Category: Language and Culture
Greetings, all, this is my first Zone BBS Board post. My name is Ginny, I live in Florida, with my husband and Leader Dog Chloe. We are Muslims, myself having converted 10 years or so ago, and my husband having been born Muslim. I was born and raised in Indiana so am about as American as you can get. My husband is from West Africa, I'll tell you which country later *smile*. But some surrounding countries would be Senegal, Mali, Guinea, and Guinea Bissau. He speaks many of the local languages such as Wolof, Mandinka, and Fula, and I understand a smattering of these, as well as some Arabic and some Spanish, and I can sorta kinda pick up a bit of French. But English is my first language. So I'll go for now, and will tell more if anyone's interested.
I'm definitely interested as my BA is in Sociology with minors in History and Anthropology. It sounds fascinating. Oh, and welcome to The Zone!
Hmmm, where would you like me to start? Do you have any questions I could answer?
I'm curious about the cultural interaction between you and your husband, particularly in the beginning of the relationship. For instance, were there certain things that you had to get used to because they were so new? How did he see differences in American life? Did he just come prior to the two of you meeting or was he already accustomed to living here? I'm highly impressed with his language capabilities as well. Did he learn from being around people who spoke them or were some of them taught in school? Please forgive me, but I ask this as a cultural question and not to insult. How did he feel about you being blind/visually-impaired at first?
Thank you in advance for answering and I'm sorry there were so many questions. If anything's too personal, of course, feel free to skip it.
My husband has been in the country for 15 years. Also English is the official language, due to colonization by the British, thus it is taught in schools and is also the official language of the country, though many people still don't speak it. As far as how he reacted to me being blind/visually impaired, it just wasn't a problem, though he's a pretty laid back guy, so nothing bothers him much. I'll have to ask him how they deal with blindness where he's from. It seemed to me the one time I visited the country, that people do the best they can. And there isn't one way of dealing with blindness. I'll have to ask him, though.
Thanks for being so open and for asking him. It's interesting to see how people are seen around the world, particularly those with disabilities.
thanks for this. it's very interesting. :)
I used to live in Florida. I am American of German English French ancestry, husband is indigenous north African from Algeria. We both speak French as a second language. I have visited Algeria twice and had very little trouble getting around as a French speaker.
I accepted Islam some years ago but am a terrible practitioner. i find it difficult working full time nights & parenting a four year old to wash and pray 5 times a day, really, to practice much of anything even though I do believe in God and messengers.
I dress like a secular westerner, never in short pants or dresses. I find headscarves pointless if women are going to dress in tight, form fitting stuff or draw attention to themselves w makeup, but that is strictly my opinion. I do not consider that custom, as many do in the west, to denigrate women. Welcome to the zone!