Last Thursday, Saoud and I went to play pool at a pool hall in town called Zingales. I was trying to look into cultural activities that were popular in both the United States and in Kuwait, and surprisingly enough, pool is extremely popular in Kuwait. Saoud told me that in Kuwait city, there are entire buildings dedicated to competitive billiards (in America, it is usually something people do in bars while drinking.)
Saoud and I started playing pool together and this worked really well to dissipate any awkwardness that could have arisen because we were both focused on a common game between cultures. Saoud told me that he had last week off of CIES because of a "Holy Day." Maybe it was the noise in the bar, but I thought I heard him incorrectly and asked him if there were an Islamic Holiday. "No," he replied. "Spring Break."
Oh! Saoud thought that any day you had off from school was considered a "Holy Day" or was called a "Holy Day." I wanted to explain to him that spring break wasn't holy, but then I thought that it is kind of holy in a way, but I still corrected him to "Holiday."
Overall it was an enriching cultural experience. We played pool for a few hours and talked about the differences between Kuwait and the United States. I look forward to sharing more experiences as time goes on!
No comments:
Post a Comment