cultural differences

I've had several occasions recently to work with families who speak languages other than English. It's really not that common where I live, but has suddenly become common and problematic. I have responsibilities to insure that the families receive translation services, if needed, and to have written information in their native language, if possible. It hasn't worked out too neatly because of a lack of resources and (IMHO) a lack of initiative on the part of the higher-ups, but we try to provide. This has led me to thinking about cultural differences, too. And some of my travels have exposed me to different cultures here in the U.S. of A., for example, Navajo traditions and ways. In one of my email discussions with a colleague, I was rambling and it occurred to me that in some small ways, I was culturally different. Before that revelation, I hadn't really thought of myself in those terms.

Although I was born in the east, I grew up in the west. Serious western desert. 120 degrees every day in the summer. Low desert, not far from Death Valley, Mexico, California and the Colorado River. The Colorado was only 6 blocks from my house. By the time it reached that part of Arizona, it was a trickle of water, what we would call a stream or creek in the east. We could easily wade across it and not get our shorts wet. When I was 12, we moved to North Carolina. The first school I attended was in a town called Bridgton and it sat on the banks of the Neuse River and some other river that joined it just before they flowed to the ocean. The water was deep, fast, choppy and brackish AND IT WAS AT THE EDGE OF THE PLAYGROUND! I don't know if you can imagine what it's like to go from desert to lots of rain and a huge river. I didn't know the natural properties of water, so as far as I was concerned, that raging river was liable to jump it's banks at any moment and wash me away. I was terrified to go on the playground and couldn't imagine why a school would be built next to such a dangerous thing. I wasn't afraid of water in general and was actually a good swimmer, but I knew I didn't stand a chance if that water came after me.

Well, that musing led to some other things that I remember being ignorant about. I remember seeing tree branches touching overhead while we were going down a road (in Arkansas). I thought it was really cool that this tunnel of trees had been designed. It took awhile before I caught on that trees just grew and weren't shaped deliberately in most cases. I remember going up a mountain and thinking that we were just going to fall off. It was a small two lane road that twisted and turned and it seemed like we would slide off like dirt, or rocks or water. I didn't know what a gymnasium was. I had read the word in books, but I had never seen one. (In the desert you just play outside all the time because it doesn't rain. None of the schools I had ever seen had a gym). I couldn't imagine what "overcast" referred to. Again, I had read it in books but it didn't have meaning. My parents tried to explain it to me, but I couldn't picture it until we were in Texas and my mother pointed to the sky and told me that it was overcast.

We lived near a marine air base and an army proving ground. I thought everyone got knocked out of their seats at school regularly by sonic booms. It was a long time in the east before I thought, "Why don't I hear those anymore?" We didn't have air conditioning or a shower in our house, so those were new experiences. I must have been in my teens before I took a shower.

On the other hand, I knew how to avoid getting stung by scorpions, how to live with and watch out for the black widow spiders that were inside and outside of our house, how to catch big lizards, which cactus I could touch and which ones to give a wide berth to, and all about Mexican food. (Taco Bell had not come east in 1966 and few people in the east knew what a taco was). I knew a little Spanish, how to recognize the sour oranges on the trees, and how to grab limes from the trees in the school yard. I didn't know about lightening, though and it was years before I wasn't terrified of it.