When you first travel to a developing country from the US, you tend to notice everything that's different - from the people to the language to the absence of toilet paper in squat restrooms to the free-range chickens and goats roaming the roads. It's part of the culture shock, but also part of the intrigue that keeps you going in global health when you first start working in the field. You tend to seek out what's different.
After having lived in a few developing countries now though, the initial culture shock that I get fades away pretty fast. So the things that now seem "normal" to me, are the things that I forget to write about. But you might still find them interesting, so here are some of my top shocks, now absorbed:
After having lived in a few developing countries now though, the initial culture shock that I get fades away pretty fast. So the things that now seem "normal" to me, are the things that I forget to write about. But you might still find them interesting, so here are some of my top shocks, now absorbed:
- Books: Just like new clothes, new books are ridiculously expensive. The average Tanzanian lives on less than $2 a day, and a new book is at least $10. There are only a handful of bookstores in Dar (see: A Novel Idea), and if you're coming from a big US city, these stores will look like shoe-boxes. But hey, they carry NYTimes Bestsellers!
- Energy: Like India, Tanzania suffers from a power crisis. Unlike the Philippines, they do not call them brownouts or blackouts [obviously]. We have "power outages" everyday. So you either freeze where you are until a generator kicks on (if you're lucky), or you go find a candle.
- Switches at every outlet / electrical socket: When I first moved into my living space, I didn't know how to turn my stove / hotplate on in the kitchen. I thought I was turning the knobs and pressing the button correctly, but I couldn't get the gas to ignite. So I had to call for help. When my savior came with a match (thinking that was the problem), he looked at me, and then he looked at the switches on the wall. He looked at me again, and then he flipped the switch that corresponded to the stove. He shook his head and then left.
- The absence of bathroom vents: It's not very common to see bathroom vents like you see in most suburban American homes. Although I've lived in a few old NY apartments that didn't have bathroom vents other than windows, I still think they can be very helpful. [Not for me, of course, but for others...]
- Water heaters and switches: Yes, there is an "on" switch for this too. You have to turn it on at least a few minutes before you get into the shower. It gets added into your daily routine, along with opening up windows, if you don't have a bathroom with a vent.
- Always having to consume bottled water: It's a different situation when you're forced to drink only bottled water because you could contract an illness from regular tap water. You get used to it because you have to do it; and you slowly forget about how many plastic bottles you're throwing into the ocean. But then you think, "Well, I could save my conscience from this next plastic bottle by ordering a soda which comes in a glass bottle that will be recycled here." [Yes, they still use old fashioned, refillable glass bottles.] But that's how you start to consume more calories than you planned, which isn't good because -
- Gyms are for the wealthy: If your hotel doesn't have one, good luck trying to find a spacious facility that's reasonably priced, has a working AC, and offers machines that won't squeak or break down within a few minutes. Well hello there, spare tire...
- Stoney Tangawizi: It seemed so foreign at first sip - it's so gingery. But it's so good that I'll save a few plastic bottles here and there for this ginger ale and I won't mind the spare tire.
- Dudes whipping bulls on the roadside: That's right. In Zanzibar, just like in provincial areas of the Philippines (or any rural Asian area, for that matter), many farmers have male cows or yaks or the like that haul carts of stuff for them. To keep them in line and going at a normal walking pace, they [lightly] whip the animals.
- Giant bugs, house lizards, and other creepy crawlies: You may shriek at first, but they happen to live in your space too. So far, I've doused 2 giant roaches in mist that will float them up to heaven.
- Internet streaming: Even at the hotel with my really awesome wireless connection, I'm lucky to be able to stream a YouTube video or iTunes song in real-time. Welcome back to my life, patience.
- People sweating: It had to be said. We've become overly disgusted and overly conscious of our natural sweat in the US. When you're abroad, especially in a tropical/humid climate, everyone sweats and no one really notices...Until you're in close quarters - like on a jam-packed bus, everyone sweats on everyone else. Then you get out of the bus and dirt immediately sticks to you. You have to go about your normal day until you can get home and shower.
- An overabundance of stray cats...and flies: Okay so I'm not entirely desensitized to these because I can't stand them...but they don't seem as bothersome as before. Now when I watch a commercial of a poor, dirty, sweaty kid on TV surrounded by flies or stray cats in Asia or Africa, I can think - ooo...I looked like her once!
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