tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60560612592455184972011-10-31T11:53:41.720-04:00An Anthropologist's AdventuresJen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.comBlogger1101100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-90034951655599501562010-03-01T13:31:00.001-05:002010-03-01T13:31:50.543-05:00

A friend of mine in Canada works in IT.  This came up on her dev server this morning and she posted it out to our shared online community.  It comes from Dr. Carl Sagan's 1987 CSICOP keynote address. In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-1498430188305709552010-02-23T21:38:00.004-05:002010-02-24T10:16:30.030-05:00

I'll bet there are a couple of readers out there wondering if I really am an anthropologist given all the stuff about technology and professional development I've been posting lately.  I haven't forgotten, I've just been a bit side-tracked.  Royal palace, Logone-Birni, Cameroon (Musee de l'Homme, Paris) This morning I received an interesting email that brought together a few subjects near and

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-12527668635383586102010-02-20T20:41:00.000-05:002010-02-20T20:41:24.455-05:00

This past Wednesday I took a course on what I thought was blogging as part of the professional development offered to Penn State postdocs.  I figured it would be one of those classes where they discuss copyright issues, intellectual property, what Penn State frowns on, etc.  It ended up being a short course on e-portfolios. E-portfolios are actually a neat way to build a professional online

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-40196387272371530742010-02-18T13:59:00.002-05:002010-02-18T19:58:34.537-05:00

So yesterday was the beginning of Lent - 40 days of fasting or denial of sinful temptation if you ascribe to a Christian view.  A period of major importance to Catholics, and used by some Protestants to illustrate just how much Jesus gave up so that you can go to Heaven.  Or at least that was how I interpreted it as a kid.  Back then, even though my family wasn't Catholic, I recall giving up

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-70313246255432781342010-02-09T22:02:00.001-05:002010-02-09T22:42:02.709-05:00

Prior to the weekly meeting with my mentor last Friday, Petra emailed me to say that we would be developing a one page mentoring plan for NSF.  Beginning April 2010, all NSF proposals that request funding for a postdoc will require a mentoring plan.  There was a little confusion, since ultimately this requirement doesn't affect me.  I'm funded by the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. 

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-56828755113486909452010-02-08T06:49:00.000-05:002010-02-08T06:49:52.594-05:00

Technically, I've been at my new job for 4 weeks now.  However, the coming and going of myself and my new postdoc adviser in the first two weeks meant that I really didn't start until the end of January.  The first week Petra, my adviser, was in Ghana until Thursday morning with work.  And the second week, both of us were in Atlanta for separate conferences.  (I was presenting some of my

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-75719930401941443792009-11-25T10:13:00.001-05:002009-11-25T19:52:06.179-05:00

Now that I am heading into a postdoc I thought it might be wise to do some research on what I should expect.  Ha!  Like everything else I've done for grad school, it seems that I should have been working on this 2 years ago.  Never fear, the internet is here!  There isn't a whole lot out there specifically relevant to social science postdocs - unless you are looking for one.  When I broadened

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-63694400065743999462009-11-23T20:53:00.001-05:002009-11-23T20:55:57.566-05:00

Abandoned boots in a southwestern Irish fog Since I finished my defense, a lot of people have been asking me "So... what are you going to do next?" I'm not sure what they expect me to answer. Disneyland? More travel? Work? *GASP* Another PhD? To be fair, no one who has completed a PhD has asked me this question. But I suppose it is a valid question.  It feels like I have just run

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-3398464640933047962009-11-09T11:57:00.005-05:002009-11-09T12:21:34.637-05:00

One of my friends teasingly called me Dr. With Revisions the other day when I explained the behind closed door department. He was taking notes since it is his first year of grad school and giving me a "rough" time since I'm almost done and won't be around for teasing much in the future.Despite the public and behind closed door defense, I still have quite a bit of work left on my dissertation.

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-29841573628712214012009-11-06T11:33:00.007-05:002009-11-09T11:57:20.831-05:00

I read other blogs to get ideas. One of my favorite Science Fiction blogs, Topless Robot, likes to post really bad fanfic on Fridays (be wary, this stuff will make you really worry about the future of humanity). Now, I'm not going to do that here. However, the idea of regularly posting on the same theme one day a week I thought was a great idea. Since I am an anthropologist who works in

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-54683048525062920882009-11-05T13:01:00.006-05:002009-11-05T13:35:12.831-05:00

It has been a long time since I've posted regularly to my blog (barring today's earlier post). I have been writing, analyzing, scrutinizing, and banging my head against the keyboard in general. But now it is done. Writing, the last stage of the doctoral journey, is probably the loneliest part. At least while I was doing field research I was surrounded by people and outdoors. Writing up my

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-52726441126900948682009-11-05T08:53:00.002-05:002009-11-05T08:55:43.673-05:00

So this song is making the rounds amongst anthropologists and their blogs. I've tried to avoid it, mainly because it just seemed so silly in concept. But really, it's pretty cool at explaining what I and other anthropologists do.I give you The Anthropology Song by Dai Cooper. Bravo!

