Tales of Juha - Part Two

As we continue reading Tales of Juha, this book has become one of my favorite books we have read. This time we read “Social Satire,” “Cunning and Resource,” and “Naïveté and Stupidity.” I enjoyed each of the sections but my favorite would be the last section, “Naïveté and Stupidity.” In this section, Juha is portrayed as someone who is naïve and not on the bright side. While he is not the butt of the jokes, he provides someone to laugh at. His thoughts are silly, adolescent, and laughable. He seems very sincere in some of the anecdotes. I think this section is in great contrast with the first section of “Wit and Wisdom.” The difference portrays the essence of Juha. He is a diverse character who represents a range of stereotypes.

                A few common ideas/themes appeared in several anecdotes. For example, one of my favorite stories from last time involved the “Race Winner.” In the anecdote, Juha and his wife have been married for three months. At this point, his wife is ready to give birth to a baby. In the first section (“Wit and Wisdom”), Juha is on the snarky side. He plainly lies out that something isn’t right. The baby did what most babies do in nine months in three months. Juha jokingly wants to name the baby “Race Winner.” But, a different picture is painted in the section “Naïveté and Stupidity.” Here, Juha is puzzled at the situation. He asks “what is going on here?” He knows that women carry a child for nine months. But, when he begins to question his wife, he falls into the not as brilliant stereotype. Contrary to the previous Juha, Juha is easily influenced by his wife. Instead of being witty and turning the table, the table is turned on him. Somehow, Juha is convinced three months to each the mother, father, and baby totals to nine months. I thought the stories alone were funny, but the way they compared added to the humor. I experienced a cognitive shift during the second one because I expected it to follow the same line. I experienced the same thing with another story involving donkeys. Juha is riding on a donkey along with a number of other donkeys. He counts the donkeys but always forgets the one he is. Continuously causing conflicts with himself, he gets on and off the donkeys. I thought it was interesting to see the straight comparison between two folk tales. The anecdotes had the basic theme but a different way of telling the story. I’m curious to see if there will be more similarities like these throughout the book. Also, I’ll be able to share some more stories with Hashim!

Fifth Meeting with Hashim

Keeping with tradition, Hashim and I met at Union Grounds. He warned me that he might be a little late because he was coming back from a field trip. Hashim showed up only five minutes after I did. But he was definitely worn down. I asked him about his field trip and he did not hold back his frustration. Friday, the IEP students went into Dallas. They were given two options: visit the aquarium, or visit museums. To his dismay, one of his good friends wanted to go to the museums instead. So, Hashim went with him and had a few up and downs. They waited in line at the first museum but before getting in, one of the teachers told the students they didn’t have time for this museum. Hashim was a little agitated for waiting and moved onto the next museum. He shared a few other funny incidents that happened during the trip. Looking back on his storytelling, I could see how animated he was. Hashim paused at all the right points, added animation, and talked with his hands. It is impressive that he is able to do so in a second language.

Another point of discussion was the infamous statue. While we were sitting, Hashim pointed out the statue and asked me how much I thought it cost. I was surprised that he had heard about the statue cost! We talked about the controversy surrounding the statue. Hashim hadn’t actually heard anything about the statue besides the cost. I told him what we had talked about in class. As we joked about the statue, several adults took pictures with the statue. Most were touring the school with high schoolers and I’m assuming others were alumni. Both of us were unaware that people liked the statue! Before we wore the subject out, a certain SGA President brought a small group of people to the statue. I pointed out to this certain person and explained who he was. I wanted to quiet down but Hashim mocked the statue as the certain person passed! Retelling it now is funny, but I was embarrassed when it happened! To change the subject, I brought up the reading. I explained that we have been examining humor from a few cultures and just started a book on Arab culture. I could tell Hashim was immediately stunned that we were beginning Arab humor. When I told him the book focused on Juha, his astonishment turned to enthusiasm.  He had no clue that there were translated versions of Juha. He started to explain just as the introduction to the book. He told me that there are so many stories of Juha. Juha is sometimes poor, wealthy, idiotic, genius, and everything in between. He asked me what stories we had read and the format of the book. I told him we had started on “Wit and Wisdom” and shared a few that I could remember. He laughed along as I retold them. He then told me that he didn’t care for reading when he was younger. He never read or focused on books. But, holding his hands about 5 or 6 inches apart, he demonstrated the size of the one book he did read. This one book held stories of Juha. He said he would thumb through it and read the short stories. The tales of Juha held a great impact on his childhood. He was eager to share information about Juha and how it really is a staple in his culture.

