"The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams" - Oprah Winfrey

Monday, 27 February 2012

Western VS Cultural

We have a lady who has come for the first time today to help us clean the house and wash our walls as last week the government came and sprayed our walls with some mosquito spray and messed up our house, and made us all feel a little sick because the stuff is so toxic.

What I found interesting was that she was happily working in a pair of shorts( just covering the knee, and not tight)  around me. And then as soon as one of our male volunteer's walked into the house, she immediately felt uncomfortable and asked me for a shetengi to cover her legs. In a way, I really love this traditional way and what they believe about keeping your thigh's, knees and mid drift covered because it all leads to our private parts. It just show respect to that area.

I had a discussion with Margaret about it, and she was saying how she likes the western culture, that we do keep our breast private, meaning we don't pull them out in public to feed, we normally do that in private. Where as the ladies here, there is no worry about showing their breasts, no privacy, which I feel is different to us. Let me say, I always feel awkward around feeding ladies, just because I am not used to it being such an open thing to do. But they keep stomach down to knee's very private, where as we, where the shortest dresses and tiniest shorts and the tightest pants.

I believe that in way I have changed. For example, I was wearing a pair of shorts in the house, and when I went to the living room, where the other mid-termers were, and I felt uncomfortable. Which normally I wouldn't, and now I do. Also if I do wear tight pants for this area, I do feel awkward and worried I will offend people, which is so strange.

But I really respect and admire their cultural ways. And its very interesting to me, to  learn about it all of this.



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