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-43304894797676093492009-10-20T12:07:00.005-04:002009-10-20T12:23:18.346-04:00

After a long hiatus (more later), I'm going to give this another try. A blogging friend of mine - in Australia - sent me a note to see if I was still alive, and would I be blogging again. I'll have to ease back into this. :) I'm just going to post 2 videos today that talk about what it means to be human and how we're connected to Life, the Universe, and Everything.The first is a video that

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-4988591798726232132009-03-02T08:56:00.004-05:002009-03-02T09:07:32.769-05:00

It started snowing yesterday around noon. The snow fell in big, lacy flakes. As the afternoon wore on we accumulated about 4 inches of wet snow. About 3pm the gunshots started. Not real guns, but the sound of pine branches breaking off sounds like a gunshot. My neighbors and I skidded around the parking lot as we moved our cars to spaces that were not located under trees. It was rather

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-78522966625566413572009-02-23T09:33:00.005-05:002009-02-23T09:47:39.461-05:00

I signed up for a small plot with UGA family and graduate housing this morning. The area for gardening is approximately 10' X 10'. Not huge, but I can grow some peas and spinach and maybe something else. My work with the farmers in Mozambique inspired me, but I haven't had the chance until now to put my enthusiasm into practice.I was never the gardener with enthusiasm that Chris was but I do

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-12202032873740523772009-01-13T11:28:00.002-05:002009-01-13T11:44:54.094-05:00

So it is now 13 January and I haven't done anything with my dissertation in two weeks. Do I feel guilty? Absolutely and I can only foresee things getting more difficult. My Mew Year's resolution was to work more efficiently so that I could accomplish what I needed to. I'm am getting more work done, but now I have more work.In addition to my dissertation write up and teaching introductory

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-4561517415708082472009-01-11T21:29:00.002-05:002009-01-11T21:33:31.612-05:00

An anthropologist, an archaeologist, and a paleontologist walk into a cave.The archaeologist pulls a roll of string out of her left pocket and a handful of little stakes out of her right. She begins marking off identically-sized square sections across the floor of the cave. The paleontologist rushes to a corner of the cave yet unmarked by the archaeologist, and starts unpacking his jackhammer,

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-64970119404227243022009-01-10T10:39:00.011-05:002009-01-10T11:18:19.655-05:00

31 March 1979An online friend recently posted a link about a man who took a picture of himself or some part of his life everyday for 18 years. The photos begin March 31, 1979 and end on October 25, 1997 - a total of 6,697 polaroids dated in sequence.Jamie Livingston's LifeIn the series, we see a man at picnics and parties, work and Met's games. He goes through chemotherapy, gets married, hangs

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-79227761947340780922009-01-09T16:22:00.003-05:002009-01-09T16:56:47.823-05:00

I taught my own section of Introduction to Anthropology this afternoon. Sixty students were registered, but only 42 showed up. I'm hoping that the class stays fairly small.I forgot how nerve-wracking getting up in front of a group of folks can be - and we only discussed the syllabus and class expectations. I felt like I was talking a million miles per hour, but my TA Elaina said my pace was

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-16340713643920824332009-01-03T19:20:00.003-05:002009-01-03T19:40:16.732-05:00

It's that time of year again when I've started thinking about taxes. I try to get them done early, because I really don't want to spend the day before my birthday panicking. I guess it could be worse. I could have been born on 15 April.This year I don't have much to report, although I'm not sure how this all works being divorced. I'm filing singly - particularly since I've been supporting

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-22193569927596442322008-12-21T18:56:00.006-05:002008-12-22T07:40:03.279-05:00

My adviser forwarded me an interesting email the other day. It seems someone was interested in my dissertation research. All NSF grants are posted online with their abstracts as part of the US Freedom of Information Act. Since grantees receive taxpayer funding, we are required by law to post information about our research. No biggie. (my award) At any rate, someone at a European publishing

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-23570558397139634252008-12-18T15:35:00.005-05:002008-12-18T15:58:27.180-05:00

Every year my mom frantically cleans the house before 1 January so that she can start fresh in the new year. Today I cleaned up my lab space - reordered my books, sorted through files, and made a big to do list for the coming year. It looks like I will be in graduate school one more year to complete the writing process. And like my mom, I want to start fresh in 2009.It isn't like I haven't

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-27599233587354513792008-07-08T10:42:00.004-04:002008-07-08T10:58:11.714-04:00

Yesterday was not fun. All weekend my computer had been running slow, freezing up, and generally acting sick. I backed up all my files and sent up the bat signal to ask for some help from the Geek Squad. Nothing is stranger than seeing your cursor move around and open up files when you aren't touching the keyboard.Over the course of 4 hours, 3 different agents discovered a virus, a strange

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-63908370528191825482008-07-06T16:39:00.018-04:002008-12-09T05:09:59.759-05:00

As a kid, I loved the 4th of July. For me, it was about waving our nation's flag as a soldiers (both veterans and currently enlisted) and marching bands paraded by, getting together with neighbors and family for picnics with watermelon seed-spitting contests and grilled hot dogs, and finally getting to stay up late to watch the fireworks. Later, I got to march in the parades as part of a high

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-58268775682053784082008-07-02T08:25:00.003-04:002008-07-02T08:35:22.148-04:00

June has passed all too quickly and now I wonder where the time went. I certainly wasn't moping around, although I did feel tired of just being on occasion.I got back into the swing of running every day. This Friday I am running the Peachtree 10K. A footrace in Atlanta that attracts over 65,000 runners and just as many if not more spectators. I'm thinking of running with a camera. I've never

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-58557236421358009092008-05-29T12:05:00.005-04:002008-12-09T05:09:59.958-05:00

I spoke to my father in-law on Sunday. I was the one who had to inform him that he would soon be my ex-father in-law (pretty shitty situation). He told me that he felt bad about the situation and would always consider me part of his family. That was a good thing to hear. Mike is a terrific person, a little gruff and rough around the edges, but I find that some of the best people are. Enough of

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-66630640075559801752008-05-28T01:19:00.005-04:002008-05-29T19:55:55.656-04:00

My husband and I are divorcing after almost 10 years of marriage and 14 years together.This my excuse for not posting in the last week. I hope that things get better.

