Another week another meeting!
Alya and I have become much more comfortable with each other, and I am
beginning to enjoy our meetings much more than I initially did. Alya brought
her iPad again to show me another video. She told me it wasn’t really related to
Saudi Arabian humor but depicted funny aspects of their culture well. We talk a
lot about her culture and Saudi Arabia, so I was excited to see what she
brought to show me. One of her friends from home recommended the video to her
as a funny but also enlightening video. The YouTube video is about the
differences between Europeans and Italians, but Alya said to replace Italians
with Saudi Arabians because many of the items in the video described her home well. Here’s the video:
I’ve
never traveled to the Middle East. However, I have been to Italy, so I
recognized many of the experiences and items mentioned in the video from my own
experience. It’s a simple video, but Alya and I both laughed through almost the
whole video. She pointed out the aspects of Italian culture that Saudi Arabia
shared.
Pretty much every scene with
driving, parking, signs, and social etiquette was true for Saudi Arabia. She
said people can be rude in Saudi Arabia because it is the social norm to
ignore the rules, road signs, and other people. Everyone kind of watches out
for themselves and rarely consider other people’s needs or feelings. For
example, in the “parking 2” and the “pedestrian crossing” segments, the drivers
just do what is easiest for themselves. Alya laughed and commented that
sometimes it really did feel like cars were trying to hit you when you crossed
the street. She thought the “bus” part was also funny. She probably
laughed the hardest at this part. I laughed as well because I could relate to
that with the TCU buses. The bus has pulled away as I walked towards it this
year quite a few times.
I was interested how she would
comment on the “politics” and “voting” parts most. I think I subconsciously
hoped she would break out in a rant about politics or discuss the deplorable,
developing political landscape of the Middle East, but instead, she
matter-of-factly stated that voting is difficult and disorganized, and
once leaders get on the throne, so to speak, they stay there for what seems
like forever. Alya and I had another good time
laughing over YouTube videos and discussing Saudi Arabian culture and society. Thankfully, it has gotten to the point
where we are both comfortable around each other. We were able to cover a number
of topics, and I got a chance to tell her about my home, Austin, and how it
compared to Dallas. She said she didn’t like Dallas, and I was able to tell her
I agree and that Austin was much much much better.
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