Life: It's happening

So growing up is weird.

I definitely don't feel like I should be able to answer the question: "So what are you studying?" which, as we all know, really reads: "So what are you doing right now to make sure that in the near future (and for the rest of your life) you'll obtain a respectable job and a stable source of income?" Of course, being in high school affords you with an automatic shield, an immunity to being asked this, or to being expected to answer. But the minute you move on, you're fair game for "That Question."
At first, I had to find some way to explain that I had absolutely no idea what I was going to be doing next year (let alone for the rest of my life!) without sounding like a bum. And I got pretty good at doing that. Then I stumbled across it--my passion! South American Anthropology! It definitely didn't hit me all at once, but relatively quickly I found myself actually being able to give a more concrete answer to "That Question." Which, along with realizing that I was growing up, was also weird.

Here's what I got:
"Right now I'm studying Spanish, Anthropology, and Latin American, Latino, and Caribbean Studies. After Dickinson I'll probably end up going to graduate school, because what I REALLY want to do is eventually travel to South America and live with an indigenous tribe in the Amazon for a year or so to see how their lifestyles have changed over time, and what traditions they've maintained or abandoned."

It sounded cool to me, and I was super-stoked not only to be able to identify my passion, but to finally be able to offer some sort of long-term plan on cue. A defense against awkward small-talk, right? It certainly felt like an accomplishment! But, weirdly enough, the reactions I got bordered on dissatisfied: apparently I still came across as a bum. This was confusing, because hadn't I given them an actual answer this time? Weren't they looking to hear my long-term plan? Was what I had given them not long-term enough? I debated throwing in a summary of the beneficiaries that I would eventually include in my will--I figured that maybe this would not only give the nay-sayers the concrete details they were looking for, but would also demonstrate impressive foresight on my part. Then I thought they might be offended if their names weren't included (which, after scoffing at my life goals, they might as well just have counted themselves out). So I scratched that idea and settled for telling myself that, hey, I liked where I was headed. And for the Debbie Downers? Frankly I was (and am!) too excited about it to really care.

Over time, I made more life goals for myself--where I wanted to study abroad (Peru in the fall, Bolivia in the spring!), what I want to do while I'm there (study how globalization has impacted indigenous peoples and their customs!), what I wanted to write my senior theses on (a comparative assessment of my abroad fieldwork!)--and I was able to tack them onto my initial response to "That Question."
Then things actually started happening, which, out of all the weird transitions that I'd had to go through up until that point, definitely took the cake. I'm actually going abroad for two semesters (to the woman who asked me if Peru was even "abroad," yes, actually, it is.). I'm doing some pre-research for the fieldwork I'll be doing while I'm down there through an Independent Study course with one of my advisors. And I've just started my dream internship at the American Museum of Natural History where I'll be conducting research about a different Amazonian population under one of the most prominent South American Ethnologists in modern Anthropology! With this internship, then, comes a school project: blogging about it! Which is weird. Blogs, I mean. And that I have one, and that I'll be writing about my internship on it. Doubly weird. And an even weirder thought struck me when I was trying to pick out the title--it would have to be a versatile one, because I'd need to use this blog while I'm abroad in the fall and spring.
Which is soon.   <-- Very surreal realization.

It dawned on me that everything seems to be falling into place--life is happening! And for sure, some people are still taken aback when I mention what I want to do with my life, but I've come to realize that it's less that they disapprove and more that it's just not what they were expecting to hear. And I mean, I guess I can see their point--as one of my friends pointed out, living with an indigenous tribe in the mountains isn't exactly a 9-5 office job. Or being a dentist. Some people accept this departure from "traditional" careers, which is where the first part of the title for this blog comes in: I was in Spain for a month last summer, and I was explaining my studies to a group of wonderfully charming old jabegas-rowing men (jabegas are a kind of boat powered by 5 or 6 rowers). They didn't really get why I would want to subject myself to a year of living conditions that would make a house from the Medieval period look like the Hotel Málaga Palacio, but they offered encouraging comments and even the titles of some books that might be of interest to me! And as we rowed, sometimes they would forget my name, so they would just shout "¡Ey, Antropóloga!" instead ("Antropóloga" = "Female Anthropologist"). It was endearing, and made me smile! Even though what I wanted to do wasn't their cup of tea, they went with it.

But to the Debbie Downers of the world, you're right, it's not exactly the most "normal" career path, but I like to think I'm taking the road less traveled (haha, blog subtitle tie-in!), and I'm cool with that. And I'll send you the pictures.