Nothing remains quite the same...
All weekend I've tried to write this blog entry. Under normal circumstances, writing is torture for me; when the little mental air traffic controller in my head goes AWOL, it's r-e-a-l-l-y tough to sit and do this. So many thoughts have been bounding about my cranium that I've wanted to organize and get out through the keyboard. If I had to say in a sentence what the theme of all these thoughts is, I'd have to refer you to this week's post title, which is the name of a 1977 Jimmy Buffett tune...
I'm a people watcher. The examination of human nature fascinates me. As an undergraduate student, I majored in history, but studied all of the social sciences. I almost switched my major to psychology. Sociology was also very interesting. I'm an avid follower of politics. I'd read up on education even if I wasn't a schoolteacher. Religion, anthropology, economics - I'll have 'em all. In my travels, I love to talk to people from all walks of life and learn something new from them. I find myself now in a very large, very cosmopolitan city in an Islamic nation in North Africa.
I couldn't ask for a cooler social laboratory to pursue my interests, right? Well, there are some complications. I am, literally, starting life anew. I'm back to square one in my adult life, with some awfully peculiar personal circumstances to make things far more challenging. I'm not here on holiday - this is now where I live. Starting a new job. Living with a roommate. Most residents here at the complex are younger than I am, by up to 20 years. Did I mention I'm in Casablanca, Morocco? 99% of the population are Muslims, and they speak Arabic and French. I am Catholic and speak English. I am 6'3, 250 lbs, with a pale complexion. I tend to stand out.
I knew coming in this was going to be a wild ride; I've gotten every bit that I expected, and then some. The emotional swings have been frequent, and way up and down. There are also my professional demands and new life experiences. In this juggling act, they would be, respectively, the chainsaw, bowling ball and orange. Let's talk about the orange...
I have learned more about race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexuality, society and life in general in the last 43 days than in my first 43 years. People who know me well are cringing in anticipation of what's coming next. I am fervently anti-PC, and my social commentary pushes the boundaries of the NC-17 rating. I believe I will surprise those people. I've been peeling the orange that is my new life surroundings, and what I've found is staggering. Talking to and watching students and native staff, and increasingly immersing my self into my new culture has led me to rethinking my values, atitudes, norms, conventions - virtually everything I ever thought I knew about life, and the world. I have been literally staggered by where I have found myself of late on all the above social matters; I don't even know where to start, but I'll try next week...
If I couldnt laugh I just would go insane...
All weekend I've tried to write this blog entry. Under normal circumstances, writing is torture for me; when the little mental air traffic controller in my head goes AWOL, it's r-e-a-l-l-y tough to sit and do this. So many thoughts have been bounding about my cranium that I've wanted to organize and get out through the keyboard. If I had to say in a sentence what the theme of all these thoughts is, I'd have to refer you to this week's post title, which is the name of a 1977 Jimmy Buffett tune...
I'm a people watcher. The examination of human nature fascinates me. As an undergraduate student, I majored in history, but studied all of the social sciences. I almost switched my major to psychology. Sociology was also very interesting. I'm an avid follower of politics. I'd read up on education even if I wasn't a schoolteacher. Religion, anthropology, economics - I'll have 'em all. In my travels, I love to talk to people from all walks of life and learn something new from them. I find myself now in a very large, very cosmopolitan city in an Islamic nation in North Africa.
I couldn't ask for a cooler social laboratory to pursue my interests, right? Well, there are some complications. I am, literally, starting life anew. I'm back to square one in my adult life, with some awfully peculiar personal circumstances to make things far more challenging. I'm not here on holiday - this is now where I live. Starting a new job. Living with a roommate. Most residents here at the complex are younger than I am, by up to 20 years. Did I mention I'm in Casablanca, Morocco? 99% of the population are Muslims, and they speak Arabic and French. I am Catholic and speak English. I am 6'3, 250 lbs, with a pale complexion. I tend to stand out.
I knew coming in this was going to be a wild ride; I've gotten every bit that I expected, and then some. The emotional swings have been frequent, and way up and down. There are also my professional demands and new life experiences. In this juggling act, they would be, respectively, the chainsaw, bowling ball and orange. Let's talk about the orange...
I have learned more about race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexuality, society and life in general in the last 43 days than in my first 43 years. People who know me well are cringing in anticipation of what's coming next. I am fervently anti-PC, and my social commentary pushes the boundaries of the NC-17 rating. I believe I will surprise those people. I've been peeling the orange that is my new life surroundings, and what I've found is staggering. Talking to and watching students and native staff, and increasingly immersing my self into my new culture has led me to rethinking my values, atitudes, norms, conventions - virtually everything I ever thought I knew about life, and the world. I have been literally staggered by where I have found myself of late on all the above social matters; I don't even know where to start, but I'll try next week...
If I couldnt laugh I just would go insane...
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