“I don’t understand…we do it all the time in Mexico.” –Pedro Sanchez

Approximately 99% of the people I meet are unbelievably nice and helpful. The rest are just clueless. I want to think they think they’re being nice and helpful, but oooh… Like the lady at the cell phone place who kept telling me the phone plan I wanted, who kept insisting I wanted that one and no other, even when I persisted in asking her about other programs. Lady may be too strong a word. She looked about 18. Or the prof this morning, who was telling me all about his research on the United States where he compared answers to a questionnaire on the values of American youth (18-24) to that of French youth. I naïvely asked him what they found. “Oh, American youth are much more selfish than French youth, he answered earnestly, and went on to describe how more ridged American youths’ views with regard to drugs, sex and abortion are. He seemed completely oblivious to the facts, or at least failed to acknowledge, that
I am an American youth.
He might himself have biases as to what is “rigid” or “selfish”
I might be the least bit offended or uncomfortable at his assessment of my culture.
“rigidness” and “selfishness” are hardly objective terms fit for labels of groups being researched (unless maybe he had an instrument to measure either construct, in which case I’d like to know which country developed the instrument.)

I’d also like to know who designed the questionnaire, who translated it, what kinds of questions where on there, what mode of response was required, etc. I’d also like to know where he gets off calling American youth rigid when in his culture, teachers can wear no sign whatsoever of any faith, students can only wear religious jewelry within certain diametric parameters, and anything as overt as a headscarf or a yamulke is strictly forbidden in schools. So yeah, go ahead, drink, have sex, smoke, do drugs, but don’t dare identify yourself as a member of a religious community while under the roof of a laic institution.

This has been my biggest beef with France…I don’t understand how saying an institution is separated from any church implies that everyone involved in that institution has to be, and I can’t understand how it is just in a modern nation to force people to choose between fulfilling the obligations and rule of their religion and attending public schools.

And abortion…well, most of you know what I think about that. I gently tried to suggest to Monsieur that one might have other reasons besides rigidity to oppose abortion…but he didn’t seem to notice.

I hope I didn’t make any of you too mad…my intention is not to start up a great controversial debate here, I love you all and think you’re great, and I understand that cultural sensitivity may not exactly be my middle name. But this is what makes me feel the most lonely here (well that, and searching in vain for a phone card with a decent rate to the US): the idea that there are all these restrictions I don’t understand about how I practice my faith (and the restrictions apply even more so to people of other faiths, and to people who live here full time). And I understand people are just less outspoken about controversial things here. Nobody here, for example, would ever put a political candidate sticker on her car. You just don’t discuss things like that. But why, then, is it ok for the teachers to make dirty jokes about my religion in the cafeteria? Or for Comic books about good Baal-worshiping prophets and the evil empire of the Vatican to be sold in ostensibly “laic” supermarkets?

I know these things happen, and have been happening for centuries…but I don’t have to like it… and I’ll admit I’m still young and naïve enough to stamp my foot when the world isn’t fair.

Lessons of the day:

You cannot re-cork a bottle of cider
If you could, it would not be wise to drive the corkscrew all the way through the cork
I should practice more with a corkscrew in case I’m ever asked to use one in public.
I can handle 2% alcohol.


Français du jour:

Tire-bouchon: Corkscrew
Playback: lip syncing
Objet Volant Non- Identifié (OVNI): UFO