I have decided to take a break from the Petra pictures to share an interesting experience I had recently. The remaining Petra pictures are forthcoming.
A few days back, I went with a friend of mine to a local sports complex to find out some information about joining the local gym. The complex is very large and is where (I believe) the national soccer and basketball teams play; don't get too excited, apparently the locals pay more attention to the European teams than their own national team. That said, it was still very large and it took us nearly an hour and a half of walking around the complex to find the gym.
Foolishly, when we showed up neither of us had bothered to look up the Arabic words for "gym," "work out," "exercise," or "join." Stumbling through our Arabic, we finally learned the word for "gym" and proceeded to ask everyone we met where it was. Fortunately, everyone had an answer for us; unfortunately, everyone's answer was different from the last. Most people here have a very helpful demeanor and even if they have no idea what you're talking about, they will give you a very confident answer. I understand they don't want to be shamed by not helping us, but really, giving us directions to a place they had no idea about helped us much less than if they had said nothing at all. Whatever, it was a fun time walking around talking to people.
We came across one group of mid 20 year old guys who were eager to help us. We asked if they knew where the gym was and they all point at one of the guys. He takes his outer shirt off and proceeds to flex his muscles for us; he obviously worked out. Not knowing what to do, we just laughed and continued to discuss where the gym was located. We figured if anyone knew where it was, this guy would. And he did.
But before we could walk off to find the gym we had to finish up talking to our new friends. After a few exchanges of Arabic, one guy asked me if I was from Turkey. Dumbfounded, I told him that I was in fact American. Turks are lighter skinned so maybe that's why he said that. I was just kind of taken aback by it. I've been asked if I was British, German, Australian, French, but never Turkish.
A couple of minutes later, I'm now talking to his friend who must've not heard the previous conversation because he asks me if I'm Bosnian. Quite befuddled, I explain that no, I am American. "From Texas," I tell them.
Stupidly, I didn't ask why they thought I was Turkish or Bosnian, but I've come to a few guesses. I must speak Arabic with a slightly weird accent. I've tried really hard to sound authentic, so I suppose sounding Turkish is better than sounding American. Or it may have to do with the fact that I took so much French in school. Might it be that I put a slight French tinge to my Arabic? I dunno - again, I really have no idea why they would pick those two nationalities. Random.
Do I look Bosnian? Or Turkish?
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2 comments:
You'll never know why people think you are Turkish or Bosnian. People who know me have actually assumed that Christy and I were related rather than Ronnie and I. I am not sure what it is about me that looks so Korean or what it is about her that looks so Scottish. I am pretty sure people just come to their own conclusions, many of which make no sense. Oh, I have really enjoyed the Petra pics but I am glad to hear another peculiar story from your day to day dealings! Miss ya!
You don't look anything like a Bosnian. Your features are far too different. I'm curious if they've ever really met anybody from the Balkans. I have dated two Bosnians, one who was actually Serbian but was from Banja Luka (the 2nd largest city in Bosnia and filled with Serbs). After visiting that part of the world (Croatia and Montenegro) I feel that I can properly answer this question. Now as far as you looking Turkish...beats me! :)
Seems that you are doing well. Keep blogging...I'm constantly checking for new posts. I rather enjoy your entries. xoxo
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