Tech School, continued
So, again, the weather was getting better, and I was still awaiting instruction. So one day, we’re told to go outside and a huge group forms and we’re told that we’re going to walk around the block and sweep the area to pick up trash. So we kind of spread out and start the sweep. We go through a short tunnel, and I kind of feel like people are walking around me, surrounding me, walking at my same pace. Then to a distance, I see a couple of guys in a different military uniform and realize they are students from Saudi Arabia. And we’re all just kind of looking at them, and they are looking at us kind of. And during this moment, there was this short tiny blonde girl to my left, and she was kind of angling herself towards me, but still walking forward. You know those pictures of those military people, probably army soldiers, showing them having dogs attack the genitalia of some Middle Eastern prisoners; yeah, well, I think this girl was trying to imitate that (I can’t help to think, “NO! STUPID!”). Then we continue to walk around the block, picking up trash, which there wasn’t much of, and then I kind of realize that its like we’re playing out a search and rescue operation, and this is before that Army girl was chopped up, which was chilling AF. This kind of frustrates me because I don’t want to be demonized as if I’m some kind of criminal. So when I realize this, I say aloud, “Where’s the dogs?,” just to let people know I understand what’s going on. So why was all this happening? Well, because, a couple of months before, there was an active shooter who was from Saudi Arabia on a different base. When I heard about this happening, it was a head scratcher because I wanted to know what would drive someone to do something like this, which wasn’t really answered by the media. So when I got to base and heard about Saudi Arabian and other friendly foreign militaries being on base for schooling, I was kind of excited to meet them. I’ve met many international people before, and I enjoy learning about other cultures. So when classes finally started, I finally see some Saudi Arabians in the computer lab. And I tend to be kind of vocal, when I can spare the energy and don’t need to focus, to fight off the bullying and harassment I’ve been experiencing, and I understand that it could be difficult for foreigners to get used to American culture because Americans can be bullies and very disrespectful and passive aggressive… its something that I had to get used to because I was taught to be very respectful by my father, who actually wasn’t very respectful to his father, ironically. Some foreign cultures are very respectful, and Saudi Arabia is like a kingdom, so I kind of think of England like culture that’s proper and stuff. So as soon as I saw the Saudi Arabians, I intentionally, jokingly, and sarcastically said, “Aaamerricans,” like I was disgusted by them. Then this guy right next to me kind of looked nervous, like how dare I saw that. Then a couple of the Saudi Arabians kind of walked passed me and kind of looked down at me, and I stayed humble, because I didn’t feel that it was real, it was just the situation and part of the bullying culture centered around me. And then one of the Saudi Arabians tried to say something to offend me, and I said “thank you, thank you” in Arabic, and I could tell that he immediately kind of felt bad about trying to offend me, like it wasn’t in his nature to do so. So the reason I know a couple of Arabic words is because I had a high school friend who’s from the Middle East, and he taught me two words: “thank you” and “slave.” So I also said aloud, “slave,” like saying, yeah… I’m a slave because I have no privacy and my freedoms are oppressed. Then I went to go eat lunch at the cafeteria, and there was this guy saying really abusive things to me, indirectly of course, I forget what exactly, but he said “like that.” Now the reason people say “like that” is because apparently one of the guys who raped my mom was showing the rest of the guys how you rape, I guess, and said “like that.” So when people bully me and verbally attack me, they will say “like that.” Yeah, super low life of them, it’s mostly because they are ignorant immature weak souls lacking strong character. Anyway, this got me thinking. I don’t think this Saudi Arabian guy on his own went about on his own to bully me; I think he was told to. My suspicions tell me that the active shooter was retaliating because he was being bullied, I’m not 100% sure, but it makes sense to me. Anyway, I think it was good for me to say the words I knew in Arabic because I was trying to be friendly and peaceful. I didn’t get to have a conversation with the Saudi Arabians, but I did cross paths with a couple of them a couple of times, and I felt like they were being nice to me. One time, one of them said something in English, without an accent; I think I might have surprised them with the couple of words I knew in Arabic.