Some of the funny things I didn't mention yet were as follows:
In Cambodia, it was necessary to educate people about condoms since the average family has 5 kids and 60% of the population is under 15. Volunteers educated village people about condoms by using bananas and, well, condoms. All of the people practiced, and it was certain that they were ready to use them accordingly. Well, what happened was that they thought they needed to put a condom on a banana to prevent pregnancy...they didn't realize the true use :) Needless to say, more than one lesson was given.
Secondly, a friend of mine was trying to buy tampons in Vietnam and couldn't really act it out (acting is a crucial skill for travelling to Asia...) so she showed one that was in a bright pink wrapper to a pharmacist. The pharmacist thought it was lipstick and acted out putting it on her lips. We all looked at her in a sort of weird manner cluing her in that she was wrong. Then she figured it out, screamed "oh...." looked at us in a horrified manner, and said "Oh....you won't be able to find them anywhere here....on no..." She was clearly horrified and it became quite clear that it was seen as a taboo to use such objects.
Now that I am home, culture shock has set in a bit. Johanna has been my princess in shining armour and is helping me get used to cars, sidewalks, no bikes, drinking water from taps, non-Aussie/European language, and all TV channels in English! Woo hooooooo! It is nice to be back :)
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