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-24574704535165090722008-05-15T14:44:00.003-04:002008-05-15T14:48:23.165-04:00

I opened my email this morning and saw that my photo essay about landscape and livelihood was published online late yesterday afternoon. This is a link to the pdf.Some of the photos will look familiar to blog readers, but the essay provides an outline to how Mazingiri Ronga live in the Maputaland landscape.

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-81444810013240940822008-05-14T14:29:00.005-04:002008-05-14T15:34:32.744-04:00

I'm in a bit of a mood today and thought I would post some music/video from Mozambique. Enjoy!Wazimbo - Nwahulwana (Night Bird)Wazimbo plays Marrabenta, and this is a classic example of that type of music. During colonial times the music was often played on homemade instruments, sung in Ronga or Changaan, and spoke of social issues or love. Needless to say, the Portuguese government didn't always

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-43173987129165089762008-05-13T11:19:00.005-04:002008-12-09T05:10:00.106-05:00

I'm back stateside. Today is day 10. My friends and acquaintances keep asking about culture shock - or The Monster, as my friend Jessica calls it. I can't say that I've really felt The Monster's presence. I've had a couple of glimpses - homes don't have fences with razor wire on top, cops don't carry AK-47s, I can eat tofu - but nothing that has made me feel odd or uncomfortable.I miss Mozambique

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-71679194522337170962008-04-26T06:30:00.005-04:002008-12-09T05:10:00.460-05:00

IRINAnthroplogist Margaret Mead once said "A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." And in the past couple of weeks, southern Africa is experiencing the phenomena. A bunch of my friends and family have been asking about Zimbabwe. What is going on? Why doesn't South Africa do anything? That sort of thing. I can't give good answers.

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-15089855344949987522008-04-07T12:35:00.007-04:002008-12-09T05:10:00.709-05:00

Where’d all the good people go?I’ve been changing channels and I don’t see them on the tv shows.Where’d all the good people go?We’ve got heaps and heaps of what we sow.- Jack Johnson, Good PeopleThe United States doesn't exactly have the best of reputations in the world right now. I frequently find myself cringing when people bring up the war in Iraq, and sometimes even apologizing for the

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-39609584224556805152008-04-06T09:43:00.009-04:002008-12-09T05:10:01.598-05:00

I have finally finished all my interview work (for now). I return to Madjadjane on Wednesday to give a presentation on my research - purpose, preliminary results, and photos of the community.Catharanthus roseusThis last week of interviews was really difficult. I am burnt out on interviews, much of the interview was devoted to saying good-bye (for now), and I was physically exhausted. Many

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-84184552567703472032008-03-30T14:01:00.005-04:002008-03-30T14:33:58.986-04:00

I have three presentations coming up in April and a fourth is scheduled for July. Two concern my Fulbright/NSF research in Mozambique for the past year - a preliminary summary of my results - and will be given at the US Public Affairs Office and Reserva Especial de Maputo (for reserve staff and the community). These will be the most stressful as I really feel uncomfortable giving preliminary

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-139658899567426752008-03-29T12:02:00.004-04:002008-03-29T12:31:18.079-04:00

I learned this Friday that I have a reputation. My empregada, Dona Fatima, told me that her daughter was visiting Ponto do Ouro in the last month and mentioned that her mom in Maputo worked for a woman anthropologist that worked in Matutuine District. Immediately, people asked "Doctora Jenny?" These were people from both sides of the Mozambican-South African (KwaZulu-Natal) border.It weirds me

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-80243967925442226562008-03-29T11:42:00.006-04:002008-12-09T05:10:01.719-05:00

I love watching videos and really like history, so this was a pleasant surprise. Some people are very creative and seem to have a lot of time on their hands, but it is quite cleverly done.Food Fight An abridged history of American-centric warfare, from WWII to present day, told through the foods of the countries.The Vietnam War

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-9311101992951436352008-03-28T03:54:00.006-04:002008-03-28T04:23:09.877-04:00

This Wednesday I took a trip to Nelspruit to mail off 2 boxes of books. As I stood in line at Ressano Garcia border crossing on the return it really hit me. I have only one month left here in Mozambique. People have been asking me about leaving now for the past couple of months, but until I got that stamp it really didn't register that this was the last time I would be crossing into

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-30037028152396076142008-03-22T01:27:00.008-04:002008-12-09T05:10:01.995-05:00

Field assistant, Salema Manheçe, works with farmer-fisher Teresa as she gives an estimate of how much time she spends on livelihood activities. As of yesterday at 10am, I literally have one more week of interviews in the field. All my work in Gala is finished for the present; the remaining specialist interviews, botanical quadrat work, and verification interviews for Gala are done. I just have

