There is a saying in Teotitlán del Valle: es tu cruz y tienes que cargarlo (it's your cross and y... more There is a saying in Teotitlán del Valle: es tu cruz y tienes que cargarlo (it's your cross and you have to carry it). While the statement generally presupposes resignation to a life of hardship, crosses in Teotitlán have transformed into another kind of metaphor.
Historically, anthropologists have looked to objects to tell the stories of the people who made t... more Historically, anthropologists have looked to objects to tell the stories of the people who made them. Objects have been viewed as extensions of the human self and regarded as symbolic manifestations of culture. Since the early days of anthropology, material culture has provided a lens through which anthropologists have gained insights into the nature of humanity, often looking to objects from the past to form richer, more meaningful understandings of the present. New trends in contemporary anthropology have opened up diverse possibilities for material culture studies and have created intersections and overlaps between studies of material culture and other disciplines. These shifts have offered up new methodologies for investigating material culture as it relates to other aspects of human endeavor and thought while simultaneously critiquing the normative assumptions of the field.
I arrived in Oaxaca at 2am, disoriented from a day of travel, but excited to begin my journey and... more I arrived in Oaxaca at 2am, disoriented from a day of travel, but excited to begin my journey and energized by the sights, smells, and sounds of the Xoxocotlán airport. Reaching the street, I discovered that colectivosshared taxis -were the only transportation from the airport into the city at that early hour of the morning, and so I joined a group of sleepy travelers beside a beat-up old van that displayed a sign in the front window reading: -Oaxaca Centro‖. As we waited for a few more travelers to fill the van, I stared at the mint-colored pavement and the beetles that seemed to cover every inch of its surface, surrounding my feet and closing in along the sides of my luggage. The colectivo driver noticed my gaze and remarked -se llaman touristas‖ 1 with a grin. Los escarabajos, scarab beetles, arrive in Oaxacalike the touristsunannounced and unwanted for several months of the year, to fill the streets, create a nuisance, and then depart suddenly only to return again the following spring. The comparison of tourists to beetles told me everything I needed to know about my place within Oaxaca: the tourists, no better than insects, were regarded simply as pests. My experience during the first few weeks of my trip verified that the tourists and beetles alike were largely ignored by the locals who let them happily wander the green-stone streets of the city as they scorched in the afternoon sun.
There is a saying in Teotitlán del Valle: es tu cruz y tienes que cargarlo (it's your cross and y... more There is a saying in Teotitlán del Valle: es tu cruz y tienes que cargarlo (it's your cross and you have to carry it). While the statement generally presupposes resignation to a life of hardship, crosses in Teotitlán have transformed into another kind of metaphor.
Historically, anthropologists have looked to objects to tell the stories of the people who made t... more Historically, anthropologists have looked to objects to tell the stories of the people who made them. Objects have been viewed as extensions of the human self and regarded as symbolic manifestations of culture. Since the early days of anthropology, material culture has provided a lens through which anthropologists have gained insights into the nature of humanity, often looking to objects from the past to form richer, more meaningful understandings of the present. New trends in contemporary anthropology have opened up diverse possibilities for material culture studies and have created intersections and overlaps between studies of material culture and other disciplines. These shifts have offered up new methodologies for investigating material culture as it relates to other aspects of human endeavor and thought while simultaneously critiquing the normative assumptions of the field.
I arrived in Oaxaca at 2am, disoriented from a day of travel, but excited to begin my journey and... more I arrived in Oaxaca at 2am, disoriented from a day of travel, but excited to begin my journey and energized by the sights, smells, and sounds of the Xoxocotlán airport. Reaching the street, I discovered that colectivosshared taxis -were the only transportation from the airport into the city at that early hour of the morning, and so I joined a group of sleepy travelers beside a beat-up old van that displayed a sign in the front window reading: -Oaxaca Centro‖. As we waited for a few more travelers to fill the van, I stared at the mint-colored pavement and the beetles that seemed to cover every inch of its surface, surrounding my feet and closing in along the sides of my luggage. The colectivo driver noticed my gaze and remarked -se llaman touristas‖ 1 with a grin. Los escarabajos, scarab beetles, arrive in Oaxacalike the touristsunannounced and unwanted for several months of the year, to fill the streets, create a nuisance, and then depart suddenly only to return again the following spring. The comparison of tourists to beetles told me everything I needed to know about my place within Oaxaca: the tourists, no better than insects, were regarded simply as pests. My experience during the first few weeks of my trip verified that the tourists and beetles alike were largely ignored by the locals who let them happily wander the green-stone streets of the city as they scorched in the afternoon sun.
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