I Passed My Class!

Sunday means time to update my blog! My Arabic Head Start class finished up this past Friday. I really enjoyed the class- the instructor was awesome and I learned a lot, so I’m kind of sad it is over. I know how to read numbers in Arabic which is pretty cool. I also know how to say a few phrases and how to conjugate verbs, but other than that I am pretty Arabic illiterate. Here are some more interesting things I learned in the class: · There is no “P” sound in the Arabic language · The creator of Tom & Jerry is from Lebanon · Kuwait means “The castle on the water” · Pearl Diving is what brought people here (comparable to the CA gold rush I suppose), oil wasn’t discovered until later. · Only 15% of Kuwait is inhabited · A gallon of gas here costs about $1.00 · Always enter a house with your right foot. This means that I want to bless your house and I have no intention of cursing it. · Shoes are taken off and left at the door so you can pray on a clean rug. · An orange is called an Burtugal since the first orange came from Portugal · The most important thing to do in a dust or sand storm is to cover your ears. Your nose has hairs that will keep a lot of the sand out, but your ears have nothing. So, if your ears are left unprotected the sand can cause a lot of infection and swelling to occur in your throat or jaw area. · The dress here is perfect for surviving in the desert. The light fabric helps keep you cool in the heat of the summer and the head piece can be used to help breathe and to protect the ears in a sand storm. · The people are so family oriented that they never leave their community. Even when they are married they still live within their family’s protection. · Most people get paid for 13-15 months worth of work. The extra few months of pay is then used for traveling money. I think my instructor’s concluding speech was the most telling to me… he said (and I paraphrase), “I was scared to teach this class the first time. I am teaching a culture class to a culture I am not so familiar with. I was scared and not sure how the class would be liked. If you are scared of us, we are just as scared of you and your culture. We feel that you are laughing at us and our ways. We are normal people. We like to have fun, to socialize, and be with our family.” It really was a good class and to hear that they think we are laughing at them was so sad to me. Just because they have different customs that we don’t understand does not make it okay to laugh or think we are better than anyone, yet I often think that is our mentality. Even after taking the class I don’t completely understand their culture, nor do I think I ever will. I do know, however, that the Arab people are good people who value many of the same things I do. Last night I went to Hard Rock Café. It is right on the coast, so it has a pretty view. I got some pictures but blogger is not cooperating. I'll try to post them tomorrow. I purchased a hat and a Hard Rock Café pin- got to love Hard Rock Souvenirs. Now I’ve almost been to as many Hard Rock Café’s outside the country (England and Kuwait) as I have been to in the U.S.(Denver, Las Vegas, Nashville)- pretty funny!