I was glad to meet with Hashim again. Each time we meet, conversation flows easier. We are always able to find something to talk about. Again, I’m glad I am able to teach him about our culture just as he teaches me. I’m curious to keep reading Tales of Juha so I have more things to share with Hashim.

Tales of Juha: Wit and Wisdom

            I wanted to go ahead and start Tales of Juha before I meet with Hashim tomorrow. Because the book is a look into classic Arab folk humor, I’m hoping Hashim has more insight to the Juha stereotype. After reading the introduction, it seems there is no stereotype for Juha. In the Arab culture, Juha stands for a variety of people, thoughts, morals and social standing. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect after reading this introduction. From conversations with Hashim, his sense of humor isn’t out of the ordinary – ordinary being my idea of humor, in this case. All in all, I was curious to get into the book and see what “classic” Arab humor is.

            I enjoyed the reading from the beginning. In general, I appreciate “Wit and Wisdom” humor. At first, I started writing down the page numbers of the quips I really enjoyed. After a while, I had too many pages written down. To begin, I laughed at the tale with two thieves. Juha convinced the two that only one would win his money. In the end, he has successfully convinced the two to beat each other up and allowed himself the chance to escape. I think I enjoyed this story because I’ve heard several variations before. So, the familiarity added to the humor. Later on in the reading, I came upon another story I had heard before: Juha and his two wives. Juha gifted both a necklace and asked the woman to remain silent. When the quarreling woman approached Juha about his love, he replied he gave the woman he loves more a necklace. Both women leave happy. Generally I don’t find deceiving your wife (wives in this case) funny or humorous, but I laughed at the women in the end. I enjoyed the surface humor: the simple idea of completely deceiving two people by referring back to a seemingly sweet gesture. Several other stories included the idea of deceit or outwitting another. I think this is a common thread in every type of humor.

My favorite pieces from the “Wit and Wisdom” section were the short quips.  The first one cast Juha as a thief. He stole a donkey to sell and in turn lost it to another thief. When asked, Juha says he sold “at cost.” Some may deem this as simple humor, but I love it. I couldn’t help but laugh aloud. On the other side of humor, I enjoyed the wisdom too. I especially liked Juha’s reply when asked about medicine. He answered, “ the great secret is to keep your feet warm, expose your head to the air and to the sun, be careful what you eat and don’t overeat, and don’t dwell on your worries and griefs.” Like other pieces of wisdom in the section, I have heard variations. I don’t know if the source of the advice is “Juha.” Either way, I think it amplifies the connection of cultures. So, while cultures are unique, there are always stories of wisdom and wit. Furthermore, the common connection adds to the idea that humor is shared across the board.  

So Long Hokum

           The multitude of short stories and excerpts was an unexpected change. The six texts varied over content and time. The first, Book of Harlem by Zora Neale Hurston, dated circa 1921 and the last, The Mulatto Millenium by Danzy  Senna dated 1998. Each story approached race differently with unique intent and delivery. I found three stories in particular where I at least laughed once: Dirty Deceivers, The Wig, and The Mulatto Millenium.   

            Dirty Deceivers explored the relationship between two secretive lovers: Ferdinand Cortes and Lupe Rentera. Despite having a stable family, education, and job, Clefus left New York City to become a deck hand. Through a whirlwind life, Clefus became Ferdinand and became an interpreter on Ellis Island. I thought it was ironic and funny that Ferdinand was eager to leave America, and now he is the first stop for immigrants. I also found humor in the effort that Ferdinand and Lupe went to in covering up true identities. While I don’t think it is necessary to go to lengths to hide your true identity, or try to hide it in the first place, I found humor in the situation. A married couple hid the same thing from each other in fear of the other. Weekly, Ferdinand and Lupe traveled to Harlem, got a haircut, and explored the city. Neither ran into the other or had suspicions. Yet, when Lupe saw a letter his coat pocket, she couldn’t help read the letter. She was so happy at the discovery, she woke him. To top everything off, they are from the same town and are distantly related. I was not expecting them to be related so I found the whole exchange to be humorous. But, soon after the happy exchange, the couple begins to grow apart. Both became angry with the other for lying about his or her background. I loved the ending quote – “In fact, they got so mad at each other they quit speaking and are now suing for divorce on the grounds of false pretenses.’ I laughed out loud at this part; I loved the clever ending and thought it made the story more humorous.

