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Research memos, Mar. 29 (memos group 3) 2 6

Barry Lyons

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

Mar 29, 2022

Research Memo

To: ANT 3600

From: Marissa Blair

Date: March 29, 2022

Subject: Ecuador Field School -  Research Memo #2

At the time of this posting, I have only met with my match don Rodrigo one time, before I wrote my first
research memo. I am looking forward to meeting with him tonight, however, and getting more
information. I have gone over the recording of our first meeting and have gained a ton of more
information and insight into what he was saying or trying to convey to me. I have prepared some follow
up questions for don Rodrigo that I hope he can clarify on, especially the fish he mentioned in our first
interview. Because of my limited availability, I have been unable to attend any of my classmates'
interviews either, so I have spent most of my time going over the other research memos that were
posted. My goal is to add my audio to the youtube to share what information I have and to also ask
informative follow up questions tonight at our interview. I am hoping to add my findings from tonight to
this post as well. 

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

(http
Mar 29, 2022

Update: I did meet with don Rodrigo tonight. The interview did feel more comfortable and he did
share more details with me about his experiences. I did clarify that he did have "alvines de trucha",
but they just use them for their household. We also talked about corn and how important it is for
being used in food, especially mote. He also mentioned "choclo" which also means corn, but
explained there is a difference between "choclo" y "maiz". He mentioned that he does use fertilizers
and pesticides on his crops, and they can be expensive, especially compared to last year (mentioned
that the price has increased from 30 to 48). We also talked about the different seasons for planting
crops (I thought it was interesting that the best time for planting corn is in december-january; I know
the seasons are different in the Southern hemisphere, but it is interesting to know). I also got to
see/meet some of his family members, who were also listening to our meeting. Overall, I think that
don Rodrigo and I both felt more comfortable talking, and he did seem to elaborate more when I
would ask questions. 

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

Mar 29, 2022

Research Memo

To: ANT

From: Alicia Shiff

Date: March 29, 2022

Subject: Research Memo #2/ Ecuador field school 

I have not been able to meet with my match since my last research memo. I was not able to meet with
Sra. Eloisa over break and she was not able to make it to this past week's interview either. I have
another meeting with my match, Sra. Eloisa this Friday and I will be using the questions I had prepared
for the last interview she was unable to make it to. I have used this time to think about my final project
and what questions I would really like to get answered before the end of the semester. I went through
all of my previous interview notes and sorted through the most important information and what I felt
would benefit my final project the most. I am trying to plan out the remainder of my interviews to
answer specific questions I have for my final project before we stop conducting interviews. I have
planned out my final project much more in the past couple weeks and am better prepared for when
Sra. Eloisa can meet again.

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

Mar 29, 2022

MEMO

TO: ANT 3600

FROM: Ryan Carithers

DATE: March 23, 2022

Subject: Ecuador Field School- Interview Discoveries

This interview memo pertains to the last conversation that I had with Senior Hugo on 3/23/22. I’d first
like to say that this interview was by far the best conversation that I’ve had with Senior Hugo! He
provided me with elaborate and insightful answers to the questions that I was asking and even
introduced his wife, Siniora Gloria in our interview. I believe a lot of this was in part to me getting better
at asking descriptive questions (Spradley, 2016, P. 85), along with Senior Hugo feeling more
comfortable in speaking with me and willing to open up more and speak freely. It was cool to see how
the rapport between us has built some between each interview, even though we are conducting these
ethnographic interviews virtually.

In the interview we discussed issues that sharecroppers run into in trying to satisfy the expectations of
harvest size and quality between each landowner. We discussed how the increase in cost of fertilizer
has affected regular farming techniques and who that additional cost falls on. Lastly, we talked about
the length of time that Senior Hugo typically sharecrops a particular piece of land, how early he starts
to speak with other landowners about future work, more specifics on the landowner and sharecropper
relationship, or lack thereof, and how many workers it takes to harvest the yields and how those
additional workers are compensated.

I came to find out, as it is with any employer in the U.S., that landowners do hold the sharecroppers to
certain expectations regarding harvest size and quality. If the landowner is unsatisfied with the size
and quality of the harvest, it is not uncommon for the landowner to tell the sharecropper to go find work
elsewhere once the harvest is completed. However, this “parting of ways” conversation does not take
place until the sharecropper receives his/her share of the harvest.

Some of the issues that sharecroppers run into is that the landowners are not always willing to make
the financial investments needed towards chemicals, fertilizer, etc. that would help to keep the land
fertile and free of decease. When these landowners neglect to do this, these additional cost fall on the
sharecroppers. In many cases, the sharecroppers don’t have the financial means to go out and buy
these products and end up having to cut corners and make the most out of what the landowners are
willing to provide them with. Out of the 4 landowners that Senior Hugo works for, 2 of them are
unwilling to help him make up for the increase cost in fertilizer. These same 2 landowners are also not
providing Senior Hugo with enough tools and chemicals to handle the large amount of rain that they’ve
recently had in San Vicente, which has caused decease amongst many of the bean plants. Senior
Hugo said that starting in July, he’ll begin looking for 2 different plots of land to farm rather than staying
with these landowners that will not contribute and help him to be successful. The 2 landowners that
Senior Hugo works for that have been willing to assist with the purchasing of fertilizer were once
sharecroppers themselves and respect what he does much more than the 2 landowners that are
unwilling to help.

