Recognizing Perspectives: When Familiar Becomes Unfamiliar

Location:
Bethlehem
Latitude/Longitude:
31.705382100000, 35.202442500000
Journal Entry:

For a long time, I’ve studied other cultures and religions out of my own curiosity. Usually I choose to study cultures, languages and religions vastly different from my own upbringing. The appeal of unfamiliarly is something that is alluring to me. I’m instantly intrigued by things that seem very different from what I know and that seem to challenge my own ideas. I enjoy understanding the difference between my culture, identity and perspective from those of others, while also finding excitement in discovering similarities. For these reasons, I chose to study Arabic, the Middle East and take courses on Islam while at my University rather than studying Latin America, Spanish or academically studying Christianity. At the time, I felt like the latter were too familiar and I already had a good understanding of them. However, little did I know that moving to a Muslim-majority country in the Middle East would invite me to take a second look at a religion other than Islam. Since moving to Ramallah, I have been learning a lot about different denominations or types of Christianity.

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