Month: July 2013

My current work took me to the pueblo of Tumupasha, about 2 hours by minibus in the Andean hills. That’s where some of the last speakers of the Takana language live. The lovely couple in the pictures are two of those Takana speakers that invited me to their house to help me translate the landscape terms that I am research into Takana. They also produce a lot of traditional handicrafts like hand-made brooms out of lianas, but also earrings made out of colourful seeds or woven handbags etc. (Please place any orders by email up to mid-August. 🙂 )

Ok I got it there are some people interested in what kind of work I do in the Amazon… Since most of you already know the basics (I guess, but in any case it’s about community mapping of landscapes in the Madidi National Park and adjacent communities). The main difficulty, let me think which one is the main, because there are so many…. 🙂
No seriously, the main difficulty is that many researchers before me have done very unethical work and its become difficult to do any type of research. As my thesis is about mapping, I am in so far lucky as this is a very hot topic and many people are still interested in collaborating, although not all of course… If I were an archeologist I would not even dare to set foot on community land after what they did here (and no, I’m  not talking about the conquistadores or the 1860’s, but about the year 2005, robbing indigenous graveyards and the like…!)

Some impressions from field work (in the field, and a community mapping workshop):

@Fraenzi: Zu dinere spezifische Frag: ich schaffe  jetzt mit eme linguischt zaeme, aber es haett kei vorhaeng sondern er  nimmt sini date unter freiem himmel uuf!! Vilicht soettsch ihn mal kennelerne zum dis bild vo feld-linguiste aazpasse. 😀

@Icebear: see north face blouse put to good use in the ‘jungle’ AND at workshop. 🙂

@Fraenz: sorry natuerli ganz vergaesse aber Du haesch scho richtig gseh, s gruene Liibli isch natuerli vo Dir und es leischtet mir sehr gueti dienscht wells vo de Sunnae und vo de Mugge/Sandfluege etc. schuetzt!

Yes, I promised I would take some time off from work, and I finally managed to do so and spend 3 days on a working estancia in the pampas some 2 hours from the town I am based in. With my Spanish accent and my fanatism for horses the people on the estancia said I am pure ‘gaucha’, haha. It was very untouristic but all the better for me, because I dont think I could take a hord of tourists anyway, since I do my best to avoid them while in town as well.

Unfortunately the second day the rain and cold hit with 5 degrees, strong winds and rain, very very uncomfortable with the high humidity the cold feels like -30, seriously!! No pictures there, but I still went out with the gauchos. 🙂

There was once a fiersome little puppy dog who was adopted by my little host sister who named him… Richard Parker (the tiger from “Life of Pi”…)

Because he was so full of fleas I didn’t really cuddle him as much as I had wanted. And yes, that is my field bag that was probably full of “piojos” afterwards. 🙂

Unfortunately one day I got back from upriver and Richard Parker was no more, he had died of some stomach disease. 🙁

Apologies for the long delay for my first blog update, things have been really busy in Bolivia. My fieldwork started well, but organizing permits and contracts etc (still) take up a lot of time. Most of you will not be that interested in my work though, so here are some pictures of where I am currently living: a new house at the very edge of Rurrenabaque, but no water connection. So the toilet is at the old place about 400m away and shared with roughly 20 people, so expect a queue to use the shower. 🙂 For me it couldn’t be more perfect though and I already installed my own hammock with a beautiful view of the river and the forests, I only wish I had more time to use it! 😉