the year of the chicken foot

as most of you may know my life is on hiatus, im living in the basement of the family's house, unemployed, and still struggling with my back problems. so i have decided to occupy my time and brain by taking chinese (mandarin) language classes at the local community college. the makeup of the students of my chinese class differ from that of my earlier spanish class. who when asked their motivation for learning spanish responded (in a thick southern draw) "cuz i wurk wit a bunch of 'em n need u tell 'em wur to putt tha drywalllll" or "so i can talk to the hired help". where this class consists mostly of hickory "businessmen" which means they likely grew up here and are middle management at a textile manufacturer with a plant in china, but not to say they are especially worldly.

my favorite moments during class are when we take a break and our teacher leads us in tai-chi, a form of aerobic martial arts. I wholly enjoy watching these "corporate businessmen" balance and pirouette around the room all the while cussing under the breaths about "crazy chinese... blah blah blah... egg roll... blah blah... im missing the ball game for this crap... blah blah blah..." i love it!!!

anyway we were invited to a chinese new year party at a local chinese buffet out in the country. i brought my friend, thom, along to share in this once-in-a-lifetime experience. we were under the impression that there would be fireworks, those life-sized dragons, and copious amounts of egg rolls. au contraire mon freir. we arrived late and snuck into a booth across from a older white man and a 30ish chinese woman. the group of 50 people, mostly chinese, were going around introducing themselves in chinese and wishing happy new year. they came to thom and i, so i stood and said my name and thanked them for having us and began to sit but they stopped me and asked for me to say something in chinese. i told them it would be ugly but counted from 6 to 10 on my hands, which they represent in a more creative way than we do. the introductions continued around the room, i turned and quietly asked a man if i did the hand motions correctly. apparently i chose the man with no kind of auditory volume control as he loudly explained that i was signing some sort of drinking game. we were suddenly aware that the entire room was looking at us and the head woman said "hey animal shut up" (i dont know) because there was a small girl being encouraged to speak chinese to the crowd.

after the introductions we filled our plates full of noodles, shrimp, dumplings, pork knuckles, and all-you-can-eat chicken feet. yummmmy. we began to talk to the couple across from us. which started like this "where did you meet?" "i got her on Yahoo, yeah you boys should do it, just type in 'asian brides', and bam you get em. hell the first day i had a hundred hits from thailand, taiwan, phillipines, all over." "wow" "yeah i goed ov'r ere and picked lil binny here right up, you boys wouldn't believe but they got cities n cars n tvs. they re dumb but boy they sure lik to smile." his wife all the while is running roughshod through a pile of chicken feet, chewing them whole and letting the bones dribble out of her mouth onto the table. he would occasionally turn to her and ask something and it would appear she would respond either "yes, no or chicken." with a limited vocabulary i can only imagine their discussions on existentialism and quantum physics.

the man pointed out another older american gentleman at another table and remarks "well ol darryl o'er there is going to jfk to pick him up one next week. you boys really oughta get you one." to each his own.

gator catchin

i got the opportunity to go out with the biologist at the refuge to capture 20 gators (from 2ft to 7ft) one night. there is a group of paleontologists from england studying taxonomy and muscular build of gators and a grad student doing blood work. it was a crisp night in the 40-50's and in a matter of 2 hours met our quota.

first you spotlight the gators, made easy because their eyes "glow" red, then ease up and throw a modified dog-catching pole with a noose around the head and yank them in. pin them down and a couple of rubber bands later you have docile gator. the majority go into a crate, but the large ones (6ft+) go into a burlap sack and are tossed into the bottom of the boat to squirm and roll.

WARNING: if youre epileptic dont watch as my camera work is still rather rudimentary!!

it ain't all shrimp jambalaya and Étouffée

here's the "real" look @ cajun cuisine, the gas station is an often overlooked oasis of unhealthy, strangely textured regional delicacies, as you will soon learn, such as boudin, cracklins, and tasso. so next time you pass through the local convenient store dont be so fast to overlook what may be lurking under the high wattage heat lamps. just think there might be a two or three day old livermush sandwich waiting to give you giardia. happy trails and good luck!!!

morocco

heres some videos i put together for class

the first is the wheat collection process in morocco



the second is the traditional rammed earth construction of a house i helped with

spielberg watch out!!

