Saturday, July 9, 2011

Lost in the Cultural Sea... But I'm enjoying the view

     Well, it has been way too long since my last blog. To say I have been extremely busy would be a major understatement though. I have a ton to write about so I will start with my vacation to Sherm-El-Shiek. Let's just say Sherm-El-Shiek may be one of the best places to vacation on the planet. It was Florida on steroids. I stayed at an all exclusive resort right on the Red Sea. I wish I was a good enough writer to explain this place, but I just don't have the skills needed to give a great idea of what Sherm-El-Shiek is. All I can say is that I was jealous of myself. I got a chance to use my underwater camera and it worked perfectly. I got some amazing pictures of the fish in the Red Sea and a few of the sunset over the Sinai Mountains. There are some on Facebook, but I will try to post them if I can. The food at this place was so great. I mean, I ate some awesome food. They had every type of food you could imagine. I ate a lot in my four days there. On one of those days I got to go ATV riding out in the desert. It was pretty awesome. We got to ride around some of the mountains. We saw a few camels too, but unfortunately I didn't get to ride one. Other than that, I didn't do much. I just laid out on the beach and by the pool.
     Once I got back from the trip is when the stress and busyness really piled on. There has been so much new stuff about Arabic that has been thrown on me in a really short amount of time. It has been tough on me because I do struggle when it comes to learning all the grammar rules. I mean, heck, I have a hard time remembering all the English grammar rules. Really though, I have been able to handle the new information pretty well. Also, I have had much more homework than usual and I have had a few tests and I still have a few more to go. I have been studying for all of those, but all of that hasn't been too bad I guess. It does get stressful though.
     The culture stress has been really rough as well. It just has been hard for me to get into any kind of groove here because I have to think about everything. I mean, even with a small walk to school and back I have to dodge traffic while I cross a major road. I have been nearly hit by a school bus twice. Not to mention, I was almost trampled by a herd of goats coming down the street. The washing machine is one of the most awful things one could experience and I can't flush toilet paper down the toilet. Honestly, at times, I just want to go home. There are times where I just want to be done here and get back home and watch a Red's game, eat a good cheeseburger, and just zone out for a few hours. Those feelings come in waves though and are really pretty brief. Maybe a day or two at most because I do love it here, it's just a major readjustment that takes a lot out of me. I want to be here. I want to learn this language and I want to know the people because the people here are special.
     I really do love the Arab people, buy I still don't understand them. What I mean is that a lot of their actions still just confuse me beyond belief, but seems perfectly normal to them and I just can't figure it out. I don't really want to go into much detail about specific events that have occurred because I am worried that it would sound like I am really stereotyping all Arabs and I don't want to do that because it very well could have been the situations.\ that I was in and not true for all situations. But they mostly involve a passion for eating peanuts, sitting on steps, and watching fountains for multiple hours. I want to make it very clear that I love the people here. They really are some of the most generous people I have ever met. I just don't understand them, that's all. On the same note, I am finding a major challenge is that generosity that makes the people here so amazing. They are generous to the point that I feel bad they are trying so hard to make me happy. I am a pretty simple guy when it comes to being happy. I don't need to be served and waited on 24/7 to be happy. What do you do though when it's a culture that makes it shameful for them to not treat you like that. Well, for awhile it's easy to grin and bear it. You don't really have much of a choice. I am here for ten weeks and I can only do that for so long. I am still working on an answer on that and I really don't know how to solve this. I'll give a quick example. Kirby and I went to some coffee shop that we had never been to before and we just wanted to give it a try. We asked if they had any food and we were told that they did. They had burgers, salad, chicken, and a few other things so we ordered two burgers. Well, 45 minutes later we saw one of the employees walk in with a carry-out bag. They went out and got us burgers. They didn't serve food there, they just didn't want to tell us no. The thing was we didn't want to wait 45 minutes to get two burgers that came from a place not far from our apartment and that we had been before. So getting us food, while it was very kind and generous action, it wasn't what we really wanted or needed. It's really hard to battle misplaced kindness and generosity. I mean it would have been easier for both of us if he just would have said, "No, we don't have any food." He really just couldn't say no and bring shame on his shop. Hopefully, by the end of this I'll have an answer for you and me.
     I may be lost here at time, but the last thing I want is to sound like I don't like it here. I truly do love it here, but I do get homesick at times. Like I said, it passes pretty quickly. This place is quickly becoming a home to me and I am falling in love with this culture. I feel like I am on a small island of me and the water is slowly taking over the island and I can't stop it. I don't think I want to though because I am getting closer and closer to the people and the culture of this place. Maybe drowning in it isn't a bad thing.
     So I got a little off track from what I wanted to write about, but it just kind of happened so it's all good. Well, I know I should say more, but I need to study. I have a big exam coming up so that's all for now. Thanks for reading.

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