Hairy Situation II

So I did decide to shave my forearms: they were soft for a few days before they got a bit prickly. And, the regrowth hair isn't as blond. Jared didn't even notice the change. I don't think I'll continue on a regular basis. Perhaps I will do it again the next time I go to a [sleeveless-dress] party. I went to a wedding a few months ago and I forgot about the arm-hair issue. I realized it, to my horror, sitting at the table. Those banquet halls are little up like an operating room so that the ladies can show off their elaborate make-up and sparkly dresses...and it also makes arm hair more noticeable than you ever would have thought. I will admit that I kept my arms beneath the conveniently-high table as much as possible.

Maybe I'll be shamed into more action. Today on TV I saw an ad with a woman shaving her arm! It wasn't actually a shaver, it was some rubber grip contraption that removes the whole hair (ouch!). Women here wax/sugar their arms.

It's not just me though...one night we saw a Gillette commercial which was advertising their masculine razors, and low and behold, the video cut to a silhouetted man shaving in the shower - shaving his arm pit! Jared did a double take and exclaimed, "Was that man shaving his armpit??"

So, fair's fair here - and Jared's got his own hairy cultural investigations to do!

One-Man Band

Add to the growing list of instruments: the oud. It's the Arab lute, and it's an ancient instrument. After his ethno-musicology studies, Jared set his sights on this instrument and was counting down the days until he could purchase his own. He went out with a friend a few weeks ago and selected this one. Good thing he took a knowledgeable friend because the first oud he picked up was for a woman - and that would have been a cultural disaster!

Since then Jared was scouting for a teacher who is a master of the instrument, and who also speaks some English. Recently he found one. He pays for an hour, but usually spends about three at his teacher's house. The whole family is enthralled with this foreigner learning the oud (and Arabic). I'm invited to go tomorrow to hang out with the non-English speaking wife. So, it will be practice for me too.

The keyboard in the background is a school loaner for the summer while he doesn't need it for his classes. Today he practiced for several hours on all three instruments...his little heart is just bursting with music!

Another Dream: Check.

[He exclaimed that the oud slips off his pants while he's trying to practice. Next time I turned around he was sitting in the chair with his pants around his ankles, wearing his boxer shorts and practicing. Now that's a great picture (especially since his boxers are a British flag patter), but in this country from a man's knees up to his waist is considered sensual...so don't want to tempt you ladies!]

Our Pets

Within the last two months both my sister and my parents have obtained new puppies. I must admit I’m a little jealous when I see how cute they are via Skype. Here, dogs have a bad rap, involving religious taboos; and cats aren’t too popular either. I've been offered kittens, but among other things, I’m afraid they’ll eat rat poison from the building lots next-door. That’s too much, I think. Interestingly, the pets of choice for locals are tortoises and song birds.

We're far from alone in our apartment, though. Here's our growing list of ‘pets’, in order of our fondness for them:

1. Gecko – he stayed in our bedroom for several days and provided endless entertainment as we did a “Where’s Wally” hunt to find him. Plus, he ate bugs, which is a major point scorer.
2. Singing Bird – he built a nest in our air conditioner vent, so he perches outside our window and sings. Sometimes he sings angrily when we crumble in the heat and turn on the AC. It’s pretty funny, though, to see him fly around in a rage.
3. Ants – big ants find their way inside, and then can’t escape somehow. They’re so big that it is mesmerizing to watch them. The bathtub usually seals their fate because they can’t climb up the slick walls.
4. Spiders – are fairly minimal, actually. While I like that they eat bugs, I will admit to terminating some in our bedroom. I don’t know which ones are harmful and which are peace-loving, but I don’t like the idea of being bitten while I’m asleep!

5. Weevils - birthed in a bag of dried beans. Solution: set bowl out in the sun so they hatch and fly off; soak them so the rest float to the top and discard; cook as normal.
6. Mosquitoes - they’re in season now, and I’m Jared’s personal mosquito repellent as I attract them all to me. I can have over a dozen bites, while he remains untouched *grrrr*.

