Volume 2 Issue 3 November 2008 www.discoveringdeafworlds.com
Photo courtesy of Christopher Abate
Living Simply: Back to Life in the U.S.
Stimulating streets of Cambodia, April 2008 Out of the eight countries we traveled to this past year, we would have never guessed our greatest culture shock would be returning to the U.S. But as soon as our plane landed in Rochester, N.Y., so many things, once so comfortable, no longer seemed familiar: the smell of beef from fast food restaurants after spending the last four months in countries where cows are sacred; driving on empty, paved roads and stopping at traffic lights at midnight when we just came from the stifling traffic and fumes of taxis, rickshaws, tukstuks, buses, mopeds, chickens, and children crossing
What is DDW? Dave Justice and Christy Smith are traveling the world to learn and share stories of empowerment, inspiration, and connection between international Deaf communities. Discovering Deaf Worlds (DDW) is an opportunity to give deaf people worldwide a voice. For more information, photos, video logs, and newsletter stories, visit www.discoveringdeafworlds.com.
Silent suburbs of the U.S., October 2008 the street at lighting speeds, where everyone seems to have the right of way; and passing suburb after suburb, realizing it had been nine months since we had last seen a yard. We’ll have to get used to all this again. Some things were easy, like the simple day-to-day routines of brushing our teeth from the faucet instead of a bottle of water, or having a toilet to sit on instead of a hole in the ground to squat over. But the sudden lack of stimulation can be depressing. We miss the activity of strangers tugging at our sleeves to take us to their shops or practice their English, the unique smells of street vendor foods, diesel smoke, spices, urine, and unfamiliar incense all blended in one, the endless noise of circus-like bus horns and hagglers bargaining prices, and the challenge of speaking, signing, or writing new foreign languages everyday right outside our front door. As we cope with the reverse culture shock of our transition back to an American lifestyle, we find ourselves still pulling clothes out of our backpacks instead of using a dresser, sleeping on a borrowed mattress on the floor, relying on e-mail and pay phones while resisting the urge to buy cell phones or pagers, hand-washing our dress-up clothes in the sink inLIVING SIMPLY, continued on page 6 November 2008 1