heres a look at what im doing, its not pretty. the first part is of catching the birds in the middle of the night from airboats and later its a day in the life of. enjoy!!

hello from the bayou

okay, you see where there ain't no cities thats right near where im at. im on a small wildlife refuge below grand lake and white lake in the southwestern corner

i started a new job in southwestern louisiana at rockefeller state wildlife refuge with THE university of arkansas-fayetteville. the study is investigating king rails (rallus elegans), a chicken-sized marsh bird, and their winter migration movements. little is known about the migrating populations in the mississippi flyway, other than that there are two populations, residents and migrates. my work is a preliminary study on how to attach VHF radio transmitters to rails to determine how they will adjust before we permanently attach costly satellite transmitters. we are trying two different harness methods (dywer and thigh) and materials.

dywer sits higher on the back with two straps, it crosses the esophagus which may interfere with swallowing large prey ie fiddler crabs.

thigh harness sits lower on the back with two leg straps and another around the chest.

this a dummy of the actual solar powered gizmo that will be used in the longterm study


the good docs explaination of the harness setup

to capture these boogers we take airboats into the marsh in the middle of the night and drive around with huge flashlights looking for these little cryptically colored “chickens.” when you spot one you keep the light on him and motor up and either grab them with your hands or with a small dip net then stuff them in a cage and keep looking for the next one.


recognize those sexy legs?

we caught 17 in the first two nights and spent the day attaching the harnesses and releasing them

the man himself

dr krementz with soon to be released bird

i will be tracking the birds to determine whether they are feeding and moving “normally.” hopefully after a month we will recapture the birds, remove the transmitters, check for chaffing and wear, and look for weight changes.


FREEDOM...almost

my encounter with a real Dick

this area is the mecca for duck hunting, in fact the most recent survey found 175,000 ducks in the 85,000 acre. wow, right? anyway this past sunday I was driving the usgs 15 passenger van (yeah I get a lot of second looks from the ladies) to a hunting lodge to see the hunters bring in their ducks. i was traveling at a safe but efficient clip down a 2 lane country road when i saw a police car coming in the opposite direction. instinctively i slammed on the brakes to come to a more socially acceptable operating speed and waved to the officer nonchalantly as we passed and i continued to watch for his sirens or brakes in my rear view. "whew" i thought and continued on my way down the road, when around the bend came another policeman on a motorcycle this time lights aflashing, sirens ablaring, and swerving into my lane and motioning to slow down, “oh boy” i thought “just what i need another speeding ticket.” but he continues on by me, at this point im going 35 in a 55, when i see another two bike cops coming “ok, let me think I dumped all the bodies in the marsh, cleaned up the meth lab, and no way, mr kim jung ill would have given me up for those little secrets I sold, they got nothing on me” but they also motion to slow down. “do you want me to walk” i politely mouthed through the windshield. behind them comes a motorcade with state police, black suburbans, and interestingly an ambulance. when i arrived at the lodge and asked my refuge friend, she says “it was dick cheney, he hunts here every year.” “ah ha that’s why they brought the ambulance” i thought to myself.

the moral of the story “when you see a Dick, go slow and duck!”

IT'S A GIRL!!

a new addition to the spees family



notice the hot, small, brown babe provocatively faced away like in those hot rod magazines


andrew brought her home on oct 11th, shes a healthy one ton station wagon and is she ever CUTE!! its hard being a young male and whenever i show the car to people the first words are inevitably "oh its so cute." needless to say, these are not exactly what i want to hear.

ive been holding out, keeping the idea of returning to peacecorps, but with my back not recovering ive begun to make more permanent adjustments to life in the states. you dont realize the "things" that have become "necessary" for life stateside. health/car insurance, phone bills, rent, etc... they all hit me abruptly upon return. but as ive come to grips with my situation ive started my adjustment. heres my first tangible purchase: a '98 subaru impreza sport. i bought it for $2900 with 158K miles. it is in good condition, some little problems but it gives me something to do. i had the rotors smoothed (turned) which solved the wobble in the braking. and am looking at replacing the abs sensor but its kinda expensive. hopefully i can make something back for my efforts, is that slimy or what; flipping used cars. gross.


oh yeah i got a cell phone too

battle for sympathy

disclaimer: this may be the strangest posting thus far but it wont be the last!!

