When I lived in Prague, I generally got a pretty similar response from my students when I asked them where they'd like to go if they went to the U.S. Most people would say they'd like to see New York City and San Francisco and then rent a car, and in classic American road trip fashion, drive around the west visiting the many great national parks our beautiful country has to offer. I attributed the similarity in the responses that I got to the fact that while most Czechs I met could appreciate a cosmopolitan metropolis, what they really loved was "the nature". Across the board, many of my students and Czech friends were always doing outdoor activities ranging from canyoning to camping to just hanging out at their cottage and their mentality was reflected in their dream of an American holiday.
So when I've posed the same question to my Saudi students and people I've met in and around the campus environment, I've noticed some interesting regularity in their answers as well. Some say D.C. because they're interested in seeing the White House and our other government buildings. Others say New York or L.A. mostly, from what I can tell, because of a familiarity due to the movies and television shows they've watched. Much more frequent responses are Miami and Las Vegas. Fame and reputation seem again to be motivating factors. Miami is heralded by most here to be the best place for beaches and parties in the States, while Las Vegas is seen as the place where everything that would be Haram here (and in most places) is not only allowed but encouraged. And of course my students like to mention that whatever happens in Vegas stays there (talk about an effective marketing campaign). There also seems to be no conflict between so much being restricted in their culture and religion and them wanting to go to places famous for indulgence and vice. Actually, these two facts seem to reinforce one another. They'd like to go there because they can do everything that they can't here.
But one response I've heard with surprising regularity has struck me as particularly intriguing: Texas. Almost without fail, countless students express interest in going to Texas and for many, it's the first place they mention. Not to knock Texas in anyway but this idea was very hard for me to understand at first. I couldn't get past the idea that first, Texas didn't seem to be much of a tourist destination for foreigners, and second, that Arabs might not be all that well received by some folks down there. Unable to drop the issue as it continued to come up, I've finally been able to ask enough students who were willing (and able) to explain their reasoning to me to develop an understanding. Again fame and a presumed familiarity are big factors.
The fame of Texas is pretty easy to understand. I mean, most people I meet in other countries couldn't tell you where Indiana, Montana, Maryland or Arizona was, but everybody could point out Texas. I think that Texas has also developed a mystique through film and television and is seen by many to be the birthplace of the cowboy mentality that many people attribute to Americans generally. George W. Bush's presidency recently contributed to this reputation.
But even more than the fact that most of my students have heard of Texas is the fact that most of them feel like Saudi and Texas are actually quite similar. "Same Saudi, teacher," they say when I show surprise and ask them why they want to go to Texas. And their reasoning is as follows:
Cowboys, they say, are the equivalent of their Bedouins. Both ride around astride animals in the open desert, tote guns, and hold somewhat less modernized beliefs. To my students, there's really no difference at all between the two. Bedouins just raise camels instead of cows If fact, when I've asked them about the Bedu many just simply say, "You know, teacher. Same cowboys."
The next similarity cited is the climate. While some of my students express a fondness for cold weather (their concept of "cold" being pretty different than a Mid-Westerner's), many have expressed a severe aversion to it. Texas' weather, though, seems to them to not be much different at all from Saudi's and therefore would require no adjustment and resulting discomfort. Climate is also a major reason why Miami and Las Vegas are high on a lot of my students' list.
The third reason (as you might have guessed from my post's title) is Oil. Texas, they say, is an oil state. Saudi is an oil country. There are even a few prestigious universities in Texas, mostly in Houston I'm told, that have petro-chemical and engineering programs where a lot of Saudis do exchange course work. Some even stay on to work in Texas. This contributes as much to Texas' familiarity as it does to the similarities that Saudis feel KSA and Texas share, as many students have a relative or friend who has studied or worked in the Lone Star state.
For another similarity, one student went as far as to say that like Saudis, Texans love fast food and tend to be overweight, stereotypes that I neither confirmed or denied, but the fact that those ideas about Texas made it this far was interesting to say the least.
After grasping all of this, I wasn't sure what was more interesting: the fact that my students wanted to go to the place in America they felt was the most like Saudi, or their reasoning for believing that that place was Texas. The latter being kind of hard to disagree with.
When I suggested that some people in Texas might be Islamaphobic or prejudiced against Arabs, the response from some was surprise. Most kids though, didn't give it much thought and kind of dismissed it out of hand. I couldn't tell if this was because they figured that would be the case anywhere they'd go in America or if it was simply because they didn't think it was true, but I don't think the suggestion discouraged any of them whatsoever from their dreams of a Texas vacation, not that that was my intention.
So, again, interesting stuff to think about: perceptions of places in the states, my students wanting to go somewhere they feel is just like Saudi, the contributing factors to those perceptions and familiarity, my own stereotypes regarding some places in the states, them wanting to go other places where they can engage in all things Haram (Miami, Vegas). Regardless, I couldn't really argue with their reasoning. I can suggest other places they could go that I've found to be beautiful or interesting. National Parks, states like Vermont and Oregon, cities that I think are cool. Most, however, have a pretty good idea where they want to go and what they want to do and don't seem all that interested in 'the nature'. But I could never criticize anyone for wanting to travel anywhere. Because despite what anyone says, you always have to go there and see it for yourself, whatever your reason.
