Yesterday I met with Mansour, my conversation partner again. He brought me a picture of all of his brothers and I was taken back as to the size of the family. We spoke more about why we think the 'need' for big families has gone away in the US but not yet in Saudi Arabia. He told me that he sees a coming change in Saudi culture where they will start trending towards smaller families because of the housing situations.
Mansour also explained how different the housing market is now compared to just 15 years ago. When his parents got married they built a large home that is bigger than most average US homes. Now Mansour says it is normal for a family to get an apartment instead of a home because of the cost of land and homes.
We also bonded over video games and talked about FIFA and Call of Duty, I learned that Mansour's 4 year old nephew is allowed to play Grand Theft Auto, a game that you can't purchase until you are 17 years old in the US. Mansour has a self-proclaimed obsession with FIFA and plays for hours on end, even showing me the his callous hands from the controller. While I don't play nearly as much as he does, it was interesting to me to see that even in two completely different cultures video games can be enjoyed in the same fashion. It also surprises me that Call of Duty is as popular as it is with Saudi Arabian youth. It seems like a game that often makes your culture the 'bad guys' wouldn't be popular but apparently not.
Our meeting this time was cut slightly short because Mansour was sick and felt he needed to get home and get some rest. Hopefully by our next meeting he will be feeling 100% again.
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