She's passionate, honest, kind-hearted, inspiring, strong, beautiful, a follower of the Muslim faith, but most importantly she is my best friend.
We met in high school, a private all-girls school that prides itself on the diversity and acceptance of different faiths. Like our high school motto says, "You must have hearts larger than the world," and the way to do this is through education, exposure, and acceptance.
Over the past three years I have learned more things about the Muslim faith than I ever thought I would. I am Catholic and I love my faith, but I've come to realize that the two faiths are very powerful in their traditions and frankly not as different as many think. Allah means God, my best friend prays to the same God I pray to just about four more times a day than I do.
We come from two completely different cultural backgrounds and yet all I see when I look at her is my best friend who has been with me through hell and back. Picked me up when I have fallen down, laughed with me, laughed at me, answered my phone calls at 1 a.m., and I owe a lot of my strength to her.
Culture is a key part of our identity. It helps us discover who we are, how we interact with others, what is "appropriate" versus "inappropriate," and it gives us a sense of purpose; an answer to the overpowering question of "why am I here?"
This might be a bold statement. Okay, it's a very bold statement. But people are ignorant, myself included. We can be egocentric; we can fall into the mindset of thinking that our culture is the best and everyone who believes in something different is wrong. They're not wrong, they're just simply different. Remember that Dr. Seuss book your parents used to read to you when you were little, "Horton Hears a Who?" What is it that Horton always says? Oh yes, "A person is a person no matter how small."
A change in perspective is healthy and sometimes necessary. Having a friend who tells me how her family has suffered in the Middle East breaks my heart and opens my eyes. Here I am thinking my life is so hard because my family refuses to see each other for Thanksgiving while my best friend is praying for her family's safety. I don't think it gets more real than that.
I am not going to lie, I'm a journalism major and I don't read nearly enough news as I should. I cannot tell you details about every world event, which does not give me the authority to really say anything about a controversial subject such as this. However, I can tell you that having a friend from a different cultural background has allowed me to become more interested in and proud of my own culture. It is important to know where you come from and where you fit in within the puzzle of life.
It is important to remember that despite cultural differences we are all people; made up of the same organic compounds, each of our hearts beating the same way; cracking smiles at the same universal knock-knock jokes, and calling the same planet home. No, we don't all speak the same language, have the same beliefs, eat the same food, but we are all human beings. We are human beings at the core, but it is our culture, personality, and surroundings that make us unique individuals. And for that I am very grateful.
Cultural differences can be difficult to understand and sometimes hard to embrace, but the main point is you try to understand and you try to embrace the differences. Who knows, you might discover that you belong in a different culture and that's perfectly fine. Living in a world where there are so many options makes it that much more exciting. Maybe this is just me, but I don't think there is anything more passionate than when one talks about their culture. I know I could go on for hours about mine and I'm sure you all can too. If you can't, that's okay. That's what makes life so fun, you have every opportunity to go out and search for who you are and truly discover yourself.
Take a chance, ask questions, learn.
I still have no idea what is in half of the dishes I eat when I go over to my best friend's house for dinner, but hey, it's food and it's delicious. Her family has formed a special place in my heart. From the moment I met them, they opened their arms to me and embraced me so I did the same thing to them. And I'm so glad I did.
She is different, I am different, we are both stubborn, hardworking, hardheaded, opinionated, loving, caring, and forever and always best friends first. Friendship doesn't know the difference between cultures and even if it did, it wouldn't care because, although it makes up a large portion of our identities, it doesn't matter.
People come into our lives for a reason and it is our job as human beings to accept them just the way the are.
