Ostranenie

My culture shock is acute and may never leave me. In Peru, for instance, we were concerned with our own beauty, whereas here I am concerned with the beauty of my house. There are obvious explanations for this shift but I think the best explanation is less obvious: here it actually is within the reach … More Ostranenie

On Culture Shocks

I wrote this post a few days after returning from Peru, so not all of the sensations and impressions it registers are current. It is ironic that I programmed it almost two weeks ago to come up the week of Hurricane Gustav. Soon we will be in a position to compare not only traffic jams … More On Culture Shocks