On Sunday, all the students in the program took a language pledge. From now until December 15th (not that I'm counting the days or anything like that) we are to speak only in Arabic in class, on the streets, with one another, and with anyone we encounter in any situation. Oftentimes the Jordanians will speak to us in English and beg us to talk with them in English, but we try to explain that in our program English is forbidden. As for me, I am definitely riding the struggle bus. My Arabic is definitely awful right now and while it will undoubtedly improve leaps and bounds in the next few months, I find myself getting very frustrated and flustered to the point that I don't really talk to anyone. For the first week of classes we only have one class for four hours each day-- Jordanian Arabic. For anyone who is less familiar with the mechanics of the language, Arabic dialects differ significantly from region to region. For example, you have Moroccan Arabic, Gulf Arabic, Egyptian Arabic, Iraqi Arabic, and Levantine Arabic spoken in Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. Even within Levantine there are differences and therefore we are studying the dialect most widely spoken here in Irbid this week. The classes are fondly known to the students as "Amniyya (dialect) Bootcamp".
On a more exciting note, we also got a tour of downtown Irbid, a giant market filled with food and clothes and toys and all sorts of wonderful surprises.
I'm likely entering the culture shock phase of this trip although I'm starting to realize that life in Irbid is not all that much different that life at Macalester, except it is hot and sunny EVERY DAY. I know I need to stay positive about Arabic but oftentimes that is easier said than done.
مع السلامة
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