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-88718030895863791082008-02-12T22:30:00.013-05:002008-12-09T05:10:03.343-05:00

It has been quite some time since my last post. My fellow blogger Damian wrote to ask if I was okay and to keep posting, since he hadn't heard from me in a while. Also, he wanted to let me know he was using my "out of office" reply in his blog (9Feb08).A LOT has happened, but I really wanted to post about last Friday's festival in Madjadjane. Very few traditional practices survived Portuguese

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-30059902806791387912007-11-07T14:03:00.000-05:002008-12-09T05:10:05.465-05:00

River Road along the Futi River, Madjadjane, Mozambique.Tihaca (Momordica balsamina) is an edible wild vegetable.Xihaha (Opuntia ficus) is used in medicine for asthma treatments.Waiting on the roadside to sell charcoal.Me on the River Road.Marracuja (Passiflora edulis) - passionfruitMaking mfuma - a paste of macuacua pulp that can be stored for future consumption.Fire is used to clean fallow land

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-62756232847743362242007-11-07T08:52:00.000-05:002008-12-09T05:10:06.675-05:00

Planting peanutsIt has been quite some time since my last post. I have been blogging in my field notebook, but I don't have an internet connection out at the reserve. So here are some excerpts from my notebook and photos to give you a sense of what I've been up to lately. It won't be a daily blow by blow, just some of the things that happen.My new translator Salema and I1 October 2007"The

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-45241819131919222972007-09-16T10:05:00.001-04:002008-12-09T05:10:07.343-05:00

One of my favorite art forms in Mozambique is called Psikelekedana. It is a form of sculpture using wood and paint. The artist may draw on their personal experiences, or use the medium to comment on society in general. For example, last weekend I saw a piece that commemorated the bombs that exploded in Maputo last March. It depicted people running in the bairro and an undetonated bomb half

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-15971861973889375372007-09-15T10:41:00.000-04:002007-09-15T14:57:59.485-04:00

I was fiddling around with the moviemaker software on my laptop this afternoon and put this together. These are pictures I took on my way to and from work in the field over the past few months. The song that accompanies the video is by Brenda Fassie, a popular South African (Zulu) singer here in Mozambique and in South Africa. The song is Vulindlela. The first time I visited Mozambique

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-27529431259322609242007-09-15T02:20:00.000-04:002008-12-09T05:10:08.412-05:00

Children in Madladlane attend a primary school located by the community's meeting tree. There are two sessions per day so that all the children that are able have a chance to attend. None of the students wear uniforms, but each family must pay a fee at the beginning of the year. The money covers the teacher's salary and some of the classroom materials. The school has two teachers. Both

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-5896973503907656752007-09-14T11:19:00.000-04:002008-12-09T05:10:09.201-05:00

Fires are a significant disturbance in the coastal savanna landscape where I am conducting my research. Fire helps create and maintain savanna. Early European maps, dating from the 1500s, label the region as Terra dos Fumos - Land of Smokes. In my own experience, a column of smoke on the horizon is a daily occurrence. While a few fires might develop from lightning strikes, most are set by

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-4319124096382627722007-08-19T15:16:00.000-04:002008-12-09T05:10:10.978-05:00

The road into Gala from the reserve gate.Little boys spend hours building toy cars out of recycled materials.Add Image_PHOTO_ID_5100494322379529474" />Lagoa Ntiti Lodge is the a ecotourism project in Gala, started with help from HELVETASThe trees and skies and landscape remind me of Jorge Garza's work. Hi Jorge!!Traditional Rhonga home construction.Masala (Strychnos spinosa and Macuacua

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-57086172143402968762007-08-19T13:26:00.000-04:002008-12-09T05:10:12.251-05:00

As I'm preparing to head back to Madladlane for round 2 of community census interviews, I thought I'd catch everyone up on my time in Gala. Gala is a small fishing-farming village located at the southern gate of the Maputo Special Reserve. There are 29 families. I completed interviews with 20 over the course of 8 days. Gala is very spread out over the dunes. Any given day, my translator, my

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-34069288520929706912007-08-01T13:43:00.000-04:002008-12-09T05:10:14.024-05:00

After a long process of setting up meetings and having them canceled, making arrangements for going to the field, buying equipment and supplies, etc. I finally started my interviews and mapping. Sergio Julane (geography) and Angelo Francisco (ecology/botany) (L to R in photo), 2 undergrads at Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, came out to Madladlane with me for a week of meeting with traditional

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-80810236091015380852007-07-31T06:59:00.000-04:002008-12-09T05:10:15.623-05:00

I've been putting off blogging about Botswana, mainly because of what happened to Chris and I in Chobe National Park (well, in Kasane just outside the park gates really). Our rental car was broken into one night, not 10 feet from where we were sleeping in our tent. We are fine and the only thing taken was my computer bag. But of course, it was what was in the bag that matters - my passport, a

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-24124051635956546282007-07-10T06:35:00.000-04:002008-12-09T05:10:15.736-05:00

Sometimes being apart from people and places puts things into better perspective. Over the past month, I've been on the road in Botswana and South Africa with my husband Chris. It was fantastic to see him and just be with him. I hadn't realized just how deeply I missed him until I saw him walk through the doors at Johannesburg's airport. We had many an adventure on our road trip through

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-57437518258129324582007-06-07T05:21:00.000-04:002008-12-09T05:10:16.381-05:00

