If you are ever visiting the Maldivian community, there are certain things you may find unusual visiting from the outside world. Compared to the pop-culture and many international communities, Maldivians possess a unique personality with unusual habits but is considered a norm in the community. Likewise, following are five unusual facts about the Maldivian lifestyle that you should be aware of before meeting the native islanders.

Maldivians love wheels

In the 21st century, there is a very small percentage of every community who will choose to walk to their destinations. Indeed work, school or at least the supermarket is over twenty to thirty minutes from where you reside. However, in the Maldives where the average landmass for an island is 1-2 square feet, there are little distances to walk to. Indeed walking from one end to the other might be exhausting, but going to close destinations like the grocery store or the school is just minutes away. However, in the Maldives no matter how close your destination may be, almost everybody uses a set of wheels to go to their destinations. Whether it is taxi service or most commonly the motorcycle, most Maldivians cannot bear the idea of walking. Just visit Male’ city, there is barely any space to even walk during peak hours, it is just impossible.

“Coffee”

Coffee is the third most consumed drink on a daily basis in the world, and there no exception in the Maldives as well. Almost anywhere, at any time, Maldivian locals can spend hours on a local coffee shop, just sipping coffee. Price of coffee has risen over the past few years due to the high demand for coffee in the Maldivian community, it is indeed no doubt the most consumed drink in the country. The hilarious bit about this fact is that many Maldivians love going on coffees, but never intend to drink coffee as well. Basically “Going to a Coffee” is slang for going on a date, business meeting, or just a regular hangout with a friend. There is a fairly good chance you can call a Maldivian local and they would reply stating they at a coffee.

Not Sea Creatures

You may expect a Maldivian to be resistant to certain things regarding the water, but just like anyone, not all Maldivians are resistant to the ocean. Whether it is travelling on a ferry to the next island, or knowing how to swim, there are a good amount of locals who cannot do what you can expect a Maldivian to do. There are a handful of native islanders, who cannot swim and a large number of islanders who get very seasick. However this has nothing to do with them being a local, it is just who they are. You can expect a local to get offended if you respond with “but you’re a Maldivian”, so you may not want to go there. Basically stereotyping that all locals can swim, be resistant to rough seas, can sail a boat, surf or like seafood, is very common but also very wrong.

Bi-lingual

Maldivians have their local language ‘Dhivehi’ with its depth and rich texture in literature. The Maldives with the literacy rate of about 98%, consists of a fair number of Maldivians who can understand, write and speak fluently both in English and Dhivehi. There are a handful of Maldivians who also possess a third language with the ability to understand and speak Hindi, mostly due to the excessive interest in the Indian television soap operas. Arabic is also a third language in the Maldivian community, where almost all can write and read the Arabic scripture, but only a good few can speak and understand this language. There are now institutes in the Maldives that teach different languages such as Arabic, French, Spanish, Turkish etc.

Supari / Areca nuts

There is an unusual behavioral addiction in the Maldives and that is consuming Supari/Areca nuts. There is not a second of the day Maldivians not have a second to munch on these products like they are candy to them. If you look around, the habit has exceeded to the point where pockets, dustbins and the streets are filled with the tiny 2x2 inch plastic wrappers. However, recent awareness and initiatives have to lead to a decrease in plastic litter on the streets, where also the price of these products have increased to control the local habit. In the young generations, many have opted to stop consuming these on a daily basis to avoid the critical health issues that follow.