Today's blog is about Cultural Anthropology. In case you didn't know (lesson time) there are four sub-fields of Anthropology: Archaeology, Linguistics, Physical, & Cultural. You are learning all about archaeology whether you want to or not by reading this blog. ;-) Linguistics deals with languages--modern, ancient, dying, thriving, new ones being invented, etc. Physical has to do with the actual physical part of humans--the body. Physical Anthropology is a wide field that covers everything from COD (cause of death for those of you who do not watch American crime shows), to DNA, to genetic mutations, to Primatology (study of the great apes.)
Cultural Anthropology is another huge field since it deals with the actual culture of people. What does that mean? It is the rituals, beliefs, practices, people follow, as well as, things like foods & taboos. Pretty much it covers everything in your life and if you are living you probably have some sort of culture--see why this is such a big field.
Why, you ask, am I going to talk about Cultural Anthro today? Well let me tell you living in a house with 14 other people makes you appreciate (or not) other cultures and forces you to get along with everyone (or not.) There is something called Ethnocentrism that is the belief that your culture is better than someone else's and that you think they are wrong/backwards/dumb because they don't do things the way you do. Most of us are guilty of this (accidently) at some point or another, but anthropologists strive to respect all cultures. But living with other people (did I mention there were 14 of them) makes you have some doubts... I'm kidding! ... sort of. ;-)
Currently we have 6 Americans, 6 Italians, 1 Australian, and 1 French person all living under 1 roof. On top of that we obviously have Omani visitors almost everyday, some work with us, some we work for, and some just stop to chat. We also have 4 house staff who are Indian, Thai, and Pakistani. Then there are the field workers and pottery washers. Between all of us we have about 40-45 workers in total. They are mostly from India, Pakistan, & Bangladesh with a few other places thrown in.
This is Noshot, I'm continually in his way but he just keeps cleaning. ;-)
Talk about a lot of cultures! Here are some observances: Italians are loud & boisterous; Americans group together; Indians & Paki's are always smiling and are exceedingly polite. The French are passionate and Australian's & Thai like to talk a lot. Omanis are also very polite, always shake hands, and are always trying to make sure you are fine & happy. As a matter of fact they are teaching some of the people in the house Arabic phrases and when they tell you what the answer is to Kayf al Haluk (How are you?) they tell you the responses are bekhair (fine), zain (good), tamam (ok), hamdallah (sort of a thank you or praise be to God)... notice no one said I'm crappy, life sucks? Because it doesn't and even if it did it would be impolite to say it!
It depends on how you look at the sentences above; they could be ethnocentric or they could be truthful.. sometimes they are both. In this case they are simply observances but unless you are the one living it you don't know if they are positive or negative, which is the beauty & responsibility of Cultural Anthropology.
Back to the living arrangements. As I said in an earlier blog, the house is sort of divided into two parts. Each side has two floors and each floor has a living room area, 3-4 bedrooms, a bathroom (which actually has 3 toilets & showers inside individual rooms) and a laundry/kitchen. Plus there are three offices on the bottom floor. One of those is the lab & the other two are computer/desk areas used by the Italians. Pretty much we are segregated by Italian & American with the other nationalities thrown about. On our side we have 5 Americans upstairs, 1 French & 1 Australian downstairs. On the other side is Krista and an all Italian contingency. ;-) (Krista moved in first & is the director of the American team so she got the big room which happens to be on the Italian side.)
One of the living rooms. On the left are two bedrooms, in the back the kitchen area which is used by Mai to do our laundry (thank you Mai!)
Here is the main room of the toilets, as my students know I'm obsessed with toilets, I find them culturally & practically fascinating. Below is a picture of the rooms that have a toilet, sink, & shower stall. I could write a paragraph on this room but I won't bore you again.
I write all this in fun, we actually do mix and mingle and hang out, all shuffling together. We have outings where all of us go and we have times when we divide up and groups are formed based on who is going where (i.e. swimming, the store, etc.)
Interestingly enough, the American team is all women but Brian and run by Krista. The Italian team is all men and one women, the woman runs the team. The French guy is a famous linguist who is visiting & the Australian women is a conservator working on restoring wood & rope of ancient boats in the museum. I should also say that the Italians are made up of Architects, Archaeologists, & Conservators. Most of them work at Khor Rori another port site about 20 minutes from here.
In all honesty, everyone has gotten along fine but it is a bit of a crush in the dining room--we have 12 chairs and 15 people, Rafe, the poor cook, has had to hire an assistant! ;-)
Culture is what you make of it, if you go in accepting & interested you are likely to have a good time & learn a lot. If you go in negatively & judgmental (ethnocentric) you will most likely be upset & out of place most of the time (remember culture shock?)
