A Mad Trio

            It was October 13^th and I sat manning the front desk of Foster Hall when I received an unexpected call.  It was my friend Mad.   This call came as a pleasant surprise because although we had been texting over the past few weeks, the opportunity to actually meet in person had never come around.   On top of our hectic schedules, Mad was not only preparing for a grueling succession of standardized tests but also fallen ill for an extended time.   As I heard his voice, I suddenly realized that it had been exactly one month since out last face-to-face conversation.

Mad had just finished working-out and with no other immediate obligations that evening, he wondered if I was free.   Unfortunately, yet again the timing wasn’t ideal.  I let him know that although I would love to hangout and talk, I had just started my shift.    I asked him if he minded sitting in the office with me, which he more than happily accepted.

Mad strolled up to the front door of Foster a few minutes following the phone call.    I was truly surprised to learn that despite having been here for two semesters now, this was his first time entering a dorm.   He was clearly very interested and excited about “American university living”.  He asked me a number of questions about my job as a Desk Assistant and how dorm housing at TCU works.    In the middle of explaining what exactly my work entailed, my friend Arianna, who is a Resident Assistant, came in the office with her Gameboy and the new Pokémon game to say hello.  Mad was extremely surprised to see a girl playing a video game, immediately taking a liking to her because of it.  He asked me if it was common for American girls to play video games, which I exclaimed, “not really, the cool ones play them though”.   After introductions, Arianna who had overheard our prior conversation, offered to give Mad a tour, which he happily accepted.  Upon their arrival back it was clear that Mad and Arianna had quickly become comfortably acquainted friends.   Arianna, who found Mad and his experiences in Saudi Arabia very intriguing, decided to stick around.  The pair of us had become a trio.

Coincidently one of the headlines from The Wall Street Journal I had picked up earlier that day was about Iran’s Nuclear Program and the tensions in the Middle East.  Mad noticed the headline and expressed his distain for American media’s tendency to portray the Middle East as a constant, hostile war zone.  Reflecting on his point, Arianna and I found it quite valid.    Like many Americans, we quickly realized that our images of the Middle East are of Islam, Oil, and Hostility.  Mad confirmed that all these stereotypes had a grain of truth but each is immensely exaggerated.  

Mad and his family members are all Muslim, and as such, he has been on his pilgrimage to Mecca and has studies the Quran.  He also is required to follow kosher laws, fast during Ramadan and pray five times a day; things that he complains his mom often nags him about.   He says as a devout Muslim he has found it difficult to practice his religion openly in the United States.

As for oil and wealth in Saudi Arabia, we were surprised to hear that oil is literally as cheap as water.  A typical household on average has at least four cars.  However, ironically women aren’t even allowed to drive.  (This was a point Arianna found unfathomable.)   And although Saudi Arabia is an oil rich wealthy country, that wealth is restricted to the hands of a very select few; thus creating a vast class disparity that perpetuates itself with rampant corruption.

Our time together flew.  An hour and a half later Mad had to depart to go get dinner.   This left Arianna and me deep in thought.  We were intrigued and discussed how interesting his customs, culture and experiences are in light of our own American ones.  On a gloomy, overcast Sunday afternoon, as I faced a long shift at the desk, an unexpected call from a friend left a truly indelible mark.