Just realized that my post on monday never went up, here it is:
This weekend we had the assignment to do the Participatory Observation. At first I was skeptical as to the reasons behind why we would do a observation study. I felt that it was a bit arbitrary and wouldn't help me qualitate or understand anything about the world around me. I found that nothing less that the contrary was what I actually pulled from the methods practice.
I really for the first time in my life began to realize how intricate and involved we are as human beings in the social situation in which we are placed. Possibly the most eye opening aspect was the introspective viewpoint that I gained as I realized just how well that I had adapted to my own social circumstances. I know all the rules. I am completely comfortable in my own element and I really understand how effective communication relies so much more than on verbal communication alone. The way that I sit, move and communicate through my posture and gestures sends messages to everyone else in my social environment before I say anything.
I did the project on a different floor of the Library that is notorious for being the social floor. I decided that it would take me out of my element enough to be able to really observe others in their, environments but that it was still one that I would fit well enough into, allowing me to do an introspective look at my self simultaneously.
The biggest advantage that I saw from doing this assignment was the fact that in India I will have little to no understanding as to the real cultural mores and the stigmas that govern the ways that they interact with one another. It seems like a daunting task now to undertake such a large scale cultural assimilation with such little time. However now I feel as if I am prepared to work towards the goal of mutual understanding with the people of Tamil Nadu.
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