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To-Do Date: Mar 1 at 5:30pm

Research memos, Mar. 1 (memos group 3) 5 5

Barry Lyons

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Research memos group 3: please upload or copy & paste in your research memos for Mar. 1 here.

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(https Ezra Mitchell (They/Them)

(https://canvas.wayne.edu/courses/163067/users/163308) 

Feb 25, 2022

Research Memo

To: ANT 3600

From: Ezra Mitchell

Date: February 25, 2022

Subject: Ecuador Field School -  Research Memo 

So far, I have had two interview with Señora Ana Monar and her son, Joven Fernando Monar. Our first
meeting was on Friday, February 18th, at 8 pm. Our second meeting was today, February 25th, at 11
am. Our times have been a little bit inconsistent because Joven Fernando has college classes. I plan
to ask him more about what he is studying and how he wants to use it in future interviews. They have
been consistently on time, and we have talked for about 30-40 minutes each time. In the most recent
interview, we discussed the carnival coming up in San Vicente and its cultural relevance.

Joven Fernando spoke a lot in this interview. It seemed like he was passionate about showing San
Vicente's culture to outsiders. He told me that the carnival is a cultural event that honors their
ancestors and the indigenous people in the province of Bolívar. I hope we can have more
conversations about their indigenous roots in the future. It also has religious connotations, which he
got more into later. Joven Fernando also mentioned eating traditional food, so I asked for them to tell
me about the dishes. Señora Ana showed me a dessert she had prepared, which was a sweet bread
with a jelly-like fruit substance that they compared to marmalade. I told them it looked delicious! There
is also a drink called chicha that is prepared specifically for carnival. Joven Fernando told me they
produce 90% of the ingredients that they use for carnival dishes themselves, but they have to
purchase ingredients like pineapple because it is not possible to grow in the highlands. 

I asked what kind of things you can see and do at the carnival, and what kind of traditions they have.
Joven Fernando showed me a YouTube channel where a man from San Vicente has recorded some of
the folkloric dances and music. I was very moved by the powerful performances, and could not help
saying things like "How beautiful..." 

They also told me that the carnival reaches beyond just culture. It is important for religious and
economic reasons, as well. According to Joven Fernando, the carnival produces a lot of economic
growth for the people in the village because people buy their goods. I asked if this was affected by the
pandemic, and he seemed to say no. I might have to clarify this in the future, because it seems like this
would not be the case. But if it is, I trust his word. He told me that some of the older people in San
Vicente recite religious verses during carnival. Señora Ana took this time to recite one to me. This is
what I picked up:

"La matita de manzanilla

Florecita de mi [inaudible]

Yo como no me tras plantara

Dentro de mi corazón"

"Abra puertas y ventanas 

Cortinas y paviliones

Miren que les viene, amigos de corazón"

She sometimes trails off when speaking, so I was not able to catch the whole of the two verses. I
would like to get some feedback on this and see if I understood her correctly. Overall, the interview
was fascinating, and I thanked them for teaching me so much about their culture and the carnival. I
can feel myself getting more comfortable with them, and vice versa. I am excited to talk to them more
in the future.
Edited by Ezra Mitchell (https://canvas.wayne.edu/courses/163067/users/163308) on Mar 1 at 6:01pm

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(https Herschel Carithers (https://canvas.wayne.edu/courses/163067/users/174062) 

Feb 27, 2022

MEMO

TO: ANT 3600

FROM: Ryan Carithers

DATE: February 22, 2022

Subject: Ecuador Field School- First Interview Discoveries

I conducted my first interview with Senor Don Hugo on 2/16/22. His wife, Senora Gloria, was listening
in, but never actually got in front of the camera. She sounded very nice though and I’m hoping that
she’ll warm up and introduce herself as we continue to have further discussions.

Senor Don Hugo appeared to be in his late 50’s to early 60’s. He is a farmer and sharecropper. He and
his wife were born and raised in San Vincente. They have 5 kids together, 4 of whom have moved on
to the city. The children went to school in San Miguel until the age of 18. I wanted to know more about
what the other 4 kids that moved to the city did for work, but unfortunately, he didn’t eagerly open up
and discuss that as I was hoping. I will bring this up again in future interviews with him.

