Culture Shock
I just had to post this email from Mom about what's happening back home in my absence. Made me laugh out loud, sitting here in Vangie's office at CCACC (Covenant Christian Academy and Children's Center):
"There was once a dog that lived in Gambia and had the good fortune to go to America. Among the many differences between the two countries, one was the use of electric lights. The people in America were still active and busy after the sun went down - but that didn’t really impress the dog from Gambia who still believed that a good night’s sleep was important, so nightfall would generally see him finding a couch in a dark room (fortunately the people in America had a room they rarely seemed to use) and going to sleep.
All was well until another former Gambian also found her way to America and insisted that, despite the fact that she too had always gone to bed and risen with the sun, these 2 immigrants had to change their ways. She went so far as to completely reverse the routine-they would sleep during the day and be up and active at night! The Gambian dog dutifully followed her example. Things seemed to work well until the girl went away. The dog was left with a person, an American, who didn’t believe in the girl’s philosophy about sleep. She expected him to go to sleep at night - but it wasn’t that easy. Around midnight, he just found himself wide awake. He paced through the house, which also discouraged the American dog he lived with from sleeping, so they both ran around and wrestled and played. This did not go over well with the American. Around 2:00 a.m., she got very angry and actually locked the 2 dogs in the bedroom so they couldn’t run around any more. The poor former Gambian dog is very confused-just exactly how is he supposed to know when to sleep in America when he gets such mixed messages?!"
"There was once a dog that lived in Gambia and had the good fortune to go to America. Among the many differences between the two countries, one was the use of electric lights. The people in America were still active and busy after the sun went down - but that didn’t really impress the dog from Gambia who still believed that a good night’s sleep was important, so nightfall would generally see him finding a couch in a dark room (fortunately the people in America had a room they rarely seemed to use) and going to sleep.
All was well until another former Gambian also found her way to America and insisted that, despite the fact that she too had always gone to bed and risen with the sun, these 2 immigrants had to change their ways. She went so far as to completely reverse the routine-they would sleep during the day and be up and active at night! The Gambian dog dutifully followed her example. Things seemed to work well until the girl went away. The dog was left with a person, an American, who didn’t believe in the girl’s philosophy about sleep. She expected him to go to sleep at night - but it wasn’t that easy. Around midnight, he just found himself wide awake. He paced through the house, which also discouraged the American dog he lived with from sleeping, so they both ran around and wrestled and played. This did not go over well with the American. Around 2:00 a.m., she got very angry and actually locked the 2 dogs in the bedroom so they couldn’t run around any more. The poor former Gambian dog is very confused-just exactly how is he supposed to know when to sleep in America when he gets such mixed messages?!"