In the United States, or at the very least in my hometown, you often find women talking. I know that is a shock to you since women are normally silent..... So please know I truth when I say that women can often be found discussing the following: (a) children, their own or hopes for their own, (b) men, both those in their lives and on the big screen, and (c) body fat, either the desire for less or more. As I am here in Africa, I am fast discovering that these subjects are also the topic of much deliberation for women here. Now, forgive me for being shocked; since life here in my new home has been so different than that of my past, I was quite stunned to be included in the following discussion.
“Why is my belly still round.” Said the woman with a darling 3-month-old.
“Oh, your intestines are still ballooned out from where the baby was.” said the woman on the far side of the room.
“No, No.” said the woman across from the first. “I tell you, this will stay until you start wrapping your belly with a warm towel.”
“What?” replied the woman on the far side of the room. “That is not how that works; besides, the towel would get cold.”
“How does this work?” inquired the new mother.
“Say do you remember the time of COVID?” said the woman across from her. “In that time I was fat, you would not even recognize me. That is when I started using the local way and wrapping my belly and now you see I am not fat.”
“This is not fact.” said the woman across the room. “Her fat will go down in time, and when she has another baby, it will come back.”
“I am telling you, try the local method for a month and tell me it does not work.” interjected the woman sitting across from the mother.
“So I suppose one just walks around half-dressed, changing warm towels all day then.” The woman across the room threw back.
“Of course not, you wear a loose dress!” the woman replied.
You see, while I was having to hold back boisterous laughter, it was as if God was sitting next to me, nudging me with His elbow, saying, see, it is not so different. So, while it is good to recognize differences in a new culture, I think a more beneficial task is to look for similarities. If you are like me, you may just find that they outnumber the differences.