Halfway Through and Weekly Incidents

Greetings from the near center of the world! This week marks our half way point through the semester and I can't believe its almost over. What makes things better is that Chris and I will be taking a 9 day trip to Turkey in a matter of days. I still often have those moments when I can't believe that I live here or that somehow I made myself leave the US to go teach English in a foreign country. I don't know how these things happen to me. There isn't a lot to write this week but here are a few incidents from my life.

A few days ago while teaching, one of my students out of the blue says "teacher, do you like Osama Bin Laden?" I thought to myself how strange of a question that was and then answered back that I, in fact, dislike him. I counter with "Do you?" He said no and that most people here think he is crazy. I explained that usually people don't like those who hijack planes and fly them into buildings killing thousands of innocent people and that if it had happened to them, they would probably feel the same way. A different student then says "But do you know it was him? maybe it was Iran." This line of questioning isn't at all surprising by the way. I told them that I didn't see him do it and I didn't see him make any plans but that OBL and Al Qaeda said "We did it." Not to mention a lot of other evidence. There are some interesting theories and ideas here about world events. Then they begin to ask about Iraq and why we went there. I tell them I don't really have any answers about that. I tell them that most people in America disagreed with that war and that I don't understand it at all. I thought I knew many years ago when I was younger and more inexperienced, but now I'm not really so sure. Things are so....complicated here in the Middle East. There are no easy answers to the very difficult and trying problems that people face in this part of the world although there are many back home and here who think they know a lot. I was commenting to Chris the other day how living here makes me feel like I'm much more in tune with world events. Back home all that ever reached me was the local news and the concerns and events of Utah life. By the way, I usually don't talk about this kind of stuff with my students but sometimes they just blindside me with stuff like that.

The other day I was at the mall ordering a crepe in a somewhat crowded (but small) restaurant. I got my receipt and sat down and waited. I was just letting my mind wander, not really thinking about anything when suddenly 4 bearded men and a security guard entered the place. I knew instantly these were Mutawa, the religious police. They walked up to the guy at the counter and started speaking somewhat roughly to him in Arabic. I realized then that I was at the moment the only one left there waiting for my food. The thought came to me that I was the reason behind this, but I couldn't be sure. They never said anything to me. More somewhat gruff words were exchanged and the guys working there seemed a bit nervous. They then called his manager, Chris came in and I explained what was going on, and I got my food and left. Chris wanted to know what the problem was, so when we finished eating, he went and asked the guys who worked there, and sure enough, it was me causing the issue. You see, there were some women fully dressed in the Abaya (the complete black clothes covering, which is always the case) in the restaurant at the same time. Apparently it was very inapropriate for me to be there at the same time....just in case I started a problem or something? It is an astonishing and incomprehensible thing really. As if I'm going to start hitting on women wearing burkas. You can't tell any features or anything about them. I don't know how they expect men and women to stay separated in these small enclosed places. We just want our food for goodness sakes! I guess I'll have to watch myself more carefully in the future.

This is likely my last post for a few weeks. Wish us well in our travels. Oh yeah! I almost forgot. Happy End of the World Day for those of you keeping up with the crazy people in the US. I hope it was as great for you as it was for me!