we're one, but we're not the same

"I know plenty of well-adjusted, happy people who are half-Jewish, just like me. Or not so like. For all we have in common, we have more that differs. That's the thing about these mergers. It's a strange math, the equation differing from family to family, from child to child, the outcome wildly dissimilar each time. Even in my own family, the sum varies, the parts adding up differently." ~Devil in the Details, pg 57

this quote really stood out while i was reading. it's so true, and i can totally relate. well, not to the half-Jewish part, but i think it applies to basically half-anything.

for example, growing up, we (my sisters and i) met a lot of half-breeds like ourselves - saudi dads american moms. my mom would make friends with the moms, and we would end up hanging out with the kids (before we grew out of my mom making our friends for us, that is). when you're little, you don't really notice differences in people as much as when you're older. it's more like, you're half saudi half american and i'm half saudi half american, we're the same.

but as you grow up, you realize that the similarities usually stop right about there. i mean, sure, we all have some shared experiences or whatnot, but, as the quote said, the equation differs from family to family, from child to child. some kids are raised fully american, some fully saudi, and most fall into the greys in between. it's rare to find someone the exact same combination of saudi and american as you. even between me and my sisters who were raised exactly alike, there are differences. for example, my older sister generally prefers arabic to english music, i generally prefer english to arabic, and my younger sister listens to them both about the same. the amount of arabic that peppers our speech is different. our views on certain cultural things differ. we were raised the same, but our "parts added up differently."

that being said, this video is one of my favorite. i think every half-breed can relate (or even arabs who lived in an english speaking country and vice versa):

*One - Johnny Cash