'Tambo: Life in an Andean VillagePerhaps the best way to sharpen one's power's of observation is to be a stranger in a strange land. Julia Meyerson was one such stranger during a year in the village of 'Tambo, Peru, where her husband was conducting anthropological fieldwork. Though sometimes overwhelmed by the differences between Quechua and North American culture, she still sought eagerly to understand the lifeways of 'Tambo and to find her place in the village. Her vivid observations, recorded in this field journal, admirably follow Henry James's advice: "Try to be one of the people upon whom nothing is lost." With an artist's eye, Meyerson records the daily life of 'Tambo—the cycles of planting and harvest, the round of religious and cultural festivals, her tentative beginnings of friendship and understanding with the Tambinos. The journal charts her progress from tolerated outsider to accepted friend as she and her husband learn and earn, the roles of daughter and son in their adopted family. With its wealth of ethnographic detail, especially concerning the lives of Andean women, 'Tambo will have great value for students of Latin American anthropology. In addition, scholars preparing to do fieldwork anywhere will find it a realistic account of both the hardships and the rewards of such study. |
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... turned into a lane that led down at a fairly steep pitch from the plaza ; a white - washed board nailed to the wall of the storehouse across from Juana's shop read Calle San Juan - San Juan Street . The lane had been roughly paved at ...
... turned randomly , not into the furrows and ridges which , in the high , cold puna , trap heat and moisture to nurture potatoes . Puna yapuy is a beautiful dance with the chakitaqlla ; performed by a well - coordinated team , it is ...
... turned perhaps on a lathe - placing them each time he filled them on the table - turned - altar beneath the cross , then offering them side by side on a plate to each guest . Before accepting them , the guest often removed his hat in ...