of these are popular in Kolkata, we didn't have the most iconic of street food here: the phuchka, or small hollow fried breads, eaten with a stuffing of potatos and tamarind water.

However, here's a picture (courtesy of Caitlin) of a typical Bengali meal at home:



Along with rice, there is some spicy okra, fried poppy seed balls, daal--or lentils, this one made with bitter gourd--and finally some friend pomfret fish.