Culture Shock, Part One

Several weeks ago, I was sitting in our car, waiting for TJ. And I felt like I had something in my nose. Like maybe I needed to pick it. (Too much information? Sorry.)

But that got me started thinking - it really is okay to do that here. Grown men and women will literally start digging around in their nose while you're having a face-to-face conversation. No problems, no shame.

My mind quickly raced to all of the other things it literally is OKAY to do here. Completely accepted. Cultural norms, if you will. Honestly.

I started jotting things down on the back of an old receipt. As I read over it now, I think my list would be too overwhelming for one blog. So I'll publish it in parts, a few here and there.

If you read it all at once, you might get the idea that we don't like living here. That we think, in general, that Dominicans are a stupid people.

Truth?

Sometimes we do feel that way.

We are quick to see the flaws in others. But we're caught in a vicious cycle here, living in a different culture. We're reminded ALL the time that we are a fallen people. We are broken. All of us. None of us are perfect, none of us have it right.

And yet, as Brian Wallace often quotes, "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." And that's why we're here. To share that good news.

So, without further ado, off the top of my head, 5 things that it is completely okay to do in the Dominican Republic.

1) Pick your nose in public

2) Pop each other's zits. (No joke, complete strangers
will come right for your face.)

3) Tell people how fat they look.

4) Give people directions, even if you don't know
how to get there.

5) Spoon feed children until they are 10 or 11.