Once Chris arrived in Pretoria, we headed north to Limpopo Province to the town of Polokwane (formerly Pietersburg). Polokwane has the largest municipal game reserve in South Africa. The guy at the gate said that there were no wild animals, so it was safe to walk around. "Watch out for the rhino, we're not responsible for that." That's debateable. White rhino, giraffe, zebra, impala, lots

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-16202278412322737032007-05-30T04:16:00.000-04:002007-05-30T05:30:52.122-04:00

The New York Times has just gotten around to publishing a piece about Maputo's munitions dump explosion in March that killed 103 people, left more than 400 injured, and 80 children orphaned. Fear Lingers in Mozambique Over Unexploded OrdinanceThree months? Yet daily, US residents turn on the news to hear about Hollywood starlets arrested over drugs, people tempting Darwin's ghost, and feel good

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-1989056071771157432007-05-29T02:49:00.000-04:002008-12-09T05:10:16.572-05:00

"One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds. Much of the damage inflicted on land is quite invisible to laymen. An ecologist must either harden his shell and make believe that the consequences of science are none of his business, or he must be the doctor who sees the marks of death in a community that believes itself well and does not want to be

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-62280054426900707222007-05-27T10:21:00.000-04:002008-12-09T05:10:16.740-05:00

Nine days ago, a small article appeared in AIM online about changes to bread prices in Mozambique. I read it, but didn't really think about the affects of a 43% increase in the price of a loaf of bread until today.I've stopped eating most bread in the US because it sucks. It tastes like sawdust, has no consistency, and lasts longer than a food of that type should (in my humble opinion).

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-85275012887974331412007-05-25T14:20:00.000-04:002008-12-09T05:10:17.250-05:00

For some reason, I haven't been able to log in for any good length of time on my blog to post for the past couple of days. I'm not the only one who's had issues with the internet here, but I'm happy to say it is working tonight.Winter has finally arrived. We've been flirting with it on and off during the past few weeks, but this week it finally stuck. Mornings are cold (40-45F/4.5-7.2C), and

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-45075069396895308422007-05-21T01:53:00.000-04:002008-12-09T05:10:17.352-05:00

I check my mail at the US Public Affairs Office once a week. Because I am on a Fulbright, I get diplomatic pouch privileges within certain limits. I can order a book now and again from Amazon, and my mom and dad can send letters. So I believed myself out of the reach of junk mail for a year. Ha! Visa must be really desperate to be sending me a credit card application in Mozambique. What a

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-8326333227721459222007-05-17T02:38:00.000-04:002007-05-17T03:03:05.441-04:00

The past few days have been rough. I haven't been sleeping or eating much. And I really haven't been motivated to work at all. My entire situation would normally trigger a plummet into the depression that accompanies me everywhere. However, this morning I woke up feeling tired, grey around the edges, but otherwise okay. My Dad's condition is still unknown, but I don't feel a midnight blue.

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-90994303264599470792007-05-14T19:04:00.000-04:002008-12-09T05:10:17.522-05:00

On Mother's Day my parents called me. It started out well, but then my Mom said, "You Dad has some news for you." Her tone of voice was not good. It was the same tone, and almost the same words, she used when she told me she had cancer (my Mom is in remission).My Dad is 80 years old. He has had 2 (or 3?) heart attacks, open heart surgery for a triple bypass, a couple of stents, and a

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-31317473034396406042007-05-11T14:30:00.000-04:002008-12-09T05:10:17.883-05:00

Linda Manjate is an anthropology student at Universidade Eduardo Mondlane. She is interested in the connections between environmental, community, and personal health. Her research will look at how the Reserva Especial de Maputo affects the health of Gala's and Madjadjane's residents, the status/abundance of medicinal plants within reserve boundaries, and whether differences exist between

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-15887837079642799192007-05-11T13:48:00.000-04:002008-12-09T05:10:18.309-05:00

Ângelo M.M. Francisco is a biology student at Universidade Eduardo Mondlane. He is interested in how ecological factors influence people's decisions about using space, locating their homes and agricultural fields, and choice of resource harvest locations. a.fra2006 at yahoo dot com dot brMárcia Langa is a biology student at Universidade Eduardo Mondlane. Her research will assess firewood

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-50869898020570476262007-05-10T15:29:00.000-04:002008-12-09T05:10:18.642-05:00

From L to R: me, Vania Pedro, Linda Manjate, Angelo Francisco, Márcia Langa, Leocadia Naene, and Sergio JulaneMy research group finally got to present publicly today. Even if the public that turned out consisted of 4 professors and a geography student. I was very disappointed. We originally planned to present our research proposals last week, and I had sent out emails early last week in

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-9935471793454554622007-05-10T02:33:00.000-04:002007-05-10T02:53:47.642-04:00

I wanted to test out the video posting capability of my blog. Occasionally, I find video clips of Mozambique (and may be making small ones with my camera) I'd like to post, but there always seem to be glitches.Sometimes the covers are way better than the original. I really enjoy Tukuleur's cover Afrika (Toto sang the original). Tukuleur are 2 brothers from Senegal who rap in French. The song

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-40295046302104161202007-05-09T02:04:00.000-04:002008-12-09T05:10:19.346-05:00

Every Saturday that I am in Maputo and not sick, I run with the Maputa Hash House Harriers. It is a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon and Hashers are drinkers with a running problem. get out to see places that I might not go on my own. After the run, we go back to the Maputo Aeroclube (where we're based) for a drink. Hashers like to think of themselves as drinkers with a running problem.