7. Flies – they're seeking out water from our eyes/mouths and food.

8. Big Mama Cockroaches

– these also surprise us as they randomly turn up on our title floors. The solution: trap them under a Tupperware bowl until we have time to exile them.

One of My Students...

...has a farm, so we get olive oil and fresh camel milk every week.

...is a tailor, so we get our pants hemmed for free.

...brought me the latest Jackie Chan movie (he's a young Mongolian).

...loves to cook, so I get cooking lessons for free - including Arab meat pie (see picture) and kebabs.

...collects stickers, so I also have a growing collection (she's a primary student!).

...out of respect brings me little treats, like packaged muffins or crackers.

...brought me a Mars bar from Germany (she had to point out it wasn't the locally produced kind when I didn't recognize the import of the gift as I should have).

...brought me a strawberry cream cake (an 8 year old!).

...is making a business trip to Germany, and is promising to bring me back good chocolate.

...owns a car dealership (...maybe for the future!)

Church

When we arrived we decided that we'd like to visit the various churches around our city to see what they're like...turns out there's quite an array.

There are a few churches that have legal status and the accompanying visas for their pastors - in order to serve the expatriate community. The Catholic Church is, I think, the biggest. They maintained their cathedral through some turbulent years, and it is ornately decorated inside with frescoes and mosaics. They hold numerous services each week, in languages from Filipino, Indian, Polish, Korean and Italian to Spanish and French. They also have about 100 nuns here from the same order as Mother Theresa; and they mainly do medical work.

There is a mostly Ghanaian Church that we visited - and it was just like being back in Ghana! The rhythms of the singing were moving - and we aren't that good at moving to them, but the rest of the congregation was! I struggled to even clap in-time to the non-Western beat.
The local Anglican Church has the other cathedral downtown. It is majority Nigerian, with the next population being Indian, and a small minority of Europeans/North Americans/Auzzis/Kiwis. This makes for some very, very interesting cultural dynamics:

Nigerians are the Ushers, and this is a serious position. If you sit too near the back, they will ask you to 'shift' - to move up to the closest seat to the front that's available. The goal being to fill in every seat from front to back. Women sit to the right of the isle, and men on the left side. Secondly, beware of falling asleep during the service or else the usher will walk down the isle and nudge your elbow! Likewise, when the Egyptian Bishop was visiting, he would pause in his preaching to wait for latecomers find their seats!

Even the resident pigeons mind their p's and q's. Usually they restrain themselves to cooing and mild flapping about as they navigate the rafters. Only one time have I seen anything fall -yet that that was not during a service, and only hit an uninhabited side isle. Very impressive.

Three other things I find amusing: 1) The building sports some exceptionally well done paint-by-number religious artwork. 2) The responsive readings become a race, with many reading as fast as they can (to sport their English skills??). And 3) The Nigerians lead their own songs before the main service starts; you have to listen hard to realize that they are singing in English, and sometimes I even have to ask the person next to me what they're saying because the African-English accent is so think.

Btw, it's still a little strange to be with the church on Fridays, and at work on Sundays!

Farmers’ Markets

One joy of being here is discovering the produce available. We get fruit and vegetables seasonally. I was thrilled with the best oranges I have ever tasted in February/March; but those are long gone now. Presently we’re in heaven with apricots and peaches. We always enjoy olives (because they’re dried) and the best dates on earth. Here are some pictures – check out how ‘straight-from-the-farm’ it is…

...Spinach complete with ladybug; carrots with tops on (normally the produce men cut off the tops before you take them home, same with onions); yolked and feathered eggs; as yet unitentified local fruit, with a large pit inside; and a Barley Loaf.

They get to the vegetable stands via pickups trucks piled high with watermellons or cantelope (currently) coming in from local farms. Once I went to the big wholesale vegetable market. There, a young boy follows you around with a wheelbarrow, toting your produce for a tip.

Malfunction Junction

I think the #1 risk we encounter is road safety. This can be said in many places, but I do think that the driving here can be more dangerous than any other place I’ve encountered. I tend to feel this way when we’re joining a young (testosterone-filled, macho) male in his taxi. These guys bob and weave through traffic like they’re in Hollywood car chases. Unfortunately, the other cars haven't rehearsed the choreography.

