Today was sort of funny, if you like to laugh at nice people who don't deserve it, such as myself. I woke up on a mission: I need specific types of families for my dissertation research. These families need to have at least one child between the ages of 7 and 12 years, and at this point, I'll take 6 with an upcoming birthday, or 13. They can be neither rich, nor poor, as I abide by John Ehrenreich's definition of middle classness as something that one isn't.
While people from the U.S. rapidly assert their middle classness (probably due to tax law), Peruvians do not self-identify with the label. I am observing that this is because they are either proud or ashamed of their fiscal status and don't really see a liminal position between rich and poor. It's not that a middle class doesn't exist.
Most scholars agree with Aramburu's 1989 criteria for determining Peruvian classness, though I sort of can tell when I enter their homes whether they are too poor to participate. Or too rich. It's pretty obvious. I define classness by occupational type, neighborhood, and other social factors, too (have they traveled? do they hire professional help in their homes?), not just income. It's hard to quantify, though I could, with the help of the department of Peruvian statistics, but I trust my own instincts, and you should too.
Also my study is pretty broad when it comes to class, as it is an analog to the families that the team of scholars, of which I am a part has analyzed for 10 years now.
Said simpler: class is a broadly defined topic and that's ok.
But what is important is the kid thing, and that mom and dad both have to work "full time" in Lima. "Full time" appears to be a different construct here than in the U.S. too. This is a good thing, since I can take more families here than I would be able to there. I am erring on the side of inclusion versus exclusion.
That is partially because I am desperate. Scared. Families cancel, don't want to participate in the first place, or love the idea but refuse to set a firm date. I am going nutso here. I assumed a human nature that I guess doesn't exist: I thought people love to talk about themselves. I think it's an American thing. Gulp! Overgeneralize much? Peruvians do, if they are proud of their homes. If, on the other hand, they are ashamed of their poverty, they do not love to talk about themselves, nor their homes. I must be sensitive, so I keep the camera rolling, as we say in LaLaLand, even if they ARE too poor.
What these families want is compensation. Which is cool. The Institutional Review Board allows for some compensation for the families' time. That's cool, because people here work six days a week. And THAT, friends, is human nature. We are mostly greedy people.
I am a hunter now. I am going to museums, restaurants, grocery stores, banks, schools, churches ... I am shier than you might think, too. I am asking all ladies if they have kids. They're obviously at work, so that's a no-brainer. Human nature? Ladies love to talk about their kids. Most men, too.
Today my mission took me to my neighborhood archaeological site, Huaca Huallamarca, to talk to museum administrators who might know what the hell anthropology doctoral students go through (I already have friends at the Catholic University and they are super helpful).
I ended up swooped into a tour. I have taken said tour three times now. I had no hat, I was bored until we got to the hairless doggies and the plants (Horrible, I know. But I can recite that tour).
Huaca Huallana
Nonetheless, after the tour, the lovely museum administrator, Nancy Prieto, took some time to talk with me. She schooled me a little. She told me about Peruvian families' unwillingness to spend time with me. She told me that if I'd tapped my network here, which I have, I'd have to pay for data. Secretly, I knew this, though my 9 families have complied willingly and graciously and I still have naive hope that the 11 I need are mysteriously hiding out somewhere in Wongs or another grocery store or restaurant right under my nose. Nonetheless, Nancy is on my side and she is on the quest, with me, helping like all of Lima. Damn. I'm so lucky.
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