COMPARE AND CONTRAST 2

I’ll list a few more differences I’ve found, cultural or otherwise, between Nablus and back home.

13) Football

Nobody seems to follow the local teams with any real passion over here. Instead, most people support either Barcelona or Real Madrid. When adult men want to engage me in conversation but don’t know a lot of English, they will say, “Barca or Real?” Saying “my favourite team is actually Heart if Midlothian, a football team from Edinburgh” isn’t really the best response to give to this question.

14) Being in jail

Back home, having been in jail carries with it a considerable amount of stigma. Not so in Palestine.

15) Higher Education

I’m told that throughout the Arab world there is a much higher percentage of the population with degrees and in Palestine this percentage is higher still. This is probably no surprise as the chances of getting a good job without a degree are pretty much nil. In fact, the chances of getting a good job, or even any job, with a degree are still limited. People often suggest this is the case in the UK too but, compared to Palestine, UK university graduates have much, much better prospects. (Many people have told me that all the good jobs are in Ramallah.)

16) Health & Safety

This does not exist in Palestine. If somebody introduced health and safety legislation, the whole country would grind to a halt.