Post by Yuki on Apr 17, 2013 12:38:00 GMT
It's a facebook page a Finnish friend of mine started, to speak of her experiences in the Middle East and North Africa.. I thought some of you might enjoy it..
This was her first post (I made a few language corrections): link
This was her first post (I made a few language corrections): link
My interest for the Middle East and North Africa started with Algeria. I think I was 13 when I first read a book about Amazigh and Tuareg culture in the south of Algeria. Everyone in my family used to call me crazy when I started to express my wish to visit southern Algeria, Tamanrasset and the Hoggar region. For me it was so fascinating, the exact opposite of my childhood experiences as a Finnish girl, growing up in the cold north with our island in the Gulf of Finland. I saw pictures of the stone and sand formations in the Sahara and I was very excited to read more and more about Berber and nomadic lifestyle. I became a big fan of the famous Tuareg queen Tin Hinan. I started to collect every little article about Algeria, and in the following years also about the "grand Maghreb", including Morocco and Tunisia. I still have a very naive and orientalized love for the region. But from the very beginning I was prepared to learn about this strange and colourful region, and at school I decided to dedicate my future to it. Now many things in my life and mind have changed. I decided to write about my experiences in the Middle East through a Finnish girl's eyes and to share them with interested people. My point of view may have changed a lot with my struggle to understand the cultures and traditions, but the love and fascination with the smells, colours, languages, people and landscapes has always remained the same. So I hope you will enjoy reading about experiences and thoughts I have made in the Middle East and North Africa.