Cultural Reflections

It´s been strange (in a good way) to be in another country for a few weeks - and to recognise the differences in culture - even though there are similarities as well. Cuba is a bit of an enigma in itself. Outside of the country, it´s portrayed in so many different ways - depending on your political leanings or which aspects of society you put greater emphasis on. It´s achievements in education and health service are some of the best in the world, but the same can´t be said for freedom of speech and human rights. And within the country, even the great acheivements of the government aren´t quite what they seem. The Cuban newspapers are always full of good news  -- which is a breath of fresh air compared to Guatemala where the most popular newspaper is nicknamed 'The Daily Death' -- but of course if you only ever hear good news, people doubt it´s authenticity and accuracy.
And the Cuban people are very different from Guatemalans -- they seem to be much more outgoing and extroverted, they speak very directly and loudly,  - whereas Guatemalans are more reserved and conditional in the way they speak.
Although I speak Spanish, the Cuban accent is very strong and with certain people, I found it difficult to understand. And even when the words were clear,  there´s so much more to communicating in another culture. In many ways I was back to square one - learning about the appropriate ways to interact with people and of course making mistakes along the way. I was reminded again of how a missionary life is not suited to perfectionists! It´s humbling to realise (again) that you don´t understand what´s going on, or how you should react to people and events... but equally encouraging to see the God works in us anyway!