In the past Senior Hugo would use two 100 lb sacks of Urea per ___ (I forget the measurement he
said) to pill of the field around the plants. With the increased cost of fertilizer, he is now forced to use
one 50 lb bag of Urea and one 50 lb bag of another organic fertilizer, or just use the one 50lb bag of
Urea and make the most of it.

Interesting Fact:

*Senior Hugo said that there’s a plant and decease specialist in the town of San Miguel that he’ll see
when he has questions regarding the correct treatment of seemingly unhealthy plants with possible
decease.

So, I touched on this a little bit earlier, but the landowners that are most understanding and willing to
make the financial contributions necessary to help their sharecroppers achieve their goals were usually
once sharecroppers themselves. Senior Hugo’s relationship with the landowners that he now works for
who were once sharecroppers seems to remain strictly business. Yes, these landowners are willing to
listen to his request and often help financially, but the relationship between the two stays professional.
I got the feeling there’s never really any “small talk” between the two, just business and the job at
hand.

The other 2 landowners that Senior Hugo works for reminds me of a boss that I used to have while
working in the corporate world. It was always clear that anyone on the team could be replaced at any
time, as it is with Senior Hugo, and that the company/farm would be just fine without me/him. No
respect or appreciation. Keep your head down, work until your shift is over, and then you have your
personal time. Fortunately, Senior Hugo has a good reputation and a lot of experience working as a
sharecropper. He’s confident that he wouldn’t have to wait long at all before finding new jobs to work,
which he intends on doing starting in July.

Lastly, being that Senior Hugo usually works either by himself, or with just one additional sharecropper
in each field, I wondered how they were able to manage such a large harvest between the two of them.
He explained that come harvest time, he’ll recruit between 7 to 10 additional farmers to help out. For
compensation, rather than split Senior Hugo’s share of the harvest with these workers, he pays them
for their services. Again, once the job is done and the harvest is divided between the landowner and
sharecropper, there’s usually a conversation shortly afterwards focused on the relationship between
the two and if they’re going to continue doing business together. At this point in Senior Hugo’s career,
he made it pretty clear that he’s not scared of walking off from a job if the landowners is too difficult to
work for.

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(https Ezra Mitchell (They/Them)

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

Mar 30, 2022

Research Memo

To: ANT 3600

From: Ezra Mitchell

Date: March 30, 2022

Subject: Ecuador Field School -  Research Memo #2

The most recent interview I had with Sra. Ana and Joven Fernando was this past Friday, March 25th,
We talked about a plethora of topics, including what they did that day, prices of organic fertilizer,
climate change, sharecropping, and more. I was really pleased that we got to talk about the latter
subject; as a social work major, I am very interested in the power dynamics that are in play in the
sharecropping arrangement.

Sra. Ana told me that sharecropping was very difficult work, but the fortunate thing was that costs were
split between the sharecroppers and the landowners, which made it more economically feasible. She
said that she sharecropped in order to be able to put her kids through school. Nowadays, she said, if
people need extra money to support their children, they are more prone to go to the city and get a job
there, rather than sharecrop. I was wondering, do any other students have any comments from their
informants that support or disprove this? What do other people in San Vicente perceive sharecropping
to be like? Is it a feasible working arrangement for them, or do they need other side jobs to support
themselves and their families?

I also heard from Joven Fernando that some people from the city have bought houses in San Vicente
in the last couple of years, and come on the weekends to do some planting. I was fascinated by this
concept, because it is so different from the United States, where people usually buy homes for
vacation, not to do extra work. I was also surprised to find out that in their opinion, the people of San
Vicente have been welcoming to these newcomers, since they help fuel the economy. I feel like this is
another cultural difference, because here, people in a smaller community might feel like their comfort is
being encroached upon when people move there with no knowledge of what life is like there.

In this interview, I also made some progress in my interviewing style. I got a lot better at asking follow-
up questions. I think it was Zunie who suggested to ask clarifying questions, because they can
sometimes prompt people to talk more if your assumption is correct, or explain more thoroughly if your
assumption was wrong. This worked very well for me. I was able to get both informants to elaborate
just by asking them if I was understanding them fully. I also was able to joke around with them and tell
them about how life is different here. I feel like our bond is getting stronger, and we are more
comfortable with each other.

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

Mar 31, 2022

Research Memo

To: ANT

From: Mikayla Bruder

Date: March 31, 2022

Subject: Research Memo #2/ Ecuador field school 

I was able to meet with my match, Joven Cristian, once since my last research memo and I was able
to get some questions answered, however, I felt as if there were a lot of miscommunications between
us because at times he wouldn’t understand my question and I’d have to repeat in a different way or I
would have Zunie try and repeat the question in a different way, and then there were times where he
would provide an answer to what he thought I was asking and it would cause some confusion. I think
he said that he grows avocados, potatoes, tomatoes, beans, corn, wheat, barley, and lemon and he
uses fertilizers to help grow these things and uses liquid chemicals to kill the bad weeds. I was able to
talk to his sister who was visiting from San Miguel. She has a son and is a teacher. I have not been
able to meet in the past couple of weeks due to some things that have come up. Moving forward, I will
not be meeting with Joven Cristian because of some things that have happened, but I hope to have a
couple of meetings with Sra. Dina in the next couple of weeks to finish out the semester and get more
information for the final project.
Edited by Mikayla Bruder (https://canvas.wayne.edu/courses/163067/users/87774) on Mar 31 at 7:06pm

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