Adventures and Misadventures: Installment 1

I just got back from a long, hot day in the field and I am beat, but it's been a while since my last entry and I feel I have a lot to share. Where to start is my only question. I guess I can begin with some stories about my project.

This year I am working with Sameera, you probably remember him from last year, Kumara, a new addition to the team, and Ashani, who is a new Master's student from England. For the past 2 weeks, we have been visiting farms in 2 regions: the Galpa area and the Dahaiyagala area. These are locations where I hope to set up my study sites. We have been chatting with farmers to gather preliminary data on the crops they grow, the frequency of human-elephant conflict (from here on out I will denote it HEC), and their willingness to participate in my study. So far, we have visited about 25 farms and everyone is on board! Many of the households are places we visited last year when I made a more detailed property survey so we are mostly just saying hello again and renewing friendships.

Like last year, the families are eager to feed us. In one day I had 3 coconuts, a papaya, tamarind, peanuts, and was given a handful of beautiful peacock feathers. Also like last year, Sameera is my translator. Although his English is pretty good, he has the habit of picking out only the key words I say and creating his own meaning. Obviously, you can see how this may be an issue. What follows is an example of the kind of miscommunication that can arise...

Sameera, Ashani, Kumara, and I returned to a household that we had surveyed the day before because I decided I wanted to measure the distance from the electric fence that borders the park to the property line. As we walked through the property, Ashani spotted a pile of dead manioc stalks that would be perfect for the mud house she is planning on building (more on that later). Before I go on, let me describe manioc. It's a tall thin, stalk, about 10 feet in height and is harvested for it's roots, which look like the mandrakes from the Harry Potter films. For those of you who aren't familiar with mandrakes, imagine elongated potatoes. Ok, back to the story. Ashani saw the dead stalks and asked Sameera if the farmers would mind if she took some. I could tell that Sameera had misunderstood the question, but before I could say anything he ran off to ask for the farmer's permission. Ashani and I are still not quite sure what Sameera thought she had asked. At any rate, Sameera's discussion with the farmer resulted in the farmer running into the manioc field, in the opposite direction of the dead sticks, machete in hand and a confused Ashani trailing uncertainly behind. It quickly became apparent that the farmer intended to chop down a live manioc plant, so Ashani began yelling for Sameera in the hopes that she could clarify what it was she wanted and spare the plant. Unfortunately, I had been occupying all of Sameera's attention trying to explain that we say "time is flying by," not "time is a wind." By the time Sameera reached Ashani and the farmer it was too late. Glowing with the excitement of offering a wonderful gift, the farmer tore the entire plant from the ground. In the end, we left with 4 kilos of manioc and a stout walking stick. Despite numerous attempts at clarifying, Sameera is still baffled by Ashani's original question.

As communication is not our team's strong point, Ashani and I often have to figure things out for ourselves and assess certain situations independently - for instance is it safe to climb the treehouse in the farmer's backyard? From my experience the answer is often no, but there are some things people just have to learn for themselves. During one of our trips to the Dahaiyagala area, Ashani spied a particularly tempting treehouse that she was dying to climb. She reached the top with no issue, but as she was heading back down she put her weight on a weak rung that the farmer had failed to warn her about. Her foot crashed through the rotten stick, nearly causing her to plummet 20 feet to the ground. Fortunately, she caught herself with her hands and made it down without further incident. I have learned there are some temptations in Sri Lanka that you just avoid; no matter how attractive the treehouse, sometimes it is best just to say no.