so as you know im already gimping around the house recovering from my surgery but what you dont know is my father is equally pitiful and sad. pops had his fourth retinal detachment surgery yesterday and arrived home today to steal some of my sympathy show. so now its up to the adoring public to decide who is deserving of more love from my mother. now you understand where i get my stunningly good looks!!! wow that is the funniest looking halloween costume ever.


heres after the third surgery that happened the day before my brothers wedding in austria luckily it was sawed on in time and he was able to make it to the ceremony


this is from today (8/8) after the fourth and this time he got a rubber band holding his eyeball in place, hes so lucky not everybody gets eyeball rubber bands!!


heres my 6 metal staples, as they say when life gives you staples and rubberbands make an office supply company.

andrew gets house broken

i had back surgery yesterday (sunday 8/5) and everything went well. ive tried with some difficulty to understand what a ruptured disc is and what the procedure was. the easiest analogy ive found is that the disc is like an italian sausage stuffed between the spinal vertebra. in my back, the casing of the sausage split and the sausagy goo stuff squirted out into the space where the nerves run around. so the surgeon vacuumed out all the squeezed out sausage and pickles and relish, then sawed on the bone around just for fun to give me some more room back there. then he sealed me all up and sent me on my way. i woke up some hours later to the smiling faces of the hospital nurses and my mother. as the anesthesia wore off i realized how hungry i was. with the the snap of my finger a steaming tray of soggy fried chicken, a leaky cup of green beans, and sad pile of broccoli were dropped into my lap, yum hospital food my favorite. hunger satiated, next on my list of things to do was relieve myself. standing was out of the question this early after surgery so i was told to use the bedpan. they also failed to tell me that this "area" is last to come to in the awakening process. i waited and waited thinking maybe the doctor accidentally nicked something that shouldnt be nicked, finally i was rewarded a little for my patience. the rest of the day continued in this manner, eating weird cafeteria food, trying to pee in a cup, watching sunday morning tv evangelists all from the comfortable confines of my hospital stretcher. i could get used to this lifestyle being waited on hand and foot. you know being an invalid isnt so bad.

bad news

as some of you know im back in the states now. i have been hampered by back pain during my service. we (pc med staff) decided i should return to dc for physical therapy which wasnt available in morocco. upon arrival MRIs showed a ruptured disc in my lower back, so i was medically separated by peacecorps and i returned home to hickory. now i have the option of surgery in hopes of a quick recovery and return to my site. inshallah (god willing)

prime real estate

so ive found a mudhouse to move into, its an existing home that is being rehabed. its attached to a larger home with a shared covered courtyard. i spend most of my days helping the two builders, i feel like a contractor inspecting the work and tweaking plans like installing a shower and hot water heater. im excited to move into my first house and have the time to build my own furniture, i already have plans to install hand hued cabinets and selving under the kitchen countertop. i also want to build a rustic log bedframe and waste oil furnace. ive imagined a hanging garden in the interior courtyard and hammock, tell me what you think. but as many of you know im completely inept when it comes to interior design. short of yall coming over to help, which youre invited of course. ive decided to take a vote you can write in the comments what color i should paint the house. and of course youre invited to the house warming party.

nate and alex wedding

congrats big brother and new little sister, im so envious of everything that you two have i only wish to find something close to what you share. its been a tough day, not being there but know i thought about you all day. im sure the ceremony was amazing and the bride was beautiful. know i was there in spirit.



ps Alex are you sure you want to be part of the "addams family" theres still time to turn back!!!!
welcome youre the littler sister i never wanted

more than you ever wanted to know about wheat

i never really knew what i was getting into when i agreed to help my family with the wheat harvest this summer. it all began with me walking with my father through the fields in the evening helping him irrigate by way of releasing water through an intricate system of channels and dams. not realizing the amount of wheat and the process it takes from start to finish i unknowingly signed my sentence. beginning in early june i started to see the preparations being made for the upcoming onslaught, but thought "oh boy ive never done this before." first it begins with the preparation of the grinding yards. a flatish patch of hard packed dirt with a vertical pole in the middle which is used to tether a team of mules/donkeys/dogs/children whatever is available. this area must be swept/repacked/smoothed before the years' harvest arrives.