The reason I think driving is more dangerous here than elsewhere is that there is enough infrastructure to supports high speeds. Whereas in other parts of Africa potholes, dirt roads, and dilapidated vehicles limit the speed cars can reach, here the main highway is in fairly good shape and newly imported cars can travel at excessive speeds. This is a problem because there is not a long history of driving culture to establish certain life-preserving ‘rules’ of driving, or to facilitate much beyond white-knuckle driving experiences. As you can imagine, driving cars is quite different than driving the camels and horses they are replacing.

That isn't to say that there aren't any road rules. For example, the rule at roundabouts is that you yeild to those entering the roundabout. If you try this, you'll see how difficult it is because it requires the drivers to turn around in their seats and look backwards; further, it encourages those approaching the roundabout to enter it at full speed as though it were just a part of their own road. However, roundabouts are often ignored altogether, with drivers driving "straight" and thus heading into oncoming traffic. At our big intersection there is one lane that was designed to be either and on, or an off ramp to the roundabout. It, however, functions as both, which makes for many near-misses.

These are popular names for a few local traffic points that sum up the situation: "malfunction junction," "death roundabout" and "suicide slipway."

Camel Country

Because this is Camel Country, you can find an array of camel products here.

For example, we buy ground camel at the butchers, and use it much like beef. E.g. I've made Camel Chili and Camel Burgers. It has a stronger flavor - but it's very nice. It's also higher in protein with less fat than beef - so I read on the Internet. Here, camel couscous is a common dish.

You know that camel meat is available at the local butchers when you see a head hanging in the window (likewise, a cow head means that the beef is fresh - and they also display other items of anatomy for sale!). Alternatively, if you see the live animal tied up next to the butchers, you can bet tomorrow will be the day to get it fresh ground. And, more than once I've jumped out of my skin upon rounding the corner and being greeted by the Chewbacca-like moan of a tied up camel - definitely within spitting distance. Jared likes to call them 'habibi,' which is a term of endearment, and they respond with the sound of a microphoned sheep being strangled.

One of my students has a farm. He approached me after class last week to remind me that about a month ago I mentioned that I like to drink milk (we must have been doing "I like" target language!?). Then he offered to bring me fresh camel milk from his farm. My friends laughed when I told them - some of them have never tried it, and some claim that the first time you drink it you can get diarrhea. Great! Well, he brought about a liter of milk, with promises of more if we like it. It's in the fridge now - I haven't attempted it yet, but I will soon.

[Update: I tried it, and it's good! It's more similar to cow's milk than I expected - probably because he skimmed it (...and no diarrhea)]

We also have camel-hair woven rugs, and various home decorations studded with camel bone. What a useful creature...


To Market, To Market…

Hairy Situation

American women have long been known to snub their noses at the grooming tendencies of women who don’t shave their legs or armpits. Well, what goes around comes around…

I was listening to a friend discuss cultural changes here whereby unmarried girls are now permitted to attend to grooming practices that used to be reserved for married women. Here, my friend made an example out of the removal of arm hair – forearm hair – and exclaimed, “Well, it’s only hygienic!”

So, American women are one-uped by Arab women here who remove all bodily hair as a part of their hygienic (and cosmetic) endeavors.

As for me, it’s just now getting to be uncomfortably warm some days. All my shirts come to at least below the elbow. That leaves me about four inches of unshorn skin on each arm. However, that doesn’t account for all-women get-togethers and parties where it’s common to wear sleeveless dresses. Hmmmm…I’m still chewing this over. But, before I go for a body wax, I think I’ll get a wider sampling of my friends’ opinions!

Culture Shock?

It made me smile when my mom said in her thick southern drawl, “you seem to be real comfortable.” Well, I’m glad it seems so. We are working to make this home. This kind of move can make loved ones ‘back home’ feel as though we dropped off the face of the earth. Be assured we’re in a real-life place where we live and work and have our being just the same as you (relatively speaking).

Of course, there are things that aren’t quite so comfortable…but why dwell on those?

