"It is forbidden to ride a camel inside the village,"

-
my Sudanese friend told me.

The reason is that the homes have no roofs, except over the kitchen / cooking area. If you were travelling through the village perched atop a camel, you would be able to see over the walls and into people's homes.

Image nabbed from here.

Comments

B said…
Interesting.
July 12, 2007 1:43 PM
Mother of Invention said…
That's kinda neat....but I love looking into people's homes! At Christmas time I walk around town just to look at lights and trees inside houses..it's so glowing and nice to get a slice of another person's life at that time of year.
July 12, 2007 7:10 PM
TorAa said…
Most interesting. Forbidden to see what people actually do privatly. HM - what a about windows?
July 13, 2007 10:37 AM
Richard said…
breal: I love learning about peoplle and their cultures and customs. I remember once asking my friend about buses in Japan. She thought I was putting her on, but I wasn't I really wanted to know how bus service differed from Japan and here (not much, apparently).

MOI: then you might like walking around in Holland. Things may have changed, but my dad told me a huge shock for him in Holland was seeing that people did not bother to draw their drapes in the evening. He was shocked that they comported and entertained with their windows wide open to the world. Now, this may have changed over the last 40-50 years since my dad was there.

toraa: I am not sure if the homes have windows or not. They may not need any if there is no roof, since you would have natural daylight (a big skylight). Of course, some cultures are different with regard to their windows. In Poland, and certainly the way I grew up, and in Peru, people cover their windows and close them to keep prying eyes out.
July 13, 2007 10:56 AM
Anonymous said…
Oh, I just learned something new from your post.... interesting :)
July 14, 2007 6:20 AM
Anonymous said…
Hmm, new fact learned today!
July 16, 2007 11:13 AM
Richard said…
bee: I am sure there are local laws in Singapore that many would find odd. Each culture adapts and creates laws that it thinks are necessary.

gloria: I am glad I could help you learn something new.
July 17, 2007 9:24 AM
Travis Erwin said…
You learn something new everyday.
July 18, 2007 3:16 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chinese Wisdom Concerning Money

-
[19September-2007 @ 17:11 EST: Revised preamble. This page still gets the most search hits: There is no Anthony de Croud. The e-mail is SPAM. I post things that pique my fancy at the moment. I like the 8 precepts, but the rest of the e-mail is junk. However, I thought it fair to post everything in its entirety. I did not write the e-mail. I did not forward the e-mail. I strongly encourage you not to forward it either. (I also encourage you to reply to whomever sent you the e-mail and tell them you don't appreciate getting junk mail.)] Received this in our e-mail (English translation follows): PRECEPTO CHINO SOBRE EL DINERO EL DINERO PUEDE COMPRAR UNA CASA, PERO NO UN HOGAR, EL DINERO PUEDE COMPRAR UN RELOJ, PERO NO EL TIEMPO. EL DINERO PUEDE COMPRAR UNA CAMA, PERO NO EL SUEÑO. EL DINERO PUEDE COMPRAR UN LIBRO, PERO NO EL CONOCIMIENTO. EL DINERO PUEDE PAGAR UN MÉDICO, PERO NO LA SALUD. EL DINERO PUEDE COMPRAR UNA POSICIÓN, PERO NO EL RESPETO. EL DINERO PUEDE COMPRAR LA SANGRE, PERO ...
Read more

Why you should regularly visit your dentist.

-
I hadn't been to my dentist since May-2004 (normally I went on weekends, but since Sofia and the kids moved to Montreal, I am not in Ottawa on the weekends). Last night, as I was munching on some cashews, I felt a pain in one of my molars and then some grit in my mouth. I went and washed it out, assuming that maybe there had been a stone or something amount the cashews. Turns out I noticed a hole in the surface of the molar (top right, second from the back, my wisdom teeth were removed years ago). Fishing around for grit in my mouth, it looked like crumbled filling. So I assumed that my filling had cracked and crumbled and come out. Went to the dentist this morning, he took an x-ray and came back with bad news. I have a large cavity under the filling, which gave way. The filling did not fall out, but rather impacted into the space of the cavity. He did not rework the filling, since the cavity is very near the root - cleaning it out would likely result in exposing the root. As some...
Read more

Chicken Menses

-
Image
A friend of mine is an ovo-lactic vegetarian. This means that in addition to the plant matter he consumes, he also consumes dairy products and eggs. Dairy products I can accept, but eggs? … hmm, I wasn’t so sure - it sounds a bit like those vegetarians who say they eat chicken and fish. After all, the egg is an animal product. His answer was simple and satisfying, "Eggs are chicken menses. The hen will produce an egg whether she is fertilized or not. Unfertilized eggs are the discarded products of ovulation akin to menses in mammals." Image grabbed from here .
Read more