Journal Entry...

This is a journal entry that I turned in for class a few weeks ago... I figured it shedded some light on my time here so I may as well post it...

The first week we were here we visited Café des Nattes, sat along the wall, and “drank” shi-sha and mint tea.  The setting to me seemed out of this world, so exotic.  “Are we seriously sitting down in this red and green decorated café, shoes off, just having tea and drinking shi-sha with our academic director?  …Why does this tea have nuts in it…and leaves?”  I could not finish my little shot-glass-sized tea; just that little bit of tea was too strong for me, too foreign.  I remember turning to the student next to me, “This is too strong for me to finish, but I bet by the time we leave I’ll be able to drink it all”.  Two weeks later, I ordered mint tea for two and drank it myself.  My taste buds have embraced the no-longer foreign taste.  

Our first dance class I did not understand why I was there; “I originally wanted to learn how to play the darbuka, why didn’t I stick to that idea?”  This man was standing in front of the class and moving his hips, his entire body, in ways that I had never seen any man or woman move before.  In addition, we were supposed to imitate these movements!  “What am I doing here?”  Admittedly, I thought of the objectification of women the entire class.  I felt like I was trying to be a doll, moving myself in all of these ways, just to appear as a figure to watch.  I thought that dance was a mode of expression, an outlet for women; I read that dance allowed females to freely express themselves in a uniquely sacred way.  “Why am I not feeling that connection?”  “I don’t know exactly what it is, but there is something that I need to overcome in order for me to enjoy that class” I told my friend.  “Maybe I need to connect it with the culture, or maybe I need to read about the history, or maybe I just need to get over myself- but there’s something”.  Just last week, four weeks after the initial class, I genuinely enjoyed my first dance class.  My mind finally let go of all the outside influences and I was able to simply enjoy the dance. 

The mint tea, the dance class, the walk home, the train rides and so many other common occurrences do not seem so foreign to me any longer.  This is expected, we have been here for over a month now – but what does this change in perspective mean for my observations of the everyday culture?  Am I losing a critical eye because I do not see even the smallest differences anymore?  On the train I would examine the space between men and women.  I would study how they interacted, if they interacted, and how.  Now I read an article or look out the window, I rarely people watch.  Am I missing out on important observations of the culture?  

 

I feel I am in this middle ground right now.  The every day aspects of Tunisia are no longer so foreign that I am constantly wide-eyed, but there are still many observations that are worth my while.  It is a positive that I have become comfortable with the culture.  However, I need to balance this comfort with reflection and awareness of the fact that there is always room for additional observation and learning. 

 

Through this reflection I have creatively deduced a system of layering within cultural learning.  There are many stages to learning about a culture, at least in this particular experience of mine.  According to my system, I have only gone through the first two stages so far but I imagine more to come in the later months.  First, everything needs to be soaked in, every experience, taste, smell, and sound.  After some time, these observations become more comfortable.  Everyday life is no longer outrageous; instead clear expectations of each day can be created and met.  Now, within this comfort level of culture, the start of the second level, learning still needs to occur.  Because the initial shock of everything has disappeared, I believe that in this second level deeper learning of the everyday occurrences can take place.  The education can go beneath the surface observation, trends can be deduced and perhaps realizations of the general in the particular can be achieved.

 

The highlight of this stage for me was on Saturday during the first English Club meeting when we started a conversation regarding identity.  Here in Tunisia, there is a phenomenon of merging cultures.  The students identified as Tunisian but I was curious – what does this mean?  Within this identity, where does the bulk of the allegiance lie?  Tunisian means Arab, European or Mediterranean, African among many others.  Overall, the fusion of these can be labeled as Tunisian, but does one have a larger role in the students’ identity than another?  When we tried to uncover the answer to this question the majority of the students said they would identify first as Tunisian but then as Arab-African.  They also agreed that their parents’ and grandparents’ answers would be much different.  Why has this changed?  They said that it has probably changed due to the shift in their relation to Islam.

 

This conversation, this level of learning, has been my most valuable experience in Tunisia so far.  I think that I was finally able to get to this level because the everyday became comfortable first.  I observed Tunisia, I observed Tunisians, and the everyday aspects of society became regular.  The individual observations, the particulars, amounted to broad perceptions, the general.  Next, this general understanding gave me the confidence to inquire about what I had observed.  This inquiry, the stage of analysis, led me to a deeper level of learning- a deeper level of learning about the Tunisian identity. 

 

Maybe this stage of analysis is the third layer within my cultural system of learning.  However, I do not know if the second layer, or even the first, will ever be complete.  In fact, I do not think that any layer could ever be complete because a culture is constantly changing; there are always exceptions, unique individuals, or transformations to observe.  The observations never have to end and I want to make sure that even though I am growing more comfortable with the culture, I never finish observing.  Although I enjoy analyzing, this stage that I have finally reached, I want to maintain my gaze that always searches for perceptions- the particular that may not correspond to the general.