Daily Life

We’re almost into what we would call a “normal week schedule,” though no week here is “normal.” On our typical day, we leave the house around 8:00 am, and set off to the site we are surveying. We drive anywhere from one to three hours, though, if we’re camping, it’s probably more. We each have our own day pack, which includes the necessities: at least two liters of water, lunch, sun block, flag markers (in case we find something), survey sheets, and much more. We estimated our daypacks weigh about forty pounds.  

Sites are eligible for us to survey if there is a project planned in the future that will disturb the ground, or any other cultural resources in the area. Though we are surveying an area, it doesn’t mean there is actually anything there, or that it will be easy for us to hike. Yesterday, I think (though I’m new), was a relatively typical day, and here’s how it went.

After driving about an hour and a half to our site, we grabbed our daypacks and started hiking. So far, the sites we’ve surveyed have been close to the road (with the exception of the High Uintahs). When we reached the location we were surveying, we spread out into transects. To do transects, we spread out so that there are 15 meters between each of us, and then we walk a straight line, so that all of our paths are parallel. This way, we cover a great deal of area and minimize the potential of missing something. We make sure that we’re staying in that straight line by using both a compass and a GPS. Yesterday’s terrain was particularly horrible. The slope of the area was between about 40 and 60 degrees (at some points I felt as if I was scaling cliff sides), the vegetation was thick, with many downed trees and branches, and we were at about an elevation of 9,600 feet. We battled with constantly walking though spider webs, slipping down steep rock outcrops, and mosquitoes. Unfortunately, these transects were 2000 meters long (just under a mile and a half) and due to the rough terrain, it took us about an hour and a half to finish one transect. After completing one transect, the crew moved up the hill and spread out to do another, and another, and another. We went back and forth along that mountain to do four very long and very hard transects. And though were going back and forth, following the contours of the mountain, it seemed as though we were always going up hill. Despite our hard work yesterday, we found absolutely nothing. We stopped for the day at about 3:30 pm, making it home by five.  We’ll be working in this project area for the next couple of weeks, so this is what I can expect of the terrain. However, don’t think is it what surveying is always like—apparently, our crew is the crew that ventures into the most difficult of environments. We had a guest with us this week from the other crew, and he told us that the areas they’ve been surveying are never that steep, have little vegetation, and their crew leader gives them more breaks. I guess we got the short end of the stick.

Luckily, it seems we’re only spending three to four days in the field. Other days (like today) we go into the office. Today, while we were supposed to be in the field, our truck got a flat tire from the very rough dirt road we were on yesterday, and we couldn’t go without a spare tire.  

After we get home, I usually read, as we have no television. I’m already on my third book of the summer. To hear about what I’m reading, I have a “book review” section on the right side of this webpage. When I first got to Manila, I thought I would always be bored in my off time; I have possibility found too many things to keep myself busy with. Along with reading for fun (once school starts, it’ll be the end of that), I’m studying for the GRE’s, which I’ll take at the end of the summer/early fall (my dad just got me a couple really good GRE preparation books), I’m writing a research paper for the Great Basin Anthropological Conference in October,

 and I’m trying to write more fiction (though with everything else this has fallen in the wayside). Without TV, I’m more productive than ever, and I think I’ll accomplish many great things in my off time.

Sometimes, the three different crews in the internship program come together and do something fun. We went to the drive-in last weekend and saw Indiana Jones and Iron Man. Iron Man is amazing, I highly recommend it. This weekend we’re camping (like we don’t do that enough already…). For future weekends, we have several parties planned, including an Arrested Development party, where we all will pretend we are a character from the show (I’m going to be Lucille).  

Overall, I’m having a good time here. By the time we’re finished, I’ll be very slim and tan. Now having experienced true surveying work with the government, I’ve been thinking more about what I eventually want to do. I prefer excavation and research, and for that, I’ll have to pursue a PhD. I just may be the next doctor in the family, but that depends on many things.