All posts by strandr

How to Bulk Up In 10 Days: The Field Workout Program

A week in, our muscles are finally starting to feel pretty sore. We’ve been shoveling, troweling, lifting buckets of dirt, pouring buckets of dirt, and moving equipment around all day. I got to thinking about the amount of work we’ve been doing and decided to put some math to work (with whatever part of my brain that isn’t fried from the heat) to get an idea of how much work we’ve been doing.

Each quadrant in our overall grid measures 4 meters x 4 meters. As of today, we have finished one entire grid and half of another grid (we have to give credit to Team 3 of Baylor for helping with much of our first grid, some of the remains they exhumed crossed into our grid too). Our standard is to remove at least 80cm of dirt before digging small test pits to about 100cm and probing down to 140cm to look for deep graves. So, I made some calculations based on our above standards.

With a depth of 80cm, each grid measures 12.8 cubic meters. A quick Google search reveals that the average weight of a cubic meter of soil is about 1600kg, or roughly 3,530lbs (the dirt we are moving is much more compact, however, and so 1600kg is likely an underestimate). That means the total weight of the dirt removed from each grid is about 45,150lbs. If we divide that equally between the six of us, assuming we’ve each moved the same amount of dirt, that comes out to 7,525lbs of dirt moved per person.

Of course, there have been artifacts and remains in the dirt that take up some space, but we’ve also been helping out with every other grid and have moved quite a bit of dirt in the demonstration and assisting processes. I decided to see what adding 20cm of dirt per cubic meter meant for total weight of dirt moved. With a depth of 1 meter, each grid measures 16 cubic meters, bringing the total weight of dirt for this volume to about 56,440lbs of dirt per grid. Divided between the six of us, that comes out to about 9,406lbs of dirt moved per person.

We’ve honestly probably moved more dirt than that. Not only do we move dirt out, but we also relocate our dirt piles to access other grids. But I think that we can safely assume that each of us has moved at least 7,000lbs of dirt so far. No wonder our muscles are sore.

Our friend Stevie of Team 5 from Baylor has decided that this normal amount of work just isn’t enough to satisfy her need for fitness, so she has created several exercises that can be done at the field using our equipment. She calls them her CrossFit Moves of the Day:


Team member squatting with a shovel over their shoulders and 5-gallon buckets on either side of the shovel Team member squatting holding a bucket in their hand, their arm fully extended up Team members standing with 5-gallon buckets lifted to their chestsStevie is just one of the many people from Baylor who inspire us and keep us going. You’ll never find her quitting because her constant drive to challenge herself and push herself to the limits drives her harder and harder with every day, all with a smile on her face. We’ve learned so much from these students, and it’s students like Stevie that keep us trying to better ourselves so that we can do the best job we can. Moving 10,000lbs of dirt is child’s play with Stevie’s attitude.

Ryan

Testing Out the GoPro

We came to the field this year equipped with a GoPro camera, hoping to get some great action shots of our work and how we do things. Justin has been wearing it on his hat quite a bit, and we’ve all been passing it around to get some interesting shots. So I’ve finally put a little bit of the footage together to give our readers an idea of what it looks like through the eyes of Team UIndy at Sacred Heart Cemetery!

As always, thanks for reading and watching!

Ryan

Documentary Filmmakers Become Part of the Team

I’d like to introduce our readers to a phenomenal team of documentary filmmakers who have been following our work this week in Falfurrias, TX. Meet Sarah and Esy.

Team UIndy strikes a pose with Sarah and Esy, the documentary filmmakers.As graduate students working in a forensic anthropology lab, we learn very quickly how to interact with media. Sometimes news stations get the story right, and sometimes they don’t. Often times we are misquoted or taken out of context. And in order to get the story, cameras are often intrusive, getting in the way of forensic analysis and building an annoying stereotype for themselves. These young filmmakers couldn’t have been any farther from this description.

Sarah and Esy were at the scene before we arrived on Sunday, greeting us with smiles and handshakes. The filmmakers told us of their project to create a documentary about the various ways Americans memorialize the deceased, currently entitled MEMORIALS. Arriving at the cemetery before sunrise and leaving only after the last crew has packed up and taken off, Sarah and Esy have seen nearly everything we have at the site. They join us for debriefings and listen to us as we talk through our progress, hoping to capture much of the behind-the-scenes of our work.

But what really impresses me about this duo is their raw style and manner of filming. Neither of them has approached us asking for an interview. Instead, they rely on the sounds and vocals that they capture. They stand from afar and film unobtrusively. No cameras in faces, no mics right next to the grave as we dig. In fact, the filmmakers became a seamless part of the group, moving buckets and supplies for us and sharing lunch with us daily. Esy told me that she often makes sure while filming to dedicate an equal time with the camera off. They aren’t there to just film; they are there to experience, to learn, and to become immersed in our project, which is impossible to do with an eye through the viewfinder. She discussed her annoyance with watching people spending so much time using cell phones to capture awful video footage of an experience that can’t be recreated. The immersion into these rare experiences must be valued.

I talked to Esy during lunch about their film, and I asked her about the competition for topics among independent filmmakers: what if someone else beats them to it with their topic on memorials? Can’t they just change the vocal overdubs and commentary and keep their same footage, allowing them to adapt to the competition? Esy said absolutely not, because they don’t provide any commentary. They let the footage narrate itself, allowing the viewer to draw their own conclusions from the footage rather than using commentary to tell the viewer the facts straightforward.

The human rights crisis that the country is facing can’t be fully described  or narrated with facts and commentary because there are so many perspectives to take into account. Instead, each person has their own take on what is happening from their unique perspective. There is no wrong or right solution to the crisis. By presenting our work in such a raw style, Sarah and Esy have safely avoided forcing any bias or perspective on the viewer, which I deeply admire. It is up to each one of us to decide what we can do to help. At Sacred Heart, we are contributing our expertise towards only one angle of the issue, but we have been fortunate to see other angles that broaden our perspective and make us more aware of what can be done to help.

I highly encourage our readers to explore Sarah and Esy’s previous work. I’ve watched their trailers for many of their films and can’t wait to see the full features. Follow their vlog at www.perinspire.com for information on films such as Jeepney, The Rink, and Thing With No Name that deeply explore important social issues around the world.

Thanks Sarah and Esy for temporarily joining our team, and best of luck in the future with your films!

Ryan