Changes in Latitude: An Uncommon Anthropology

I enjoyed the book and was intrigued by the author and the subject matter. With her literacy, this was not just your average westerner finds herself amongst the natives ( see here: indians, pigmies,jungle people and so on).. She went more or less willingly and describes it all well. The only thing that was frustrating for us as it was for the author, was that she keeps using the fijian words without explaining them sufficiently (read here: over and over). so now we know how she felt/ feels.. Even with the dictionary in the back, it is a bit much.. Her descriptions of events and ceremonies as well as natural setting is really well done.. Now I want to see what else she wrote and whether it is as interesting... How about a sequel.. A movie would be cool as well; as someone before me has suggested..

This book relates the memoirs of an American woman who moved to a remote island in Fiji and married into a local family. Varawa, a nature author, decided that the area in which she lived in Hawaii was becoming too busy. Looking for a place where life moved at a saner pace, she set off for a vacation in Fiji. Shortly after Varawa landed in Fiji, a young woman asked her where her husband was. When Varawa replied that she was single, the woman concluded that she was in Fiji to find a husband. Varawa reflected that she was indeed tired of being alone, so she played along with her new acquaintance's efforts to find a husband for her. Before she knew it, she was staying with a family in a village on small island of Galoa, off of Vanua Levu. And shortly after her arrival there, a young man was brought before her whom she was told was determined to marry her. In this book, Varawa tells how she eventually came to marry this man and build a life with him and his family on Galoa. In reading stories of cultures with arranged marriages, one often hears of young women being married off against their will to much older men for the financial well-being of the family. Occasionally, such stories are accompanied by tales of what happened to the young women. This is the first time I have ever heard of the tale being turned on its head-where the older spouse with the financial resources is a woman, and where the younger spouse being urged on by the family is a man. And to add to the novelty, the older spouse in this case happens to be a skilled observer and writer, capable of explaining some of the complex emotional turmoil that results. Here we read how Joana and Male, who start out with practically nothing in common, slowly learn to accommodate each other's needs, wishes, and cultures and gradually build the bonds of marriage. Another unique aspect of this book is that as a college student, Varawa studied anthropology, so she is attuned to the kinds of observations that anthropologists consider vital for understanding an alien culture. In this book, Varawa describes many aspects of Fijian village life, from economics and division of labor, to house building, child-raising, marriages and funerals. The difference is, instead of being an "impartial" observer, Varawa is an active participant, struggling to pull her own weight as a family member. Although the information comes from an unexpected source, it provides a revealing glimpse into Fijian culture.