Culture Shock II

Yes my fellow readers, I am here to say culture shock is not just a one time thing as everybody think, including me. I have been going through another rollar coaster of emotions. I must say the second time is a little bit easier to deal with because you actually know what it is. I knew it was another attack of culture shock when the simple things that I should be accustomed to sent me up the wall. For example the closeness, or lack of space, when standing in line, or talking to someone. I almost lost my head just because I wanted my space. Why must people be so close here? Sometimes culture shock happens because something changes. I believe this could be due to my internship/volunteership. I love my internship, but it was somthing new and still is. I had to start catching the bus and here the bus is not a simple thing. You have to be protective of your things to be sure not to get robbed, you have to jump off the bus at your stop because they do not stop fully, they pick people up anywhere, there are bus stops but it does not matter if you are standing in the middle of the street they will stop and pick you up. With all of this in mind it really did something to me. Then not to long ago I had a accident on the bus that really had me scared to take the bus again, but catching the bus has to be easier than coming to another country for eight months right? Well I took the bus as usual to my internship and because these buses are very crowed there are always very few seats. Therefore, this young boy sits next to me, I say young because he seemed young, he automatically starts talking to me. It made me feel a little uncomfortable from the begining. I never actually said anything to him I just shook my head yes or no, or shurgged my shoulders. He then did something so unexpected and very shocking. He kissed my shoulder. I was so furious, but not knowing if he could have a weapon on him I said nothing, or did nothing. At that moment I wanted to hit him in his face. I felt like I lost all control over my body just because I could not say anything. He then put his hand on my thigh I then took my bookbag and slammed it down on my legs. He jerked his hand back and said nothing else to me. I was so mad I wanted to scream, but clearly being a foreign women on a bus full of Ecuadoreans was not the right place to go off on the guy. I thought I was fine after this whole ordeal, but the next day there he was again. Same boy, different time, and it scared me a little, to be honest. This time the bus was not full and when he tried to sit next to me I told him I wanted to sit by myself. He stayed sitting next to me, so I looked at him raised my voice a notch higher and repeated myself. Part of me was so scared, but the other part of me was so furious and serious. This of course did not help with my culture shock and sent me in an uproar and tears for a day. I share this story because things like this can happen to anyone while studying abroad and eventhough it scared me, and I did not want to take the bus anymore, going through experiences like these make you face your fears, makes you stronger, any may even put you back through culture shock. I got back on the bus the next day, I faced my fear and I have not seen him ever since. Going through anything during culture shock can make you act over emotional so I do believe that knowing the signs of culture shock can help you act rational in any situation. Somethings I noticed was increase cleaning; I wash my hands maybe twenty times a day (yes I still do), over emotional, normal cultural differences you already know about seem to mess with you more than normal. These are only somethings I started to notice, but not to mention, culture shock is different for everyone. It can hit at different times, and people handle it differently. I am sure all my fellow readers will be happy to know my second round of culture shock is starting to desipate. I will be normal soon only to return home and go through it again.