Survival Skills

May 6, 2010,

This morning as I was driving to work, I realized that using your horn is a necessary survival skill in Latin America. When I return to the United States, and forget where I am and use the horn, I get evil looks. But here, you have to use the horn to warn drivers that you are present and not planning to just move because they want to do something crazy. It seems to me that the last couple of days I have had to use my horn a lot because of the craziness on the roads.

In thinking of survival skills, I had to think also of cultural adjustments. It takes time to adjust culturally and then there are some things which will never quite seem right, though they are not wrong -- just different from what one is use to. For example on Sunday after church I went with a group of young adults to the small town of Ataco up in the mountains. We had 17 people going so it was enough to take a mini-bus instead of driving 4 vehicles. I was grateful not to have to drive and instead enjoy conversation and the scenery. When we arrived at the town, people began to talk about where to go. I asked if we were going to set a time to meet back at the bus.One of those who had helped plan the transportation said that he thought we would all just stick together. Seventeen staying people staying together translated into covering 1 1/2 blocks of the town in the 2-3 hours that we were there. Several of us wanted to walk up to a lookout by a church farther up on the hill, but we could never get everyone moving to actually make it there. For me it was an interesting experience because I like to be independent and not have to wait on groups of people. Perhaps that is also why I tend to like small groups more than large groups. I realized that if I want to go hiking and really see a National Park or something like that, I will have to make sure only a few people are going. Otherwise we will stop to take a million pictures, rest, and do many other things and never make it very far into the park.
This is perhaps where the other cultural/personality difference comes in. I like to get things done, whether that be work, seeing new places, or being active. In Latin America relationships are what are most important and are the center of everything else. It does not matter, therefore, if you only walk a block and half in a new town, because you are hanging out with everyone. I need to grow in the area of being more relational and so these cultural differences are good for me because they stretch me, moving me out of my comfort zone. The small group activities that I enjoy such as games and hikes I will simply have to plan as that -- small group time -- and not try to fit them into the larger group setting where dividing up into smaller groups is not seen as acceptable.