It could very well be that Cameron is having the most culture shock out of all of us. Don't get me wrong, he really is adjusting wonderfully. Whenever asked, he enjoys it here, largely due in part to his new 4-legged friend that was awaiting our arrival. That being said, since he is the youngest and the only one of us who hadn't visited here before, he was the least prepared. Here are a few examples of things that are rocking his world a bit. First, being a fair skinned, fair haired boy, people feel the liberty to let their hands glide through his hair as he walks by or tickle him under the chin, all without warning. Another thing that is unusual for him is the way we cross streets here. Crosswalks? Nope. If you want to cross a busy street, just start slowly walking. Cars and motos move around you in front and once you get out far enough they start going behind you until you are across. This can be a little unnerving at first as an adult but picture all of these cars and motos coming at you at 3 1/2 feet tall. He does very well with it, though. Now the piece de resistance happened today for Cameron. (Disclaimer: The following may be a little graphic for some :). We were at a store today and Cameron had to go to the bathroom and he had to...um, we'll just say he had to "sit". So once he had already started I was frantically scanning the bathroom for toilet paper. Once I realized there was nothing resembling a roll of soft fluffy paper, I quickly re-scanned the room for anything that would double as toilet paper (ie. paper towel, tissue, pamphlet, brochure, leaf...etc.). There was nothing. That is when I spotted the "kitchen sink sprayer" hanging on the wall next to the toilet. I tried to break it to him slowly that there was no paper and that we would have to use the sprayer hanging next to him. Talk about culture shock, let alone other types of shock. Nonetheless, he handled it fine and we both kinda laughed about it on our way out.
So there you go. A glimpse into adjusting to a 3rd world culture through the eyes of a 5 year old. I can't wait to see him in a year or 2. He will probably be fluent and able to get around better than any of us.
By the way, I am including a pic of Cameron with our dog Hanah instead of a pic of him in any of the other above situations. Blessings.
That is a hilarious story! What a good sport. Interestingly enough, TP has become a staple in my purse. We don't leave the house without it!
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