It has actually been great fun (most of the time) getting to know the variety of people that are here. It is also interesting to get the real perspective of other people's cultures instead of reading about them in the paper or a textbook.
Ok this doesn't really go with today's blog, but it does deal with culture & you have got to see this! This is the LuLu, it's an Indian version of Wal-Mart and I gotta say it kinda rocks--I mean look at it at night, who doesn't want to go there!
Cultural Anthropology is another huge field since it deals with the actual culture of people. What does that mean? It is the rituals, beliefs, practices, people follow, as well as, things like foods & taboos. Pretty much it covers everything in your life and if you are living you probably have some sort of culture--see why this is such a big field.
Why, you ask, am I going to talk about Cultural Anthro today? Well let me tell you living in a house with 14 other people makes you appreciate (or not) other cultures and forces you to get along with everyone (or not.) There is something called Ethnocentrism that is the belief that your culture is better than someone else's and that you think they are wrong/backwards/dumb because they don't do things the way you do. Most of us are guilty of this (accidently) at some point or another, but anthropologists strive to respect all cultures. But living with other people (did I mention there were 14 of them) makes you have some doubts... I'm kidding! ... sort of. ;-)
Currently we have 6 Americans, 6 Italians, 1 Australian, and 1 French person all living under 1 roof. On top of that we obviously have Omani visitors almost everyday, some work with us, some we work for, and some just stop to chat. We also have 4 house staff who are Indian, Thai, and Pakistani. Then there are the field workers and pottery washers. Between all of us we have about 40-45 workers in total. They are mostly from India, Pakistan, & Bangladesh with a few other places thrown in.
This is Noshot, I'm continually in his way but he just keeps cleaning. ;-)
Talk about a lot of cultures! Here are some observances: Italians are loud & boisterous; Americans group together; Indians & Paki's are always smiling and are exceedingly polite. The French are passionate and Australian's & Thai like to talk a lot. Omanis are also very polite, always shake hands, and are always trying to make sure you are fine & happy. As a matter of fact they are teaching some of the people in the house Arabic phrases and when they tell you what the answer is to Kayf al Haluk (How are you?) they tell you the responses are bekhair (fine), zain (good), tamam (ok), hamdallah (sort of a thank you or praise be to God)... notice no one said I'm crappy, life sucks? Because it doesn't and even if it did it would be impolite to say it!
It depends on how you look at the sentences above; they could be ethnocentric or they could be truthful.. sometimes they are both. In this case they are simply observances but unless you are the one living it you don't know if they are positive or negative, which is the beauty & responsibility of Cultural Anthropology.
Back to the living arrangements. As I said in an earlier blog, the house is sort of divided into two parts. Each side has two floors and each floor has a living room area, 3-4 bedrooms, a bathroom (which actually has 3 toilets & showers inside individual rooms) and a laundry/kitchen. Plus there are three offices on the bottom floor. One of those is the lab & the other two are computer/desk areas used by the Italians. Pretty much we are segregated by Italian & American with the other nationalities thrown about. On our side we have 5 Americans upstairs, 1 French & 1 Australian downstairs. On the other side is Krista and an all Italian contingency. ;-) (Krista moved in first & is the director of the American team so she got the big room which happens to be on the Italian side.)
I write all this in fun, we actually do mix and mingle and hang out, all shuffling together. We have outings where all of us go and we have times when we divide up and groups are formed based on who is going where (i.e. swimming, the store, etc.)
 |
| Our local leaders took us to dinner for traditional Omani food. All 15 of us ate a lot of goat, fish, hummus, great seasoned rice & a ton of other things. |
Interestingly enough, the American team is all women but Brian and run by Krista. The Italian team is all men and one women, the woman runs the team. The French guy is a famous linguist who is visiting & the Australian women is a conservator working on restoring wood & rope of ancient boats in the museum. I should also say that the Italians are made up of Architects, Archaeologists, & Conservators. Most of them work at Khor Rori another port site about 20 minutes from here.
In all honesty, everyone has gotten along fine but it is a bit of a crush in the dining room--we have 12 chairs and 15 people, Rafe, the poor cook, has had to hire an assistant! ;-)
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| Anastasia (Sarah's daughter) & two of the Italian boys, Alex & Nicky (as she calls them.) |
Culture is what you make of it, if you go in accepting & interested you are likely to have a good time & learn a lot. If you go in negatively & judgmental (ethnocentric) you will most likely be upset & out of place most of the time (remember culture shock?)
It has actually been great fun (most of the time) getting to know the variety of people that are here. It is also interesting to get the real perspective of other people's cultures instead of reading about them in the paper or a textbook.
Ok this doesn't really go with today's blog, but it does deal with culture & you have got to see this! This is the LuLu, it's an Indian version of Wal-Mart and I gotta say it kinda rocks--I mean look at it at night, who doesn't want to go there!
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