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-25847871813138649072007-05-08T01:51:00.000-04:002008-12-09T05:10:19.492-05:00

A rare species of tree grows in Mozambique - the boy tree. These boys were trying to get a good view of the Hash mock wedding ceremony I attended Saturday afternoon - more on that later. I will keep my eye out for a girl tree.

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-70440059765037658222007-05-07T14:49:00.000-04:002008-12-09T05:10:19.733-05:00

"Do you have children?" Inevitably, this question comes up in every extended conversation I have with native Africans of all nationalities, genders, ages, and cultures. To say that children are very important to Africans is an understatement. Children represent so many things - future, fertility, wealth, adulthood...So how do I respond? I am sorely tempted to lie. People, especially older

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-63400946678504703512007-05-06T06:52:00.000-04:002008-12-09T05:10:19.863-05:00

May Day had a pretty exciting start for me. The first thing I do in the morning is read my email as I eat breakfast. I have been expecting a rejection letter from NSF (National Science Foundation) for my dissertation proposal now for over a month, but to my surprise my proposal was sent on by my cultural anthropology reviewers for finally approval by the head of NSF (or whoever it is that

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-71257222833839262092007-05-05T14:53:00.000-04:002007-05-05T16:21:33.565-04:00

Last year, Dr. Muhammed Yunus and the Grameen Bank (the bank he created in Bangladesh) shared the Nobel Peace Prize for an idea that is helping people help themselves get out of poverty. Microcredit loans provide individuals the capital they need to do things like buy farm animals to raise for profit or a sewing machine to set up a tailoring shop or repair a vehicle that they use to transport

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-58584153203490336672007-05-04T13:49:00.000-04:002007-05-04T14:59:08.688-04:00

Espera. Espera. Breathe in. Espera. Espera. Breathe out.I do a lot of waiting in Mozambique. Time runs differently here. The viscosity of time varies more widely depending on the scale. On a minute by minute, day to day basis, it flows very slowly. I find myself waiting on appointments, waiting for businesses to reopen after the two hour lunchtime, waiting for emails to appear in my inbox

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-85260849530727989032007-05-01T14:33:00.000-04:002008-12-09T05:10:20.107-05:00

The Ideas of Marx, Engels Live the wall across the street from my apartment announces.May Day was pretty quiet for a socialist, democratic country. I didn't even realize what day it was until I walked down to the US Public Affairs Office and found it closed. Many of the proletariat were still working - the empregadas, the trash collectors, the MCel card sellers, the tomato and banana vendors,

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-55948334079060139602007-04-29T14:36:00.000-04:002007-04-29T15:59:19.605-04:00

Everyone has that one thing that freaks the shit out of them. For me, it's rats. I am not completely phobic, but don't ask me to babysit your pet rat when you go on vacation. Mice go into the same category.So the rat I found hiding under my laundry sink this evening really got my heart racing. It darted out and then rushed back into hiding when it heard my flip flops scuffing along. I caught

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-77889825919669711402007-04-28T13:15:00.000-04:002008-12-09T05:10:20.562-05:00

The blog I posted the other night was pretty random. I got really geeky excited over a bunch of old weights and measurements with no explanation. So now I'll try to explain.Ivory - Museu da História Natural (Maputo). The tip of the tusks is at least 70".Two summers ago, I got a small research grant to travel to Portugal to collect archival data from the colonial archives about the historic

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-39854744557031717382007-04-27T13:52:00.000-04:002008-12-09T05:10:20.633-05:00

Sometimes conversations can be real downers. Yesterday, I had one of those talks with my friends Natalina and Ventris. They are visiting researchers in political science and history from the U.S.. Natalina has been studying Mozambique's informal markets, and grassroots organization for HIV/SIDA support and education. During the course of her market research she kept meeting HIV positive women

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-23517688759241312822007-04-25T16:56:00.000-04:002008-12-09T05:10:20.723-05:00

It’s 10 pm. The electricity is out in the Coop neighborhood, so I am writing this armed with a 3-hour laptop battery and Petzl headlamp. Despite the darkness, I’ve finally cracked a code that has been teasing me for almost 2 years. A code that with some better language skills, I might not have had to figure out on my own. This "code" of Portuguese weights and measures was used by alfândega (

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-14205976733201442862007-04-24T15:58:00.000-04:002008-12-09T05:10:20.882-05:00

I get a real kick out of funny signs, brandnames, and directions. TDM, Telecomunicações de Moçambique, has added appropriate labeling to their public phones since I was here in 2004. Yadda, yadda, yadda does translate into Portuguese - blá, blá if you are having trouble reading and don't want to blow the picture up. Every time I pass one it makes me smile.

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-57163639162146952332007-04-21T15:00:00.000-04:002008-12-09T05:10:22.560-05:00

I like to take pictures of things that catch my eye but don't always make sense to take (at the time). It all started with me trying to get close ups of insects and flowers. With a digital camera, my horizons have greatly expanded. I can clip smaller pictures out of bigger landscape shots and get better close ups of small things. Here are some of those pictures in no particular order.

