Summer Vacation part 5:

On a related note to part 4:
Cultural relativism, attitude, humility.

There are lots of things that we do a certain way, on the assumption that our way is the proper way of doing those things.
On the bus ride from Potosi to Uyuni, the bus was packed. All the seats were full. Kids were sitting on parents' laps. People were standing in the aisles. People were riding in the cabin with the driver. Nicolas, who i was travelling with, was kind of uncomfortable. His reaction was pretty natural, because based on his experience of Canadian busses, he didn't expect to have anyone standing beside him, looming over him, leaning against him on the sharper corners.
It takes a sense of humility to deal with things like this. You have to remember that this may not be appropriate to you, but it is appropriate in Bolivia, and guess what? You're in Bolivia!

And of course, these things work both ways. While we felt sort of crushed on the way to Uyuni, on the way home from Potosi we wouldn't have been allowed on the bus at all if we'd been in Canada. The seats were all full, so they put us in the front of the bus with the driver, which is about the size of a large bathroom and partitioned off from the passengers. Actually, it wasn't just Nicolas and I who were in the cabin. At one point, including the driver, there were NINE of us. A tenth guy tried to jump in while we stopped, but the driver decided nine was enough and closed the door on him.

Of course, there are limits to cultural relativism, like avoiding food that looks really unsanitary, even if it seems to be acceptable by local standards. And there's rights and equality issues, which prettymuch every culture needs to work on in one place or another.
But for the most part, whenever you want to think something's not being done "properly", you may need to check your ethnocentrism and think again.

This isn't just a question of being respectful of the culture you're living in.. it's also a question of expanding your understanding of things and growing as a person.

Maybe, for example, the north american obsession with personal space bubbles is kind of egotistical and selfish.
And while cleanliness is important, maybe north americans take it to a degree that is a bit on the excessive side.