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

[pseudovillain.livejournal.com]

Well all those things would most certainly suck, however I must ask if they aren't allowed to do anything, who provides them with the funds to attend school?

I guess I have a bitter view on this because I am a middle class white chic, busting her ass to try to find a way to get through school, work, pay bills, and not sink myself into much more student loan debt than I already am.

I was very successful with school, I just cannot work the job I have to complete it, and that just pisses me off.

So, in my view, if someone wanted to beat the shit out of me and support me while I finished school, I might just take them up on it. I know that sounds twisted but seriously, I wish I just had a fair chance to just go.

[plural.livejournal.com]

I hear you, I have watched you struggle to figure out a way to make it work and bang your head against scheduling and other factors, and can imagine why it would touch a nerve with you.

My point really in mentioning it was that she has been through an ordeal which many of us have no concept of.

[pseudovillain.livejournal.com]

Oh yea I can totally understand what you were saying. I guess some folks take different things for granted. Say, the women of the U.S take not being beat up on a daily basis (well for the most part) for granted....yet some struggle like hell to go to school.....and then apparently in Saudi, it is the opposite.

Funny how perspective can change everything, ya know?