Embracing my Ukenzagapian diet

In the past two days I've made an exciting realization: I can make
butter from raw milk.

Let me explain. Butter is basically nonexistent here. Even at nice
hotels they usually offer only margarine. Although it is very common
for people to drink tea with milk, other milk products such as cheese
are uncommon. This is probably in part because few people have
refrigerators. Still, I'm surprised there isn't more dairy. There is a
dairy cooperative at Nyota where we can buy raw milk for about 30
cents per liter or $1.20 per gallon. We've bought milk a few times but
had a hard time keeping it fresh without a refrigerator so some of it
went bad before we could use it.

All of a sudden, I realized that we could separate the cream from the
milk we buy and use that to make butter! I've made butter before
starting with cream, but never starting from raw milk. I did a bit of
research on the internet about how to separate cream from milk and how
to make it into butter. The whole process takes about a day and a half
by the time we buy the milk, wait for the cream to rise, skim the
cream, wait for it to sour a bit, and then shake it up to make butter.

Now, rather than lamenting the absence of butter, I can take matters
into my own hands and make it myself. For some inexplicable reason
this has increased my enthusiasm for food here tenfold. I'm excited
about bringing things for making yogurt (which I already do at home)
and maybe even cheese next time I return. I mean, the milk so so
inexpensive here I think it's definitely worth a shot and it gives me
a fun and delicious hobby.

The process of making my own butter made me realize that I am, in some
ways, effortlessly living a life that I find difficult in Big City.
Nearly all of my food is local and organic, grown by farmers not
industrial agriculture. I have access to local, fresh coconuts,
mangos, passion fruit, avocados, bananas, eggs, milk, tomatoes,
oranges, onions, potatoes, greens, and spices. The main things I eat
that aren't local are peanut butter, jam, chocolate, and probably the
rice (apparently a lot of rice is imported to Africa from Asia so it
might come quite far). Here though there's no feel-good eco-conscious
culture about eating this way- it's just the way it is. Most people
grow a lot of their own food, and what they don't grow themselves they
buy at the local market.

I took some photos of the butter process (see below). We boiled the
milk in the pot and let it sit for at least 12 hours, then I skimmed
the cream with the spoon and put it in the plastic container (it
actually doesn't seal properly). To make the butter I put the cream in
a jam container because it was the only container we had that didn't
leak when I shook it. The butter didn't get very solid so I think I
could've kept shaking but I only shook for about 10 minutes. I was
worried that it would take forever (or never turn) because the cream
wasn't chilled and all the instructions I read said to chill the cream.

Field season structure

Among biologists I know who do their Ph.D. research abroad, there are
two extremes for how field work gets done: one long trip or several
short ones. I think it's interesting to consider the merits of each of
these and why they might be chosen.

Sometimes it makes sense to collect all of your data in one long
stretch abroad. During the summer before I began grad school, I met a
woman who had recently completed her Ph.D. research in Africa so I was
eager to discuss logistical field work issues with her. She got all of
her classes done as quickly as possible, and then spent nearly two
years at her field site collecting data. Her fiance visited her for a
few months in the middle, but if I recall correctly she didn't go back
to the US during that time. The advantage of this was that she saved
money on the cost of flying to and from Africa (and also polluted less
by making the trip just once). She worked at a site where her advisor
had been working on the same organisms for many years, so she was
surrounded by people doing similar things for much of that time. One
long field season is advantageous if you need to collect data in all
months/seasons or your field site is exceedingly remote (hence very
lengthy travel time). This may also be the strategy of choice for
students with extremely limited budgets for whom the cost of getting
to their field site prohibits multiple trips.

However, one long field season can be difficult and frustrating if you
never (or rarely) see your advisor. This is entirely likely if your
research isn't directly under the umbrella of your advisor (i.e. not
in their grants unless you write one with them), which is fairly
common in ecology. (I, for example, do not expect Herb to visit Nyota
during my research). Even the best-laid plans can fail in the field,
and it may be difficult to recoup or change directions without someone
more experienced around to advise you. Internet may be nonexistent,
unreliable, slow, and/or expensive, making communication with advisors
as well as access to scientific literature very difficult. Also, it
may be difficult or impossible to have any kind of income if you
aren't on campus for months on end (this is why I doggedly pursued
fellowships).

