Handbook for Explorers 5

The people here are hard to understand;
Nothing you brought could have eased the way:
As they draw wider circles in the sand
The less you know what they are trying to say.
Expect the unexpected at each step:
Customs that turn yours upside down; language
Without roots you recognise. You're in deep;
Curiousity roused, you want to guage
If there is any interest or hope
In the way they greet you; for you're alone;
Their projects seem to be beyond your scope
And their slogans, chanted in a passion,
Whose source - love, hate or religious belief -
You judge a well of unquenchable grief.