People give me a lot of credit for living abroad and traveling as much as I do. Really and truly, while it is interesting and often fun, it’s not really that difficult.
Think about it: I am a blonde American woman living in the Middle East so I don’t blend in at all. No one expects me to know anything so they are inordinately thrilled when I can manage a few words of Arabic (or whatever language of the country I’m visiting) If I inadvertently overlook some local custom, no one expects any better of a know-nothing foreigner anyway. Truly, traveling in Asia and the Middle East is pretty easy – Europe is where I’ve had more trouble. I guess it’s all my Northern European heritage showing because no matter where I’ve gone, everyone has always seemed shocked to hear American accented English coming out of my mouth instead of the local language.
