Oh the Times, They Are A-Changin'

So I've really been missing and loving Bob Dylan lately. Weird I know, the things you miss but never thought you would. Like Pop-Tarts. So, anyway, I've been listening to Bob Dylan all week thinking that the man was a genius and a prophet.

Two lines from the third verse of the title song are particularly touching to me. "And don't criticize / what you can't understand". I think this is so important to learn when living in a culture that is completely different from your own. We, as foreigners, don't have the cultural background that the local Ghanaian people have been raised with. Thus, we can't ever understand exactly where they are coming from or why they act the way they do. We must strive to learn and understand the upbringing and the typical Ghanaian family life before we can attempt to make judgements on how people act.

I think most people forget that one's home culture is vastly different from those of other nations, races, regions, ethnicities, religions, etc. We interpret the words and actions of others through our own cultural lens. This is quite dangerous, because in doing so, we are imposing our cultural meaning onto someone who might have no knowledge of this paradigm. It's like playing a game of Monopoly and you start using the rules of Parcheesi instead without telling the other player. It will inevitably cause chaos.



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On another note, top ten things I miss, but didn't know I would:

10. Pop-Tarts
9. Toilet paper already being in the bathrooms
8. Tape
7. Littering Fines
6. Being able to walk around and not have people stare at me
5. Veronica Mars
4. My hair
3. Refrigerators
2. Those wall hooks that you can stick on the wall and won't rip off the paper when you remove them (odd I know, but I said things I didn't know I would miss)
1. Running water