First lunch, final meeting, with Nasser

            After learning that Nasser actually has a meal plan and sometimes eats at the BLUU, we decided to eat lunch there today. But unfortunately by the time lunch came around, Nasser wasn’t feeling like eating because his breakfast wasn’t sitting too well. I went and got my food, and then we sat and talked.

            He asked me how my organic chemistry test went. Bad. That was all I could say. And then I quickly changed the subject. He said that he just realized he has three projects and a presentation by the end of the semester, one of which he has to give the day he flies back home to Saudi Arabia. Sounds like today was a little rough school-wise for both of us…

            Since we were eating lunch, I asked him what a typical lunch is like in Saudi Arabia. He said rice is very important, rice and meat. Lunch is the big meal in their culture as opposed to America where dinner is the main, heavy meal. Since he said meat (other than beef) is so important, I asked if there are many vegetarians. “Oh yes!” He said that are about 20 different types of vegetarians. I asked if they have typical American food. I was thinking more pizza, hamburgers, chicken, salads… I got another “Oh yes!” He said in Saudi Arabia there is Chilis, Fridays, KFC, McDonalds… They even have BigMac’s in their McDonalds. Why are Americans everywhere? Militaristically and commercially…

            He asked me if I have ever been to the musical performances on campus. I have only been to the theatre, not the music recitals. I asked if he has ever played an instrument; he said he tried to teach himself but he wasn’t very good. I have never played an instrument either. Gymnastics took the place of piano lessons for me.

            I asked him what he was going to do with the rest of his day, or what he normally does with his days. He said he loves to go to Starbucks and study; he goes there almost every day. The baristas not only know what he drinks (even after one visit and a two week break in between visits), but now when they see him getting out of his car, they start making his drink and have it ready by the time he gets to the counter. What service! I would love to be known in a Starbucks like that, except that I can’t afford to go to Starbucks that regularly, even when all I drink is a small, black coffee.

            I needed to go work on a group project, but as I left I told him that we were done meeting for the required meetings, but that if he wanted to continue to meet we could. He said he would like to meet some more; he likes the practice. He wished me a Happy Thanksgiving and told him to enjoy being home in Saudi Arabia for winter break.

            Whether we meet again or not, I have thoroughly enjoyed taking the time to sit and talk with someone not only from another country and culture, but specifically someone of the Islamic faith who enjoys talking about religion. My favorite discussions were those where we talked about our beliefs, never shooting each other down, but always comparing and contrasting beliefs, asking questions, and breaking down stereotypes. I think that has been the most beneficial part of this aspect of the class: breaking down those generalizations and stereotypes that Americans hold true about the Middle East and Muslims.

Meeting with Nasser #7

             I am beginning to understand how time means different things to different cultures. We learned in speech that America is a monochromic culture where time is viewed as a scarce resource which must be rationed and controlled by schedules and appointments, whereas polychromic cultures view good relationships as the important thing so the use of time needs to be flexible in order to please everybody; the west is traditionally monochromic and the east is polychromic. In my meetings with Nasser, I can definitely see this difference between our cultures’ view of time. Nevertheless, we managed to meet for about 20 minutes today.

            Nasser went and saw the play put on by TCU three times this weekend. He originally thought he was going to see a person play piano, but it turned out to be the play. After watching it, he loved it so much that he bought tickets to see it two more times. I’m not positive this is what he was saying, but he said that even after seeing it once and then twice, he was not sure if there was going to be a second half; I would assume the play is performed the same way every time, so maybe Nasser is just not used to American plays?

            We talked a little bit about the weather and Thanksgiving. I asked if he has finals and if he takes different classes or if his English intensive program is one class. He is in four different classes (I think these were all the classes he told me): reading, writing, speaking, and listening; he has a final in each one. But after finals, he is going home to Saudi Arabia for a month! He hasn’t been home in over a year, so he is really excited to be home, but not at all excited for the journey home. He said it takes 20-24 hours to get back, and this time he has a five hour layover in London. Then I shared my awful travel experience of when I went to Moscow for a gymnastics competition.

            At that, we set up out next meeting for tomorrow. I had told him that not only do I have a really important and crazy hard organic chemistry test tomorrow, but I also have a Spanish quiz and a Spanish group presentation. When he heard that, he wanted me to go study; he felt guilty for being late for a third time and didn’t want to take anymore of my time from my homework. That was very sweet of him. When we meet tomorrow, the o-chem test will be behind me!

Tales of Juha: Arabic Commentary on the Human Condition

             I found Tales of Juha to be the most benign, yet truthful, humorous piece we have read so far because mankind and the human condition are the targets of each of the stories. One particular group is not targeted; the stories are not far-fetched, imaginary situations created purely to evoke a “belly-laugh;” the humor is not physical or dirty; rather, these stories poke fun at the general stupidity of humans. Often times, this is done through wit on the part of Juha, who continually out-smarts, through seemingly stupid actions, another character in the story. I consider this humor to be intellectual; it focuses on words and double meanings, and is not as blunt as American humor can often be.

