Learning Arabic

Dear Readers,

After 6 weeks of Arabic instruction for 6 hours a day, I can safely say this is a SUPER-HARD language to learn. Today, it was posted, to all of the new groups, that starting tomorrow our schedule is changing and we will now have 7 hours of Arabic per day. I can feel the pain already!

It has never been made more clear to me than now, how "physical" learning really is. By the end of the day, I am at the limit of my "cognitive load." It literally starts to hurt my brain to try to continue working with my vocabulary flash cards, listening comprehension or verb conjugations. I have to either go exercise, take a power nap, or BOTH!

At the same time, this is a thrilling endeavor. I am in a class of 5 students and one teacher. My teacher is a very patient gentleman from Sudan. He is generous with his knowledge and kind in his instruction. He charitably sits with the five of us as we butcher his native language in our attempts to express the most basic ideas. He shares information about the Arabic-speaking world with us, prods us along our learning paths, laughs with us at our silly sayings we come up with, and even goes out to lunch with us to Yemeni restaurants and converses with us in our pidgin-Arabic. It is a blessing to have such experiences.

I am learning an incredible amount about a culture that is very different from my own. At the same time, I am learning that I am just scratching the surface. At times, it seems to be radically different. For example, the music is very different. Here is my non-musically trained attempt to explain this: The instruments are all played in unison, BUT they are all slightly tuned differently - this produces a wave effect in the sound, which creates a slightly off-key sound to the western-trained ear. We are used to all of our instruments being in tune with each other and then playing harmony and melody. After our class on the folk music of the Arab world, I have a whole new appreciation for their music and dance. It just takes a little retraining of the ear to hear the beauty and passion in eastern music. It is important to note that the guitar, mandolin, bagpipes, clarinet, and oboe all have roots in the Middle and Near East regions.

Well, enough musings for now. Back to my "wajib al bayt" - homework.

The Beginning

Dear Readers,

Here is the beginning of the blog I promised to all of the students of PJXXIII community - okay, and to the grown-ups, too. It was hard to say goodbye, but I told everybody I would post pictures from my adventures onto a blog - hence the name of the post.

I will spend some time in DC getting language training before we head to Jerusalem. I have been to both DC and Jerusalem before, but now I will have the time to explore and give voice to my musings. I have to let you know that these two cities hold very special places in my heart and soul.

It is difficult for me to visit DC and not be in awe of the magnificent history and culture of my country. It is a wonderful experience to get back in touch with the principles of our founding fathers and the sacrifices that have been made throughout our history to preserve those principles.

Though it has been over 20 years since I have been to Jerusalem, I can still remember the awe of being in the Holyland - the birthplace of my monotheistic religion. Jerusalem is beautiful! Once one has seen this shimmering city spread over the hills, so much of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures comes to life.

So, welcome to my blog! I hope it is a fun and educational journey for all of us.