Arabic

     There are few people in Irbid, Jordan that speak English. But there are plenty that want to talk. Thus begins our rapid Arabic lessons. Day one, Rebecca and I are somehow thrown into an intermediate class. After blankly staring at the worksheet and unable to answer any questions, we are removed and placed into our rightful beginner's class. Some Arabic sounds are unlike any made in English, and I find myself struggling to relearn speech. One sound I am good at, the /r/ sound. My four years of Spanish has paid off in the acquisition of rolling my r's. Thank you Spanish.

     We've had a lot of delicious food here, including Jordan's national dish, Mensaf. Normally, I'm very picky with what I try, but I'm very adventurous here. This dish was made with lamb, served over rice with pine nuts and almonds, and covered with pita and a delicious yogurt sauce. So delicious. And schwarma. Their version of fast food, lamb or chicken in a pita with veggies and sauce. I love Middle Eastern food.

It's difficult to interact with people in Irbid, as many do not speak English, but I suppose that's the important part of immersion. We're forced to learn to interact, and we'll learn more Arabic that's not colloquial. Interestingly enough, two other students in our trip are from Madison as well. Some of them are ahead of us in Arabic, but this is only apparent when Rebecca and I have to speak for ourselves. We asked for tea (shay) and received shisha (flavored tobacco or hookah) instead. We had a long laugh with our server and reverted to google translate when he attempted to converse with us. Eventually we'll learn this language. It's Jordan's Independence day tomorrow, so we're going into Amman and sightseeing. Apparently, it's more conservative and stringent than Irbid. As almost every woman here wears a burka, maybe it's time to invest in one. Especially Rebecca.