Several short field trips allow time in between to discuss ideas and
findings with advisors, classmates, and colleagues. If a project is a
total disaster, you can make a new plan before the next field season
begins. It also gives you another chance in the field after you think,
"If only I'd measured this/brought that/looked there/read these
papers!" I think the greatest advantage is basically the ability to
synthesize and reflect between trips and then try again. Depending on
how you are supported, several shorter trips to the field can make it
possible to keep a teaching assistant position if that is your only
means of income.

The disadvantage is that multiple field trips can really add up. How
much time, money, and emissions are you willing or able to spend
getting back and forth? Also, permitting issues may add financial and
logistical considerations. If you've had to pay a lot of money for a
year-long permit, it might make sense to try to get everything done in
one year rather than pay more money and go through the hassle of
getting approval for another year.

Ultimately, I think the most important factors to consider are:
-Your research question (this will put the first and most important
constraints on field season structure)
-Intellectual isolation of your site (will your advisor or other
scientists be there?)
-Budget (how much can you afford to travel? how will you support
yourself while you're gone if you normally TA?)
-Permits and other logistics
-Your life outside of science (are all of your friends or family
members getting married or having babies? or are you?)

Given that my greatest fear is coming back to Big City to find out
that all of my data are total garbage, I'm glad that this isn't my
only trip to Ukenzagapia. If it's all junk or missing important
pieces, hey, it was only my first field season! I'll fill in the
blanks when I return. I'll have time in Big City to think about what
exactly I need accomplish during my next field season, and discuss
these things with my advisors and committee members. I'll probably
tend more towards the several-short-seasons end of the spectrum,
though at this point I have only a rough idea of when my next field
trips will be. I'm hoping to return in January-February 2010, and then
for a long field season winter 2010-2011. But who knows? First I have
to finish this season and see what the data look like.

Change of scene

As the soil changes color, so do the houses.

Having Jon here was a great excuse to explore places other than Nyota. Traveling around the region also helps me gain perspective on the issues faced in Nyota and elsewhere in Ukenzagapia. I want to know Nyota in depth, but I need to know what other places are like as well. I tried to capture a few of the different places we passed, though these photos hardly do it justice.

I love watching landscapes change as I travel. I think I could've easily been a geologist if I'd had some influential geology teachers as a kid or even if I'd taken geology earlier in my college career. I find geology fascinating for the same reason I love biology- it explains so much of why things are the way they are in the world around us. I still don't know much about geology though and I often wish I had my own personal geologist guide to travel with. Any volunteers?

I am not a bad person...

...even if my bank blacklisted me forever and closed all of my accounts.

This is my mantra. I will not let my bank make me feel like a bad
person.

So, I'm looking for a new bank. Any recommendations for banks with
debit cards with low international transaction fees?

In other news, I'm back at Nyota, Jon is on his way back to Big City,
and I've got several blog posts in the works.

Money problems

Managing money for my research this summer just got a new wrench in the works.

Jon and I returned to the city from our trip to find that my bank account balance was NEGATIVE when it was supposed to have about $2000. I spent 40 minutes trying to log into ING to figure out what was going on but the ING site is so bandwidth intensive that the slow internet just couldn't handle it.

It turns out I was a victim of widespread ATM fraud plaguing US bank accounts here. My mom logged into ING for me to find out what happened (NINE separate fraudulent withdrawals) and reported all of them. My ING debit card is now canceled. I might be able to use my other account, but I probably shouldn't use any ATMs until they straighten this ATM fraud mess out.

We used Jon's debit card at the ATM because we literally had only $2 cash, but we'll be keeping a close eye on his account from now until he goes home on Tuesday. We can use some money from his account to tide me over, but before I return to Nyota I need over $1000 in hand because I won't have access to a bank again until just before I leave in August.

On the positive side, I'm confident that I'll get my money back, though it may be a while. We'll push some money around from different accounts and straighten it all out when the money is returned. This just makes it all a fews steps more complicated.

I haven't figured out exactly how to handle this yet, but at least I'll be in the city for a few days. I hope I can get this straightened out (i.e. enough cash in hand) by Tuesday evening so I can get back to Nyota on Wednesday.

Copious cables

I have a ridiculous number of adapters and cables with me. Here's a photo of (almost) all of the adapters, cables, and USB cords that I have here.

Top row: USB cables and other misc cables
Middle row: universal power strip
Bottom row: Adapters for powering and/or charging batteries for a variety of electronics, including my computer.

