Rolling with the Punches

Life here is interesting to say the least. Being thrown into a new culture you're forced to adapt rather quickly. Living here now for about 6 weeks there has definitely been things that happen that completely catch me off guard and many of these turn into some pretty funny moments. Some things that happen have become normal to me and I don't even think twice about unless I begin to think back to my life in the US while other things as soon as they happen force me to just laugh and think how crazy it is that this is now my life. For instance nearly every day at some point as I'm walking down the street I end up playing chicken with a chicken, I have to dodge massive piles of cow poop, I have to run away from geese because they are ruthless beings, and I'm asked a minimum of three times what my name is by little kids. These are the things that have just become normal. But then there's the time I was walking to class with a group of trainees when as we begin to pass a big cow it suddenly decides to charge at us and forces us to run for our lives into the ditch (still not sure how all of us made it out alive and unscathed from the rogue omby) forever causing all of us to have severe distrust of all cows thereafter. Or the time I was walking to class alone just minding my own business and I was approached by a woman who said something to me about buying something. I didn't quite catch what she was saying so I asked her to repeat herself and that's when she opens up the bag she's carrying and asks me if I want to buy the two live chickens that are lying in it. I politely declined. Or there was also the time our little neighbor kids were hanging out at our house after lunch and the youngest one steps out of the house onto the porch and just pops a squat and starts peeing right there on the porch. Once my sister noticed she took them and carried them to the edge she they could pee off the edge instead. Often times living here just means smiling and nodding and acting like everything is normal. This is basically my survival technique as I am lucky to understand much of anything that is being said. I just try to pick out words I understand and then base the conversation off that. Sometimes I'm right and can hold a conversation other times I tell someone yes when they ask how I am doing...

 If there's one thing that I've learned about myself these last few weeks is that I just have to constantly be able to laugh at myself and just roll with the punches.