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-5368317811458966082007-04-19T15:57:00.000-04:002008-12-09T05:10:22.607-05:00

Getting sick when you are far from home and family really sucks. But I think having a fever and runny nose in the sub-Saharan savannas of Mozambique is worse than having it in the sub-Arctic scrublands of northern NY. Worse than ice and snow and stuffy heads and fever? Yes, because if you are burning with a fever in nothern NY in the middle of winter at least you can open a window to cool down

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-67715990683609083402007-04-16T14:54:00.000-04:002007-04-16T15:30:25.696-04:00

Do you ever have one of those moments when you're really proud of something that you've done, that really isn't that spectacular, but you really need to share it and no one is around? Well, I just had one of those.So my birthday is drawing to a close, I have "la gripe," I had 4 meetings with student research assistants this morning, and my shower was on the blink. The meetings with students

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-64338632277979501142007-04-16T01:25:00.000-04:002008-12-09T05:10:25.242-05:00

This weekend was my first visit to the Reserva Especial de Maputo (REM) this year. I accompanied my Mozambican colleagues on a trip to measure the tree biomass found in various habitat types at the reserve. In addition to helping out with the tree counts, I took pictures of the different types of habitat and evidence of disturbance. The pictures here depict the REM landscape - and I try to

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-56404763186563921792007-04-07T12:41:00.000-04:002008-12-09T05:10:27.456-05:00

Today, 7 April, is Mozambican Women's Day. In honor of the day, I've sorted through my files to post pictures of Mozambicanas. A few quick facts about Mozambicanas:A woman's life expectancy at birth is 40.13 years.On average, she will have 4.62 children.32.7% of all Mozambican woman are literate.70% of all Mozambicans live below the poverty line and make less than $300 US per year. Of the total

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-34379707393706758982007-04-04T02:17:00.000-04:002008-12-09T05:10:29.056-05:00

I noticed yesterday in the mirror that my patch of white hair is returning. The patch sits a little to the left of center at my hairline. Over the past 10 years it has appeared and disappeared depending on my stress level. It appeared before my comps and then started to fade before returning for my prospectus. Well now it is back. I suppose I should get used to it because I'm not getting any

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-48373758438935777222007-03-30T07:54:00.000-04:002007-03-30T08:36:33.160-04:00

I've been reading The State of Africa: A History of Fifty Years of Independence by Martin Meredith over the past couple of weeks. It's been taking a while, not because it is dense or long (which it is), but because it is for the most part depressing. Independence is supposed to be a good thing - democracy, peoples' right to govern themselves, citizens shaping their national future, etc.

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-51042068303548382732007-03-27T01:09:00.000-04:002008-12-09T05:10:29.205-05:00

Unknown Weeping Woman. Alfredo Mueche/IRINAlthough people are carrying on with their regular business, the atmosphere in Maputo is a little different. Newspaper headlines highlight the most up-to-date counts on dead and injured, aid agency vehicles carrying food, supplies, and volunteers make daily treks out towards the neighborhoods that have been destroyed, and groups of sad people in their

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-84678733266061617942007-03-25T07:50:00.000-04:002008-12-09T05:10:30.405-05:00

All of the black and white photos in my blog come from O Pais (The Country). Unexploded ordinance sitting on the street and in someone's home.These last 3 images came from the BBC and AllAfrica.com news sources. The current count is 100 dead and 450 injured. This last picture shows one of the bombs going off.One Mozambican minister blamed the incident on Global Warming.

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-71866636624601736622007-03-24T03:02:00.000-04:002007-03-24T04:08:58.673-04:00

More rumors are swirling around Maputo about what happened. Some verified by eyewitnesses, while others are still just hearsay. The current official dead count is 76 and hundreds more wounded. Eyewitnesses will tell you that the count is way too low. Eyewitness accounts:That big explosion I posted about - the one that caused my hair to fly up even though I was located 3 miles from the burning

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-51515418332473195052007-03-23T06:14:00.000-04:002007-03-23T09:18:41.343-04:00

The explosions last night were a big topic of discussion at the university this morning. Several of the windows had been shattered and glass was strewn on the floor. Several people, my own age, that I spoke to said that it reminded them of when they were children. Their first thought was, "Is the city under attack?" At last count there were 72 confirmed dead and more than 200 injured.

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-67486303248755527742007-03-22T12:11:00.000-04:002008-12-09T05:10:30.525-05:00

When I was a kid, okay well maybe into my teens, well maybe into my late teens, my dad would occasionally sit my brother and I down for the talk about appropriate things to put into the attic for storage. See, in northern NY we really only needed A/C about 2 weeks out of the whole year and even then my cousins in Georgia would tease about needing A/C for 90F weather (but the humidity is killer).

