When does one become an American? Part 2: Thanksgiving, continued...

Why does it sound so romantic and sexy to an American when a French says “la vie en rose”?.. even if all she wants to say might be “life is beautiful in America”… Why do so many Americans fancy moving to Europe while so many Europeans dream about America? Let me tell you…

I am a species from an exotic land. In my country, a baby is born at the age of 100; she goes to sleep with the same lullabies her grandma did once, she grows up with the life stories of her uncles, aunts, their uncles and aunts; and she celebrates her 1000^th year at the age of 15. The Crusades are a lively memory for her (*), as if she had lived a 1000 years already… and may be more... When she is in the month of Turkish “Temmuz”, the so called July, she mourns the death of Tammuz, the Babylonian god of harvest without knowing about it, not knowing that he is the lover of Ishtar, the goddess of fertility, love, war and sex (**); not knowing that Ishtar is Easter today…

And like Ishtar loved Tammuz so much, she starts loving her land, her country, her people, her culture, her traditions… And like Isthar’s love turned fatal for Tammuz, her love, her unquestioned beliefs and traditions become suffocating for her own people…. It is not that one cannot find a way out for himself, no; it is that one cannot find a way out for his conscience among the labyrinth of that culture, history and traditions. That is what makes one a culture nomad. That is what makes an American fancy France while so many French want to be here…

Yes, Daisy and I are culture nomads. We have settled in America right now; and we are grateful to America for giving us the opportunity to fly freely without fear, like a kite, the strings of which are attached to Mesopotamia and Balkans... And that is actually very American…

Still no word on food, man, this kite thing is getting out of control….

To be continued…

(*) somebody tell that to ex-President Bush, will ya?

(**) fertility, love, war and sex , everything one needed by that time… today we need iPad, too, and so Steve Jobs, the god of technology…