Sometimes you find cross-cultural moments when you least expect them. My first graders are doing a slide show on the computer, and I’ve asked them to do pictures of their parents, their pets, their teacher, etc. Last week I asked them do draw the seasons.
Them: Which one is the cold one?
Me: What do you mean?
Them: Which season is the one that gets cold?
Me: Winter!
Them: Which one is the dry one?
Then it hits me: we have a wet season and a...
Sometimes it’s the small things that can be the most surprising when you change cultures. Like haircuts. Back in the states haircuts are pretty routine-at least once you find a hairdresser you like and whose price you can get comfortable with. Haircuts in Kenya have been far from routine! I have now had 5 haircuts in Kenya and each was an adventure in itself. I have also self-barbered (don’t tell my hairdresser at home this!).
Haircut #1 was from a long-time...
Teaching spreadsheets to young children is one of the most unexpectedly rewarding things I have done since I have been in Africa. It didn’t start well; I just didn’t know how to communicate with them, and they would give me that glazed look that indicated that I had hopelessly lost them.
The way I learned to teach them was to teach Fred, our friend who works for us on our yard. Fred has never lived in a home with electricity, so...
We had the principal over the other night, and he grew up in Africa and told the boys a story about going deep into the bush when he was about ten and seeing some African children, who, when they caught sight of him, started screaming and crying and running away. Later, he found that in that tribe, the parents told their children:
`If you are bad, the white people will come and EAT you.’
What I have found since is that it...
You would expect that Culture Shock would hit you immediately. And we did have some degree of culture shock right away. There were all of the “differents” to get used to. But the biggest shocks are just now coming.
Friday afternoon I had a very long conversation with a Kenyan friend. It all started because I had stepped on cultural toes with army boots. To share the exact situation would cause me to step on cultural toes again. Suffice it to...
I’ve been a rude host- please forgive me. I’ve not properly introduced you to the Dorm Boys:
Joseph Kim aka Eating Machine: Joseph is a Korean who is quiet, a good athlete, a diligent student and great on the clarinet. His nickname is due to his determination when he eats: he puts his head down and shovels. I have seen champion eaters in my time, and I would put him against all comers.
Seth Shaffer aka Tarzan. Seth is an American from...
As I sit down to write this morning, I wish I were a poet. For if I were I would write “Ode to a Warm Chapati”! I just bought some freshly made, warm chapatis this morning and, although I had already had my breakfast, I had to eat one. Ahhhhhhhh. They are surely Kenyan comfort food. Although I have written about chapattis before, I want to be sure you understand just how wonderful they are. Chapatis are the bread of...
Continue ReadingThings that probably wouldn’t happen in the United States:
A friend is buying a car and is having it delivered to his home. The car does not arrive when promised: he finds out it was damaged when it ran into a giraffe.
Some Kenyans are talking to a medical doctor from the States. They ask him about his wife, and he informs them he is single. They are shocked by this; since he is a young man, he asks why. The response...