My parents are worried

Most of my posts lately have been downers, so much so that my parents
(who read my blog) sent me an email suggesting Jon try to change his
ticket to stay longer or that I change my ticket to come home sooner.
Things really aren't that bad, so Jon suggested that I write a post
emphasizing the good things. So, in this post I'm going to highlight
all of the things that are going well.

We made some significant improvements to the house at Nyota. I have a
bed (with three mattresses), cotton sheets, pillows, and a mosquito
net. My room has a new lock on the door, curtains, a light bulb, and
no broken windows. Soon I'll be able to lock the closet. We have an
electric kettle and a hot plate for the kitchen. We have a cook and
cleaner who does laundry and cooks 3 meals per day for us. All of the
sockets now have light bulbs. The electric outlets were changed so I
can plug in my power strip without an adapter. We rearranged the
furniture in the living room and it's more inviting. The water has
been running every day for at least part of the day, and we have a
shower now (albeit a cold one). Two friendly dogs like to hang out
around the house.

In spite of my anxiety about it, my data collection is going well. My
field assistants are finishing data collection at a handful of sites
while I'm gone. When I return, we'll start on some new sites. I should
be able to finish all of my data collection with 7-10 days to spare.
I'm excited about this because it means I should definitely have time
to try some lower-priority things.

Not very much is known about the life history or phenology of many
organisms here, which can make it difficult to plan fieldwork. I
thought that one of my organisms would be doin' its thing in January
or February, but it turns out it might actually do it in the next
month or so. This presents an opportunity that I hadn't expected to
have. I might be able to try even more of the new methods than I
originally thought, and may even be able to set up an experiment that
I didn't think I could.

I haven't had any significant weight loss or gain. This is good. I was
pretty sure that I'd put on about 10 pounds here because I tend to
gain weight when I travel, but I'm walking so much here that then I
was a little worried about losing weight. I'm eating a lot, though, so
I seem to be holding steady. My pants feel about the same as they did
when I got here.

I haven't had any significant poison tree rash breakouts in weeks now.
The worst was definitely the week before and after Jon arrived. Jon
got just scratch-shaped rash on his arm. I had some on my face, but it
was very mild and didn't itch (it was red and bumpy though). I think
the IvyBlock is really working, and I'm being careful about covering
up in field, washing up after, and washing my hands if I touch my gear
after I get home. I've just had a few little spots here and there.

On a much broader positive note, it's great to be an American
traveling abroad with Barack Obama as president. People here love to
talk about him. There are quite a few Obama campaign stickers on cars
here, and more than a few buses named for him. Today we even saw "Yes
we can" translated into Ukenzagapese on a bus. When I studied abroad
in college, my classmates and I often lied to people on the street
about where we were from. Americans weren't very popular in many
places during Bush's tenure. It's refreshing to have a president that
I'm proud of.

Jon and I left Nyota and are traveling for a week before he returns to
Big City. It's exciting to see some other places in the region. It's
beautiful and we're having a great time traveling, even when it takes
longer than it's supposed to. I'm going to queue up a few posts
because I'm not sure how much I'll be online for the next few days.

Jon is leaving in a week and then I'll have one month left in
Ukenzagapia before returning to Big City on August 14. I'm more than
halfway through my first field season. Time flies!

Weekly freakout

Yesterday I freaked out. Again. For like the bazillionth time. About
my project. I almost started crying in the field because I was afraid
my sites were too close together and that all the data I've already
collected is actually useless. Jon wasn't in the field with me and I
couldn't talk about my concerns in a meaningful with my field
assistants, so I told the guys I needed to think a bit and I sat down
and thought for a few minutes and pulled myself together, for the most
part.

Also, I had to come to terms yesterday with the fact that I've
probably lost one of my notebooks forever. It's my notebook with all
of the site characteristics, and I haven't seen it now since just
before Jon arrived*. I had to tell my guys that I can't find it so we
need to re-collect some of the data. This blows, but is not a complete
disaster. I've known for several days now that this was probably true
but haven't wanted to tell them. I feel like a fool. I'm already
insecure about working here because I'm totally dependent on them to
identify things quickly and my project would be basically impossible
without them, so I feel like an idiot for losing the first data we
collected.

