Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Hel-lo...

Nudity is viewed differently in the states than it is here. it is a strange paradox. Traditionally people are very modest and are well covered. This includes head covering and/or a blanket on top of their head and upper body.

At the same time it is pretty common to see a mother breast feeding in the middle of the road. In the countryside it is possible and not unlikely to see a woman wearing only a skirt with nothing covering her chest.

As common as it is I must admit I still get embarrassed at the site of a naked breast. While Mom and Dad were here we walked in on a girl changing. The previous day I had been shown a back entrance into a dining room of a café. It got me where I needed to be much quicker. On the day in question I had shown Dad and Whitney that door and now Mom and I were about to go through it.

Mom opened the door and turned to retreat. I gave her a slight push and said, "It is okay, go". Come to find out Mom was coming back because she had just walked in on a young girl changing shirts. I was to impatient to trust her and therefore we both walked in on her. I covered my face and apologized as the girl carried on like nothing happened.

The day before yesterday I went with my guard to refill our case of bottled cokes. We still use bottles. We return them to get refills. As we walked up to this small street side shop where I was to buy them a young girl entered from the door in the back of the store. Typically this door leads into the families one or two room house that is attached to the shop. She came out just as she would fully clothed the only difference is her shirt was still in her hand and she had no intention of wearing any thing under it.

I must admit, even after she put on her shirt I had a tough time shaking her hand.