culture shock

Culture shock is an interesting thing.

Women are treated differently here than they are in the States. Women who are covered (wearing a hijab or even more modest clothing) are treated with the most respect and it goes down from there. I am somewhere in the middle with 1. being an American 2. not wearing a hijab and 3. not wearing skirts all the time. I've been living in trousers (yes, I've got to get used to the British slang because they speak the Queen's English here) and tunics. Most of my clothes are earth tone colors and I fit right in. But as I was saying, women are treated differently. Women and children have the pedestrian right of way, especially if they are covered women. A car stopped for me in the middle of the road earlier today and I thought they were nuts until I realized what was going on- they were giving me the right of way to cross the street. Very different and it would have never happened at BSU.

Language is something I've got to get used to here. Everything is written in Agabic AND English and most people here can read, speak, and write in both languages. I feel like a really dumb American at times, this is one of those times.