Lost in Translation

I have to admit that maybe I was a little bit ambitious to think that I would be able to learn Arabic in the two years that I lived here.  I thought that I would at least get the basics but unfortunately that isn’t the case.  But I am not so deluded to I think that the fault lies anywhere but with me.  I haven’t exactly been diligent in my Rosetta Stone lessons.  In fact, I can’t recall doing one since I got here. 

In a way I guess I am a little turned off because I hear it all the time in class with the students, and there may be some association there.  Maybe when I think Arabic I think of students, which of course isn’t fair to the language but that’s the way it is.  I have no motivation whatsoever after dealing with a bunch of bad kids speaking Arabic, to hear more of it when I get home.  Home is the safe haven, all English, all easy communication, all the time.  I think practicing Arabic just brings me to a back to the very place I am trying to escape.  

The language itself is spoken very aggressively here.  I have mentioned before that manners aren’t always used in Abu Dhabi, and much of it is built into the inflection of the voice when they speak.  This inflection sounds bad in Arabic to the Western ear, and it sounds even worse in English.  All day I get gems like: “Teacher, give me.” And “Now, teacher.”  And “I go Teacher.”  These words are spoken as demands, they’re kind of spat at you.  I have tried the “say please” routine with them like I might do with the kids back home, but that doesn’t catch on.

There are some teachers that came over to Abu Dhabi around the same time that I did, but aren’t here now.  They kind of got fed up with the place and “disappeared overnight” as we say so often .  Among the many reasons one could name why he or she should go home, I am sure the basic perceived rudeness from Arabic speaking is probably a one of them.  It’s the whole straw that broke the camel’s back thing.   How people interact with you on a daily basis can really have a large affect on you.  Body language and the way someone says something to you means so much more when you have no idea what people are saying.  

 

To be honest though, this rudeness is not just limited to the language.  Most of the rudeness (and I will try to put this as delicately as I can) comes from focusing on themselves more than others.  Of course this in not the case with everyone, but this is only my observation of what I have seen in some.  They aren’t trying to be rude, it’s just that they are more focused on themselves than of your feelings.  So when they don’t break stride and almost walk directly into you even while you were already walking on the same path, it isn’t personal, they just aren’t concerned with you.  Now don't get me wrong, that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t make you want to turn around and deck them any less, but that is the reason behind the behavior, at least as far as I can see.  

The catch here though is that you can’t exactly just start telling off everyone that offends you, and there are a number of reasons why.  The biggest one is you may not know who you are telling off.  This may sound strange to the American ear because for the most part our philosophy is no one is above a good cussing out, especially if they deserve it.  However, here all men are not created equal; some are clearly more important than others and if you tick off the wrong one consequences will follow and there is no law to protect you like back home.  Here they bend the system to do what they need to do.  And respect is a huge thing in this part of the world, though, ironically respect for only those that are important.  So don’t expect equality especially if you are not an Emirati.  This isn’t as bad as Apartheid with Mandela or Segregation in1957, but you can see it or experience it every now and again, say when Emiratis jump the line ahead of you, or bully their way to the front and don’t leave the counter until they get their way, or when kids are making all kinds of noise in the movie theater but you can’t tell them to shut up because they are Emirati (we’ve just completely stopped going at night on the weekends because of this, daytime only), etc.  It can drive you crazy if you let it.  You have to let it go and go about your day.  Take solace in the fact that you are only living here for a certain period of time, and then you will move on.  Meanwhile, enjoy what you can of the experience.   That’s what works for us. Till next time…