At first, I believe that Senor Don Hugo thought that I was going to be teaching him how to speak
English. Maybe one of the reasons he was a little short with his answers when I continued to only ask
him questions about himself. He did warm up though as I shared some of my own failed farming
experiences with him and we had a few laughs together. I told him about my kids, and my dog, and I
felt that he started to become more comfortable speaking with me.
Fortunately, Dr. Lyons was in on the call for the translation piece. As you all can imagine, I would have
been lost without Dr. Lyons as even he had a hard time translating some of the things Senor Don Hugo
was saying.

I learned from Senor Don Hugo that the crops have been growing fairly well this year in San Vincente.
Especially maze and beans. He did mention how the use of chemicals has caused some diseases
amongst the plants, but he personally didn’t seem overly concerned about it. I asked if he had any
issues with wild animals getting into the crops, and Senor Don Hugo mentioned that grubs in the
ground were really the only pest that disrupted the crops. I believe he mentioned that he uses some
chemical sprays himself to prevent grubs from getting into his crops. I told him that deer and squirrels
usually pick everything that I usually try to grow in my garden, and he got a good laugh out of that.
Apparently, those types of animals are not a concern for them. He did have at least 1 cat though,
which seems to be a common pet to have in San Vicente. I wonder if they see cats as useful for
keeping pest and rodents away?

Senora Gloria does all of the cooking at the home for the most part. I asked if he enjoyed any sports,
playing cards, etc. and he said “no”.  I was curious if they ever fish for their food there, but Senor Don
Hugo said that he never fishes and that they just buy their fish from the market when they want it.

Overall, I felt that the interview went pretty well. I look forward to speaking and learning from Senor
Don Hugo in our interviews to come.

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(https Marissa Blair (https://canvas.wayne.edu/courses/163067/users/113217) 

Mar 1, 2022

Research Memo

To: ANT 3600

From: Marissa Blair

Date: February 28, 2022

Subject: Ecuador Field School -  Research Memo #1

I conducted my first interview with don Rodrigo Monar on February 22nd at 7pm. Both of us had no
issues connecting through Zoom and we talked for about 25 minutes. For the initial interview, I did not
prepare a lot of questions and don Rodrigo did not elaborate on many that I asked, so that is one thing
I would like to improve on. Since this was our first interview, we discussed basic questions about his
life in San Vicente and the upcoming carnival.

At the beginning of the interview, we exchanged greetings and he stated that he was a neighbor
(vecino) of Dr. Lyons and was excited for this meeting. We talked mostly about life in San Vicente and
his crops. He stated that he has lived in San Vicente for most of his life, but did live in Quito, Ecuador
for about 10 years for work. At his house, he lives with 7 other people- his wife, his children, and two
granddaughters- he also has some family in Colombia. He told me that he has two daughters who
study in school. He also mentioned having "animales encanado?" (encaged animals), but I could not
make out what type. He stated that he grows corn, wheat, and potatoes on his land. The average day
for him starts early and ends at 4pm, which I understand is similar to other people in San Vicente. He
did also mention a project he is starting this year involving fish (I'm not 100% confident, but I think he
mentioned "alevines de trucha" (trout fingerlings)- I will clarify on this in our next meeting). I asked him
if he liked his job and what he likes to do in his free time as well- he stated that he does enjoy his work
and he likes to play volleyball. We finished up talking about carnival and he said he was excited for it,
but did not go into any specific detail. I thanked him for his time and sharing his experiences with me.
During the interview, it was very hard to keep up with what he was saying and taking notes at the same
time- I do feel like the initial interview was overwhelming; however, after listening back to the recording,
I did find it was easier to understand what was being said, which is helpful. An additional note is that
there was a lot of background noise coming from either a television or children. It also sounded like
someone was translating what I was saying back to him so he could better understand me. For our
next meeting, I would like to follow up on the project he mentioned and discuss more about the
problems or complications he has faced and if/how he has overcome them.

