Apryle Pickering

Apryle is a junior anthropology major. This is her first term abroad. At Union, Apryle is known as a softball pitcher, and she has recently been named to the league all-star team. In Fiji, Apryle stayed in the village of Vitawa, in the same house where Debbie Cederbaum stayed in 1997. Part of Apryle's experience was her continual comparisons with "Debi". But she was able to benefit from a host family already well familiar with the anthropology student's work habits. Her host mother prepared coffeee for late-night work sessions, and her host father offerred to regularly correct Apryle's field work.

Apryle is interested in women's issues, and for her project she did a study of the situations in the village for unwed mothers. Her research took her into Fijians' perceptions of unwed mothers, from those widowed or divorced to those who never married at all. She focused part of her study on a local home for unwed mothers, looking at the types of women who were allowed to stay there and on the hopes and aspirations of the residents themselves.