Ariela and Biniyam's major cultural differences are threatening their relationship.
Ariela and Biniyam clearly don't see eye to eye when it comes to how they want to raise their son, Aviel. On Sunday's episode of 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way, the couple took their newborn son home from the hospital, but their cultural differences when it comes to Aviel's care threatened to implode their relationship.
The issues started right off the bat, when Ariela insisted that Biniyam walk home with the baby from the hospital instead of riding in the car with her and his friend because they didn't have a car seat. Biniyam was shocked and didn't agree, but said he didn't want to fight and walked home with the baby. Biniyam told cameras he felt it was safer for him to ride in the car holding his son, because he could trip and fall while walking and the weather was harsh.
Things got worse, when Ariela was surprised to see a gathering at their apartment when she arrived. Ariela, who underwent a C-section, was tired and just wanted to rest. Biniyam said that according to tradition, they were going to slaughter a sheep in honor of her and their son, which Ariela clearly did not want to see. She cried and he apologized, though insisted that this was all done for her.
"It's just, like, awful," Ariela said, shedding tears. "Now I'm responsible for sheep slaughter."
Meanwhile, Biniyam noted, "It's a tradition given to us by our forefathers."
Later, Ariela is once again dismayed when Biniyam's aunts come to see the baby and pressure her to baptize her son. Ariela -- who is Jewish and has already expressed her reluctance to baptize Aviel given that she doesn't believe in the concept of hell -- called the entire concept of baptism "silly." But eventually, knowing how important it was to Biniyam and his family, Ariela decided to let Aviel get baptized.
"Honestly, I'm not super comfortable at all with any of this, and I really feel pressured into it, but, when you love someone, you do a lot of things to make them happy," she told cameras. "I don't plan to raise him in the Orthodox faith, but part of me is like, if he wants to put the baby in a tub of water and pray over it, it's not going to hurt the baby."
"But, I don't want any talk of hell -- not to my son," she continued. "I don't want him traumatized with all this hellfire and what not. The baby deserves to know about both sides of his culture and history but this is where I put my foot down."
But things came to a head when the couple take their baby back to the hospital a week later to get vaccinated and circumcised. Biniyam said circumcision was "a must" in Ethiopian culture, but Ariela said she had mixed feelings about it.
"I'm learning that Biniyam has this bad habit of trying to control me -- what I eat, what I drink, what I do, and when he starts he doesn't just shut the f**k up," she said. "He doesn't stop."
As for Biniyam, he told cameras, "Ariela has a long way to go in terms of mothering a child. But this is something she has to learn."
When the nurse attempted to take the baby to get ready for the circumcision, Ariela got extremely upset and told everybody not to touch him. Ariela said she didn't want anyone to "f**k with his peace" after he finally settled down after being upset all day.
"I don't want him to do this right now," she insisted. "I'm not comfortable."
A frustrated Biniyam walked away after she repeatedly stopped him from touching the baby, telling her, "Do whatever you want."
Ariela then took the baby and walked away as the doctor and nurses called after them. Biniyam told them that he himself did not know what was going on with Ariela.
ET recently spoke to Ariela, who responded to some viewers who believe that she asks too much of Biniyam.
"I think that a lot of the fans who watch the show don't expect much from the men on it," she shot back with a laugh, noting that because the show is condensed, there are also certain things that are not explained fully. "Biniyam is great, he does try very hard, but I think if people saw the amount of things that I do for him, they would demand a little bit more from him."
"I also think it's a learning process for Biniyam because he grew up without parents, you know, an example of what is a successful marriage, and we're from different cultures," she added. "There's a difference of expectations with what the man is supposed to do in the culture and everything. In some ways, he's a very modern guy, you know, he's a guy that loves to take care of his baby and all this stuff, and in other ways, he is very affected by cultural ways of thinking. I think it's a learning process for him to kind of understand what I expect from him."
Watch the video below for more.
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