Early de la Mañana

Well, this is it!

Early tomorrow morning I´m off to México!  Still got to put a few more things in the pack and then to catch a few winks before I get up ridiculously early to catch my flight.

You know that feeling you get when your about to embark on a grand adventure that will change your life? Yeah, it´s pretty awesome :)

Well, to work, to bed, to Mexico!

See you, on the other side!

Benjamin

Cultural Activities

Because I am taking a Cultural Proofs class while in the field I will have the opportunity to visit, see, and participate in many cultural activities and places.  Some of the suggested activities that seem particularly interesting include: 

"Learning from someone how to cook a traditional meal," "Making a language log of 30–50 local, commonly-used expressions or phrases such as metaphors, idioms, analogies, proverbs, and clichés" "Interview 3–4 elderly people of the community on what life was like when they were growing up (represent each gender)" "Creating a vocabulary log and build your own dictionary with examples, illustrations, or photos." "Reading literature important to the local identity in the target language." and "Keeping a grammar and vocabulary field notebook."

This got me thinking more about the local culture and the experiences that I will have there.  I found this really interesting blog (in English) that is kept up to date by a local high school in Irapuato: Technológica de Monterrey.  Here is the site:

 http://irapuato.wordpress.com/

I also wanted to look into what holidays I will be celebrating while in Irapuato, and I found this neat list on mexonline.com

May 1: Primero de Mayo is the Mexican national holiday that is equivalent to the U.S. Labor Day.

May 3: Holy Cross Day Dia de la Santa Cruz, when construction workers decorate and mount crosses on unfinished buildings, followed by fireworks and picnics at the construction site.

May 5: Cinco de Mayo is the Mexican national holiday that honors the Mexican victory over the French army at Puebla de los Angeles in 1862.

May 10: Mother's Day, Due to the importance of the mother in Mexican culture, Mother's Day is an especially significant holiday.

June 1: Navy Day is an official Mexican holiday.

June 24: Saint John the Baptist Day is celebrated with religious festivities, fairs, and popular jokes connected to getting dunked in water.

June 29: Fiesta of Saint Peter and Saint Paul notable celebrations in Mexcaltitan, Nayarit and Zaachila, Oaxaca.


Basically, I´m pretty excited for this trip.

Tener Asistente?

I have been pondering a little bit about the transcribing process that I will have to go through in the field and all of the work that is required for it.  The article about transcription that I had found early did more than just re-assure me that I can live in Mexico for three months (though thank goodness it did that).  It also got me thinking more about the actual methods and process that I will undergo while I transcribe these interviews, and the idea has arisen- should I ask for help? Should I look for a part-time assistant to help me with the transcriptions?

As I have spoken with other students going on a Field Study this summer many of them have told me about how they will be requesting the use of, and recruiting the help of translators.  I don't need a translator, but it would be very useful to have someone, a local speaker, familiar with the accent and the language, to whom I could go to help me interpret the audio recordings of my interviews.

Of course, this brings up several questions, like, how much of this wonderful learning experience and opportunity for growth do I want to delegate to others?  How will I make sure that I don't become reliant upon a transcriber and do not take up too much of his or her time?  Where will I find such a person who is willing and capable to help?  How can I show reciprocity for the extra help?  How ethical would it be to incorporate another researcher into this project?  What parameters would I need to go through in order to approve a transcribing assistant.

I will attempt to answer the questions, though I will reserve the right to change my answers for the better in the future and the field.  I do not want to put off experiences that will help me grow and learn the Spanish language, entonces, I definitely don't want to delegate all my transcribing to another; perhaps I can have help with just difficult sections.  This would also be beneficial in making sure that I don't take up too much time from anyone that I ask help from; possibly I can find someone who is willing to help me once a week for an hour or two and I can just reserve the difficult passages for them to help me understand what has been said.  I could then pay for their dinner or something to show reciprocity for their help.  This shorter time commitment also opens up doors as to how many people might be able to help.  I'll probably first ask my host family if they know of anyone.  Ideally I could find someone who is an informant, who has an actual interest in the work that could help me listen to and transcribe my interviews.  As for registering my "assistant" or helper with the IRB to make sure that they can view the "raw data" (if this is even necessary) I can ask my mentor, Mark, if he knows anything about that, or at least who I could ask.

Wow, that seemed like a good thought-discussion with myself.  I certainly am getting more and more exited for this trip!

Benjamin