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(https Alicia Shiff (https://canvas.wayne.edu/courses/163067/users/173288) 

Mar 1, 2022

Research Memo

To: ANT3600

From: Alicia Shiff

Date: March 1, 2022

Subject: Research memo #1

My San Vicente match is Señora Eloisa. I have had two meetings with Señora. Eloisa on 2/20 and this
past Sunday on 2/27 at 5pm. In the first interview I was joined by Julia and Meraf who helped me with
translating for the meeting that lasted about 45 minutes. For the second meeting Julia joined me again
to help me out by translating and only lasted about 30 minutes due to some connection issues and the
carnival celebrations that I did not want to interrupt for too long. 

During the first interview Señora Eloisa seemed a little nervous and gave mostly short answers to the
questions I asked. I mostly asked about her life in San Vicente and she informed me that she was born
in San Vicente and has lived there for 44 years and is currently living there with her husband and 5
children. Señora Eloisa and her family also work in agriculture on their own land growing corn and
beans. She has been working in agriculture since she was a student and would work in the fields to
help her parents out. 

In the second interview, Señora Eloisa seemed to be less nervous and more eager to share her
carnival traditions. Because the connection was not great it was a little difficult to hear Julia and
Señora Eloisa and there were times when I had to ask Julia to repeat what she said because I could
not hear. I focused the second, shorter interview on carnival since it was so close to the time of our
meeting and since we were having issues with the connection throughout the interview. Señora Eloisa
told us that her sisters traveled from Quito to San Vicente to stay with her for 4 days during the
celebration. She discussed the special food they prepare for carnival and how they sing and play guitar
and drums during the festivities. Señora Eloisa even sang a carnival verse for Julia and I and seemed
to be more relaxed and willing to talk about all of the fun carnival traditions. For the next interview I
plan to ask more questions about the crops she grows and focus more on agriculture. This week
wasn't about agriculture but was still very informative and taught me a lot about carnival traditions.

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(https Mikayla Bruder (https://canvas.wayne.edu/courses/163067/users/87774) 

 Mar 1, 2022

Research Memo

To: ANT 3600

From: Mikayla Bruder

Date: March 1, 2022

Subject: Ecuador Field School – Research Memo #1

I conducted my first interview with Joven Cristian on February 13 at 4pm via a Whatsapp video call.
This first call wasn’t very long because I did not prepare a lot of questions and he did not elaborate on
really any questions that I asked. At the beginning of the first interview, we exchanged greetings and
he stated that he has known Dr. Lyons for a while because his family is in the same town and his wife
is from there. This first interaction was just me trying to get to know the basics. He stated that he was
born in Quito and that he left there to go to San Vicente. He said that from where he is from to San
Vicente is about 4 hours. He is 40 years old and lives with his mother, however, he does have 4 other
siblings (and I think he said he is the younger if I understood correctly). Two of his brothers live in
Quito, he has a brother that lives in Spain and a sister who lives right there in San Miguel which is
located in the Bolívar province of Ecuador. He stated after he went to school, his mom needed his help
in the field, so he has been helping her in the fields on agricultural things for the past 10 years.
Unfortunately, this is all I was able to get out of him because he didn’t seem eager to elaborate much,
and he also spoke very fast. When we do get to meet again, I want to ask him more about his family,
his everyday life, what they grow in the fields he works in, etc.

Since this first interview, we have exchanged messages through Whatsapp, such as he’ll ask me how I
am doing or he will send me pictures of animals, plants, the area around him, and some of the food he
is eating. The second interview was supposed to be on February 20th, however, I was not feeling well. I
had not received any confirmation about meeting this past Sunday, the 27th, so I figured he was busy
with preparing for carnival, however, I was able to text him some questions and get a few answers
from him about it. I do have trouble communicating with him through messages at times because he
will put words together or will misspell them and it is hard for me to be able to understand what he is
saying. From what I understand about what he said about carnival is that he celebrates it over a four-
day period, and it occurs before lent. They sing verses and make food such as “tamales chicha fritada
dulse de calabasos” (which I am not sure what that is). Unfortunately, he didn’t answer any other
questions I had.

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