            This style of humor ties in very closely with Arabic society and the freedoms that exist in the Middle East. Freedom of speech is not all inclusive like in America, which controls a lot of what is considered funny. The government cannot be joked about publicly; in addition, personal lives, marriage, sex, religion, and cuss words are not allowed. These conditions eliminate most of what Americans use for entertainment. But all of these restrictions raise entertainment to a higher caliber; just like Arabic music is based off of well-known poetry set to beautiful lyrics, so too is their humor of a more intellectual and sophisticated nature. Without specific aspects of society to target such as the government or religion, Universal topics such as mankind and the human condition become the punch line. And seriously, who can’t laugh at that? Humans just really are not that bright…

Coffee with Nasser #6

            Nasser and I met for the sixth time today to get coffee at the bookstore. Our meeting was the third cup of coffee I have had today (and by third cup I mean what Americans consider a cup of coffee, not what a portion of coffee is); needless to say, I was a little chatty.

We started off talking about family sizes. Nasser has what Americans consider a large family; I think he said that both his father and mother are one of eight children, and Nasser has three brothers and four sisters. My mom is one of two and my dad is one of three; I only have seven first cousins. He understands why the average number of children is much lower in America; specifically, he mentioned the cost of putting one’s children through college. In Saudi Arabia, the universities pay people to attend. I then proceeded to explain the cost differences between public and private universities, and the general education system in America. He didn’t understand why one still has to pay to attend a public university; for that, I didn’t have an answer (or at least a good one), but I did explain that all public education up until college is free (well, it comes from tax dollars) and that made him feel a little better about the cost of our schools.

In relation to school, Nasser does not understand why Americans study English in school, more specifically in college, because we know how to speak it. I had to explain that our English classes are not focused on grammar like his classes, but instead on reading the massive volume of published works and learning to analyze, critique, and respond to it.

Next, Nasser asked for my email; he found some good Arabic jokes and had tried to send them to me, but couldn’t find my email address in his address book. I mentioned that today I read tales about Juha, and he became so excited! He was surprised to learn that our whole class is reading them, and he was ashamed that he forgot to mention Juha earlier when he told me about Arabic humor. He also asked what I had learned from my research on Arabic humor. As previously mentioned, I want people to pay attention to our presentation, so I will not discuss most of the specifics.

One aspect of Arabic humor that we spent a lot of time talking about is how cussing is off limits in their humor. This filled a lot of time because I had to explain what a cuss word is. I used a few words to explain that a cuss word is a word that once had an everyday, benign definition, but which has since been converted into something used in a derogatory way. I also described cuss words as “bad” words that should not be said. For this, I used the n-word as an example. After I finished explaining why it is so off-limits, he thanked me. He didn’t know that it was a bad word or the derogatory meaning behind it, but he said he has heard it many times. I found that very heartbreaking; a word as derogatory as that should not be used in conversation, yet he has been in America for a year and has heard it many times, never knowing that it is a bad word.

We also talked about the media, and how the Middle East is always portrayed in such a negative light: burning flags, burning buildings, and violent rioting, but that that only represents a couple thousand out of the billion or so Muslims in the world. He said that in the Middle East, in general, there are two groups of people: those who peacefully protest by just standing on the street holding signs or by boycotting products; then there are those who do not want to publicly respond because they recognize the way that the rest of the world sees the Middle East, and they do not want to further that stereotype. I understand that news is news and that it needs to be public knowledge, but why does news always have to be the bad stuff? Can’t people find good stuff informative and worth sharing? What is it about human nature that so attracts our curiosity? From this, we discussed the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that were printed in a Danish newspaper, but I will tell y’all more about that on Wednesday.

2008 and 2012

“According to the racial zodiac, 2000 is the official Year of the Mulatto. Pure breeds (at least the black ones) are out and hybridity is in. America loves us in all of our half-caste glory” (429).

 

“The Mulatto Millennium” was written in 1998, so it is understandable how 2000 is addressed as the Year of the Mulatto (a “mulatto” is an individual that is half white, half black, or more generally of mixed race); more accurately, I believe that 2008 and 2012 can better be classified in this way. Last night, America re-elected its first “black” president.

Socially, “hydridity” is acceptable in today’s culture; couples of mixed-race are married all the time, whether it is whites and blacks, asians and blacks, or even people with a little bit here and a little bit there. Hybridity has become common place, but I don’t think people of mixed-race are loved. Before, and even after, the election of President Barak Obama in 2008, people who were opposed to him winning the presidency decided to lash out; with no political stance on which to base their attacks, he was instead attacked personally. People attacked his race, his citizenship, and his religion.

In this election, his race, citizenship, and religion were not the factors that determined “yea” or “nay” votes from Americans, but instead, it was his policies and practices over the last four years. Whether people like him or not as the President no longer comes from whether or not they like the color of his skin. That is why 2008 and 2012 can better be classified as the “Year of the Mulatto”: in 2008, we elected our first “black” president, and in 2012, it did not matter that he was “black.”

