First, I want to start from the bottom and talk about something that really intrigued me this semester: the concept of time. In past semesters, I have tried to figure out the lunar calendar and make sense of where the Western concept of time falls in comparison. In my Black Vernacular class, we learned that in Africa as well as the Middle East, time is circular. It does not depend on the clock, but rather on nature, which only makes sense. I best made sense of the lunar calendar by relating it to astrology. In Afghanistan, the first day of the New Year is the first day of Spring, which can be March 20 or 21. This is also the first day of the astrological sign: Aries. This calendar is also about 11 days shorter than what we are used to because the 12 months each have approximately 29.5 days.
I then wondered about when my birthday would fall during the lunar calendar and more importantly, how are birthday celebrations in Afghanistan and Iran if the calendar slightly shifts each year? After talking to Mirwais, birthday celebrations are more of a big deal for children from the ages of five to 15, so the need to be exact is not dire. Also, the day one celebrates his or her birthday is close to the exact date, so there is not much confusion about this.
Moving on, I learned about Buzkashi which is known as the "most dangerous sport." Select males are trained from a young age to be strong, horse jockeys so they can compete in the Buzkashi games. The game involves aggressive, physically fit men riding on horses and trying to carry a sacrificed goat across the goal line. The competitors wear little, if any, protection and whip one another to cause the goat wielder to drop the goat. I used this as part of my presentation and watched some videos about it. I commend those who choose to compete.
Something else I gained more insight on is the school system in Afghanistan. Mirwais said the school system is still new and has been strengthened in the last decade. There are private and government-run schools, as well as private and government-run universities. Private schools require students to pay tuition and the education is better than that of a government school. This is very similar to private vs. public schools in America, but I would not say that the education gap is so severe in all cases. There is a very important test that students much take before entering a university; it's called the University Entrance Test. I wanted to compare it to SATs at first, but found that it is much more important. The higher the score, the better opportunities he or she has when going to a university. There is also a totem pole in regards to test scores and majors. If someone scores 250 or above, they can have an engineering or medical major; between 250-200,they can have an arts major; and failing is below 200. If someone fails, they can retake the exam in one year or just go to a private university. Government universities are better than Private ones, which was intriguing in comparison to secondary school standards.
I was actually more fulfilled by just learning about the culture this semester even though my findings are surface level in comparison to Afghan and Iranian history.
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