tu tranquilidad..... en el campo!

to answer the questions of what exactly i'm doing in peru, i'm working on a research project in collaboration with a load of ag economists from uc davis, university of san francisco, u of wisconsin and peru. the general idea is that we are introducing a new form of crop insurance available to cotton farmers in the pisco valley through the insurance company, la positiva. the insurance is available through the local microfinance bank from which most farmers get their loans.

the details on the insurance are as follows. indemnities are payed when average valley yields are below a certain strikepoint, which was established with historical yield data. so, if there's horrendous weather one year, or some kind of shock that affects the whole valley, farmers who bought the insurance will get a payout. the idea is that in a year when everyone's yield is suffering, there's no support for farmers who can't pay back their loan (almost all cotton farmers here operate on loaned money). the insurance shifts covariate risk from farmers to the insurance company.

there are lots of levels of research going on through this insurance project. the million dollar question is to see if farmers will be more willing to take out credit, since they're insured against more risk with the crop insurance. at the same time, credit agencies may be more willing to give out loans since they're more confident that they'll get paid (either from the farmer or la positiva).

another question is whether or not farmers will understand this new form of insurance, so the research team i am on is going out to teach farmers about it through experimental economic games. the games simulate production decisions with real payouts (in proportion to what they would normally make, i.e. $1400 is a typical yearly payout, translated to $2.2 of real money in our game). we simulate weather shocks and individual luck by drawing from a bag. the idea is that the highest expected payout comes with the choice of credit with insurance, which the farmers learn by playing the game over and over.

the question i'm investigating is if their "individual luck" factor is more important than their "weather shock" factor in determining variability of cotton output. if a farmer faces more risk from, say, getting robbed than he does from bad weather, then a covariate insurance policy wouldn't do much for the farmer. or, maybe someone with a certain set of characteristics is more likely to invest in the covariate insurance... that would help identify market potential for the insurance company, and shed light as to how a farmer deals with risk.

how awesome is that????? maybe not that awesome. but i find it all really interesting, and i'm probably not explaining it the best way possible. actually though, i've had a lot of practice explaining to tourists what the hell it is i'm doing in pisco (a town destroyed by last year's earthquake, where no tourists go). i start off with "working with cotton farmers" to "introducing a new insurance program" and finally, if they seem interested, go into the whole experimental games thing. i had one guy basically tell me that it was unethical to play chance-based games with these indigenous peruvians, since it's probably against their tribal religions.

the farmers we meet range from really old and senile, to old and hilarious. there are a few young guys who are generally smart. i think overall they enjoy the games because a) they get to win money, and b) it's almost like gambling, which is fun. plus they learn about this new insurance which, all things considered, is a good thing.

anyway, we're done with all the games and we're moving on to another survey that will be distributed in the fall. i'm going to start looking at a risk-survey which will hopefully write my thesis for me. yahoo.

and no pictures for now... the internet connection here sucks.

edit: the title of this post comes from a short video we played during the presentations in pisco... it's a ridiculous promo made by la positiva, and we as researchers do our best to distance ourselves from peddling insurance. anyway, the people in the video are really excited about crop insurance, and it ends with a forceful, "Agropositiva! Tú tranquilidad..... en el campo," with the camera panning across a flourishing campo.

an update in peru

my right ear is clogged, and has been for the past few days. well really it comes and goes, with hours of full 20-20 sonic range registered from the tiny cilia and eardrums to my brain. but invariably something clogs my delicate inner-ear canals, as if someone's poured swimming-pool water down my tubes. this is particularly annoying right now when i'm trying to enjoy the jazz music playing over the PA at this starbucks, because if i could (enjoy it, i mean), it would make my night complete.

it's true, i'm in peru, thousands of miles away from home, with endless opportunities to immerse myself in a foreign culture. but as things go, i just hate traveling, and the whole idea of forcing myself to adapt and adjust tires me endlessly. in a country that speaks unintelligible spanish (to this gringo.... or chino?), engaging in a drunken exploration of Lima's nightlife, or in flirtatious conversations with the girl across me, ends up as a game of charades, played over and over until it's not fun or novel. i thought about "stretching myself" tonight but the thought of a big couch, hot coffee and the illusion of social interaction seemed just perfect. whether in lima or in davis, nothing beats a night of jazz and steinbeck.. even with a broken ear.

don't get me wrong. i love other cultures and immersing myself in them, to the point where i have some place and footing. but i can't do traveling in the "backpacked through europe" sense, living like a vagabond, staying in dirty hostels and partying with fellow backpackers. it's not that i'm above it, i just don't have the personality for it. i'm not fun enough and i'm too conscious about social norms. this should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me. [edit: i realize that i'm about to go on a backpacking tour of argentina in a few weeks, which i'm really excited about. the difference though is that i'll be going with a friend, which is a completely different experience from traveling solo, i think]

so a normal day for me begins with a battle for my bowels. it's me and my day against my nagging innards that don't want to clear themselves at a time convenient. ideally all of yesterday's bistec con papas, chicha morada and desayuno americano would exit me in a neat and timely fashion. but that rarely happens. so it ends up a war of attrition. i dare not stray from my hotel room without having passed something from my body, so a lot of toilet sitting ensues, with me and my day eventually winning by force of gravity. after that i watch tv, check my email and slowly groom myself. half the day is gone by the time i leave my room and join the research team to do actual work.

most days are arduous, so we make moments light by talking about movies or joking around about this or that. i stay mostly quiet, partly because i'm just quiet and partly because i don't understand what people are saying. most of my conversations follow the same short template. i stumble through a simple question and the person asks me back in english what i'm trying to say. i repeat the question in spanish, interspersing english at the difficult parts. the person answers in spanish, and i stare back blankly, trying desperately to process the response.

the conversation usually ends for me at that point because someone else will jump in to fill the silence. i go back to listening, breaking down the slang from the words i think i might know. normally, i'm five to ten seconds behind in the conversation, so if someone suddenly asks me my opinion on something, it's usually followed by the group's jovial laughter at my deer-in-headlights look and "no sé" response. this goes on about 100 times a day.

after we get back from our "research" trips - i won't bore you with that - our entire focus is shifted to dinner. or more specifically, bistec con papas. we walk the dusty streets past piles of rubble from the 2007 earthquake, which destroyed the entire city. not much is in pisco, especially in the way of restaurants, so nicer places like el dorado and as de oro's gets a lot of business. we prefer the latter, even though it's a bit father. conversation is sparse, and doesn't pick up until we've sat and ordered. the food isn't particularly cheap, but we eat like kings, deservedly so because we don't eat lunch on a normal day. with our giant meals we drink chicha morada and chelas (beers). the night winds down with more beers, and maybe a movie on someone's laptop.

a normal day is in pisco with the research team, but tonight i'm in lima, relaxing and enjoying the break from the daily grind. so here i am, at a starbucks updaing my blog and reading some steinbeck. i don't know if that makes me a typical american, vying for comfort and whatnot.. but i'm pretty sure i'm the only gringo here right now. maybe i'm just the typical boring person, because nothing in my trip has been as inspiring as this book on this couch in this corporate starbucks. ironically, or not, it's called "america and americans."

stay tuned for pt 2... with pics! i promise.

a break

i'm going to take a break from the muxtapes for now as i'll be out of the country for a while. peru 2.0 if you will... i'm going to make sure that every person who rose their hands at those plaza alter calls three years ago are still going to church.

just kidding. i'm going to peru to learn about field research. i'll be helping out with economic games involving crop insurance that we'll "play" with farmers across the pisco valley. in other words, i'll be handing out cokes and taking pictures until somehow i learn enough spanish to converse.

in about a month i'll be trekking through argentina with dave pizzles. speaking of which, happy b dude.

pictures and stuff will be up periodically, i hope... adios!