The Selix Ford Family Survival Guide: Manya and Papa see the world through a new lens

It was fun to see how my mom and dad looked at things from a fresh perspective. I didn't realize that I had already started to take things for granted until I had a look through the pictures they had taken. They were interested in things that had, at first, seemed strange and new to me too. But now, my first thoughts were... "why did they want a picture of that?" and I realized that I had become more acclimatized than I thought.
To begin with... they were apropriatly shocked at my amazing driving skills. I took to driving here like a fish to water. To the other drivers on the road I am just another fish in the school of flowing, meandering traffic. However, to a "newbie" from America where everyone "likes to follow the rules" and there is lots of personal space, even for cars... well my driving came as a bit of a shock! Here are a couple of their "Crazy woman driving!" pictures.

Another intriguing thing they discovered about riding in a car with me, was the need to buy tissues from street-light vendors. You see - there is the requisite box that you must buy initially... so that they will stop bugging you when you prove that you already have a box of Kleenex in your car. Then, of course there is the second box that you must buy because

one box isn't enough to convince them to leave you alone. Then, of course, at least for me, there is the third box that you whip out just for a laugh when they say that two is not enough! Really gets them going! Now they see me coming and just smile and wave the boxes temptingly, but don't really expect me to buy any.

Another thing that was new and unusual to see was the donkeys and horse carts - usually hauling garbage, and junk, and what looks like garbage and junk but really doesn't seem like it to the owner of the cart, and occasionally... fresh lemons.

I took Mom and Dad to a recommended native restaurant where they got to immerse themselves in the local traditions. However, the music wasn't traditional (I guess they thought we would appreciate music with English lyrics more) which we didn't mind when it was Queen... but when that was followed by Dolly Parton... I requested some more traditional music and we settled in for the rest of the two hour meal.

My folks were also impressed that there were actually some survivors of the recent holiday and I had to point out that all the "soldiers" were killed at war - and only the women and children were left.