Wednesday, February 27, 2008

TOP TEN- Because I live in South Asia...

(in no particular order)

1. I bobble my head. This gesture can mean any number of things from "Yes," "No," "Maybe" and "I'm following/understanding."

2. I am not fazed by random donkeys, chickens, goats and cows weaving in and out of metropolitan traffic.

3. I will have a hard time purchasing things at fixed prices when I get back to the States. Bargaining is a language in and of itself, and you know you are good at it when you start getting the same prices as nationals.

4. I won't ever want to iron clothes again. Why, when the neighborhood "press walla" knocks on your door daily, takes your clothes to be ironed and returns them for less than a dollar?

5. Two (or three or four) crazy bright colors and two different extremely "busy" patterns look great together and even match.

6. I don't remember what it's like to have money that is all the same size and same color. Weird. How can you tell a 10 and 20 apart?

7. I don't know how to wait in line properly any more. Here, queues really don't exist, whether at the coffee shop or in traffic.

8. I go automatically to the left side of the car when riding in the passenger seat.

9. I must arrive at least an hour late to be "on time" to an event or gathering.

10.My sense of smell has lost its sensitivity to the utterly disgusting. Rebecca and I even have a code phrase for when the stench is overwhelming. "Bottle it," meaning "I wish I could put this smell in a bottle so people back home could understand."