Thankfully, Jon is my unrelenting cheerleader. When I got back
yesterday he reassured me for the thousandth time that my efforts are
not worthless. We've talked at length about my project and what data
I'll have at the end of the summer. He told me to stop second-guessing
myself every day. He reminded me that no one expects my first field
season to be perfect and flawless (except for me). He said I probably
will get back to Big City and think, "If only I'd also done X!" but
that I can't possibly expect myself to think of everything. Jon has
suggested that I not even think about how to analyze my data until I
leave, because such thoughts tend to send me into a helpless,
unproductive panic. We made a timeline for how I'll collect the rest
of my data, with priorities. I should have 7-10 extra days beyond what
I need to collect my high-priority data that I can use to work on
testing some of the new methods and do the stuff that Leo thinks I
should be doing. There's also a possibility that I'll be able to spend
some time in the field with my Ukenzagapian advisor (Dr. K) or maybe
even Sam if he makes it here before I leave this summer. Jon reminded
me also that even if I can't publish anything from this summer, I'll
be much, much better prepared for next time. This isn't my last field
season, just my first.

* The last time I know I had it was the night before I left Nyota to
go meet Jon. I didn't leave it with my field assistants. I thought I
left it here at Nyota, but perhaps I thought "I'll bring this along so
I can enter data!" but then lost it somewhere before actually entering
any data. I've searched all of the places here that it could be. I
think it's gone.

Bulleted thoughts from the field

-The power came back on this afternoon, thankfully.
-Today my data collection was cut a bit short by an encounter with a
dangerous animal. My field assistant scared the bejeezus out of me
when he spotted it. We decided to call it a day and leave the site.
-The weather has been oppressive.
-I made a small friend (see photo).
-I've eaten a lot of ants today. They came with the food.
-I need to become fluent in Ukenzagapese.
-I think I'm getting more poison tree rash on my arm. I definitely
have it on my face.
-Do any of my readers have a dbh tape that they just LOVE? If so,
where can I get one like yours? Do they make small diameter tapes
(like for trees under 15 cm dbh)? The crap is getting beat out of mine
and we aren't even using it that much. I'm going to need a new one,
and they aren't cheap so I'd rather just get an awesome one next time.

I got the wrong critters

Wrong critters: 3
Right critters: 0

Well, I haven't been able to capture any of the right critters yet at
all. I got three of the wrong ones though. Maybe I should be studying
those instead.

On the bright side, the IvyBlock that Jon brought seems to be working.
Jon has gotten a few spots of rash from poison tree but nothing
compared to what would be expected considering how much of it we walk
through.

On the other hand, I have broken out in a mild rash on my FACE. I
think I touched my backpack and then put on sunscreen or something. It
isn't bad though and I don't think it's going to weep, just be bumpy.

Also a bummer- we're out of power for the second time in 3 days. It's
been super windy here. I'm on my very last bit of battery power.
Hopefully I'll be able to charge the computer this afternoon if
they're running the generator at the field station (or if they get the
power back on). But who knows? Jon says I should invest in my own
solar panels.

Being a badass

When I look in the mirror, I'm proud of who I have become. I know I've
come a long way from the child who was afraid to make a mistake, the
high schooler who was intimidated by her classmates, and the undergrad
who couldn't hold an audience. I'm confident in my ability to
synthesize literature, write, and give presentations. I'm generally
pretty confident about my path in life and career trajectory, but
there are some things I'd like to change about myself with respect to
my work.

I wish I were more of a badass.

During my weekly freakout about what in the world I'm doing here, I
admitted to Jon that I'm really not as much of a badass as I'd like to
think that I am. It takes a certain level of badass-ness just to get
here, but I think I need to step it up a notch if I'm really going to
thrive. It can be a pain in the ass to work in Ukenzagapia, so I've
gotta be tough too, mentally and physically. Not only that, I've got
to love the toughness of it. I think that's what makes a badass. I've
got to love living with a cold shower, intermittent running water and
electricity, the same foods for weeks on end, long days in the field
with my thoughts and observations, unpaved roads, and lest us not
forget glacially slow and expensive internet.

Yet so often I find myself thinking, "Why didn't I just choose a nice
field site within a day's drive of Big City?" Life at home is a lot
easier. I ride my bike to school every day, work at my computer, heat
up some leftovers in the microwave for lunch, talk with my advisors
and classmates, bike home at the end of the day and enjoy hanging out
with Jon in our awesome apartment. Not a bad life.

