Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Side effects of moving to 2 different countries in 1 year

  • My english is screwed. I feel like it's beginning to sound like Carlos Ghosn's and that soon enough I'll start pronouncing p's as b's (there's no p sound in arabic). I'm even making spelling errors! I need to find some Americans around here so I don't lose my non-accent completely...
  • I'm being effed by the metric system on a daily basis. After spending a little over a year out of the States, I STILL don't know how to convert kilometers to miles and celcius to farenheit...and refuse to try to figure it out in my head. And why is the US the only country that doesn't use the metric system?? I'm starting to think that the Powers That Be enjoy watching Americans in foreign countries try to convert all that stuff in their heads while the locals get impatient and start cursing things I don't understand...(did I say I? oops...uh, I meant that happened to a friend....). Isn't it enough of a hassle having to convert currencies? Which brings me to my next point...
  •  I'm having problems with converting currencies. I finally got used to converting from Syrian Pounds to Dollars (about 47 SYP = $1) and now I have to deal with Saudi Riyals! I always find myself having to convert to dollars no matter what currency I'm dealing with in order to really understand its value. Like, do I really want to pay 40 Riyals for that shirt? Oh, thats only about $11...hell yeah, sold! Plus, Al always makes fun of me cause I always have to use my cell phone's calculator to make these conversions. He says I should be able to do that in my head since I have a finance degree. Ok, I have never claimed to be able to do math in my head...and being a finance major has nothing to do with being able to calculate in your head. Two words, baby: Microsoft Excel.
  • People don't believe I ever lived in the States. Arabs have this preconceived notion of other arabs that have lived most of their lives outside their arab country that they are stuck up and hate everything about their arab culture and arab nation etc etc...so they're all pretty shocked when they realize that I'm not like that at all. Everyone at my job at EY in Damascus always had a good laugh and said that I was messing with them and that I never really lived in the US, I was just hiding out in the old city for the past 17 years. I embrace my culture and thanks to my parents, I have never lost my love for the food and the language. Even my Lebanese next door neighbor here in Saudi was surprised when I invited her over for dinner that I had cooked arabic food and not american. I drink arabic coffee, dance and sing to arabic music, and make arabic jokes. I just like to go with the whole "when in Rome" attitude wherever I am because the best way to enjoy where you are is to immerse yourself in that culture and way of life. Words to live by!!
  • I get cold when the thermostat is on 78. Either the air conditioning in our house here is turbo-charged, or I've been living in the desert for too long...either way, living places where the average temperature is above 90 degrees in the summer is starting to have its homeostasis issues on me.
  • I've gained more weight than I thought my metabolism would ever allow in this short amount of time.

2 comments:

  1. I enjoyed reading this blog .you are a real role model for your sisters,and I'm so proud of you all... keep up your love to your country's tradition,and have a big part in your heart for this country who gave you everythings and put you in the right way to live.and remember your parents are always with you and on your side,day and nights.
    love you .

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  2. thanks mom!! you and dad are the best :)

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