Well, I will share one perspective: the one mantra I keep telling Jared is, “ALL THAT GLITTERS ISN’T GOLD.” Here where there is a new rush to 'modernize,' some things can get a little lost in the shuffle. For example, We have a “Semsong” CD player someone left for us. It is a cheaply made knock-off from Asia. While the volume knob won’t work and it won’t take any kind of programming, the display flashes wildely with dancing figures, expanding hearts and sparkling stars. For now it’s at least somewhat amusing to find the “pretty” elements of life that perhaps don’t function optimally. Facades are called ‘facades’ for a reason.

You anthropologists may guess we’re still in the “honeymoon” stage of culture shock. I don’t know; it’s kind of hard to tell. Honestly, I wondered if we’d have any honeymoon at all, considering some of the varied and interesting travel experiences we’ve had. But I see now that every place holds its own adventures and discoveries. I do think, maybe naively so, that our culture shock journey is more tempered by our experience and study. I can certainly see more dramatic mood-swings in the other new teachers we came in with. Four out of the six of us newbies won’t stay to finish their contracts, and one has already resigned (we only got here at the end of January!).

Yes, the turnover rate is very high, I’m discovering. Of the approximate 40 expats on staff, around 20 are leaving at the end of this year. Culture stress is one factor; and other is the “starting a new school from scratch stress” – and in a foreign culture.

In truth, at this point it seems that our adaptation to the international school arena has been more stressful than local cultural issues. When such a small community works together, lives together and socializes together….well, you can guess the kind of dynamics that can produce.

So, I’m sure there’s far more culture stress ahead of us. For now, we’re happy to be together, enjoying this new culture, muttering choice words under our breath at times, and taking discomforts with a grain of salt.

Tour Our New Home

Click on the link to see a 17-minute video of our apartment overseas. Impressive, if you ask us!! (It took me six hours to upload with my "DSL," - but you're in a very different place!). This apartment and the furnishings came with our teaching jobs.
http://www.megavideo.com/?v=KEDJG1M7

No Shortage of Love

While it is lamentable that Jared and I aren't together this Valentine's Day, there is no shortage of love here. Check out two of the text messages my (all-female) friends have sent over the couple of weeks that I've been here:

* A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z...The one who invented the alphabets was GENIUS, but he made a silly mistake by keeping "U" and "I" so far.

* Whatever we do, How far we are, No matter how busy we all can be, there is always a time to say that i miss u.

Yes, pick-up lines from movies and love song lyrics are popular, and I appreciate the sign of thought and affection. Happy Valentine's day!

Would You Believe....?

1. I wear long-johns underneath my trousers every day, and I sleep in a thermal shirt and fleece! According to the internet, it's 59F today, but marble floors and high ceilings make for chilly rooms in the winter. Today I'm turning on the heater!

2. We made it on BBC World News yesterday by name for our high winds. Here, wind = sand! As I walked outside I found sand in my mouth and eyes. My first floor neighbor has small dunes coming in under her door. I don't think it's even sand storm season yet. Oh boy!

3. Yesterday was sandy winds, and today is rain! Quite a downpour that makes me feel like I'm back in the UK, rather than my new desert home. But I'm soaking it all in - trying to enjoy it while it's here, because it's going to get really hot and dry soon. For now, I'm wishing I had Wellington boots to navigate the puddles forming along the dirt roads in my neighborhood.

4. I'm actually getting used to being at school at 7:20am. Waking up is getting easier, and I absolutely love watching the sun rise over my town from my third floor classroom. While I would prefer to wake up to sunshine, I would certainly feel the loss of this morning ritual.

5. After attempting a variety of classroom management methods, I found a winner when I reduced a student to tears last week - I told him to take his chair out to the hall! The hall is a lonely corridor, and he begged for mercy for a full two minutes. Now the class is shaping up, and the little girls still fight to hold my hands when we walk to class.

6. My thirteen year old student said, "Miss, you're a funny girl" after I skipped around the classroom to illustrate the meaning of that verb.

