The Maria Story

My amusement never ends. I ran into Maria who is on the School Governing Board (SGB) for one of my schools and she got to looking at me. Soon she was contemplating the logistics of my nose piercing. When she realized that I did in fact have a hole through my nose she about had a heart attack. She was soon looking at all my piercings in my ears and slapping her hands back and forth at me begging me to not get anymore. When I started to turn my cartilege piercing she looked at me with the sam disdainful look that I give cow intestines and chicken feet.
I then decided to take it one step further. Soon I revealed to her my belly button piercing. That pushed her over the edge and she could not comprehend why this white person would put all these holes in her body. I could only describer her facade as incredulous disbelief. It's definitely evident the difference between the older and younger generations, traditional versus Westernizing. On on hand, there is Maria incapable of comprehending why I would do this an on the other hand is 24-year-old Sello (my host brother) trying to convince me to pierce my eyebrow also.
Growing up as I did, I can't understand Maria's shock and I enjoyed teasing her that she should get her belly button pierced too (which my host mom thinks is a hilarious idea and Maria finds ultimately disturbing). Yet, I am continuously shocked by some of the behaviors here: Shortly after Maria's outburst her friend told me that in her husband's tribe, after the woman has a baby, they make slit in her side (yes this does mean cuts through her skin) to make pockets for the baby's legs so they can be carried on the back. At hearing this it was my turn to have a "Maria reaction."