Monday 28 May 2007

US vs. Middle East

Today I would like to focus on the blog that I have been reading for quite some time now. It’s about the American girl, Ruth, who is living and studying in Syria. First she spent four months in Amman, Jordan before moving on to Aleppo, Syria. In both places she stayed with a native host family in order to get the full cultural experience. Her blog is awesome, I really do love it! She describes her experiences so accurately and she writes with so much devotion about her life in Syria that it really makes me want to go there myself. If you’re not interested in the Middle East it might not be the right blog for you, but to anyone else, and not only those studying Arabic, I can only recommend this blog.

Unlike other expats, Ruth writes in a very positive way about her new home and you can tell that she is really fond of Syria and especially the people living there who seem to filled with great hospitality and kindness. Of course she also points out what goes wrong in this country and that there are things she can’t get used to and things she can’t accept or put up with. But she is not like many other expats who are quite intolerant and criticise certain customs or habits only because they are ‘different’. Some expats compare the two countries and when they come across any differences they usually prefer or even only accept the way it is handled in their home country. I know of experience that it takes some time to tolerate certain cultural difference and not to consider them as better or worse but simply as different, and also to actually understand why they are different. But I have the feeling that some people never get this far…

Reading Ruth’s blog you can learn a LOT about Arabic culture, customs, traditions, people etc. If you want to get a taste of her blog and a little insight into Syrian culture check out these entries:

Welcome to Syria (Ruth gives tips and advice for anyone who wants to visit Syria)

Orientation (at the beginning of her stay, Ruth is told about culture shock, security and everyday living)

Bus (we are told how to behave on the bus)

About the boys…and more I suppose (Ruth describes what it’s like to be a foreigner in Jordan and how to deal with Arabic men)

(mis)perceptions (Ruth talks about American and Arabic views, misperceptions and prejudices)

At first glance (we hear about the habit of male Arabs holding hands)

More writing (Ruth lets us know what it’s like to get back home)

Ruth’s year has just come to end and she’s gone back to the States. I’m not sure whether she’ll continue her blog, but I do hope that she’s going to write something on culture shock or how she feels having just returned to a completely different world.

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