I’ve finally found someone I could share my experience with.
I’m Christian,
And I’ve worked as a teacher in our small village.
Most of the people there were Muslim.
I was new to their village.
And they were very nice to me.
I made sure to wear long-sleeved,
And loose-fitting blouses to work.
Because my appearance made me stand out in the village.
My hair was uncovered,
And I wore pants,
Unlike all the other teachers who wore abayas.
The kids at school were the first to surprise me.
It was their first time dealing with a Christian.
During class,
A kid would interrupt me to ask,
“Do you speak Arabic like us?
I see Christians on T.V. speaking English.”
I knew she was talking about English movies,
So I laughed,
And told her that I was Egyptian.
There were two very strange incidents.
The first was when a student called one of his classmates in class “a Christian.”
The boy complained to me and said,
“Ahmed is cursing me.
He called me a Christian.”
“What’s the problem with that?” I asked.
“Are you Christian?
Why is it offensive to call someone a Christian?”
“I’m Muslim,
And I only believe in Allah,” he answered.
I didn’t know what to say.
The second incident,
Was when I entered the class,
And greeted everyone,
But one student didn’t answer my greeting.
The kids were the ones to point it out.
“Did I upset you?
Why didn’t you answer my greeting?”
“The sheikh who gives us Quran lessons,
Told me not to greet Christians.”
I was shocked,
Especially because he was a child.
“That’s wrong.
The Quran says that you should treat us nicely.
Ask your parents.
What if the sheikh told you that Christians are bad people,
And we should kill them?
Would you do it?
You must use your brain.”
I couldn’t continue the class after what he said.
“What’s the sheikh’s name so I could report him?” I asked.
They told me he was with the Principal Shari’a Society.
I told the homeroom teacher what happened.
She didn’t ignore it.
Some time after the incident,
She told me that he stopped coming to the village.
There are other incidents I’ll tell you about some other time.