I decided to give you all a chance to tell me what you wanted to know about living here. So, I will answer your questions to the best of my ability. Keep in mind, I've only been here since mid-August, so I'm sure some of these perception based answers will change over time.
How do the locals view us?
The locals view us the same way as most of you would view new foreigners in your neighborhood. You're interested in the different looking family that babbles on in a foreign language. The majority of the neighborhood seem to have gotten used to us and we are being woven into the tapestry of those who walk their streets daily. The local shop owners acknowledge me as a neighbor when I buy groceries in their stores. Some of the other mothers are smiling at me as we pass each other every morning walking our kids to school. This country is a melting pot of years of refugees and foreigners coming and going. Granted, our neighborhood is an older, more established neighborhood, but they still understand the landscape of this country. The extended family that owns and lives in this building are a product of the war in Palestine in the 1948. The patriarch emigrated here as a Palestinian refugee and has firmly and successfully established his family here. There are so many stories around us of families that had to flee and rebuild either recently or many years ago.
Are you making friends with your neighbors?
I'm very busy with 20 hours of school, plus travel time, plus domestic responsibilities and studying. Also, I'm a chicken when it comes to meeting new people. But, I have met one wife in the building and she is great. I've met all the kids that live in the building and every week I think about visiting some of the moms in the building. Bottom line, I haven't manned up enough yet to go knock on a door.
I am making friends with some of the other parents at our language school and the kids' school. Close to us lives a great Dutch family that's in my language class and a family from the US who's kids are in class with our kids and are becoming close friends.
How are you adapting to the food and culture?
The food has been great. The kids are enjoying the fast food:
Shawarma: Shaved chicken or beef, fries and pickles wrapped in warm pita.
Falafel: Fried grain balls with hummus and tomato wrapped in warm pita
Pastries: Cheese, potato, spinach, pizza, ground meat, egg...all stuffed in different breads just a block from us.
Honestly, we can find many Western foods here if we choose, the price is usually 2 to 3 times what it is stateside. The fruits and veggies are plentiful and varied. We have a lot more rice and veggies and much less meat than we had back in Colorado. That's due to what's cheap to make. Ironically popcorn and peanut butter are both fairly cheap and are eaten more here than they were back in the US.
You have to buy your pita bread daily if you want it to taste good. It's cheap and plentiful as it's subsidized by the government. I'm please that I can find wheat pita without too much effort.
As for adapting to the culture, it's been a fairly easy transition since the kids school situation is very similar here. Also, we've been trained to not be surprised by foreign cultures with all our previous global travel. We are all missing snow, mountains and open space though. My guess is that any big city dweller in the States would adapt to this large, noisy city better than I am.
Language barriers?
There will be no meaningful conversations for a long time in Arabic, but I we can have very basic friendly conversations with the language we've learned so far. Also, many of the locals speak very good English, so I may end up finding friends I can really talk to in my native tongue.
How are women in general treated and what are their rights?
The women here are treated quite well. Their rights are the same as everyone else. They are more conservative here. Many women go to college, work a little, get married and then stay home once they start having children. The young men here think it's fine to holler and whistle openly at any women they see in public, covered or otherwise. That's one thing that's been hard to ignore. I feel my gender here more than I did in the States.
Can the women vote and cancel out their husbands vote?
Yes, yes they can.
How do you worship God when you don't understand the language?
Some of the church services and songs are translated. So, I sing when I can and enjoy the sermon when I can. We often listen to sermons online as a family and study the Word individually. Most of our time spent at the local church is used as language study. Sitting through a sermon is great for training the ear to follow what's being said in Arabic as the text is written in classical Arabic and the pastor preaches in the local dialect. Learning Arabic is a two part process: reading the classical Arabic and speaking spoken Arabic. We're working slowly on both in school.
Hope that answered your question, I enjoyed answering them. If you want clarification or have more questions please ask!
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