COMPARE AND CONTRAST

Okay, I’ve been in Nablus for a little over a month now. That’s more than enough time to have sussed out the lie of the land with regards local culture. Obviously, there are a lot of similarities, everything from the importance of family to teenage girls giggling in class, but as an outsider it’s natural to focus on things that are strange and new.

So, I’ll list for you the main differences, cultural or otherwise, I’ve found between Nablus and back home.

1) The weather

The first thing I had to get used to was the weather. So far, it’s been ruddy hot. Wind, cloud and especially rain are seen as good things here. The other week, it rained for the first time in seven months. Everybody was very excited. It rained again a few days after that. I had to stop myself from moaning about it raining again.

2) Mosquitoes

There are a lot of them.

3) Bevvy

There’s none of this.

4) Buying food and drink

People will constantly offer to pay for your food or drink. Even if they are unable to pay for your meal, they will find an excuse to pay a wee bit more, such as insisting on paying for the water. A couple of times I’ve been out for lunch with somebody and they’ve flatly refused to let me pay for any of it. I think this is all part of welcoming somebody to their country.

The idea of just paying for your own isn’t common in Nablus. On one occasion, one of the international volunteers was trying to explain the concept of “going dutch” and one of the locals said, “But why would you only want to think of yourself?” Why indeed?

5) Tips

In Nablus, you don’t tip. Either that, or I’ve been very ungrateful for the service I’ve been getting.

6) Welcome

In Edinburgh, we don’t really welcome tourists that well, maybe because there are so many of them. Nablus, by comparison, doesn’t really have a tourist industry. As such, almost all the “internationals” I’ve met are here for a reason, usually to do some sort of voluntary work. Maybe this is why people are so friendly, repeatedly asking where you’re from and saying, “You are very welcome.” Or maybe it’s the Arab culture. (Or maybe we Edinburgh folk are just plain ignorant.)

7) Sense of community

This is hugely important over here, particularly in the refugee camps.

I couldn’t tell you the name of any of my neighbours back home.

8) Kids

Wee kids will come up and chat to you in the street. It is not seen as bad form to chat back to them and, as far as I can tell, nobody will think you’re a paedophile. Conversation, however, can be a wee bit limited.

A typical conversation with a Nablus child:

Wee kid: “How are you?”

Me: “I’m good, thank you. How are you?”

Wee kid: “What’s your name?”

Me: “My name’s Jimmy. What’s your name?”

Wee kid: “Where you from?”

Me: “Scotlanda.”

(Pause.)

Wee kid: “What’s your name?”

You’d be amazed how long a child can keep repeating three questions.

Only one kid has told me to “f*ck off”.

9) Politics and religion

The British rule of whatever-you-do-don’t-talk-about-politics-and-religion doesn’t apply. Neither does the word “apathy”. Women will ask you what you think about the hijab and how Western women dress. It’s best to answer this question diplomatically.

10) Boys and girls

In English classes and social gatherings (including weddings, apparently) boys will sit with the boys and girls will sit with the girls. There will be no flirting.

Your workplace will make a fuss if it’s your birthday. Nothing unusual there. However, when Haneen (the English Programme Co-ordinator) had her birthday the other week, she gave all the girls a hug to thank them. The boys didn’t get a hug. I felt left out.

11) Horns

Nablus drivers are not shy of using their car horns. In Edinburgh, people will use their horn to signify danger or road rage. Here, it can signify danger, the mildest of frustration, somebody having just got married, a taxi or servees being free for a fare, turning a corner, not turning a corner or the fact that the driver hasn’t used his horn in the last two minutes and wants to check if it still works okay.

12) Celebrity culture

This doesn’t exist in Nablus. For three different English classes, I’ve done an activity based around interviewing somebody famous. When asked to suggest somebody to interview, they decided upon George Bush, Yasser Arafat and Thomas Edison.