About Crooked Necks

I studied abroad in Harare, Zimbabwe for a semester in 2000. For me and many of my classmates this was our first time living outside of the US. Upon arrival we felt like walking anomolies in the city. None of us had fully considered just how much we would stand out there and we were all pretty floored by the initial experience. One of my fellow students said she felt like every head turned when she passed; like everyone was looking at her with a crooked neck. She paused for a second though and then remarked, "well, I guess we all have crooked necks."

I think it's a good way to conceptualize how people approach what's foreign, what's othered, and what they don't understand. I'll be looking for crooked necks a lot on my trip and I'll try to be cognisant of the times when my C4 goes out of whack.