Culture Shock and Day 24 of 100 Faces painted in 100 days

Today's painting includes some mail that my mother saved when she was alive. It was a parcel written by a friend she met while living in Africa. I think just saying "while living in Africa" sounds so incredible sometimes. It always elicits some kind of "oooohhh" response when you tell people that.
We moved stateside in 1970. So just imagine being eleven years old and arriving in a new town where you have to lock your front door, there are schools that seperate the elementary kids from the middle and senior kids. There are more children in the new elementary school then there were in my former school. We had all grades,  kindergarten through twelfth grade. Then on the first day of school I excitedly decided to wear my favorite shoes, red leather sandals.The had been custom made for me in Italy on our last trip home. The leather on the shoe, the part that touched my foot was a polished leather. It felt so good on my feet. There was a slight little heel on the back that was covered in red leather. And red leather straps. I LOVED those sandals. They were molded to my exact foot shape. Nothing hurt or felt uncomfortable on those sandals. So .. off I go proud and wide eyed and scared of all the new things I would encounter on that first day. I went into  class and it seemed as though all the kids looked at me oddly. I was wearing clothes my mother made and my beautiful red sandals. I was happy in those sandals. I don't remember much else about what I did that first day except that I had to leave early. In fact I had to go to the office with a note which I didn't understand. My mother came to pick me up. I heard her talking to the people in the office. We left and she told me not to wear the sandals to school anymore. I asked why???? She said "they don't allow children to wear open toed shoes to school" I still didn't understand but somewhere in the discussions about this that would take place through out the day I heard "it's unsanitary". Hmmmmmm I didn't understand still. I would have to wear the sandals at home or just when I was with my family. Made no sense to me. There were so many strange rules in this new school.
So what does this have to do with the face today? The face today seems vacant somehow .. distant in thought or something like that. My perception only and the year 1970 written on the note to my mother, her friend telling her she missed us. I thought about that year .......and how this new school was strangely different then where I had been ... in a small American school in the huge continent of Africa. I missed it .. very very much...

So thanks for reading my stories .. I have so many .. perhaps this is the best part besides the record of faces. The stories. I'll have to keep it somewhere so my grandchildren will read about my experience of living in a strangely beautiful and wonderful place. Maybe.

And if you would like to own Culture shock face 24.. send me a note at iwilldream4ever@aol.com. Tomorrow I will have a special face .. I hope you will come by and read what I have to say... Have a wonderful day .. I will!!