Starve.Org White Noise Usenet Archive: "And the password is..."

Did I mention how much I hate Microsoft Windows?

Anyway, I walked over to the Al Wahda mall on Saturday morning, early enough
to avoid the mob. After waiting a mere 20 minutes I left with a password in
hand, and the name and phone number of the salesperson, in case that
password didn't work. Luckily for him it did work, and I got my machine up
and running. I set up my head set and web cam, made faces at myself with
the web cam, and generally got explored the operating system. However I
could not get it to download anything from my iPod. Windows Media player
would not acknowledge my iPod; one part of the system software recognized it
was an iPod, another part wanted to "reformat the disk". The word processor
which came with the machine, Microsoft Works, does not recognize Microsoft
Word documents created on my Mac. So without internet, software, files or
music, I found I had a very expensive and fancy video solitaire game.

Christian is working on arranging for internet access in the apartment.

*One million reasons to stare*

One thing I can't figure out about the whole staring phenomenon is: which of
the possible reasons for staring is uppermost in the minds of the people who
are doing it? Some of the possible reasons include:
-- Woman out unaccompanied
-- White woman
-- Woman in western clothes
-- (or alternatively) Woman in colorful long middle eastern robe and western
straw hat and tevas.
-- Woman singing to herself
-- Blind woman using white cane
-- Unaccompanied blind woman with white cane...
The possibilities are endless. I almost want to take a survey, stop each
person and ask "Excuse me, could you tell me the top three reasons you're
staring at me?" This of course would apply to kids as well. It's not like
they don't see white women, or women unaccompanied, or women in western
clothes. But people seem so unaware of disability here -- and blindness in
particular -- I wonder if they even understand the meaning of the white
cane, and if they understand I'm blind if the cane is not deplyed.

Christian did finally spot one blind person; he was a two- or three-year-old
child with his family. Other than his way of moving and attaching himself
to his mom, there was no specific indication of his blindness. I've
sometimes wonder how I would have coped growing up in a muslim country. I
used to identify my mom by her clothes, but if all the moms were wearing
black... smell only works over very short distances.
*One sheet to the wind*

Another intriguing factoid about the local custom -- which took on a lot
more relevance recently -- is that people here don't use bottom (fitted)
sheets. It appears folks sleep on a quilt, then use a flat sheet to cover
up with. Sheet sets come with a flat sheet and pillow case(s). When I
arrived we slept on a quilt with a top sheet over us, but soon it was time
to wash the quilt, and there were no fitted sheets in the apartment. As
well, the quilt was too big for our little front-loader washer, so we had to
take it to the laundry guys a few doors down. But it didn't make sense to
me to have to pay to wash the quilt every couple of weeks, so we went
hunting for a set of sheets. We searched Lulu's (a middle-eastern chain)
and it took about 25 minutes to find a set with a fitted sheet; and that
cost $250 dirhams! We ended up buying a set with a flat sheet and two
pillow cases; I tucked the flat sheet in over the quilt, and we used another
flat sheet on top.

When I was searching the apartment for alternatives to the quilt we used
since I arrived, I discovered a bunch of them scattered in closets here and
there. But since the place has long been occupied by men who are used to
having someone clean up after them, some of the quilts were in a pretty bad
state. The largest one I could find we bundled into a plastic garbage bag
(holding our noses, and washing our hands after handling it) and brought to
the cleaner's with our apologies and assurances that we were not responsible
for the smell. It came back in great shape.

*"Do you have children"*

This is the third question they ask me after "where are you from?" (I answer
"Canada"; it seems more prudent) and "are you married?" This is not a
question people ask Christian. At the moment people accept the excuse that
we were just married in June, so I can get away with having no children yet
(though some people pursue it, asking if I wasn't married before, and have
children from that marriage). The person usually says he (it's almost
always a "he") will ask Allah to give me many children. But eventually, the
recent marriage excuse will wear out, and those kindly cab drivers will just
have to tsk tsk tsk and shake their heads with pity or disdain. Such is the
will of Allah.

On the other hand, Christian does get some interesting comments. Men don't
talk directly about sex, of course, but he has been counseled by colleagues
to be "a strong man for your wife." Christian often reminds me of this
obligation after a dinner of lentils and sausage.

*Two languages*

I have been studying two languages, Arabic and English. I'm just starting
Arabic (the CD player on the computer will help a lot), learning it for the
obvious reasons. It seems like one of the few ways to break through the
surface of things, to understand what's really going on. The difficulty for
me in learning Arabic, of course, is the script, which I have no hope of
mastering. It is a script form of writing -- essentially cursive, with each
letter connected. Therefore each of the 29 letters has a different form
depending on whether it falls at the beginning, middle, or end of a word,
and if it links two words. So my only hope is to learn spoken Arabic. The
difficulty there lies in transliteration. Everyone has a different system
for representing the pronunciation, and while there is supposed to be a
"standard" Arabic, that doesn't equal standard pronunciation or
transliteration.

I'm studying English so that, if I can wangle a tutoring job, I at least
know what I'm teaching (if not how to teach). I had no idea English has so
many freakin' tenses. No wonder we're an uptight society. Past perfect
continuous? We all know how to do it, but to memorize the names of all
those damned tenses, and what the "rules" are for using them, is daunting.
And of course, for every rule, there are exceptions. The frustrating part
for me is; almost no native speakers speak proper English. Why should we
make people struggle to learn all of these nitpicking rules, when few
Anglophones know or follow them. Of course I know why it's necessary --
because non-anglophones are dicriminated against and considered stupid if
they misuse the language. But when even the U.S. president makes a mockery
of the language, why should someone from another country take it seriously.
The idea of correcting someone's English really rubs me the wrong way, which
is ironic because poor usage of English can really irk me as well. I'm
much more tolerant of mistakes by non-native speakers. However, if I want
to use my skills to get a job, I have to learn to teach the language rules
and correct people's English. Fuck that shit.

One more thing about language. When you listen to language tapes, the
person is always speaking quickly, at a conversation pace. But when most
people talk to babies, they generally speak a little slowly and repeat
things. Sure kids pick up words from normal conversation, but we have this
instinct to repeat things to babies. Why, then, can't audio language
programs not use slightly slower speech at first, just so we can dissect the
sounds a little better.

Coming soon to a country near you -- Ramadan and the Nation of Nightowls.