Culture Shock
from The Urbanite - http://www.urbanitebaltimore.com/janissue/whatyourwriting.htm After I spent nearly a thousand dollars and six hours at the Motor Vehicle Administration, my 1989 Mazda passed the state inspection, and now the back of my car proudly displays a new Maryland plate. However, the screws holding the Washington, D.C. front plate have refused to budge, giving my car a disconcerting—if not illegal—dual identity. In downtown Baltimore you’ll find me working for a large humanitarian aid organization in disaster response. We work in places where people, sometimes against their will, sometimes by free choice, are thrust into new environments amid unknown faces, languages, and cultures; people who, like me, suddenly find themselves dependent on the kindness of strangers. “Is Centre Street that way?” I ask the man at the bus stop. “Honey!” He laughs and points in the opposite direction. “Turn around!” This, I think, is how refugees, hurricane victims, or newcomers