Lessons in Culture

So it should come as no surprise that my Algerian roommates are Muslim. I had the pleasure of being able to experience the holiday of Eid al-Adha with them this year. Essentially, the holiday is meant to commemorate Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son to God. After proving his fidelity and faithfulness, God spared Abraham and commanded him to instead sacrifice a lamb. For this purpose, it is tradition for Muslim families (or at least the Algerian ones) to slaughter, roast, and eat an entire lamb as a symbolic gesture to God. Nazim and his friend procured merely half of a lamb for us to enjoy, but there was definitely still plenty to go around.

My reflection on the day is that it is sort of a mix between Easter and Thanksgiving. It is a celebration of thanks to God, but is also a great feast that involves inviting over friends and family to partake in food, drink (non-alcoholic for some), and conversation. We had about ten people over, one of whom was a cultural outsider like me, to help to cook and enjoy the lamb.

Now, I'm not the biggest fan of lamb...but I figured "When in Rome" and dug in. After (accidentally) eating a decent portion of the liver and (willingly) trying a small piece of the heart, I settled on some more traditional cuts of meat: the shanks and the filet. We also had some traditional bread, some baguette, a salad, and merguez which is a type of North African spicy sausage that I would compare to chorizo. I think we literally ate lamb for about three hours--I definitely had bonafide meat sweats going on.

One thing that I think is universal at gatherings like this is the inevitable and divisive dinner-time political conversation. It was quite amusing for me to listen to my roommates' friends discuss and dispute Algerian and Maghrebin (North African) politics. Definitely reminiscent of Thanksgiving with the family...And as per usual, as the meat kept appearing on the table the arguments would cease, which left room for new discussions to pop up during the next lamb-less lull.

The whole experience was extremely touching. My roommates wanted to share with me a piece of their culture and a piece of their lives. They are such inviting, nice people and I feel so lucky to be able to spend the year with them. We learn from each other, ask each other about our cultural differences, and listen to each other. There was a toast in the honor of Roberta, aka the other outsider--an Italian girl, and myself to say "thank you" for being able to share this day with us. After the dinner was finished, Nazim gave me a huge hug and thanked me again for being able and willing to learn and share in the experience. But I feel as though I should be the one saying thank you to them. Their hospitality is humbling, and their willingness to accept the differences between us and treat them not as barriers but as learning opportunities has made me feel so welcome and, quite simply, happy.

blurry Farouk playing the guitar
Nazim dancing it out in our living room to what else: Michael Jackson

To that, I say a big THANK YOU to Nazim and Farouk for being so awesome. I hope that I can pull myself together enough to organize something for Thanksgiving so they can learn a little about American culture. Also...bring on the Christmas Tree! :-)


Bisous!

Ann