Background
These are my updated memoirs from over a year in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region between July 8, 2017, to August 2, 2018. This collection explores the development of my graduate research through various experiences and insights. At times, my choices fanned the flames of interpersonal conflict, and I call out my ethnocentric bias in video entries to process uncomfortable situations.
Nevertheless, 3-years after the fact, it’s easy to reflect on making different choices outside the field. I will admit that it would’ve been nice to have conversations in Arabic, Hebrew, or Spanish with community members. However, I got along fine with English and became adept at cross-cultural body language fluency.
Building Rapport
My outsider status helped me establish rapport. The three groups I lived in were diverse communities, including Arab Israelis, South American-Jewish Israelis, and Egyptian communities.
I traded self-effacing jokes about being a Canadian, smoked hookah, and laughed and cried while sharing in American programming. I also asked endless questions regarding politics, religion, drugs, alcohol, and sex.
I discussed taboo topics such as homosexuality, which is rarely discussed openly in MENA. Many Israelis remain accepting of the LGTBQ community, although prejudice and intolerance exist among orthodox Jews. Hamas and Fatah both reject LGTBQ members to varying degrees. In Egypt, I shared an apartment with gay men who had not come out to their families for fear of bringing shame against the family.
Research
This collection of blog entries trace my research process in the field. There were many challenges along the way. The story begins with being refused entry at the Erez Crossing, an Israeli land border into the Gaza Strip.
I began with the open research question of what it means to be Palestinian living in conflict. My intention was to interview Palestinians in the field, although this focus shifted with President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
This is my story of overcoming barriers using the discovery of constructivist views to process research.
