The other day, I told a stranger about my plans to move to Greece to work at a safe house. “You be careful,” he said. I get this a lot, so I hummed in appreciation/agreement without getting into why it’s dangerous to live anywhere. But then he continued, “You’re brave to live in a Muslim country.”
“Oh. Well. Greece is a Christian country. Greek Orthodox? Christian,” I explained. I was totally thrown by his assumption that Greece was an Islamic country. He was equally thrown that it wasn’t. “Well….good luck,” and he was gone.
What I didn’t say, partly because my brain was shutting down in confusion, and partly because it wasn’t 100% relevant, is that I’ve already lived in a Muslim country, and I don’t think I was particularly brave for doing so. Never once did I fear for my life while I spent five months in Senegal, except maybe when I took a moto taxi with a twelve-year-old driver. But what do I know? Continue reading