Village living -body image

I expected living in the village to effect me physically- and it has. Already in two short weeks, my feet are dry and calloused with croc tan-lines and ingrained dirt (despite morning and nightly scrubbing and moisturising!), my hands have blisters, cuts and are starting to toughen up, there are scratches on my forarms and my upper arms are starting to get some muscle definition. My freckles are getting darker and I have some kind of insect bite on my cheek. My hair...I keep wrapped in a headscarf-partly to 'go local' but mostly to keep out dust and little kids fingers. Plus it hurts less carrying stuff on your head if there's some cloth to cushion it. All of which, as I'm sure you could imagine, when combined an old t-shirt, skirt and chitenje combo make me look as 'villagey' as a white chick can.

What I didn't expect though was the impact of village living on my own body image. I'm not overly body obsessed, but even after a year and a half in the back blocks of nowhere I do have the odd hang-up or ten that you'd expect with the amount of advertising we're bombarded with in our 'impressionable teenage years'... but that's a topic for a blog all in it self. Anyways, what I've really noticed and found refreshing is the level of real acceptance here of 'the way God made you'. It's hard to describe. It's not that everyone hangs around singing 'kumbaya'- no way- i've heard enough doozy arguments in the village in the last week to last me a life time- but...they just don't seem to judge people by physical appearance or be as self conscious or image centered as we are. They like to look nice and most people put a LOT of effort into it- but looks, and bodies and clothes are not as defining as they seem to be in the west.

I've found it all quite liberating. Skinny is bad, fat is great. Breasts hang out and hang low and nobody bats an eyelid. Most work is done bending from the waist, and since bra's are a luxury and loose shirts are easier to work in, cleavage/ belly buttonage is a regular occurance. Big bottoms and thighs are beautiful- but must be kept covered and waists are a non-event thanks to the layers involved in keeping the aformentioned bodyparts covered. Dirty feet happen. Clothes are lucky to be clean let alone matching or held on with more than a safety pin.

I haven't figured out what this culture judges people by yet. I'd hazard a guess that it'd have something to do with their abilty to reproduce and their ability to work and help the family survive. But in the mean time I'm quite enjoying the new-found liberation from 'looks obsession' while I consider the benefits of reproduction and learn to work!