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“Cheers” to day two and digging holes

Reflections, ,

Hello everyone! Thank you for following us so far into day two of our Beyond Borders Team members diggingJanuary 2019 field season. As your dedicated mapping apprentice, I can tell you that after 22 years of doing little to no intense physical exercise, I am sore from head to toe. We have been at the Sacred Heart Cemetery for a total of almost 20 hours and I reckon 17 of those hours were spent digging or doing some other form of physical activity, with the other 3 consisting of water breaks, lunch breaks, and mapping/strategizing. That may seem tough to the average person, yet we have all thoroughly enjoyed the time we have spent there so far. By the time we cheers with our Mexican Coca-Colas at the end of the day, I can’t believe the day is over and we have done so much work. Time flies.

Today we dug 3 ½ trenches, some of them almost 1 meter deep. At our briefing last night, we discussed that previously at this cemetery, remains have been found as far as 140cm deep. So as a team, we decided to dig and probe deep today in order to be confident that we were being as thorough as possible.Team members digging in the cemetery If we do not find remains in our area, at least we know that we have done all that we could have to be sure. Clearing a site is just as important as finding remains. If we clear our area and do not find any remains we can be confident in moving onto another area, and tick Area #24 off the list of possible burial sites.

I have never done an archaeological dig before, and I am learning so much so quickly. How to properly dig test pits, probe, take measurements, map, and various other methods and tasks. I am so fortunate to be learning mapping alongside Sammi. She is allowing me to help construct the map both in the field and when we get back to the hotel at night. She is mentoring me instead of instructing me which I really appreciate.

As you will read in Sammi’s blog tonight, the work that we are doing is impacting the community greatly. It is keeping our spirits up, knowing that the work that we do is not just meaningful and interesting to us and the families of the decedents, but also to those who have allowed us into their community.

All in all we have had a good couple of days in site. Lots of learning, lots of digging, and no lack in moral or motivation within the team. Again, thank you for following along; see you again tomorrow!

~Arden

Day 1: Buckets

Human Rights, Migrant Death

Today was the team’s first day working at Sacred Heart Cemetery. The morning was cool and cloudy, but we were all ready and excited to work. We made it to the cemetery by 7:45 and met with the team from Texas State who we will be working alongside to tackle multiple areas of interests in the cemetery. We unloaded all of the equipment and went over the gameplan, and the teams were separated into areas.

The UIndy team was given quite a large area, but we are not intimidated by the work that lies ahead! We decided to split our section into two smaller sections to start, and began probing our first section. The first thing we noticed was that the soil consistency varied, being soft in some places but more firm in others. Our first trench revealed several large roots that the team had to work around. Once the main trench was dug, Sidney & Arden began digging a smaller trench perpendicular to the first while Dr. Latham & Sammi continued clearing the first. My job consisted of emptying buckets. SO. MANY. BUCKETS. To be honest I didn’t mind the work. Every member of the team was working just as hard, and I think everyone who came by to see the work we were doing agreed.

Team members working in the cemetery Trenches

By the end of the day, we had dug our trenches down to about 60cm deep and have about half of our first subsection explored. We will continue this section tomorrow so we can be confident that we have thoroughly explored this area. I am very proud of our team, as this was our first time working together in this capacity, and I feel that we all jumped right in with the work that we have to do. We found a natural flow to the digging, and we reminded each other to take plenty of water & snack breaks. Even though we are all incredibly sore at the moment, we know that the work we are doing is important and it will all be worth it in the end.

-Angela

day-1 group photo
Day 1 is in the books!

Travel Day: Expect the Unexpected

Reflections, Snapshots

Our motto for this trip is as follows: expect the unexpected.

After the seven of us gathered at the American Airlines counter at 4:30 AM (eastern), we ran into our first unexpected. As Dr. Latham was attempting to check us in, we were informed that our flight to Dallas would most likely be delayed, meaning we would miss our connection to San Antonio. From here, we had two options:

  1. Wait until tomorrow night to fly out since all later flights to San Antonio were full
  2.  Fly to Dallas and take our chances, even if it meant driving the seven hours from Dallas to Falfurrias.

We did not want to wait until tomorrow and miss a full day in Falfurrias, so we took our chance with our first flight to Dallas. Thankfully, our flight wasn’t delayed by much because they were able to swap planes instead of wait for maintenance, and we made it to Dallas with enough time for me to spill two coffees and still make our connection (which was delayed due to weather).

The five of us and Eleanor at the airport
The five of us and Eleanor at the airport

The flight went smoothly, and we landed in San Antonio only a little behind schedule. We picked up our slightly wet checked luggage and went to get our rental car. Here was unexpected number two: somehow we had seven reservations for minivans — I guess they thought we needed one per person! This was quickly resolved, we packed the van with room to spare, and headed to Torchy’s Tacos.

The Trailer Park and Tipsy Chick tacos from Torchy's.
The Trailer Park and Tipsy Chick tacos from Torchy’s.

I had heard Dr. Latham and others mention Torchy’s before, but was waiting to see the hype for myself. And let me tell you, the hype was well deserved! I had two of the best tacos of my life, and with full bellies we began the drive to Falfurrias.

With Dr. Latham at the wheel, the rest of us were free to nap as we pleased, and we definitely did. As we got closer to Falfurrias, we noticed the difference in the landscape from Indianapolis — mesquite trees, cacti, and dense brush replaced the greenery we see on a typical day. We reached town, checked into our motel, and rested for a few minutes before heading to our third unexpected: the madness that is H.E.B.

As a native midwesterner, I had never been to an H.E.B. before today, and I expected something akin to any local grocery store. I was sorely mistaken. It seemed that H.E.B. was the place to be on this dreary Wednesday night. We wove through the crowd to get snacks and food for lunches, and once again packed into the van to head to the motel.

Before heading to Whataburger for dinner — another first for me — we had our planning meeting, running into what I will call the True Unexpected: our plan for tomorrow when we reach Sacred Heart cemetery. Collaborating with Texas State University, there are a few areas of interest to which we may be assigned to explore. We were unable to extend our plans past breakfast at 7, to Sacred Heart by 8. Our team will take each day in stride and continue to expect the unexpected.

~Sidney