Coffee flowers

the coffee plants flower once a year here after the first rains or even after the mist is thick enough in the mornings to provide enough moisture. the flowers fill the air with scents that to me are reminiscent of jasmine and honeysuckle. the flowers are here for only 3 days and you have to be very careful not to damage them because they are part of the growth cycle of the coffee berry.

the next picture is of some of the pepper picker's children that were taken with the camera trap. the laborers are part of the lowest caste, which used to be called the “untouchables.” they work in the farms picking coffee, pepper, harvesting rice or on the roadways repairing holes in the roads with tar and sweat or collecting garbage or cleaning toilets. castes determine the social and economic status of a person and are hereditary, meaning you are born into your caste and there is nothing that you can do to change it. although the system was outlawed by the government, it is still deeply ingrained in the culture. there is a type of affirmative action here where certain quotas must be filled for schools and government jobs with people from the lower castes.

this is my elementary understanding of the caste system– basically there are 3 religions here – hindu, muslim, and christian. each of these religions is subdivided into caste where the cultures are completely different – how they practice religion, how they dress, what they eat, what occupations they can have. the ruling caste has always been the hindu brahmins – they are strict vegetarians, no eggs, or alcohol. they will not even eat at restaurants that prepare non-vegetarian food. my advisor told a story about a woman from an upper caste falling off the step of a train who turned away from the helping hand of an “untouchable” because she would rather hit the ground than touch his hand. ghandi renamed the untouchables harijans which means “children of god,” but they most commonly refer to themselves as dalits which means “oppressed” or “broken into pieces.” ambedkar, the principal author of india’s 1950 constitution and the first “untouchable” to be educated abroad, called the caste system “an ascending scale of hatred and a descending scale of contempt” (quote taken from this great book that i have started reading called in spite of the gods, the strange rise of modern india). this issue of the caste system is further compounded by the philosophy of karma or reincarnation which does more to oppress the lower castes - many believe that the people are poor and in this place in life because of wrongdoings in their past lives.

i’ve had some frank discussions with a couple of my field assistants about the caste system and some of them feel like it is one of the main things within this society that is holding it back and that it continues to make the government ineffective. all of my field assistants are hindu and are of similar level castes. one of my field assistants is in the highest caste, brahmin – she said if she eats meat that “my family will not tell of me.” i am assuming that means when they die they will not acknowledge her…i’m not sure. she has rebelled though and not married a man that her parents picked out for her in an arranged marriage, but instead has a “love marriage” to a christian nonetheless. so not even a hindu that is below her caste, but someone of a completely different religion. her family is not happy about it, but has not disowned her. so now she says she doesn’t know what caste she is in. the other people in my field team chide love marriages in front of her, saying that parents do not approve of love marriages because most of them do not work out and that is why they get angry. i told them that all marriages in the states are love marriages (but i didn’t admit that about 50% of them end in divorce).

and for the research updates – this week we completed our third site and had the highest number of animals caught yet! we caught 2 rats (who are actually kind of cute, i am still trying to tell myself), 1 squirrel, and 7 shrews. also – in an unforeseen hazard, we also caught 3 of the farmer’s chickens in the sherman traps and one got killed. i guess they see some of the seeds and stick their heads in the trap and then peck right on the spring board and door closes on their neck…not good.

and in other bad news – henry is dead and i think i killed him. i had a little gecko that stayed with me in my room, i named him henry. he was only 1.5 inches from nose to tail. he would walk across the floor and stayed in the corner where i threw my dirty closes – i think it was cool there. so yesterday, when i was putting up my laundry, i think he was under a towel and i stepped on him…

this week i am working from home and not going out to the field. it is a much needed break. i arrived in bangalore on a thursday at the end of january and started field work on that monday. my body needs the rest. my old sports injuries are coming back – my right ankle that i’ve sprained several times in tennis and then most recently when walking across the street in brooklyn and my right knee that i injured in track are both acting up – and i’m assuming they will continue to do so for the duration of my field work here. i think i am starting to feel my 34 years here on this earth!

well i’m off to do prepare for my meeting with the field team tomorrow - this week has been a nice break from them too :) - do some shopping in the neighboring town, and grab lunch with one of the other researchers this afternoon.