A Breakfast Party

 Ahlan, 

First, I would like to begin by correcting my previous post. Muhammad does not live at the bottom of the hill; he just keeps his animals there. I walked away for one minute from the group when he told them this. As a result, I edited my previous blog post. I am happy Muhammad has a nice home to go to. This made me happy.

Today was another day of classes at SIT. We had a breakfast food party in which we met some young Jordanians who will be acting as our language tutors, if we want them to. Of course I am in. We ate Arabic foods, like falafel, hummus, pita, while talking with them and catching up. Each student was asked to bring something. I brought mango juice since it is the nectar of the gods. Bashar is one of the tutors. He is 23 and works as an accountant. He will be moving to the US to finish his Masters Degree so he can sit for the CPA exam. The other helpers were nice too and will go out with us to hang in addition to practicing language skills with us. I am happy I have the opportunity to talk to more native speakers.

 I was disappointed today about the breakfast a bit. It was supposed to be entirely in Arabic in order for us all to practice. As soon as someone said they didn't know Arabic, the entire group switched to English. This was literally a second into the activity as no one really knows Arabic. As a result, no one spoke in Arabic and I gave up. Instead of catering to the lower level students, I believe we should push everyone to speak in Arabic at the set mandatory times. I know from personal experience that this is better. At Middlebury last summer, I started the course by not being able to communicate at all with people. I did not know much Arabic and I had signed the strict promise to only speak Arabic for the duration of the program. This was incredibly upsetting at the time, but I am happy everyone stuck to the rules. When I did not understand, the higher-level students would try to break it down. As a result, I learned Arabic faster and better and learned a ton more vocabulary. I understand that this strict of language rules would cause students to have a melt down here in Jordan and might be too strict for this situation, but I do believe that at certain times, such as the Arabic breakfast we should speak in Arabic and the adults should too especially if that is the assignment. Speaking in English only limited our ability to learn today. I can guarantee that we will learn so much more Arabic if we stick to some of the rules. This is a tad frustrating because I know what other students as well as myself as missing out on. But I also know that I am one of the few students who really want to study Arabic. 99.9% of the students here are International Relations majors. I feel like the .1% a bit here and I wished that people cared more about Arabic. I love it and it means a lot to me. I am happy that I am one of the lower level students in my class though. I get to push myself to work harder and learn more. I like this J.

Here are pictures from the breakfast:

OUR FEAST!

A type of bread with seasoning on it. So so tasty!

Our group with our language tutor in the Middle. I forget her name.

Our beautiful teachers

Talking with new friends.

After class I went with Allan and Alex to downtown. Allan’s host brother is getting married soon and Allan needs something to wear to the wedding. We went downtown because we wanted to find a good deal. Allan bought a pair of dress shoes that were beautiful for 7.5JD and a suit for 45JD. Originally, the suit was 55JD, but I asked the man if 45JD would work. I wanted to practice bargaining. While in malls and chains bargaining is not accepted, in downtown small stores it is expected. I know I am not a tough negotiator, but I think the salesman found me funny and just let me have it. He also told me he thought I was pretty. That was kind of awkward. I enjoyed buying a suit today because it was different.  

When I came home today I had some delicious lentil soup and talking with my host mom and sister. Mia, host sister, told me she studied Passive voice in her English class today and found it confusing. I told her I studied passive voice in my Arabic class today and found it confusing also. The passive voice in Arabic is entirely different from the passive voice in English. I told her I would love to help her with English homework if she needs my help. My host mom talked to me in Jordanian colloquial today in order to help me practice. She was very patient and now I have a couple pages in my notebook filled with new words to learn. I really appreciate how her and Mia are helping me learn more. Colloquial is so different than fusha! I of course recieved even more food after the soup and finished my night by eating a grilled cheese while watching the newest version of the Manchurian Candidate with my host mom. Perfect evening. My host mom told me today that I don't have to sit with my legs on the floor while watching TV on the sofa anyone. During orientation, they taught us how to sit while at our home stays. Honestly, body language is so much more formal here. Ladies practically glide when they move and move with ease and purpose. Its hard to explain, but people even walk differently here. I feel like I move hurky jerky compared to the Jordanians. Some of the other SIT students agreed with me about this. Anyway, I can fold my legs in a ladylike way on the sofa now. This is great because when I had to have my legs touch the floor I literally had to sit on the edge of the sofa. I am really short.

Til tomorrow or whenever I have something of interest to post. 

-Natalie