Study Abroad: How Not To Upset A Headhunter Or Die Trying

Crossing boundaries in their disparate forms is the single greatest purveyor of wisdom in study abroad

. With each boundary crossed comes a deeper awareness of place. And, sense of place is what separates the traveler from the tourist. In 2003 I led twelve students on a six-week study abroad course to Fiji with the Institute for Cultural Ecology of which I serve as Director. I.C.E. runs gap year programs and is an intern abroad provider.

As a cultural anthropologist, I was eager to kick off the village stay component of our study abroad program. To put it bluntly, our village hosts were headhunters. Well . . . they used to be. Not in some headmans foggy memory captured in a fireside story. No, these folks had elders that still recalled the pungent taste of a human spleen.

Fears of study abroad students becoming human jerky soon dissipated as children emerged en-masse from village huts. Nervous giggles and broken English filled the courtyard. Thus began the bonding between students and villagers and memories that would last a lifetime. Bula! I am your father, said a fifty year old man with skin sagging beneath either eye. Bula! I am your mother, followed a female voice escorting a student into her new home. For the youngest of the gap year programs students, having a new mother and father was a welcomed site.

The next day, while the students crossed culinary, social, and physical boundaries with each breath, I headed down to the river to trade the drama of cultural immersion for the respite of simple flowing water. I needed a return to the elements: liquid helium for the spirit. With no thought for the morrow, I plunged headfirst into the stream and wrapped my arms around bamboo flotsam in the rivers center. My spontaneous journey began. I passed streamside villages and the astonished looks of bank-side children. Apparently they had never seen a white man flailing down a river for no apparent reason.

That night I returned to my host village. Joined by eight or so elders, I passed the kava from my lips to the man across from me. The tone was noticeably somber. Mr. David, the headman spoke tersely, we have a problem we need to speak to you about. The eyes of the men drifted off me and onto the kava bowl between us. Today you went into the river. And you entered the territory of many villages. This has caused us big trouble.

I sat frozen: snapped back to a reality so obvious; so hidden. In a flash, I realized the implications of what I had done. The river that my Western eyes saw as nature in its most primordial form; transcending boundaries and belonging solely to the hydrologic cycle had deceived me. I had spent the day floating on the currents of history and the bloodshed of battles past. The man you drank kava with downstream, the headman explained, he is one of our longtime enemies. You must understand: you are like our children. We must take care of you.

by: culturalecology

POST COMMENT

Why Does The Industrial Sector Need Air Knife Encontre Produtos Protork Na P No Estribo How Does Air Knife Work Need A Loan Today: Apply At Once It's 11 O'clock Do You Know Where Your Canadian Financing & Funding For Production Tax Cre The Seven Signs There Could Be Water In Your Basement Mac Makeup What Is Car Leasing All About? Majority Stake Acquired By Kwan In Eye D All About 90 Mortgages Could One Magic Pill Cure Your Pcos? 7 Great Networking Tips Create Originality With Low Voltage Landscape Lighting