meanwhile the wheat in the field has turned yellow. now its time for BIG FUN!! threshing may sound like some new fangled skateboarding move to you youngsters but it aint. its waking up at 5 and cutting acres of wheat by hand all day, uphill in the snow. wow i sound like a geezer huh. anyway it really is a good time, you spend all day in the fields with the family, taking tea breaks in the shade, eating lunch in the fields with neighboring families, and all the while listening to the work songs and banshee cries of the women working around you, its fantastic!!! i really feel like i live in another century, its wild.








next its piled and loaded onto mules or donkeys and carried to the grinding yards



once its piled in the yard you can barely see the tops of the posts (4' high) the teams are brought in to run over the full grains which cuts and grinds the straw from the grain. very effective



last but not least is the separating of the chaffe from the grain. with only the use of homemade wooden pitchforks we gently tossed hundreds of pounds of straw and seed in the air and let the wind carry the chaffe into pile which is used for animal feed and the grain is ground into flour for the ever present staple: bread. this harvest God willing will last us the whole year and maybe a little to sell.

oops

heres a little story to illustrate how moroccan approach to life and construction intertwine. the village is currently building a 3-floored, concrete mosque and the entire community volunteers labor to finish building of the ceiling. on a recent sunday i went down to help, after the cement mixer broke down a couple times and was quickly fixed with a combination of bubble gum and clothes hangers, the wheelbarrow's wheel fell off for the 51st time, and the shovel i was using bent completely backwards, i peered inside the mosque to see that the entire multi-ton cinder block ceiling was supported by arm-thick wooden poles precariously balanced on piles of randomly gathered rocks. i heard a loud crash and everyone rushed inside to see that a 90 sq ft section of the roof had collapsed and a worker had fell 25 ft through the void onto a pile of rebar and cinder block. as the semiconscious man lay in the corner mumbling in pain and clutching his back the other 30 men decided that a good argument would be appropriate. after everyone had voiced their opinion 10 minutes later, the mixer was fired up again and everyone returned to work, seemingly unconcerned with the tremendous structure failure that had just occurred. meanwhile the man who had fell was loaded into the one transit van in town and carried off, but as they drove to the hospital i saw the driver stop every time he saw someone to say hello and exchange pleasantries. quite moroccan of them i thought, no need to rush and deal with problems (extremely!!!!) pragmatically.

building codes... not so much

ive been fascinated by the construction techniques in morocco, like in most developing countries you make due with what is around but moroccans take that to the extreme; raising a house literally out of the ground. when i was told i would be living in a mudhouse i imagined monkeys swinging through the kitchen and snakes slithering over my feet as i slept, but i am amazed by the polish and comfort of a well built mud house. from the inside there is no way to tell that the walls are anything but drywall, builders cover the interior with a perfectly smooth coat of gypsum and paint. environmentally speaking they are the perfect home for dry climates and possibly for everywhere. the thermal properties make for cool summer days and warm winter mornings, during the heat of the day everyone retreats inside for relief from the 100+ degree midday sun, often the house is 10-15 degrees cooler than outside. the foundation is merely a stacked rock wall about 2' high, then a two-panel box (used for tamping the dirt) is built atop the base. next, dirt from the site is piled into baskets and hoisted onto workers heads and walked to the "packing box." another worker stands in the box with a homemade tamper and tamps the loose dirt into hardpacked walls. i while away full days watching the house that is going up near my home.





after the walls are completed long timbers are laid across the span and rivercane is used to cover the openings and then another layer of packed mud is formed on the top to seal and waterproof the room. its an amazing use of basic technologies and local materials to build a highly functional and adaptable structure. and if you ever want a window in your new home all you need is a pickax!!! (more pictures to come)

saving the world one sign at a time

during training they tell you not to expect immediate results, but they werent accustomed to dealing with super volunteer, andrew quincy!!! after talking with my host brother i decided to focus my initial energies on helping the womens cooperative hone their business approach, my village is situated on an established trekking route meaning lots of foreigners pass through the community and the community benefits little from the passing money, my host mother is involved in the weaving workshop but they lacked a proper sign, other than cardboard cutout, so given that they had a metal scrap laying around i decided to help by painting a "catchy" billboard to draw attention to the cooperatives wares, my host brothers decided on the wording in french and arabic "development association of amejgag"

this is my older host brother, hussian, in our living room sketching in the layout


my host brothers, hussian and abdul halem helping sketch


picasso-esque, dont you think



the final product

mi casa de mud

a tour of my host family's (ait lahcen) home. and lester my favorite donkey