7. There is a leak in my gas bottle that fuels my kitchen stove. I have to keep the window open to air out the room, and play the helpless woman to get maintenance to help me get it fixed.

8. After a week, I still have an ugly bruise from my blood test. They want to make sure I don't have HIV or TB (with an x-ray) before they grant my residency visa. Hopefully I'll come up clear! They did decide I don't have leprosy, whew.

9. I bought ten hot whole meal buns at the bakery…for less than 50 cents.

10. I can find locally made mild cheddar, feta, mozzarella and ricotta; yogurt; and buttermilk; but fresh milk can be hard to track down. For now I'm using boxed milk, German-style.

11. I heard Dr. Phil's voice resounding from the back room of my street's corner shop! Yes, I can also watch Oprah, Jamie Oliver, Good Morning America and Scrubs - if I want to. But my favorite so far is Camel Racing footage! All of these races are (by far) outnumbered by the music-video channels coming in from all over the Middle East, especially Egypt.

12. I'm enjoying my weekend, which ends tomorrow. Yep, I work Sunday through Thursday, with Friday as the religious day. It's so hard to change my mental map of the week; Monday blues now set in a whole day early; and TGIT doesn't have quite the same ring as TGIF.

13. One of the problems of not reading Arabic is that I can't read many food labels! So, I'm dusting off my nose and testing my olfactory knowledge as I sniff bags of spices and try to determine which is cinnamon and which is nutmeg; which is tumeric and which is curry powder. I thought black pepper was relatively straight forward, but it is tasting exceptionally hot, so I may have gotten that one wrong!

14. There are rules against public signs being in English. Even at the airport the English translations have been covered up. So it's back to my ABC's - in Arabic this time so I can figure out where I'm going.

15. After tonight I now know why everyone has candles around their homes. It's because there are somewhat frequent power outages. They're relatively short, but still, it's hard to peel a baked eggplant when they happen…which is what I was doing when the lights went out today.

16. You can fill up your gas tank for less than it costs to buy a 10 roll pack of toilet paper. Yes, you can fill up for less than 7 dinars, and the big pack of toilet paper can cost about 8-9 dinars. It's a bank breaker here, since it's largely a luxury of the Anglo-Saxon expats.

Thanks for joining in my journey of new experiences. Glad there weren't any embarrassing ones to report - but I'm sure those will come in time, too!

Business (and Play!) in London

London. Beautiful, dirty, ancient, green, ordered, rude, reserved and proper. We have been in this city for several weeks completing final paperwork and waiting (and waiting...) for our visa numbers to arrive. In between the emailing and paperwork, we have managed to enjoy the city and its wealth of treasures. We thought you might like to hear our top ten list from this particular visit. Yes, these are all true.

The “Must Experience in London” Top Ten:
10. Attempt to eat at Mandalay on Edgware Road – the only Burmese restaurant in London (call ahead and tell us how the food was!).
9. Crack the double-decker bus system of London!
8. Take a full day at Hampton Court Palace – and ask how royalty used the toilette in the Queen Caroline apartments.
7. Spend an evening in food heaven at Mimino – the Georgian (as in the country) restaurant of Kensington.
6. Try not to cry during the last 10 minutes of the musical Blood Brothers.
5. Wave your hands with hundreds of screaming fans during the song “We are the Champions” at the West End show We Will Rock You!
4. Spend 7:30-9:30 one evening doing a “Jack the Ripper” walking tour – and mourn the deaths of the low-class Victorian women victims…
3. Take a 2-hour walk through Hampstead Heath and end with tea and scones at Kenwood House (used for the last scene of Notting Hill).
2. Ask someone to dodge traffic in order to take your picture walking across THE Abbey Road crosswalk of the Beatles’ last album.
1. Find yourself running (with about 5-6 suitcases) out of Kings Cross Station with hundreds of commuters when the authorities announce for everyone to evacuate…immediately.

We will be in North Africa very soon – in fact, Catherine is going this week and Jared will follow in another week. Since we are teachers, and acknowledging that the Winter quarter has already begun, we are anxious to get to our new home and begin the acculturation process. Hopefully, our next entry will be describing just that.

Love to everyone.