Our Love Should Be Hands and Feet

What is life like living in the Middle East? Do you feel safe? Are the adjustments big? I have had a lot of these and similar questions from people as we have talked about what life is like for me here. It if funny how after even just three months, things become “normal” and a pattern. Yes, things are different in some big ways, you don’t normally see goat heads as you walk down a market street in the States and I still wonder at specific cross-gender interactions. I do feel safe and there are a lot of comforts that allow me to escape to a “home-like” place if I feel the need. I could easily just get in a “western” bubble. I am glad I teach at an Arab school and live in an Indian community.

As anticipated, I have become really busy between teaching all new subjects, taking Arabic, playing piano, trying to stay involved in community. I am not sure what I feel about that. I had a great conversation with a friend this morning about how easy it can be to just be anywhere and get so busy that you are just running circles in that place. It doesn’t matter where, I could do that here, in the States, in Switzerland . I have been thinking about what it means to live intentionally and again must learn the skill of saying “no.”

Some interesting or funny cultural observations and interactions…
So at Starbucks and Caribou, they have the Christmas decorations up as I am sure they do in the States which is ironic seeing as they don’t celebrate Christmas. Well, I asked the other day about pumpkin spice lattes seeing as it is the season AND Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday to eat at. “We don’t have those or other holiday flavors here Miss” Okay….then why are there adds all over for the holiday season? Of course, I should not ask such questions here…just accept that some things don’t make sense like that. Just like traffic lights that are not synchronized.

I have been practicing my Arabic letters and slowly growing vocabulary with my students and they usually have AT LEAST one good laugh at me as I attempt to pronounce several sounds that Westerners never make in English. Sounds we really don’t even know how to make in our throats or mouths. As much as I usually don’t love the idea of my students laughing at me because I am probably doing something stupid (though I have come to accept that in my career), I have to laugh with them and enjoy having them help me. They were very proud of me the other day because I successfully wrote my first word on my own by sounding it out. I used vowels properly and all! Baby steps….If I have to sound funny, however, it is worth the little moments that I treasure with my students in sharing culture and misunderstanding and us learning from each other.

Some of my favorite memories have been at recess duty, sitting with students, talking about life, practicing language, trying to figure out what to do for a career, where to go to university OR (very importantly) if the new shirt I purchased is peach or pink (the vote was unanimously pink, much to my chagrin). I love going to the games or introducing them to the flavor of pumpkin that we enjoy at Thanksgiving in the States through the medium of pumpkin muffins (they haven’t had that here) and then trying the homemade goods they bring me to test out. I love my students!

FUN experience: running a marathon relay where I was the only American (one of two girls  on a team of 16) in a race that had teams from all over the world: Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, Saudi, other places….it was one of the coolest global experiences I have had, seeing the flags from around the world as teams came in. It was just one example of the beauty of the diversity here!

Well….that was long, and I apparently need to blog many times to make up for the lack of them the last month so I will post more soon! I would like to note that I have decided to take my food section of my blog to a new level…

Food:
Things I miss:
- Fall foods from the States
- Starbucks Pumpkin Spice lattes
- Reasonably priced sweet potatoes
- Lettuce and good baby spinach and good salads
- Cuban food
- Chipotle/Moes

Things I won’t venture with again:
- Ice cream from the street vendor (you know, the ice cream man that you begged mom to let you get a Chaco Taco from?). I know, this may come as a shock to some of you as you understand my passion for ice cream. HOWEVER, ice cream from the vendors here is comparable to….chalk. I will use chalk for writing on my chalkboard.
- Turkish Musakka – I don’t like mushy vegetables
- Anything with cardamom – not a favorite spice of mine
- Chicken tika sandwich


Top Fifteen Update:
1. Halloumi and avocado sandwich
2. Calve Peanut Butter
3. Hummus and Turkish bread, carrots, celery, anything
4. Indian food from Sangitas….wow
5. Halloumi cheese sautéed in lemon juice
6. Tzatziki dip
7. Turkish food in general…ESPECIALLY the bread (I am utterly Scandinavian at heart)
8. Frozen peach tea drink
9. Samosas
10. Fresh fruit juices – they just don’t come made fresh on the spot in the States like this
11. New Zealand cheddar on crackers with Swiss strawberry preserves (just goes to show that most good things do come from Switzerland, a lot of my favorite non-Arab food comes from the Swiss)
12. Moussy raspberry beverage
13. Somersby
14. Arab lamb and rice dish (that you eat with our hands while sitting on the floor
15. Calve Peanut Butter