Left to Right ... tfeL ot thgiR

When agreeing on a time and place to meet is difficult--not because of a pair of busy schedules, but rather because of fragmented emails caused by a definite language barrier--it seemed only natural to be leery of how the first meeting with Haya would go. I expected to muddle through an hour-long conversation akin to digging a truck out of a swamp, but I found myself surprised just a few minutes into our conversation. 

Haya is from Saudi Arabia, a culture that I soon realized is much different than our own. She has spent the last three months or so at TCU learning English through the IEP before continuing on with her studies here in a different field. Both her older sister and twin brother also are a part of the program, though I don't think they have conversation partners themselves. We talked a little about how the culture shock was mitigated a little bit by having family nearby, but she still mentioned being saddened by being unable to spend time with the other members of her family (3 sisters, 3 brothers, and a mother) back in Saudi Arabia. We discussed music briefly: she doesn't like American music because she does not understand the meaning of the lyrics, much like I would feel about Arabian music I'm sure. 

 

So far her life seemed to be close to what I imagined mine would be if I moved to a country with a different language and alphabet altogether. Maybe this is a gross generalization, but the majority of the time I hear about Saudi Arabia from a westerner, it is a land of strictness and a supremely patriarchal society. Halfway through our hour, I found no support of this idea from her attitude or demeanor. 

That's not to say there aren't major differences in the cultures though. For instance, in Saudi Arabia, Haya (and all other women) are forbidden from driving. Instead, many families will hire drivers from a large pool of immigrants hailing from countries such as India and Pakistan. Haya's family actually has two such drivers who tote the female members of her family around. This might seem like an impediment to some of us, but not the way Haya explains it. She doesn't mind being unable to drive, reminding me that she is just as able to get around as I am, but from the comfort of a passenger seat instead. 

The conversation soon turned to the Arabic language itself or more specifically, the challenges of writing from right to left. Perhaps I was somewhat unprepared for our first meeting, this being the most major facet of Arabian life I have any certainty in my knowledge of. She told me that she had no problem switching to writing from left to right whenever she wrote in English. I soon decided that I would be unable to feel the same writing in the opposite direction than I have been for almost two decades, evidenced by the fact that it took me a full minute just to type "Right to Left" in backwards for the title of this post. I have been promised lessons in writing the Arabic alphabet (25 letters, with "e" and "u" being represented by one letter in Arabic) at our meeting next week along with traditional Arabic coffee, which seems to be like espresso after Haya's explanation. 

Frankly, I did not expect this project to be anything other than a burden on my already hectic academic schedule. Now I expect the project to be an interesting way to learn more about another culture somewhat different from our own in a mutualistic way.