The 'Silva-Snyder-Smoker'

When I left for Sri Lanka this summer, I was expecting to collect a summer's worth of baseline data on elephant damage at farms around the park. I dedicated a lot of time to internet research in the months preceding my departure, pouring over journal articles in search of methods for sampling crop damage. Most of the articles only provided vague 'teasers' of a description: "the paddy field was visually surveyed for elephant damage." Others were slightly more promising, "elephant damage to paddy fields was measured by pacing out the damaged area." Yeaaaa, I didn't realize just how unhelpful these articles were until I got here. And I feel I am being generous by using the word unhelpful, useless would be more like it; there may well be detailed articles on measuring damage to rice paddies, but I haven't found a satisfactory one yet. Most of the damage I saw this summer didn't lend itself to being visually estimated or paced out. Instead of encountering large, obvious patches of rice that had been munched on by elephants, more frequently I found 1 to 2 acre paddy fields filled with a plethora of elephant footprints that were hiding under tall stalks of rice - how in the world do you accurately measure that?! As a result, I spent a lot of time this summer fumbling around and trying to figure out what the heck to do!

You may be thinking, 'Well geez Lauren, weren't you out there last year?! Why were things such a surprise for you?' You are right, I was here last year and I, too, was surprised by how unconfident I felt when I gazed upon my first paddy field. At first glance, only a few footprints were visible, which tempted me to think, "Well of course! What a simple task it will be to simply walk from footprint to footprint, and count and measure each individually." That was before I actually stepped into the field and began counting them- turns out there were a lot of them! The next thing I knew, several of the farmers requested that I not walk through the rice (they don't want additional damage). At this point, I began to panic slightly. Ok, so scrap the idea of walking from footprint to footprint, I will hop, or rather leap since they are often spaced quite far apart. What a disappointment that idea turned out to be. Ashani and I spent the better part of one particularly hot, sunny day leaping around to well over 200 footprints. The density of footprints was so great that although we counted a TON of them, we covered less than 1/4 of the field!

But do not fear! It takes more than a few footprints, even if they are massive elephant footprints, to scare off Lauren Snyder! So I went back to the drawing board, rallied all of my creative thought, and conferred with my colleagues. Our first idea was a tad elaborate and in the end turned out to be an epic fail, though I maintain that with the proper tools and some small adjustments it could be successful. We named it 'The Silva-Snyder-Smoker' after its inventors: Dr. Shermin de Silva, Lauren Snyder, and Ashani Smoker. To describe it briefly, the contraption consists of a 1m x 1m quadrat (made from sawed-off tree branches held together by twisty ties and twine) that is suspended from a 50m length of plastic rope (as you can see, we used only the highest quality supplies (actually those were the highest quality supplies available in Sri Lanka)). Attached firmly to the rope and centered over the quadrat is my digital camera. The idea was for Ashani and I to walk along parallel bundts (raised mud walkways that crisscross the paddy fields) with the quadrat/camera suspended over the rice between us. One of us would draw in the quadrat, set the camera on timer, and then position the camera over the desired area by letting out or taking in rope - thus there would be no need for us to walk through the rice. In theory, it seemed a fantastic idea...in practice not so much.
It is such an outrageous looking contraption that we had a crowd of farmers following us as made our way to one of the paddies for our inaugural trial. It was evident from the very beginning that this idea would not work. For one, we had not taken into account that we might encounter natural obstacles, such as trees, along the bundts, which would inhibit our progress. One unfortunate sapling was unceremoniously removed by a farmer with a machete. We also found that the rope was not sturdy enough to support the quadrat - we were unable to pull the rope taught, so the whole thing sagged to the ground . A well intentioned farmer ran out to the middle of the field to support the rope with a stick, but this defeated the entire purpose of the contraption - to stay out of the field! In the end, the device was an epic fail, but it was heartening to see how motivated the farmers were to help us succeed.

Since the "Silva-Snyder-Smoker," we have developed a couple slightly less outrageous methods for collecting data, but unfortunately they are not nearly as entertaining so I won't bother talking about them right now. Fortunately for me, I have 8 months to figure out how I am going to tackle these issues next year. I'm thinking the fun's really going to begin when I start coming out in the monsoon season...

Lauren Lifestyle - Sri Lanka Style

I have been keeping up with my running this year and it's going much better than last year. For one, I have given up swaddling myself in excess clothing. I figure that I attract the same amount and the same kind of attention whether I cover myself from head to toe or keep it simple with a t-shirt and pair of shorts. Secondly, I now have a regular running buddy! Ashoka has been running with me, which infinitely improves the entire experience; most people content themselves with just staring at me and refrain from shouting at me or following me when he is by my side. However, we ran past a little girl the other day who started yelling, "Foreigner, foreigner, foreigner!" at the top of her lungs in Singhala, as if she were trying to warn Ashoka that he was in some sort of danger; perhaps she thought I was chasing him?? Ashoka laughed and yelled back in Singhala, "What shall I do??" She was too agitated to offer any advice and instead continued running around, flailing her arms, and sending out the alarm call.

When I go running on my own I stick to the main road for safety, but when I am with Ashoka we adventure into the countryside on dirt roads that wind through fields of sugar cane and manioc. We run at dusk, just as the sun is setting behind the mountains and bats begin to flit over head. Last year I felt a bit confined to the field station because it was difficult for me to really go anywhere on my own ( the main road doesn't offer the best running experience) so I am relishing the opportunity to explore the countryside on foot. Ashoka is studying for the GREs and often brings his vocabulary flashcards with him on our runs; this way we are both physically and mentally productive! I've had a lot of fun acting out words for him as we jog. How would you pantomime the word 'pantomime?'

In addition to running, I have been doing yoga. Lizzie and Ashani picked up yoga mats in Colombo the other weekend, which have turned out to be multi-functional. So far, they have mostly been used as floor mats to sit on while eating or as cushions for our group massage sessions. I introduced s'mores and massage circles to the field station last year and they seem to have caught on well. I have also used my mat for its intended purpose. I take it up to the roof to do yoga in the evenings and star gaze afterwards - very peaceful and relaxing after a long day in the field. The flat rooftop is a wonderful new addition to the field station; last year I had to do yoga in the front yard, which also attracted much unwanted attention. Over the past few months, we have added 3 rooms to the field station and are preparing to construct a second story. Until construction begins on this second level, we have a roof-top patio, which offers a stunning view of the fields and mountains off in the distance. It's a spectacular place to watch the sunset and collect your thoughts.

All in all, I am feeling much more at home in Sri Lanka than I did last year. Don't get me wrong, I was very happy here last summer, but it was new and unfamiliar to me so naturally I felt a bit out of my comfort zone. Before coming out this summer, I had serious doubts as to whether or not I could spend much more than 3 months at a time in Sri Lanka without feeling totally out of my element and homesick. I don't have those worries any longer. I have figured out how to live a 'Lauren lifestyle' here and I must say it's pretty fabulous!