Since I've been back, these few things have struck me as odd in typical (generally speaking) American Behavior:
1. They are very smiley
2. They are very quiet in general (don't want to disturb the neighbors)
3. They are tense and reserved
4. They walk funny (they lean forward a lot)
5. They don't have "flow" like Haitians do
6. Americans look at you funny and think you're narcissistic if you think of yourself as beautiful and say so.
7. They are not very touchy
8. They do not like waiting for anything
It has been interesting noticing these things in Americans and remembering noticing the opposite in Haitians and thinking it was different. Now looking back, the "Haitian Way" became normal to me and even part of me so that the things that WERE normal and part of me became abnormal. It's all what you get used to and accept as part of your culture. And by "your culture" I mean the culture you become inside of you. For example, I am not all-American anymore; I have some Haitian in me; yet I am not completely Haitian either. Each person chooses what they let become part of them and shape them into the person they are.
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