Buns and Braids
I am friends with an eleven year old girl. Her name is Emily. Emily is a wonderful girl, and at a wonderful age. She’s starting to experiment with rebellion, although it’s perfectly innocent in nature, she’s still fully enchanted with the world, and she still thinks that adults in their early twenties are cool to hang out with. Last week I made some traditional Eastern European bread. It’s a family favorite, and I love both making and eating it. Right after I’d made it, Emily stopped by and had some with me. She’s on summer break, and she doesn’t really have anything to do during… Read more >>
My Walk Home
I leave the community center at 8:00pm. I walk to the main road, look both ways for speeding cars and tuk-tuk’s. I listen for them twice as hard as I look. They're usually proceeded by blaring Middle Eastern techno music. The road is safe, I cross the street and turn right down a dimly lit street with four story apartments crowding out the night sky from view. There are countless telephone wires criss crossing above me, and laundry lines heavy with blankets blowing in the light breeze. Looking ahead, there is a haze that starts to blur the view about a block ahead of me. This street is quiet… Read more >>
Being Liberated
This month I was especially irritated by the lack of freedom I feel I have in this cultural context. I am limited to what I can do by myself, I’m limited in what I can wear, I’m limited in how I spend my time. This is a very different life than what I am used to. And it is a very different life from what I prefer. On top of this, I especially found myself getting angry at my local roommate this month. She is limited as well, as a woman living in this culture. I found myself getting frustrated with how she expressed distress, annoyance, and anger. I was spending so much energy being… Read more >>
Some Perspective
It’s very strange being a young single woman in this country, unaccompanied by any relatives of any kind. I’m of prime marriageable age. And people here are baffled as to why my father would let me come here, without a guardian, at such a time in my life when I could be at home getting married and having babies, and otherwise doing my womanly duty. Because of this, there are a few things I’ve noticed about being a young single woman in this culture. So without further ado, here are a few illustrations of what it can look like to be a young single woman in a Middle Eastern culture:… Read more >>