As my time here has almost reached a whole six months, I noticed that there were several things that Libyans tend to do that I never realized before I came here. Besides the whole different culture, the Libyan people have strange little habits that I guess the obnoxious kids at my work would post to twitter followed by hashtags like #libyanprobz #libyanlyf #youknowyourlibyanif #saharansunset #couscouscrystalz.
The first one is the way that they tell time. I have never once ever heard anyone here say the exact time. In America, you ask the time and they will look at their watch. They'll answer with like 6:23 or 9:49. Here, you just automatically round up to the nearest fourth. I have tried many times before to tell people the exact time down to the minute, and they would just get a confused look on their face. Quickly changing my mistake, I would round 3:21 to half past three. It's really not that important, but I just found it weird. I mean, in a way, it tells you about the way they spend their time here. Time is not really all that valuable. If anyone here tells you they will be back in fifteen minutes with your order, you should just leave and order pizza or take-out. If you receive an invitation for a wedding that starts at seven, never show up at seven because you will be the only one there. Everyone shows up an hour to two hours late. If you are expecting your co-worker to bring you copies of work within five minutes, you can bet that that co-worker will surely bring back your copies. However, it will not be without stopping along the way, catching up with a few friends, asking about their family trees, and how their mom is doing, eventually leaving the entire time to add up to fifteen minutes. You should just get the copies yourself. And God forbid you actually want to know when your semester starts for college. It seems like it would be a reasonable question, but people never know. They just reply with Inshallah ( God willing) or Allah Ghalab (God is the winner, only he know the answers). Those replies will really help you know when to get your school supplies ready. In the end, the minutes don't count. People are usually just so surprised that anything ever gets done, forget about being on time.
The second one is the fact that stores are only open at two sets of times during the day. Six days of the week, if you need anything, whether it be clothes or groceries or medicine, the shops will only be open from eleven to two in the afternoon. Then, at two, the shopkeepers will close, and go home. They will have a big lunch since that is the most important meal here, and they will take a long nap. They will then go back to their stores at six in the evening and stay open until around nine. The exception is on Friday which is the Islamic holy day. Rarely anything is open on Friday and if it is, they will only open in the evening.
The last one is the way that they tell ages. If you ask anyone how old they are, you should know that they are adding an extra year. For Libyans, the second that January first comes around, everyone suddenly ages by a year. Instead of actually using their real birth date, Libyans use the new year as the way to tell their age. It's as if everyone was already born one year old. So if you come to Libya (I wouldn't advise it.) , just add an extra year to however old you are. If you want me to psychoanalyze this one (Yes Seema! Please, please, we love it!!), I would say that since over half of the Libyan population is under the age of 30, everyone here is so quick to age. They see their age as the key to freedom. Enjoying your youth is hard here. Everything is so restricted and everything you do is constantly being judged. Your age is directly correlated with your eligibility to get married which is the ticket to leaving your parents which is considered freedom.
And now for an abrupt stop because my brain juices aren't from concentrate after grading a kid's paper who just spelled the word 'go' as 'gow'.
The first one is the way that they tell time. I have never once ever heard anyone here say the exact time. In America, you ask the time and they will look at their watch. They'll answer with like 6:23 or 9:49. Here, you just automatically round up to the nearest fourth. I have tried many times before to tell people the exact time down to the minute, and they would just get a confused look on their face. Quickly changing my mistake, I would round 3:21 to half past three. It's really not that important, but I just found it weird. I mean, in a way, it tells you about the way they spend their time here. Time is not really all that valuable. If anyone here tells you they will be back in fifteen minutes with your order, you should just leave and order pizza or take-out. If you receive an invitation for a wedding that starts at seven, never show up at seven because you will be the only one there. Everyone shows up an hour to two hours late. If you are expecting your co-worker to bring you copies of work within five minutes, you can bet that that co-worker will surely bring back your copies. However, it will not be without stopping along the way, catching up with a few friends, asking about their family trees, and how their mom is doing, eventually leaving the entire time to add up to fifteen minutes. You should just get the copies yourself. And God forbid you actually want to know when your semester starts for college. It seems like it would be a reasonable question, but people never know. They just reply with Inshallah ( God willing) or Allah Ghalab (God is the winner, only he know the answers). Those replies will really help you know when to get your school supplies ready. In the end, the minutes don't count. People are usually just so surprised that anything ever gets done, forget about being on time.
The second one is the fact that stores are only open at two sets of times during the day. Six days of the week, if you need anything, whether it be clothes or groceries or medicine, the shops will only be open from eleven to two in the afternoon. Then, at two, the shopkeepers will close, and go home. They will have a big lunch since that is the most important meal here, and they will take a long nap. They will then go back to their stores at six in the evening and stay open until around nine. The exception is on Friday which is the Islamic holy day. Rarely anything is open on Friday and if it is, they will only open in the evening.
The last one is the way that they tell ages. If you ask anyone how old they are, you should know that they are adding an extra year. For Libyans, the second that January first comes around, everyone suddenly ages by a year. Instead of actually using their real birth date, Libyans use the new year as the way to tell their age. It's as if everyone was already born one year old. So if you come to Libya (I wouldn't advise it.) , just add an extra year to however old you are. If you want me to psychoanalyze this one (Yes Seema! Please, please, we love it!!), I would say that since over half of the Libyan population is under the age of 30, everyone here is so quick to age. They see their age as the key to freedom. Enjoying your youth is hard here. Everything is so restricted and everything you do is constantly being judged. Your age is directly correlated with your eligibility to get married which is the ticket to leaving your parents which is considered freedom.
And now for an abrupt stop because my brain juices aren't from concentrate after grading a kid's paper who just spelled the word 'go' as 'gow'.
Read this all in your voice :) I truly enjoy hearing your thoughts. New posts from you are like opening Christmas presents to me. Much love.
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