Icon: enlarge
Alone in the hospital (symbol picture): "In Arab culture it is common for family, friends and relatives to visit a sick person in the hospital, preferably in groups"
Photo: JohnnyGreig / Getty Images
Due to the corona pandemic, hospital visitors are currently not allowed.
That is why it is very quiet in most of the hospital rooms.
This should be normal for most German patients.
They appreciate their rest, especially in the hospital when you want to recover.
For Arabs, however, such a bedside situation is rather unfamiliar.
Anyone who has ever been in a room with an Arab patient can perhaps tell a song about it.
In Arab culture, it is common for family, friends and relatives to visit a sick person in the hospital, often in groups.
They bring gifts, fruit and other food with them, discuss the exact circumstances of the respective illness in their chatty manner and enthusiastically wish the patient a good recovery.
And that's not all: even when you return from the hospital, visits from friends and relatives at home are firmly planned.
To the person Right arrow
Photo:
Private
Samer Tannous
was a university lecturer in the Syrian capital Damascus.
Since December 2015 he has lived with his wife and two daughters in Rotenburg (Wümme) in Lower Saxony, where he works as a French teacher.
Together with his friend Gerd Hachmöller, he writes about his attempts to understand the customs of his new German homeland.
We Arabs are proud of this tradition and the solidarity it expresses.
But to be honest, such visits to the sick are also compulsory visits, which do not always only express friendship, but are simply social norms.
Just like the custom that Arabs always accompany their visitors out into the street when they say goodbye or that they always have to answer a flowery greeting with an even longer greeting.
And such standards are a coin with two sides.
On the one hand, they make life beautiful, express closeness and solidarity.
On the other hand, they sometimes make life very full and take up a lot of free time.
And those who meet their social obligations particularly well in this regard also get a lot in return.
In the opposite case, mandatory bedside visits also require a return visit.
Read more with Spiegel Plus
More perspectives, more understanding.
Your advantages with SPIEGEL +
Icon: Check
SPIEGEL as a magazine
as an app, e-paper and on the e-reader
Icon: Check
All articles on SPIEGEL.de
Exclusive texts for SPIEGEL + readers
Icon: Check
Try one month for free
Cancel anytime online
A price
only € 19.99 per month
One month for € 0.00
Try now for 0.00 € Buy nowArrow to the right
Already have a digital subscription? Register here
Restore iTunes subscription
SPIEGEL + is processed via your iTunes account and paid for with a purchase confirmation.
24 hours before it expires, the subscription is automatically renewed by one month at the current price of € 19.99.
You can cancel the subscription at any time in the settings of your iTunes account.
In order to use SPIEGEL + outside of this app, you must link the subscription to a SPIEGEL ID account immediately after purchase.
With the purchase you accept our general terms and conditions and privacy policy.
