A Toughie..

When I saw the second question posted on the Salaam blog, I thought it was going to be pretty easy. Question: What impact do you think religion has on the society you are in right now? So I’ve been pondering and thinking and thinking and pondering and then doing a little more thinking. And I’m realizing it’s not so easy. I feel like I’m missing a perspective. I’ve only been exposed to it through my peers and colleagues. I haven’t spent time with a family and I haven’t interacted with older people outside of my office yet.

From what I’ve experienced, religion impacts all aspects of society, from greeting someone to reacting to how someone is dressed. Do you kiss someone from the opposite sex on the cheek or do you just shake their hand or is there no physical contact what so ever. And where do you draw the line of physical touching with the opposite sex. Is it okay to touch someone from the opposite sex’s arm? Is the shoulder okay? The back? You can’t just talk to someone for 5 minutes and know how to relate to them. I’m still figuring this all out. When I arrived, I was lucky. Jacek and Augusto where here and they’re European and they do the kisses. So, I figured I would use them in a way. I would lean over and do the kisses with them. That way the Egyptian guys that were comfortable with it, knew I was comfortable with it. This way I would never make a mistake and feel awkward, embarrassed or uncomfortable. So far, it’s working fairly well.

However, I do have a kissing protocol. When I first meet a guy or girl for that matter, I only shake their hands. I don’t give kisses the first time I say hello or goodbye. I don’t know why I’m this way or why I have this “protocol.” I just don’t feel comfortable doing it the first time I meet someone.

Back to religion and society.

Religion affects what’s considered acceptable to wear or not to wear in society. A girl wearing a short sleeve shirt and short skirt is treated differently than a girl wearing the hijab (veil) and galabaya (the abaya or dress coat cover up thing). The more covered you are the less harassment you have to deal with. I usually wear a ¾ length sleeve button shirt with a tank top underneath it and pants to work. One day I had a button up shirt on the strap to my tank top broke. On the way to and from work, almost none of the men would look at my face. They stared straight at my chest. I felt ashamed and embarrassed. It was as if I had no clothes on. The first button to my shirt is decently high and covers my chest pretty well.

Like I mentioned before, religion affects all aspects of society and life. I’ll have to blog about it some more another time. If I continue, this post is likely to become a book. Tonight, we are listening to a speaker and having a discussion about religion and society. I’m not sure what to expect.

More blogging to come soon, I promise. I have a lot to catch up on. I’m going to have to make so more time in the day for blogging.