Today my meeting with Rayan and Hanah was short, but I still learned a lot! The conversation started off very casual and they told me that they are excited for the new hot weather but unfortunately they still have school throughout the summer.
I asked them if they had ever heard of Juha, and they laughed and said of course they had! They were surprised that we had read the book of many tales of Juha in our Lit and Civ class. Rayan told me that his favorite story was one that demonstrated Juha's wit and cleverness that involved a restaurant owner, a merchant, and money for a chicken that the merchant ordered and vowed to pay for when he returned from his journey. When the merchant showed up, the restaurant owner told him that he owed him 200 dirhams (an absurd amount). The man thought this was ridiculous and took the case to court. It took Juha's wit for the judge to rule in favor of the merchant. They were even more surprised when I told them that I recognized this story from our class readings.
When I inquired on the importance of those stories in their culture, Rayan told me that they may be short, but they always teach you a lesson. They said that usually the stories get told to children even though some of the tales are more directed towards adults. Their culture has many synonymous characters...such as Aladdin and Ali Ababwa, and there are animated TV shows for kids to watch depicting these characters and their tales.
I thought it was neat to see Juha's significance in the lives and culture of people that I knew personally. I loved that I made a connection to my readings in Lit and Civ to real life!!
Ashlyn,
ReplyDeleteThat is so cool that your conversation partners knew all about Juha. It's always neat when class material reappears in real life and makes an impact on you. I definitely see how some of the Juha tales apply more to adults than children - I wonder if these show up in the tv shows just to get parents to watch with their kids! Interesting post!
Madeline
Ashlyn,
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you got to talk about Juha with people who actually grew up hearing the stories. I personally loved reading all the tales about Juha. I found them very similar to the fables we tell children in America to teach them morals. I guess every culture has its own set of stories they use to teach children. I'm so glad we got to learn about them, and that you got to learn even more about them in a real life context. Great post!
Kelsey