            The excerpt from The Wig by Charles Wright was also funny. While I wasn’t laughing throughout the story, I thought there was situational humor. The excerpt begins with a large rat walking around Nonnie Swift’s living room. Nonnie was frightened and called Lester to help her. Lester begins to fight the giant, stubborn rat. I appreciated Nonnie’s piece of advice, “Call him Rasputin. They love that.” I found it to be unexpected and laughed when it actually worked for Les. After killing the first rat, Les tempts the other rats out of the walls. When they come, he battles them. I didn’t realize that Les wanted to save the rat pelt at first. I was surprised that this was prided upon. I was also surprised to find out that Nonnie and Les were not in a relationship. The tables quickly turned after Mrs. Tucker, the neighbor, came to congratulate Les on his kills. Nonnie says she is going to report Les for not having a license. As it turns out, rat killing is a manly sport. The whole cognitive shift of Nonnie turning, rat killing being a sport, and Les ignoring her was humorous. I enjoyed the change from the expected ending. Additionally, I was shocked at the ending paragraph. That was a whole other cognitive shift. I was not expecting Les to be dreaming about another woman so intensely. Despite the ending, I liked this excerpt.

            Overall, I enjoyed the reading selection this time. I haven’t found the majority of our readings from Hokum funny. I appreciated the change and the humor I was able to find for the final readings of Hokum. 

The Lesson

Well, I thought I had missed the lesson. Immediately after opening to the short story The Lesson, I recognized the story. At some point during high school, I had read the short by Toni Bambara. I couldn’t tell you what I thought of it then, but I remember thinking I had missed the lesson. I can’t recall analyzing the story and definitely cannot recall the symbolism.  Additionally, I couldn’t remember it being particularly funny. Thinking that I would “get it” this time, I read the story again. While I got more out of the story, I did not find myself laughing through it. I continually questioned which parts were meant to be humorous. In my eyes, Sylvia is a tough, young girl from a tough neighborhood. She lives in close quarters with her extended family in neighboring apartments. The apartments are described in bad condition with drunks roaming the hallways. I wasn’t sure where the humor was coming into play. Was I meant to find the living conditions funny? Because I didn’t; I felt bad for the children living there. They had to live with filth and play around it. The kids were taught by another woman because Aunt Gretchen wasn’t bright enough to teach. The parents were thankful to have someone else around to teach the children. Ms. Moore, a college educated woman, took on the role of teaching several of the neighborhood boys and girls. But, Sylvia doesn’t care much for her teacher. In fact, she calls her teacher a range of names I can’t imagine saying at that age. Sylvia even said we "laughed at her, laughed the way we did at the junk man who went about his business like he was some big-time president and his sorry-ass horse his secretary." Was this meant to be funny? Was I supposed to be laughing at her judgment? I wasn’t laughing. Later, Miss Moore takes the kids to F.A.O. Schwartz. With each toy the children look at, Miss Moore asks a question. It seemed like she was pushing their education, asking questions to encourage thought. Although, by showing the students expensive toys, Miss Moore was able to direct the kids to question a society that provides expensive toys to the more fortunate. She also caused Sylvia to feel ashamed. I don’t think her goal was to shame Sylvia, but I don’t know if she felt badly. I felt she was trying to show a side of society she didn’t agree with. She doesn’t think the kids should be ashamed and she doesn’t agree with the distribution of wealth. But, when Miss Moore is trying to drive her point home, Sylvia just turns away. She walks away and Sugar runs to catch up with her. At this point, my questioning comes full circle. Did I “get” the story? I thought I had until Sylvia ran away. Sylvia concludes by saying, “ain’t nobody gonna beat me at nuthin.” I feel like I missed the point. I am not sure if she meant Miss Moore, life, money, hardship, or something else. I really don’t know if I understood Bambara’s lesson, but either way, I was not laughing my way through.  