So when I've posed the same question to my Saudi students and people I've met in and around the campus environment, I've noticed some interesting regularity in their answers as well. Some say D.C. because they're interested in seeing the White House and our other government buildings. Others say New York or L.A. mostly, from what I can tell, because of a familiarity due to the movies and television shows they've watched. Much more frequent responses are Miami and Las Vegas. Fame and reputation seem again to be motivating factors. Miami is heralded by most here to be the best place for beaches and parties in the States, while Las Vegas is seen as the place where everything that would be Haram here (and in most places) is not only allowed but encouraged. And of course my students like to mention that whatever happens in Vegas stays there (talk about an effective marketing campaign). There also seems to be no conflict between so much being restricted in their culture and religion and them wanting to go to places famous for indulgence and vice. Actually, these two facts seem to reinforce one another. They'd like to go there because they can do everything that they can't here.
But one response I've heard with surprising regularity has struck me as particularly intriguing: Texas. Almost without fail, countless students express interest in going to Texas and for many, it's the first place they mention. Not to knock Texas in anyway but this idea was very hard for me to understand at first. I couldn't get past the idea that first, Texas didn't seem to be much of a tourist destination for foreigners, and second, that Arabs might not be all that well received by some folks down there. Unable to drop the issue as it continued to come up, I've finally been able to ask enough students who were willing (and able) to explain their reasoning to me to develop an understanding. Again fame and a presumed familiarity are big factors.
The fame of Texas is pretty easy to understand. I mean, most people I meet in other countries couldn't tell you where Indiana, Montana, Maryland or Arizona was, but everybody could point out Texas. I think that Texas has also developed a mystique through film and television and is seen by many to be the birthplace of the cowboy mentality that many people attribute to Americans generally. George W. Bush's presidency recently contributed to this reputation.
But even more than the fact that most of my students have heard of Texas is the fact that most of them feel like Saudi and Texas are actually quite similar. "Same Saudi, teacher," they say when I show surprise and ask them why they want to go to Texas. And their reasoning is as follows:
Cowboys, they say, are the equivalent of their Bedouins. Both ride around astride animals in the open desert, tote guns, and hold somewhat less modernized beliefs. To my students, there's really no difference at all between the two. Bedouins just raise camels instead of cows If fact, when I've asked them about the Bedu many just simply say, "You know, teacher. Same cowboys."
The next similarity cited is the climate. While some of my students express a fondness for cold weather (their concept of "cold" being pretty different than a Mid-Westerner's), many have expressed a severe aversion to it. Texas' weather, though, seems to them to not be much different at all from Saudi's and therefore would require no adjustment and resulting discomfort. Climate is also a major reason why Miami and Las Vegas are high on a lot of my students' list.
The third reason (as you might have guessed from my post's title) is Oil. Texas, they say, is an oil state. Saudi is an oil country. There are even a few prestigious universities in Texas, mostly in Houston I'm told, that have petro-chemical and engineering programs where a lot of Saudis do exchange course work. Some even stay on to work in Texas. This contributes as much to Texas' familiarity as it does to the similarities that Saudis feel KSA and Texas share, as many students have a relative or friend who has studied or worked in the Lone Star state.
For another similarity, one student went as far as to say that like Saudis, Texans love fast food and tend to be overweight, stereotypes that I neither confirmed or denied, but the fact that those ideas about Texas made it this far was interesting to say the least.
After grasping all of this, I wasn't sure what was more interesting: the fact that my students wanted to go to the place in America they felt was the most like Saudi, or their reasoning for believing that that place was Texas. The latter being kind of hard to disagree with.
When I suggested that some people in Texas might be Islamaphobic or prejudiced against Arabs, the response from some was surprise. Most kids though, didn't give it much thought and kind of dismissed it out of hand. I couldn't tell if this was because they figured that would be the case anywhere they'd go in America or if it was simply because they didn't think it was true, but I don't think the suggestion discouraged any of them whatsoever from their dreams of a Texas vacation, not that that was my intention.
So, again, interesting stuff to think about: perceptions of places in the states, my students wanting to go somewhere they feel is just like Saudi, the contributing factors to those perceptions and familiarity, my own stereotypes regarding some places in the states, them wanting to go other places where they can engage in all things Haram (Miami, Vegas). Regardless, I couldn't really argue with their reasoning. I can suggest other places they could go that I've found to be beautiful or interesting. National Parks, states like Vermont and Oregon, cities that I think are cool. Most, however, have a pretty good idea where they want to go and what they want to do and don't seem all that interested in 'the nature'. But I could never criticize anyone for wanting to travel anywhere. Because despite what anyone says, you always have to go there and see it for yourself, whatever your reason.
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