Two or three mental bridges

For me to cross into my new cultural setting, in order to be acceptable... things i did not anticipate:

Is not the life of a faithful sojourner in distant lands characterized by adaptations to cultural presumptions about the native? is not the common understanding that appearance is more natural and less "groomed," that food be the same, and foreign comforts to be found few and far between? should i not, then, adapt to such assumptions, becoming all things by all means, if only for some? and should i not, among such, reject the "vanity" of physical appearance, the benefits of healthy decisions, and the former comforts? is this not the image of the adventure i imagined and was promised? i seek my affirmation from home, because i don't receive it here.

For, perhaps, the three most difficult things i have faced thus far are proportional to these common misunderstandings. and thus i am even more of a cultural anomaly than formerly presumed. i am barbaric, dirty, and simple.

"Jamis, if you do not shave your face and comb your hair i cannot look at you and say you are fantastic."

"Jamis, you cannot eat this bread," as he attempts to scratch off a burnt piece and i scold him for touching my bread, "because this is dirty."

"Jamis, why do you not drink fizzy drinks? you cannot drink only water!"

Oh happy day. this past week has been characterized by the unexpected, but welcomed with joy. cow feet is becoming a staple, though i'm not sure the goesers would approve, and we swept the equivalent of maybe ten kilos of sand out of our flat. the sandbox is sure to never disappoint. love is abounding, though depravity sings a loud song.

Present needs:
Somebody stopped asking for a language soaking sponge for a brain, and that was a bad idea... because i need that.

Present certainties and thanks:
There is a fountain,
From which flow rivers of joy,
And i usually swim in it.

Peace be.