Nomad Me: But it's just embarrassing. I could never do that!
Modern Me: But this is America. Poeple do it all the time.
Nomad Me: But no one needs to know what mine look like!
Modern Me: You did it in France. Have you already forgotten that?
Nomad Me: But that was in the laundry room. This is different. Really, I just can't!
Modern Me: Grow up Grace!
This debate took place on Wednesday afternoon. I had just spent $1.5 to do my laundry and was hardly ready to fork over another $1.5 in quarters to use the dryer. So as the complacent global nomad who's all to prepared to "make a plan," the clothesline it was. But after so many years in Africa and especially after living in Islamabad...well...lets just say I was not about to display my...uh...unmentionables.
"Everyone does it." said my roommate. "I mean, it's not like a secret or anything and no one else lives down here."
Inside, I cringed. "I'm sorry, but I've lived in more conservative cultures and I just can't hang my underwear out for all the world to see. That's just wrong." In my mind, I was vividly remembering being 16 living in Kenya and having a male classmate mock my girlfriends who hung their "flags" on the clothesline "like it was the UN."
The inner global nomad is still small voice inside your head. He's ingrained in you. He's inched his way under your skin and is going to dictate your behavior without you even knowing it. The inner nomad represents any collection of habits and cultural norms from any country that decide to stick with you. The inner nomad pricked me several times this past week. I saw several Afghan men this week and I quickly buttoned the top two buttons on my shirt and questioned my use of shorts as everyday attire. I met several Kenyans and instantly returned their question in my own faux Kenyan accent. I saw my fellow student teasing one of our instructors and was aghast at their "lack of respect for authority." I called the trash can, "the bin." I explicitly told people my parents are from upstate New York. I defended the weather in the southern hemisphere. I was ballistic with joy when I found couscous. And perhaps most embarrassingly, I was corrected in public that a "PE-can" is actually a "peek-UN" (how would I know that?).
Yes the inner-nomad can take over. It's not such a bad thing. I've learned to be okay with his chatter. In my own way, I don't want him to leave because if he does, I'll feel disconnected with so many things I value about my overseas life. So I'm just going to hang certain items in my closet to dry.
1 comment:
They will dry if hung inside a shirt or hung behind a towel, how we manage on the roof lines here :-)
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