I am not disappointed at all though. Compared to the eye-opening conversations with the coffee growers we surveyed, the conversations at those meetings now seem like empty jargon. In the end, field research is not about the conclusions, the quality of the results, impressing your colleagues or publishing a paper.
It’s about the coffee grower who sat with me talking about rural development for two hours after the survey had ended. He told me about walking four hours to and from a village in the mountains to deliver loans while he was working for a microfinance organization. Though he did not have much and his wife had passed away at a young age, he seemed inspired by his work and basic education. His kids seemed inspired too as they listened carefully to their father’s wise words and stories of his triumphs.
Field research is about the funny moments as well. For example, Jerlin asked one grower how many kids he had and he exclaimed, “Saber!” For those of you who have never been here, this is a Guatemalan expression for “Who knows!” Another guy could not stop talking about his craving for Chinese food from his favorite restaurant in South Carolina, where he had lived for two years. “He came back from the United States a little bit fatter,” his wife teased.
Let’s not forget all the frustrating moments also. One guy told me that he just had to run an errand and that I could come back to survey him in 30 minutes. Later I saw him drive by while I was walking back to his house. “Great!” I thought. “He is driving home to do the survey.” Actually, he stopped at another house and went inside with his whole family. When I checked three hours later, the car was still there. We learned quickly that this kind of behavior is common in Guatemala because they feel uncomfortable by just saying, “No, I do not want to/have time to do the survey.”
These are only a few of the hundreds of interactions with Guatemalans that make up what I would like to think is an accurate representation of the country and its people. I was telling an English tourist in Antigua about our experience and he told me, “I want to see the real Guatemala. Do you think I could go up to Huehuetenango for a few days and hang out with the people I would never see on the tourist track?” After thinking about it for a moment, I realized that it was not possible in just a few days because the ‘real’ Guatemala lies in secluded areas that are only accessible by a 4 x 4 with a skilled driver and a local guide. Even then you can only really get to know the people when you spend time and try to work with them. In the end, this surveying experience offered us something we would have never been able to witness as a tourist.
Josh Schellenberg
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