I think we are moving in the right direction socially; we are moving from tolerating the actions of others by allowing mixed-marriages to accepting the diversity of people. Standardized forms have not caught up with the current social times so that there is a “check here” box for every “new” race created through mixed marriages, but about as often as you see a “pure” marriage (and a marriage that isn’t broken), you see a mixed-race marriage with beautiful mixed children. Although I am purely white (and pretty pasty at that), technically I am a hybrid, not in the color of my skin, but in my culture; my mom is American, and my dad is British (and now American because he became a citizen). Is there anything wrong with me, or anyone else that is mixed, because parents come from two different places on the earth, pronounce words differently, and have different historical backgrounds? Absolutely not! God made us all beautiful, just the way we are!

Outside a closed coffee shop with Nasser #5

            So after almost two weeks of no responses to my texts, I sit down to write my professor an email explaining the situation and lo and behold, a text from Nasser! So we met today outside of the TCU bookstore like normal. One unfortunate thing was that the bookstore was closed today for inventory purposes so Nasser was not able to get coffee; apparently 3pm on a Sunday is a little too early for him.

While to trying to catch up from the last two to three weeks since we last met, a car rolled down University blaring music. We then discussed the differences between American music and Saudi Arabian music. He said Saudi Arabian music does not have genres like American, but is all of the same style, most of which is composed and performed by three very famous Egyptians artists. He said that if you were to walk up to anyone on the street and ask if they know [insert name in Arabic of famous Egyptian composer], they will say yes. He describes his music as more sophisticated because the lyrics are the words to well known poems; beautiful poetry is set to a tune and that is the music they listen to. For this reason, I have to agree that their music is more sophisticated; it is about much more mentally engaging material than drugs, sex, girls, and booze.

Then I asked him about humor because the Middle East is the region of choice for my Humor Around the World presentation next Wednesday. I do not wish to give away some of the answers he gave because otherwise ya’ll would be less inclined to listen in class (I say that because I assume that everyone that reads this is from this class), but we talked about general categories of jokes, political jokes, the ability of puns in the Arabic language, and like always religion. He said that he would try to find some good jokes (or at least jokes that are still good once translated) on the internet and send them to me.

One thing I did learn is that Saudi Arabia does not have absolute freedom of speech as compared to how Nasser views freedom of speech in America. I did explain that our speech is not absolute: we cannot yell “fire” in a crowded theatre because it can cause harm, but in Saudi Arabia emotional harm is considered worse than physical harm and so speech is more restricted. People do not say things that attack a person based on physical appearance or dislike for that person. He explained that this restriction comes from personal conviction due to religious beliefs, as is the case with many of the laws in his country, whereas in America the law determines the behavior of many citizens.

Finally, we came to one of my least favorite subjects: politics. I asked if there were any sort of elections held in Saudi Arabia; there are not because the government system in place is a monarchy, but he isn’t quite sure how long that will last because most of the other Arabic nations in the area all hold elections. Yet again he made me feel guilty and like a bad American (I will say that I am not the most politically informed, patriotic American out there, but honestly medicine and science is so much more interesting that politics); he watched all of the presidential debates and he cannot even vote, whereas I did not watch any of the presidential debates and I am voting on Tuesday. However, he did inform me who he would vote for based on personality, demeanor, and plans from the debates. But at least we ended on a common belief: America likes to be, but shouldn’t be, the police of the world.

“Have the time of your lives living the life of your times…”

            Langston Hughes uses this line in his short story “Adventure” in an advertisement by Southern blacks for Northern whites to come experience the socially unequal South and the fighting that occurs.  This line is both incongruous and sarcastic. The context of this line is a knowledgeable (at least from firsthand experience) black man addressing the ignorant white man of the North who is blind to the depths of the social inequality that runs rampant in the south.  The incongruity is evident because rarely during this period of history are blacks portrayed as knowledgeable and whites portrayed as ignorant. The sarcasm is present in the way he describes a trip to the South as being “the time of your [life].” Though I was not alive in 1962, I can fairly confidently say that not too much about the South was enjoyable during that time.

What would be the modern day social or political problem that fits this sarcastic quote? What is something that is not at all enjoyable for a specific group of individuals but very prevalent in 2012 American society? Would it be political rallies, especially now with Election Day only two days away? Would it be border control in southern Texas against the masses of illegal immigrants that attempt to enter our country? Or how about fighting in the Middle East and the war on terrorism? At the very moment, the situation around Sandy is a perfect example. Because of the times we live in and the amount of technology we have, humans are dependent on our smart phones, cars, and other technological devices just to get through the day; many of us go through a sense of withdrawal when our phone is in another room, not to mention how we feel when it is dead and not usable. But because of the destruction caused by Sandy, many people are without electricity and so have no way to charge phones, computers, iPads, and other devices; fights are breaking out over gasoline shortages for vehicles. The life of our times is a life centered on technology, so in the Northeast where technology cannot be used at the moment, people are having the time of their lives.    

Though the situation in the Northeast is very different from the social inequality present in the South when the story “Adventure” was written, every society will always have one aspect which, because of the life of the times, will cause people to have “the time of their lives.”