onward and upward ... or something like that

[plural]

so

anyway I spent several hours speaking with the young woman mentioned in the previous post
[about the meaning of the word "harem"]
a most interesting conversation indeed

it turns out she moved from Saudi Arabia to Halifax about a year ago
when her husband married a second wife against her wishes

here is a woman who has been censured, jailed and publicly flogged
for desiring those most basic of freedoms we take for granted
and she beats herself up emotionally
because she does not feel she shows enough compassion to her patients sometimes
[she is an anesthesiologist]

she has a good deal of male orientated baggage
of course, with her background I cant blame her
being told to accept your husband beating you for several years
among the myriad of other ways women are oppressed in Saudi

I am more surprised that she is a balanced as she is
than that she has some baggage.

It is funny how our conversation has developed

from her first question of "are you looking for an orgy"
to which I responded "no, but I am not diametrically opposed to one"

to her saying I reminded her of her ex
I, of course, asked why
and she said "he decided he needed another wife on top of me"
and my explaining the difference in my perspective regarding a wife versus a harem girl

when that conversation ended
I rather did not expect to talk with her again
but this evening she messaged me again

as I had changed my headline as I discussed in the previous post
I explained the change and she said all of two sentences to me
before saying "have a good night"
but I gave her my new messenger account
that I opened for this purpose
again not really expecting to hear from her again

but sure enough about an hour later she im'd me
and we start talking and keep talking
for several hours getting fairly in depth

she is quite an interesting woman
in fact, if our cultural backgrounds were not diametrically opposed
to the degree that made a relationship impossible
I would be interested in pursuing something

but for now, I enjoy our little chats
and I will leave it at that

Comments

[zaiah.livejournal.com]

A medical doctor and a teacher are two of the only professions educated Saudi women can socially attain.

As such, both professions are generally derided and viewed (within the context of that culture) as something less.

She may have achieved something great for herself within the limits she experienced but her achievement to her current career is a much different path from an American med student.

[pseudovillain.livejournal.com]

I didn't know those two professions were looked down upon. However, I wonder if this person he is speaking of lives in America or is still over there.

I have worked in hospitals since I was 18, and anethesiologists are the highest paid doctors, easy hours, and on a crappy note, have the highest malpractice insurance ever.

I do not know of one that is hurting in any way.

And how is their schooling? Is it expensive like it is here? Provided? How does it work? The only reason I ask, is I can't seem to get myself in a position to finish school, I work nights, full time and just about killed myself last year at the attempt.

I guess all I am saying here is I wish I could finish school, and be financially as well off as one would be in that profession.

How the person got to that point, I can't really make judgements on, if that was the way life was, and I knew no better, then I simply would not know any better.