A Few Things that Remind Me Where I Am

1.  People who speak English always say the same few phrases:  "Hu-lo-o!!" (Hello), "They are very lovely" (in reference to children) and "My play-her" (My pleasure).  Everyone wants to practice their hellos (and every parent wants to make her child practice), and the others must be the standard first phrases in the English manual.

2.  Roads are not primarily for cars.  They are for bicycles, electric scooter, wheelchairs, trikes with wagon trailers (Yesterday we saw an entire entertainment center on the back of one!  They're like 2.5 by 3 feet!), horses, dogs, tractors (I use the term loosely -- they are more like a tiller with a seat in the back!), children playing, and people walking their pigs to market.

Sidewalks ARE for cars.  And welding.  And bathing, brushing your teeth, and washing your dishes.

3.  A restaurant is not just a restaurant.  It is usually a home, a daycare center, and an overall hangout.  And also the place where the employees,  during slow times, take care of general hygiene.  (re: the sidewalk activities above... plus cleaning their ears with sharp sticks and then breaking them to double as toothpicks.)  Also the place for afternoon rest.  One man down the street has a leather recliner at the front of his mud brick establishment.  Every afternoon we see him recovering from the mid day rush :)  The rest seems counter productive, but it is a time to sit and talk with your friends.  Or just sit.  Together.  If you think about it, we have come full circle to devoting at least that much time to MySpace and email.

4.  The old people watch the children.  Always.  And they are always strapped on their backs until about the age of 8.  When I see a hunched over little old lady carry a sleeping kid three quarters her size, I am always amazed!  If kids completely exhaust us when we are 20-40, how is it that they have decided to delegate this job to the people whose strength is waning?  Then again, they never seem to mind or be exasperated.  Maybe the reasoning for it is that they have lived enough life to take joy in what's really important.

5.  If you hear "Happy Birthday" playing, it is not a celebration.  It is the garbage truck!  No kidding.  It takes about an hour for it to get far enough that you don't hear it any longer.  In another city we visited recently, it was a Christmas medley.  I don't know if they just ripped off the most readily available snow globe music, or if it's an attempt to make the masses "cultured" with Western music.

6.  Toilet paper is not for the toilet.  And this is not just because there aren't many toilets.  TP is readily available, but not for its intended purpose.  You will find it on the tables of fancy restaurants.  What do they use in the bathroom?  Um, most use NOTHING.  Maybe that is why they don't shake hands.