Arabic!

I started taking Arabic classes last week and I’m walking on the moon. I’m the kinda gal that has to be progressing toward something to feel fulfilled. I need a goal, tangible or otherwise that I’m working towards.
My overall sense of well being and contentment comes not from whether I’m having fun, but if I feel like I’m doing something worthwhile. I’ve always been like that, I have to stay busy or I get reclusive and down. Up until this point I’ve enjoyed my time in Yemen, I’ve done many interesting things, and had some marvelous adventures but I’ve made limited progress towards my goal; to learn Arabic. I have some relatively lofty life goals and nearly all of them involve a proficiency in the Arabic language. This was the rational behind moving to a third-world, lawless, developing nation on the cusp of civil war- one year immersed in an Arab culture would be the equivalent of 5 years living and working at home and studying on my own time. Living here, battling extreme boredom and the stagnant social scene, dealing with marked cultural differences and gender inequality, getting robbed, getting sick and not progressing toward my goal has, at times, made this Yemeni adventure feel like a bit of a train wreck.
I’ve been trying to take classes but I’ve been brutally rebuffed. There are myriad language institutions and private tutors in Sana’a and Taiz and Mukullah, basically everywhere but Aden. Aden only has one place that teaches Arabic classes, it gets mixed reviews at best and costs hundreds of dollars a month- in a land where the average yearly income is $700 , this is an extremely exorbitant price. One of my students approached me and offered up her older sister as a possible tutor. Right now we are having some scheduling difficulties- as is to be expected in the pandemonium that ensues during the final week of the session, but I have high hopes that it will all work out and I’ll start dominating this language!

And 15 minutes later I finally understand

I have a new friend! His name is Muhammad Ali ( The other Muhammad’s introduced us, surprise) and he speaks not a one word of English. He is a funny (when I have a translator) and exuberant young man and also an Imam(Muslim religious leader).
He just recently bought a new car that he is immensely proud of. Upon leaving my family’s house the other day I found him nonchalantly leaning against his car right outside their doorway. He mysteriously beckoned me forth into the upper levels of a shopping center where we met another friend, Waseem. Waseem proposed that now that Muhammad Ali had a new car he could pick me up everyday and bring me to my family’s house so I would no longer have to navigate the perils of public transportation (which I’m a dang expert at!). I was effusive in my thanks but tried to politely decline- I enjoy being among the masses and seeing real Yemeni life. They were pretty adamant and, not wishing to appear rude or ungrateful, I politely acquiesced. At first I was a bit put-off with this excessive, rather forceful display of hospitality but now I just embrace it. As with two extreme language beginners our communicative style usually goes something like this-

First he will say a flurry of Arabic

I will smile with a quizzical look in my eye, shake my head and fling up my hands.

He will repeat it, then repeat it faster, then repeat it much, much louder.

I will start guessing any and all Arabic words I know (often making up new ones) in the hopes that I will hit on something close to what he is saying.

He will roll his eyes heavenward, pull the car over and laboriously WRITE it in Arabic. OH! That’s what you meant? I didn’t understand the first 15 times you said it bit in your messy, foreign Arabic scrawl, NOW IT ALL MAKES SENSE.

Finally we will figure it out/flag down a passerby to help/ give up (often).

Then I will treat him to a barrage of English and the process is repeated except I do the eye-rolling this time.

We usually communicate in gestures and pointing or by figuring it out in a puzzlingly roundabout manner- He will point to himself, “man”, and then to me, “woman”. Then he will point to his ring finger.. oh! Married. Okay from there we get to “little man” or “little woman” okay…ahh Children! Okay children… children… what they hell are you trying to say about children? Oh! You were merely pointing out that cute baby that we passed by FIFTEEN minutes ago! “Yes, yes, cute baby” I say in my awesome accent.

Often times he will say something and then just drive off- I am forced to go who knows where often for extended periods of time until I can finally get him back on track and get me home! We are both practicing each other’s language and slowly but steadily learning. Every day we will use one or two new words and laugh and highfive when we use it correctly. I’m enjoying it immensely.

Impenetrable language barrier

Arabic has proven frustrating. I was taught modern standard, not Yemeni Arabic so the little I know isn’t particularly helpful. I guess the difference would be Formal English to Normal/Modern English. Damn you, dialects!

Language Barrier

An Arabic phrase I’ve made sure I know before I embark forth on my big adventure:

هل هناك دورة المياه الأوروبية المجاورة ، وأنا لا يبرع في الاقامات فقط بعد؟

"Is there a European toilet nearby? I’m not proficient at squatting just yet"