Monday, 2 May 2658 - Cambridge, UK
In my last blog I told you would be gone the next few days to take six students working toward becoming a temporal anthropologist into the wilderness to “live in the past” with no modern conveniences.
Now, I’m back from the Yukon. The long weekend went well. Everyone survived the “Deprivation Tank”. It’s what a student nicknamed the cabin years ago. I did not anticipate anyone throwing in the towel this time, but on occasion we have had medical emergencies.
You will remember the six I introduced you to in the last blog. They all showed up wearing clothes from the periods they will be studying. Since the ancient Nubians did not have winter gear, Taharqa Mayardit had to cheat a bit with a wool tunic and fur cape. Brigit Fitzpatrick teased him that he looked more Irish than Kushite since she was wearing a tunic and fur cape herself. Dawn Owhi wore a fringed deer hide dress with a buffalo robe. Ropata Hahona wore a woven Maori cape and Henri Luc Pétaintall cavalier boots and a broad brimmed hat with a plume. Archie Cocker rounded out the group in a Victorian sack suit, bowler and overcoat. I could tell they weren’t completely comfortable with their new outfits yet, but I told them they looked like proper Temporal Anthropologists.
There was still snow on the ground when the hovervan dropped us off in the mountains of the Yukon, so we had to dig our way into the cabin. It was nearly May so the snow was melting. Tarhaqa had not had much experience with snow, and was quite fascinated by the white stuff. It’s a pity the snow was too slushy for a good snowman. He tried making a snowball and only manage an iceball. Thankfully he threw it at a tree instead of my top hat.
I could not have asked for better guests. They were all polite and doing their best to make the most of what had to be to them an uncomfortable situation. My biggest problem was not finding volunteers for chores, but having to divide them up so everyone could get a chance to experience the joy of fetching water or doing dishes. This was all a new adventure for them.
We already had a good store of food and firewood, but everyone wanted to add to it so they could say they chopped wood. After the necessary tasks were done, we had a lot of time to talk. They each told about why they wanted to be temporal anthropologists and what they had already done to prepare. None of them have yet been subjected to the rigorist training the Institute of Time Travel will put them through.
Dawn said she built a real tule hut like her ancestors. She said on the Columbia Basin it got very hot in summer and very cold in winter. The vegetation is just bunch grass, sagebrush and brittle basalt, so the natives there had little to work with. They would make frames out of drift wood and then pile on mats made of tule reeds. In hot weather they would just put the mats on top to create an open sunshade. In the winter they would cover the frame with several layers of mats until it was nice and warm inside.
I pointed out to them all this was a good example of human ingenuity. Remember no matter how primitive people in the past might seem, we are really no more intelligent now, just more technologically advanced. It’s very likely this structure was invented by one woman who came up with this brilliant idea.
Dawn sighed ruefully. “My idea wasn’t so brilliant. I thought maybe I could make a hut to learn to live like my ancestors did. I picked a spot away from all the houses, made a teepee frame and covered it with mats. Of course I had to show it off. I told my family I was going to spend the summer there. All my cousins wanted to join me, and they brought their modern camping gear, their computers, their junk food--I might as well have been sitting in my living room!”
“Maybe when the novelty wears off they will let you have the place to yourself.” I tried to cheer her up.
Archie smiled at Dawn. “At least your family didn’t have a fit. I’ve been trying to learn to shave with a straight razor, but my mother always stops me. She’s afraid I’ll cut my throat.”
“Yes,“ I said. “My mum did the same thing. Wait until you show up one day on their doorstep, and they find their little boy is gone and all they have is a chap from the 19th century.” I looked around the room. “Or someone from the 17th, 8th or 2nd century B.C.”
“Isn’t that suppose to be BCE?” Ropata corrected me.
“They said BC in the 19th, so I do, too. I don’t even own modern clothes. I don’t feel right in anything but Victorian. I feel more at home in the past. You won’t be the same person after you are ingrained into your period of study. Well, deep inside you will be the same person, but your family is going to see this stranger from another time. My Dad’s family does their best to tolerate me, but they usually act a bit uncomfortable around me. As for my Mum’s side, they don’t even speak to me. I’m no longer their Wendell, and they see me as the man who done him in.”
All their eyes got big. They hadn’t considered this possibility.
Henri brought up another problem. “Is it true temporal anthropologists have to be celibate?”
“Only in the field. We aren’t allowed to get involved with anyone in the past, least we change their lives. You can’t even make friends. Think about it. All your close friends have probably left an impression on you. You can’t leave an impression on anyone in the past least you change their life and history.”
“But you can have girlfriends in the present, right?” Henri looked scared.
“Of course, but good luck. It’s hard to maintain a relationship if you are seldom home. I’ve heard of temporal anthropologists getting married and with the right person it can work. But it is never easy. They usually end in divorce.”
“And we can’t take anyone back with us.” Taharqa pointed out.
“No, unless they are licensed time travelers and you are all discovering how difficult that is to get. A few are lucky enough to find a time traveling partner. Once in a while I get to go back with another temporal anthropologist on certain projects. Let me tell you, those rare occasions are a treat, just to have someone you can talk to. It can get very lonely in this line of work. It’s the major cause of burnout.”
They all looked disheartened at that thought. Then Brigit spoke up. “In early Christian Ireland, there were few martyrs killed for the faith. The Irish called them “Red Martyrs” and actually felt jealous of them. So they invented other types of martyrdoms. The one considered the noblest of all was “White Martyrdom.” That meant you had to leave your family and your home to travel to a far away place never to return, all for the sake of God. Aren’t you a bit of a “White Martyr,” Dr. Howe? You’ve given up family and home to bring back the truth for the sake of all of us? Isn’t that what we all will become?”
I looked into those shining green eyes. “That was beautiful, my dear, although I don’t think I rate up their with the saints.” I looked around at all of them “There is one compensation, though. You look in the eyes of someone who has been ingrained to fit ancient Rome or the Aztecs and they should seem alien. But they don’t. Temporal anthropologists may all look so very different, but we aren’t inside. Few people will ever experience what we do--to travel back in time and gaze upon the faces of their ancestors. Temporal Anthropologists are a tight knit group, a brotherhood. You won’t truly be alone.”
They looked at each others clothes and then at their faces and smiled. They were already feeling that, and they weren’t even time travelers yet.
“Just remember, whether you can hang on for fifty year, or get burnt out after five, any information, any artifact, any video you can bring back is a priceless treasure for the entire world. It’s worth the sacrifice.”
Showing posts with label Temporal Anthropologist training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Temporal Anthropologist training. Show all posts
27.4.11
I'm Off to the Yukon Again
Wednesday, 27 April 2658
I fear I will be unable to tweet anything for the next four days. I will be bereft of all outside contact with the world. I must apologize ahead of time for ignoring all of you, but it can’t be helped.
You will remember almost two years ago I took a handful of students to the Yukon to stay in a cabin owned by the Association of Temporal Anthropologists to see who could survive for a week living in primitive conditions. (See Annual Temporal Anthropologist Candidate Endurance Test) This year I’m going back with six students who made it past that first hurtle and are now committed to becoming licensed time travelers.
This trip isn’t so much a test as an exercise in living without modern conveniences. The trainees are as follows:
Archibald Cocker - University of Liverpool: You will remember Archie who was the only one who decided to become a Temporal Anthropologist after the Endurance Test I presided over. He wants to study Victorian Britain, too, but from the angle of his working class ancestors. People think I’m brave to go back and live in the 19th century, but you’ll never see me working in a factory or sweeping a chimney. Very brave lad!
Dawn Owhi - Central Washington University: Stella is a Yakama who wants to study the Plateau tribes in the Pacific Northwest corner of the United States of America.
Ropata Hahona - University of Auckland: Ropata wants to live among his Maori ancestors in New Zealand.
Taharqa Mayardit - University of Sudan: Taharqa is interested in the ancient Kush & Meroe Empires.
Henri Luc Pétain - University of Paris: Henri dreams of traveling to 17th century France and seeing “The Sun King.”
Brigit Fitzpatrick - University of Dublin: Brigit wants to carry on the work of the late Brendan MacDonnell, one of the founding members of Association of Temporal Anthropologists. Brendan was studying Dark Age Ireland, and making copies of the lost books of the monastic libraries.
I know none of these scholars will be living in a 19th century cabin when they go out into the Field. As I said this is just to get them use to living without computers and modern plumbing. We are also coming here in spring rather than summer. There will probably still be some snow on the ground, making the conditions even more uncomfortable for them. And we will all be crammed into two rooms with three bunk beds and a cot. Hardly a luxury holiday.
Still I enjoy these type of outings more than the endurance tests since the whiners have all been weeded out. However, it will not be easy for any of them. They are all products of the 27th century after all. This will be a culture shock for them.
The Association could have just as easily sent a historical recreationist along to show the students how to light a wood stove or chop wood, but we send them with an experienced temporal anthropologist. I’m sure they are all dieing to ask me what it’s like in the Field. I plan to have long group discussions so they can ask questions and air fears. I get to play the role of wise elder. (All right, I’ll have to fake the “wise” part.)
Tweet you all next month. I’ll let you know how things went.
I fear I will be unable to tweet anything for the next four days. I will be bereft of all outside contact with the world. I must apologize ahead of time for ignoring all of you, but it can’t be helped.
You will remember almost two years ago I took a handful of students to the Yukon to stay in a cabin owned by the Association of Temporal Anthropologists to see who could survive for a week living in primitive conditions. (See Annual Temporal Anthropologist Candidate Endurance Test) This year I’m going back with six students who made it past that first hurtle and are now committed to becoming licensed time travelers.
This trip isn’t so much a test as an exercise in living without modern conveniences. The trainees are as follows:
Archibald Cocker - University of Liverpool: You will remember Archie who was the only one who decided to become a Temporal Anthropologist after the Endurance Test I presided over. He wants to study Victorian Britain, too, but from the angle of his working class ancestors. People think I’m brave to go back and live in the 19th century, but you’ll never see me working in a factory or sweeping a chimney. Very brave lad!
Dawn Owhi - Central Washington University: Stella is a Yakama who wants to study the Plateau tribes in the Pacific Northwest corner of the United States of America.
Ropata Hahona - University of Auckland: Ropata wants to live among his Maori ancestors in New Zealand.
Taharqa Mayardit - University of Sudan: Taharqa is interested in the ancient Kush & Meroe Empires.
Henri Luc Pétain - University of Paris: Henri dreams of traveling to 17th century France and seeing “The Sun King.”
Brigit Fitzpatrick - University of Dublin: Brigit wants to carry on the work of the late Brendan MacDonnell, one of the founding members of Association of Temporal Anthropologists. Brendan was studying Dark Age Ireland, and making copies of the lost books of the monastic libraries.
I know none of these scholars will be living in a 19th century cabin when they go out into the Field. As I said this is just to get them use to living without computers and modern plumbing. We are also coming here in spring rather than summer. There will probably still be some snow on the ground, making the conditions even more uncomfortable for them. And we will all be crammed into two rooms with three bunk beds and a cot. Hardly a luxury holiday.
Still I enjoy these type of outings more than the endurance tests since the whiners have all been weeded out. However, it will not be easy for any of them. They are all products of the 27th century after all. This will be a culture shock for them.
The Association could have just as easily sent a historical recreationist along to show the students how to light a wood stove or chop wood, but we send them with an experienced temporal anthropologist. I’m sure they are all dieing to ask me what it’s like in the Field. I plan to have long group discussions so they can ask questions and air fears. I get to play the role of wise elder. (All right, I’ll have to fake the “wise” part.)
Tweet you all next month. I’ll let you know how things went.
22.7.09
Annual Temporal Anthropologist Candidate Endurance Test
You may have noticed I have been very quiet this last week. I have spent the last six days cutoff from the outside world without access to the internet. I was living in 19th century conditions as closely as one can in the 27th century. This year was my turn to supervise the Annual Temporal Anthropologist Candidate Endurance Test.
The Association of Temporal Anthropologists was given a huge plot of land in the Rocky Mountains in the Yukon forty years ago. I’m sure it was a tax write off for the donor. The land was never developed because it’s under snow most of the year. The only time we come up here is in the summer. We built a log cabin and furnished it with only 19th century technology like kerosene lamps and a wood stove. It has one bedroom with three bunk beds and a kitchen/dining room/parlor. A bit more rustic than what I’m used to--no restaurants, carriages, or shops. Still very comfortable, rather charming. Most people in the 27th century would find it too primitive. Many Temporal Anthropologists live in conditions far more primitive than this!
We started out with ten candidates. All of them were grad students, with at least a Master’s Degree in history, anthropology or both. One dropped out after he read the Institute of Time Travel’s Rules more carefully. We took them to the Institute and let the Enforcers put them through a mock debriefing with compliance disks. Five more decided they never wanted to be Temporal Anthropologists and go through that again. That left four candidates which I met up with at the University of Yukon in Whitehorse for a Field Test. We dressed them up in period clothing. They would spend the next six days devoid of modern technology, including personal pocket computers. I even had to surrender mine.
A transport then took us to the cabin along with our supplies. As we were unloading, one of the students asked where the loo was. I pointed to the outhouse. He went in, then immediately ran out and jumped back into the transport, demanding to go back. He said he would rather die than use the accommodations. So that left me with three students.
It’s not like we had to go out and hunt for meat or harvest the food. They had left us with flour, sugar and such, as well as fresh carrots, onions and potatoes. We had canned milk and meat. All period. No prepackaged meals or synthetic food. Our guests had never peeled potatoes or cutup vegetables before. None of them had ever cooked from scratch, let alone cooked on a woodstove. But we had a cook book with measurements and directions that even a chimpanzee could follow.
Outside of cooking, washing dishes, fetching and heating water, we had few chores to do. We lived the life of leisure. Absolutely beautiful country, a veritable paradise. Even so, one chap came down with abdominal pains by the third day. The only piece of modern technology we were allowed was a special pocket computer with a medical scanner, first aid files, and an emergency communicator. No sense endangering anyone’s life. The scanner showed no physical problems, but I called emergency dispatch anyway. Personally I think he was suffering from hunger since he refused to eat anything, saying it tasted funny. I guess he wasn’t used to eating anything with flavor.
That left our last two candidates, a girl from the Netherlands and a chap from Liverpool. Our Dutch candidate toughed it out, but spent most of her time writing in a journal about the deplorable conditions she was living in. She said she had decided she did not want to be a Temporal Anthropologist and live like this the rest of her life. She wanted to be a history teacher and maybe write historical romance. She said she had decided to stay so she could accurately describe the horrible sufferings of her ancestors, including that of writing by hand. Sufferings? This is a vacation home!
Which brings me to our last candidate, Archibald Cocker, from the University of Liverpool. He never complained. In fact he seemed very excited and fascinated by everything. He begged me to let him do most of the work. He wanted to cook and fetch water and wash dishes. All I really did was show him what to do. He got blisters chopping wood, even though we already had a nice pile. Archie is that rare breed that had been born in the wrong century--he is a Temporal Anthropologist in the rough.
Archie said he was descended from a long line of working class families. He said he wanted to study the Industrial Age in Great Britain. He dreamed of working in mines and factories, and being a chimney sweep, dustman, and cab driver. He wanted to do it all. I warned him that could be very dangerous. Safety codes were nonexistent in the Victorian Age. Dr. Henry Darrel is doing something very similar in 19th century America. The man has often lost fingers and had to have them cloned and reattached.
I told Archie he still had years of study ahead of him, but I think he will make it. I gave him my personal contact information, as well as Henry’s and let him know he could get a hold of us and we would try to help him any way we could.
It’s worth baby sitting a bunch of whingeing chronophobes when you find someone like Archibald Cocker. Remember that name, you’re going to hear it again.
The Association of Temporal Anthropologists was given a huge plot of land in the Rocky Mountains in the Yukon forty years ago. I’m sure it was a tax write off for the donor. The land was never developed because it’s under snow most of the year. The only time we come up here is in the summer. We built a log cabin and furnished it with only 19th century technology like kerosene lamps and a wood stove. It has one bedroom with three bunk beds and a kitchen/dining room/parlor. A bit more rustic than what I’m used to--no restaurants, carriages, or shops. Still very comfortable, rather charming. Most people in the 27th century would find it too primitive. Many Temporal Anthropologists live in conditions far more primitive than this!
We started out with ten candidates. All of them were grad students, with at least a Master’s Degree in history, anthropology or both. One dropped out after he read the Institute of Time Travel’s Rules more carefully. We took them to the Institute and let the Enforcers put them through a mock debriefing with compliance disks. Five more decided they never wanted to be Temporal Anthropologists and go through that again. That left four candidates which I met up with at the University of Yukon in Whitehorse for a Field Test. We dressed them up in period clothing. They would spend the next six days devoid of modern technology, including personal pocket computers. I even had to surrender mine.
A transport then took us to the cabin along with our supplies. As we were unloading, one of the students asked where the loo was. I pointed to the outhouse. He went in, then immediately ran out and jumped back into the transport, demanding to go back. He said he would rather die than use the accommodations. So that left me with three students.
It’s not like we had to go out and hunt for meat or harvest the food. They had left us with flour, sugar and such, as well as fresh carrots, onions and potatoes. We had canned milk and meat. All period. No prepackaged meals or synthetic food. Our guests had never peeled potatoes or cutup vegetables before. None of them had ever cooked from scratch, let alone cooked on a woodstove. But we had a cook book with measurements and directions that even a chimpanzee could follow.
Outside of cooking, washing dishes, fetching and heating water, we had few chores to do. We lived the life of leisure. Absolutely beautiful country, a veritable paradise. Even so, one chap came down with abdominal pains by the third day. The only piece of modern technology we were allowed was a special pocket computer with a medical scanner, first aid files, and an emergency communicator. No sense endangering anyone’s life. The scanner showed no physical problems, but I called emergency dispatch anyway. Personally I think he was suffering from hunger since he refused to eat anything, saying it tasted funny. I guess he wasn’t used to eating anything with flavor.
That left our last two candidates, a girl from the Netherlands and a chap from Liverpool. Our Dutch candidate toughed it out, but spent most of her time writing in a journal about the deplorable conditions she was living in. She said she had decided she did not want to be a Temporal Anthropologist and live like this the rest of her life. She wanted to be a history teacher and maybe write historical romance. She said she had decided to stay so she could accurately describe the horrible sufferings of her ancestors, including that of writing by hand. Sufferings? This is a vacation home!
Which brings me to our last candidate, Archibald Cocker, from the University of Liverpool. He never complained. In fact he seemed very excited and fascinated by everything. He begged me to let him do most of the work. He wanted to cook and fetch water and wash dishes. All I really did was show him what to do. He got blisters chopping wood, even though we already had a nice pile. Archie is that rare breed that had been born in the wrong century--he is a Temporal Anthropologist in the rough.
Archie said he was descended from a long line of working class families. He said he wanted to study the Industrial Age in Great Britain. He dreamed of working in mines and factories, and being a chimney sweep, dustman, and cab driver. He wanted to do it all. I warned him that could be very dangerous. Safety codes were nonexistent in the Victorian Age. Dr. Henry Darrel is doing something very similar in 19th century America. The man has often lost fingers and had to have them cloned and reattached.
I told Archie he still had years of study ahead of him, but I think he will make it. I gave him my personal contact information, as well as Henry’s and let him know he could get a hold of us and we would try to help him any way we could.
It’s worth baby sitting a bunch of whingeing chronophobes when you find someone like Archibald Cocker. Remember that name, you’re going to hear it again.
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