Sense in the dunes of ignorance

Sense in the dunes of ignorance #thirdculturekid

I am half Emirati and half Egyptian and was born and raised in the UAE. Some may think ‘how does that make her a third culture kid?’. The answer is because I never felt and until this day 28 years later, I still do not fit into my own society let alone in any other.

My mother is not muslim and my father was which let to me celebrating Christmas and learning about Isla

m in school. In the UAE, that is not normal. It is actually frowned upon if you were not of “pure” blood or if you celebrated anything that is not “muslim”.

To make my case worse, I never mastered the dialect and I do not look Emirati let alone dress in their “traditional attire”. I have 6 tattoos and piercings here and there, I smoke and I drink as well.

I could not relate to my mother’s culture nor my father’s and I needed to find a way to survive all the dirty looks, discrimination and racial slurs I would get on a daily basis from people that were completely ignorant.

Hence why I resorted to developing my own belief system, my own ethical code and my own culture.

I have had people tell me that I would go straight to hell if I did not cover up or was not “muslim” in general…thankfully I am still on this planet and frankly speaking I am enjoying my lifestyle and I do not allow any of the above affect me in any shape or form.

Thanks to the system I created for myself I grew incredibly tough skin and learnt how to fight back any negativity that comes my way. I am super proud of myself and my achievements in life.

By Alya

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