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-352804624171544062007-03-18T13:18:00.000-04:002008-12-09T05:10:32.579-05:00

The cool temperatures (mid 70s) and overcast skies made Maputo quite pleasant today. I'm not sure where the stormy weather came from - perhaps a tail from Cyclone Indlala that is sacking Madagascar right now. KwaZulu-Natal had some freakish weather earlier this week that killed several people. Then, there is the shitstorm that has been heating up Zimbabwe over the past few years.Coconut

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-25429757127762195232007-03-13T05:22:00.000-04:002008-12-09T05:10:35.132-05:00

This past weekend I traveled with my friends Natalina, Ventriss, and Etienne to God's Window in South Africa (Mpumalanga Province - Place of the Rising Sun). Blyde River Canyon is the third largest canyon in the world. It was a little strange passing through towns that are mentioned in the archives I've been reading for the past month (yes, I have been working too. More on that in another post

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-78226849127580349142007-03-13T05:16:00.000-04:002007-03-13T05:22:06.911-04:00

I am no longer officially working at the online journal Ecological and Environmental Anthropology, but I am going to put in a plug for them. Hey, you never know who's reading. They're accepting submissions for the next issue. Plus, you can check out past issues online for free (video too). Call for submissionsEcological and Environmental Anthropology (EEA) is an online,peer-reviewed journal

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-87323112309313606992007-02-28T04:00:00.000-05:002007-02-28T04:26:21.690-05:00

This morning I dropped into the PAO library (US Public Affairs Office) to catch up on the print news and found an interesting quote. At least interesting to me as a historical ecologist studying interactions between landscapes and cultures."Comparative history provides a way of dissecting the roles of chance and necessity, of assessing how and to what extent the time invariant and space

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-31748724680191257862007-02-27T05:40:00.000-05:002008-12-09T05:10:36.305-05:00

Every Saturday morning, artists and craftsmen (and the ubiquitous middleman) hold a market in the Baixa of Maputo. The Baixa area is the oldest part of the city and is located below the sand escarpment that dominates your view if you come via water to Maputo. The big N-S avenues like Lenin, Marx, Engels, and Cabral all lead down to the waterfront. (Cabral was an Marxist African revolutionary

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-50288735683647826292007-02-27T01:00:00.000-05:002008-12-09T05:10:37.343-05:00

The past couple of weeks have been pretty busy now that the national archives are open. I'm finding good stuff. I found one source that provides a very detailed snapshot of flora, fauna, and human communities at the Maputo Elephant Reserve from 1972/73 - maps, species lists, cattle herds, population sizes, crops, etc. That was a pretty exciting find (so I'm easy to please). I also have some

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-28423135198711993442007-02-14T02:06:00.000-05:002008-12-09T05:10:37.464-05:00

I've gotten a couple of emails about rain in Mozambique and how I am doing. I am okay. To put it into perspective, its kind of like if I were living in Washington, DC and you asked if a snow storm in Boston was giving me problems. There is about 800 miles between Maputo and the mouth of the Zambezi River. Mozambique (308,882 sq. miles) is a little smaller than 2x the size of California (

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-85835300844650793202007-02-10T02:38:00.000-05:002008-12-09T05:10:37.767-05:00

On Thursday, Chinese President Hu Jintao visited Mozambique during his whirlwind tour of Africa. I think that I may have seen his motorcade pass on Ave. Eduardo Mondlane that afternoon. Not too many people rate 10 motorcycle police, 4 sedans with darkened windows, an ambulance for a private clinic, and 3 large truckloads overflowing with Mozambican soldiers carrying AK-47s. The whole thing

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-8576035078702189242007-02-09T02:56:00.000-05:002008-12-09T05:10:37.963-05:00

Thank you to everyone that sent me an email with best wishes on getting better. I wasn't looking for that, but it was a pleasant surprise. I mainly just wanted to write about going to the doctors. Thanks for the sympathy (and the offer of goggles!).It sounds like many people run into strange allergies, infections, and conditions in the field that we wouldn't necessarily come into contact with

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-72524376822359130462007-02-06T09:43:00.000-05:002008-12-09T05:10:38.119-05:00

Recently Maputo has had a lot of rain and wind. The rain is good. The wind not so good, because the city is built on sand. Between the sand and my allergies to dust, my eyes are red by the end of the day. Last night, I was sitting in Changaan class and couldn't figure out why my right eye felt like someone had punched it. When I got home I noticed that the eyelid was swollen but I chalked

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-20152782836376251512007-02-04T13:44:00.000-05:002008-12-09T05:10:39.639-05:00

Apparently the pictures didn't show in my last post. Here they are in the order I describe them.

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-77287261700513908542007-02-03T05:56:00.000-05:002008-12-09T05:10:41.036-05:00

Last week I discovered that I had access to my apartment building's roof. It is quite cool up there in the mornings and evenings and overall gets a good breeze. Of course, Google Earth does a great job of letting peer down at the landscape like supreme beings, but if you're reading this blog you probably can access Google Earth on your own. ;-)This photo shows Avenida Lenine running

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-14760872507108081792007-02-01T08:38:00.000-05:002008-12-09T05:10:41.736-05:00

My study base where I check my email, analyze data (when I get some), write my blog, and talk to my sweetie Chris. And yes, that is a parquet wooden floor. The black mark under my desk came with the apartment and just tells me that the previous renter had their desk in the same spot and had dirty shoes. The walls are spackle over cement, making hanging things difficult. I'm using white sticky

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056061259245518497.post-23620592158108270452007-01-29T13:38:00.000-05:002007-01-29T14:29:12.358-05:00

I just came back from my first Changaan class. It was pretty intense. Tatana Mukhavele is not going to cut us any slack. There are many new sounds and lots of verb prefixes and suffixes.Some of the new sounds include a whistle (svi), a click (q), and another sound that gets made at the back and roof of your mouth (hlw). I knew there was a reason that I annoyed my mom making all those weird

Jen Shafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10397058806344983026noreply@blogger.com0