A Long Expected Arrival

Well, time to update the old blog again! I'm back in Bolivia for one more season of fieldwork, possibly my last for my dissertation research. Here's a quick overview of the plan!

I'm currently in La Paz, one of the capital cities of Bolivia. The airport in La Paz is at about 4000m above sea level (or 14000ish ft) while the city center (where I'm staying for a few days) is a bit lower at 3500masl (or 12000ish ft). The center of La Paz is a good place to hang out for a few days before I head to Copacabana since it is about 300-500m lower than the house in Copacabana and gives your body some time to adjust. I've never had real problems with the altitude, just a mild headache or out of breathness when going up stairs, but some people suffer pretty badly from headaches, nausea, and dizziness. It doesn't help that you typically fly here straight from Miami FL (which is right at sea level) so it's a big jump!

The weather is gorgeous out right now, although definitely chillier and drier than North Carolina! It is sunny but probably only 60 degrees and 0% humidity. Copacabana will be similar, although it can get quite warm in the sun during the day and then below freezing at night! Very strange, but something about the combination of the altitude and desert-like environment causes big temperature swings.

I'll head to Copacabana on Sunday or Monday, after Sergio (the professor from Central Michigan University that I work with) and Stasia (his wife and project co-director) arrive early Sunday morning. Then the work begins! This summer, the plan is to finish collecting data on disease lesions and dietary indicators on about 10-20 people and then start the next stage- measuring variation in genetic dental traits (ie how many cusps are on a molar or how many roots your teeth have) to see how people were genetically related! The hope is to be able to recreate some idea of genetic relationships, which typically relates (at least partially) to kinship and community. I will measure this for all 300 individuals (ie skeletons) and then will be done with data collection for the dissertation! At least in the field. Then they tell me I have to do some analysis and write this dang thing called a dissertation. But that won't be too hard, right? RIGHT??? :)

Alright, that's all for now! The updates will be coming and hopefully will be accompanied by more photos in the future! (The internet is a bit slow for that currently...)