So, for the people who know me fairly well know that I am what my mother affectionately considers a worry wort. I worry about everything, and I mean EVERYTHING. Honestly, I think I worry the perfect amount, but I suppose there are a few people who would beg to differ. Being a worry wort has been an interesting experience while serving in the Peace Corps where things don't really seem to make sense all the time. It has been even more interesting in a country where the phrase Inshallah (God willing) is the phrase to live by.
The phrase Inshallah is tied very closely to the Moroccan concept of time and functionality, like the examples below show:
Sure we will meet for coffee at 3, God willing... (actual time, 4)
Sure, class starts at 5:30, God willing.... (actual time, 5:45-6)
Sure, the Post Office will be open and the ATM will be working, God willing... (hahahaha)
Sure, of course you will be able to get a taxi back from the small little village you are visiting, God willing... (hahahahahahahahahahah)
Hopefully you are starting to get the idea....
Inshallah is also tied very closely to the religion and the idea that one does not have control over ones life, God does, so if God is willing for it to happen when you hope it does (or around the time you hope it does) then it will. And this is why I don't mind, and actually enjoy, the little nuances of the Moroccan concept of time and functionality tied to the phrase Inshallah. I find everything much calmer here and not so fast paced, which is a nice change. However, I am still having trouble getting used to the phrase being used in a cab like setting, and you know how much I trust cabbies...
Picture this, I get in a cab, tell the cabbie where I am going, and he says sure, INSHALLAH. And I am like, WHAT! WHAT DO YOU MEAN IF GOD IS WILLING, you only have to drive FIVE MINUTES! Shit, are you going to rob me?! Are you going to drop me in the middle of no where because I am not from here and it would be funny!? Is your cab so shitty it might not make it!? How can you tell me we might not actually make it to our destination!? WHAT THE F*** IS GOING ON!!!!
Please note that this dialogue is happening all in my head and I am not actually saying anything to the cabbie because my language skills are not advanced enough to express a total freak out. But we, of course, as always, make it safely to the destination, and I pay the cabbie, embarrassed that I actually thought he might rob me etc.
Well, at least the first stage of recovery is admitting you have a problem right? So Inshallah these bouts of insanity I experience when stepping into a Moroccan cab will slowly fade away, just as soon as I stop being a worry wort, Inshallah...
No comments:
Post a Comment