Fourth Meeting With Hashim

     Keeping things consistent, Hashim and I met outside Union Grounds on Friday. If you don’t remember, Friday was a Texas version of freezing. Hashim definitely felt as I did! While winters are getting colder in Saudi Arabia, he said Friday was colder than he would like. To get the conversation going, I asked him how the parade was last week (this is why he couldn’t meet). He was so excited over the parade. Hashim thought it was a great way to celebrate homecoming. We both loved the firework show at the end of the night. I was surprised to hear that he stayed around campus for all the events considering he lives off campus. Inversely, he was surprised that I had only watched the fireworks from my dorm window. Hashim also didn’t know that homecoming was an annual event. I am assuming they don’t have an equivalent in Saudi. We talked a little about the game. Hashim and his friends left 5 minutes before the last quarter ended and heard screaming after they left the stadium. I couldn’t believe he had left before the game ended. But then again, soccer is the popular sport in his country. Although he follows soccer, Hashim is getting more into football. We ended up talking about Pachall. Hashim is still surprised that Patterson took him out of the football program. Furthermore, Hashim was surprised we are having a freshman, Boykin, play quarterback; he thought there would’ve been older players to choose from. Our opinions differed on who should be playing but we're both are impressed and proud of Patterson’s decision to remove Pachall for Pachall’s best interest.

     Moving away from that conversation, Hashim brought up that Friday was a holiday for him. IEP gave the students a day off in respect for the Islamic students. For Friday and a few days prior, a pilgrimage known as the “Hajj” took place. The fifth pillar of Islam says everyone must go on a pilgrimage, a duty that must be carried out once in his or her lifetime. Hashim’s sister had sent him a picture of the large crowd gathering at Mecca. When he first showed me, he only explained that it was a pilgrimage. When I asked him the name of the pilgrimage in Arabic and he told me, I told him that I had learned about it in school. Hashim was shocked that I had been taught about the Hajj. He was especially surprised that I knew it as Hajj, not just a pilgrimage. I am glad I was able to share that with Hashim because it widens his opinion on our education system. After more talking, we started talking about a book his class is reading, The Life of Pi. It was a day for surprising Hashim. He was amazed that I have read the book, not only once but twice. The first time I read the book was with my grandfather when I visited in middle school. The second time was in high school, in the same class I had learned about the Hajj. While I agree that the United States does not have the best education system, I am glad Hashim was happy to hear that I have learned about Islam in school and read The Life of Pi. I hope Hashim and I can continue to teach each other about our cultures and gain respect for the other’s. 

Third Meeting with Hashim

This afternoon Hashim and I met again by Union Grounds. I feel like I'm really getting to know Hashim based on our conversations. We were able to sit on the couches and talk for an hour without any lulls in conversation. We covered a range of topics from fall break to the elections. Hashim stayed in Fort Worth for the break because going home is a little out of the question. He shared the story of his failed attempt at going to the football game. Hashim and his friends had to park far away from the stadium and trudge through the cold to the gate. At this point, Hashim realized he forgot his ID. Instead of going to get it, they all gave up and went to do something else. The subject of football led us to Casey Pachall. Hashim was surprised by the degree of reprimand. To him, it wasn’t a big deal that Pachall was caught behind the wheel. I’m not sure if it is a personal opinion or cultural difference, but we had a difference of opinion on the punishment. Talking about our football team led to sports in general. While we both played soccer in the past, Hashim is an avid fan and player of many sports. On the weekends, a group of the IEP students play soccer and volleyball. Hashim also played handball back home. He quickly explained the game and his ability. Apparently, Hashim was a top player in his country when he was in middle school. Athleticism runs in the family, the large family! In Saudi Arabia, Hashim’s family gathers together every weekend at his grandfather’s. His mother is one of seven children and the only girl. Hashim grew up with family around all the time and remains close to them.  We ended up talking about the difference in families. Most other cultures place importance family. While family is important to me and many others, I couldn't honestly say I am close to all of my cousins, aunts and uncles. Hashim on the other hand considers his uncles like brothers. Differences like this amaze me. I would love if I was closer to my extended family but the dynamic is so different than that with my siblings.

We also hit one of our favorite topics – movies. Hashim had excitedly told me about the new movie Looper. In our previous meetings, he had talked about how great the movie was meant to be. He planned on going with some friends after our last meeting. When I asked him about the movie, he could hide his disappointment. The movie didn't stand Hashim’s high expectations. After admitting it was good, not as good as he hoped, he pointed out some of the flaws in the film. The minor flaws won't keep me from seeing the film at some point. So, if you are thinking of seeing Looper, it is a do! I decided to tell Hashim about the movie I’m planning on seeing tomorrow, Pitch Perfect. Before I told him, I was a little embarrassed to tell him because I felt the movie wasn't of the caliber he likes. But he was so excited when I told him! Turns out, Hashim went with his friends over fall break. He gushed about the movie and how funny it was. This just showed me the concept of universal humor. Hashim enjoyed and laughed at a feel-good movie. When I go see it tomorrow, I'll be wondering what Hashim found funny.