I mean, here I am in Africa without any advisors nearby wandering
through the wilderness full of poison tree trying to tease apart a
small piece of a big puzzle in an ecologically unfamiliar area with a
foreign culture and a difficult language. Mentally I've got to be more
bold. I need to stop second-guessing myself on all of my decisions in
the field. I need to be confident in my logic and my ability to do
this project, but I also need to be patient with myself and remember
that I'm still learning how to be a scientist, and I'll be learning
for my entire career.

Here's to being more of a badass in the field, more bold in my
decisions, and more patient with myself.

Submit now or wait?

I've been waiting for months for a few small things needed to submit
the grant that my prelim proposal was written for. These pieces were
completely beyond my control. I finally got them, so I have everything
I need to submit.

However, the original plan was to submit this grant in March or early
April. It has no preliminary data. I would hear back in about 6
months, and expect to re-submit in October with preliminary data
collected from this summer. Now it's nearly July. If I submit now
without preliminary data, I won't hear back until January. I'll
probably still have to resubmit, in which case I won't hear until next
July.

Now my options are:
1. Go ahead and submit now while I've got it all together.
2. Wait until I finish collecting and analyzing preliminary data from
this summer and incorporate it into my proposal.

I asked Herb what I should do, but the jury is out. What do you think?
I'll post Herb's advice in the comments after I get some advice from
y'all.

The Omnipresent Committee Member

It's kind of weird, but in some ways I feel like Sam is more my
advisor than Herb is. Sam has projects all over the place, and every
single one of my projects is directly connected to at least one of
his. This is in contrast to my advisor, with whom I discuss my ideas
but with whom I have no direct projects. Sam in involved in all of my
research in Ukenzagapia, the database project, the project with Marcie
(the undergrad) at BNHM, and even my interdisciplinary project.

Sam's name is everywhere at Nyota. Not only does everyone know him,
every day I seem to meet another person who works with him. Both of
the Ukenzagapians who work with Rena (my American housemate) also work
for Sam. He has trained so many people in the field and is an amazing
naturalist. He seems to be single-handedly responsible for 75% of the
research going on here. It's pretty amazing to see what a profoundly
positive effect one person can have, not only by advancing science but
by improving livelihoods.

But I'm both inspired and intimidated by Sam at the same time.

Every single idea I'm putting into action this summer comes directly
from Sam. Testing crazy new methods? Sam's idea. Sure-bet data
collection concept? Sam's papers. I'm working with field assistants
that he trained during his Ph.D., and he's had to call twice now to
help mediate salary negotiations. He knows this area incredibly well
and there's no way I could ever have as much insight into the natural
history of Nyota short of moving here for several years. I rely
heavily on Sam's knowledge and opinions of what's important and how to
approach things. I feel ill-prepared in comparison to him. How could I
possibly do anything half as good as what he did?

Thankfully, Sam seems to have faith in me to do something useful here.
I should have more confidence in myself to do the same.

Lookin' up

We took a day to improve our living situation and things are
definitely looking up. We've got sheets, pillows, a well-hung mosquito
net, clean walls, passable curtains, and so far only one unwanted
animal in the bed (a lizard). The power was out for 24 hours but
miraculously came back on this evening as my wish for electricity was
left unfinished mid-sentence.

Today we started to figure out some of the new experimental methods,
and so far things are going pretty well. The crazy ideas might
actually be doable. We'll see. I'm so glad Jon is here to help me
figure things out.

Back at Nyota

After two days of travel, Jon and I are back at Nyota. We forgot the
new pillows we bought on the bus, and a lost another water bottle.
Crap. It's really stressful to be traveling with so much stuff. Then
we got to the house I'm sharing with Rena and found that none of the
mattresses (there are 3) fit the bed I bought right before I left. We
have inadequate sheets and we had to creatively hang the mosquito net.
My room still didn't have a light bulb and the place is dirty but
we're going to spend tomorrow making it more like home. I'm going to
pay someone to scrub my room clean. It smells kind of musty.

My inclination was to jump right back into field work tomorrow, but
after talking with Jon I think it's important that we straighten out
things at the house first. I'll meet with my field assistants tomorrow
morning, hopefully send them off to continue collecting data, and
spend the rest of the day arranging things to make life reasonably
comfortable. Then I can get down to doing some serious science.