1st day of class today, an hour 1/2 of Advanced Arabic (and only that class, S, T, Th!!) My teacher is really funny, EXTREMELY animated. it's great. It makes up for the fact that i can't understand a word he's saying. Today we got a small packet and read outloud and i learned something very important--everyone in my class sucks as much as i do! :) We're all terrible readers and very nervous so i'm not the only one. (and for those of you who think i'm being modest, i'm not.) Tomorrow, instead of having just arabic still, we're starting all of our classes. Fuuun! minus the fact that M &W are gonna be insanely painful. After class I hung out wiht people and then went with a few to the gym nearish me. But its not actually convenient for me to get there so i'm just gonna go to the all-girl's gym just up the block from school. (literally up; it's so hilly here! i mean, yes i'm from chicago, but it's hilly!)
So i ask Shireen and Amal if they would teach me to pray because I wanted to know. So Friday night Amal brough me to the mosque with her. I borrowed the proper clothes (a long, loose skirt and head-to-torso covering) and looked like i was wearing a flowery curtain or bedspread you find in old lady's homes. It was...well, the best way to describe it is holy. At first i felt like a complete imposter and my mere presence was rude. but then i got into the mindset and stopped sneaking glances around so much and i felt like a student who just needed the proper lessons. At one point i did something wrong and Amal explained to me what to do; the lady next to me started asking questions about me and offered to bring some books in English on Islam for me to read. So sweet!! And yesterday when Amal came home from work she bought me a Qur'an with the Arabic, transliteration, and English side by side. That same night after we came back Amal, her sister-in-law, and her 2 next door neighbors/friends sat outside with me (i sat with them while they smoked hookah) and taught me 5 pages worth of arabic words. it was fun! :) now i should know all that damn basic stuff like the colors, articles of clothing, etc. They kept telling me words and then correcting eachother saying, "that's colloquial, not fusha!".
i really should do this hw before hte kids decide they can't wait to play with me again. adorable, but still young kids. i need to define words that i have no idea what they mean using arabic words i don't actually know. fun! XP
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment