The ways in which we deal with stress, although many, can be distilled into the basic four pathways: chunk-drunk-hunk-monk. Living abroad, not only do you face the regular everyday stress points, but a whole slew of additional ones. My sister introduced me to these four general categories, which are related to high stress locations, which I do think Hawiyah (not even Taif), Saudi Arabia is one.
Lately this has been the most difficult coping strategy to avoid. Legal and little effort, it is so easy to turn to a tub of chocolate ice cream or extra-cheese pizza when one is feeling down. I have struggled with this one the most, and it seems like just when I have it beat, some difficulty elbows its way into my life and I get overwhelmed and head to the convenience store on compound (which has the sorriest selection of food- all processed-which I guess is what people go to for convenience and comfort).
I have fluctuated in and out of all four, but have successfully dropped drunk (drinking the gawd awful bathtub gins and smoking) about two years ago. When I first got here, I was invited to several American consulate parties where they had great scotch, but poor company. I tired of that and then started going to compound parties and bars. The fuel for these places tended to be sidiki (which is Arabic for 'my friend'), basically home-stilled, impure grain alcohol. Drinking various concoctions with sid left me feeling terrible the next day (nothing worse than a sid hangover), and so it was easy to stop.
Of course this is the most difficult strategy to maintain. When I am on and have energy, and as I have so much free time on my hands, I am able to walk eight miles, head to the gym for a workout and the return home to cook a tasty healthy meal. But I swear, this place just sucks the life out of me. After returning from teaching, which this semester I have really been enjoying as I have a good group of guys, I am spent. Part of being a teacher is being a performer, mixing it up so that your students don't bore of the content. This takes preparation and positive energy, which drains you.
Currently, and for the past year or so, I have definitely adopted the strategy of monk. Life here, working, living and sharing with the same people has increased the appeal. I see these people at work, live on the same small isolated island-compound and must share cars and the escape villa in Jeddah with them. So socializing for me, has been easy to shed. The moment I return from work, I try my best to not encounter anyone. Nothing personal, but when spending that much time with people without a choice, when I am able to choose, I now always choose to be alone.
Well, as my future holds less than two weeks of teaching, and four weeks total, I have been abiding by the hunk-monk routine. I can only imagine how long it will take me to leave this place to memory, and recompose the person that I was/am. I view it as a process of decompression, which I hope the travels that are in my future assist me with, as I become.
No comments:
Post a Comment