ONE YEAR

At this hour exactly one year ago, I was heading to my new apartment in Tierra Seca. It has been a crazy adventure since that day! Also exactly 6 months ago today I had just arrived to Rio Grande. Since arriving in the  Middle East on December 28th (technically 29th), 2013 it has been one of the most interesting years of my life. As I look at 2015, I think things are only going to get crazier! But it's really late and right now I'm going to get some sleep.

Next up: reflections on and/or highlights of the past year

Getting the Hang of It

I feel like finally, after nearly three months, I'm getting the hang of things here. And slowly but surely Rio Grande is growing on me.

I had an awesome chance to travel back to the States for my brother's wedding for a week (which flew by) and then come back here, entering the country for the second time. But this time I had an apartment, knew some people, knew my way around the city a bit...but I still had little idea of what day-to-day life was like.

I'm starting to get it; I'm starting to get into a routine, make some more friends, and the new dialect has finally fully clicked- I'm speaking the Rio Grande version of Arabic as good as, or better than, the Tierra Seca version...(2.5 months later)...and I'm happy. It took me a while, but I'm starting to just be content with where I am in life, even though I don't know what the future holds. And I'm finally starting to get the hang of it.

كشرى

KOSHِARI

This stuff is a local specialty, and it is delicious. I've had it twice now, but I plan on making it a normal part of my diet.

It consists of two kinds of pasta, lentils, chick peas, tomato sauce, and sometimes rice, fried onions, and hot sauce. All mixed together. Love it.

One Month

I've been here just over a month and I still have no idea what normal life is going to be like. I arrived on Day 1 of the Month of Fasting, so life has been different for everyone. I don't have anything to compare it to yet, so I've just been going with flow. That means:

- No eating outside during the day. I wasn't participating, so I ate during the day, but it meant a lot of eating at home. I don't really know how to cook, so my food options were limited: cereal, soup, sandwiches...and when I wanted to get fancy, chicken with beans and rice.

- People stay up late. This country is very noisy as it is, but this month (though maybe always) the noise extends well into the wee hours of the morning. As a night owl myself, it didn't bother me. I just used all the activity as a reasonable excuse for staying up late and sleeping in.

- Meeting people is an interesting process. Part of the month everyone is with his or her family, part of the month they're all out and about. Fortunately the second half of the World Cup overlapped with the Fast and it was a great way to meet guys at the local cafes. It was also a great way to get humiliated if you are walking from one cafe to another wearing a Brazil jersey while they're losing 7 to 0 (then later, the not much better 7 to 1).

- It's hard to know when things are open- or if they are even do open. A bit tricky when you're in the process of moving into a new apartment.

The people here are friendly and I'm looking forward to getting a bit more into a routine. Hopefully that will help put me in contact with more guys with more chances to make new friends while we are preparing to launch our new English School.

Which, by the way, is why I'm here- I will be an English teacher for the next year or so in a new center that I'm helping some friends to open. More news to come as we get the final preparations done!

...Hello Rio Grande

I had hoped to write this blog sooner, but I haven't internet the past couple of days. I've been here for over a week now, and I'm getting settled in.

I've gotten introduced to and somewhat oriented in my new home as well as the capital city a few hours away. The look here is different than anything I've seen. Two major pluses: it's a lot greener here than Tierra Seca and the buildings have much more color. They're covered in brown dust...but underneath you can still see that at least they were more colorful!

I moved in to my new apartment with the BEST view in town, overlooking a big river.

It's the month of fasting so it's hard to know what day to day life is actually like- it will all change in about two weeks. But it's been fun going out at night and watching the World Cup in local cafes and going to bed late. And sleeping in late since nothing really happens around here early in the morning.

The people are friendly and the local dialect of Arabic is not so different from what I was speaking before, so I'm able to have conversations with people more or less.

More to come as this new adventure gets underway!

Goodbye Tierra Seca...

Six months ago today I was waking up and beginning my first day in Tierra Seca. I walked around the neighborhood a bit, ate a falafel sandwich with my roommate and tried to get my head around the fact that I was now living in the Middle East.

Those six months flew by! I came with some knowledge of Arabic grammar and a some basic vocabulary, but I honestly couldn't speak or converse at all. Now I'm having conversations every day about all sorts of topics and loving it. I still have a ways to go, but it's been a fun journey so far!

I'm about to hop on a plane and start a new adventure. Perhaps one day I'll return, but for now I must say:

مع السلامة, يا تييرا سيكا

One More Week

This time next week I'll no longer be in Tierra Seca. I'll be making my new home in "Rio Grande". The past six months have flown by! It's been an awesome time of getting immersed in the culture and learning the language- and now I get to do it all over again. Sort of-- it'll still be Arabic and Arab culture, but a different flavor. I'm looking forward to it -- I'm ready for the new adventure!

5 Months

I've been here five months now. Five months that have flown by. This is the longest I've been away from home- which is surprising considering everywhere I've traveled and the places I've lived. But I just got news about my brother's wedding date, and it looks like I'll be heading back to ATL for a quick visit at the end of August. Eight months away from home.

The idea of home is interesting to me- I think because I move around so much (and don't have plans to stop for a while) there is only one place that I truly think of as home: Lawrenceville, Georgia, USA.

Five months is also one of my longer stays in the same place, but even this time is about to come to an end. In a month I'll be heading from Tierra Seca to another country not so far from here. But not before a quick trip through 3 other countries in the region.

Like I said, maybe one day I'll settle down. But for now, I gotta keep on movin'.

One Year Ago...

One year ago I had just moved out of North Carolina and was settling temporarily at my parents' house back in my beloved Georgia. I also started a summer job at the crack of dawn the day after arriving late a night (what was I thinking?).

This last year has been a whirlwind! I've been in 4 different states and 8 different countries where I've had to use 5 different languages to get around, constantly adapting from one context to another. Remembering whether to shake hands or kiss as a greeting, whether I'm supposed to give a woman a hug or not even look at her, and whether I should eat pizza with both hands, just my right hand, or with a fork and knife. I love it though! Things ain't slowing down any time soon either- over the next month I'll be in 4 other countries in this region, having to adapt to new dialects of Arabic as I go. Life certainly isn't boring!

Perhaps one day I'll settle down for a bit...

HOT

Well, pretty much since I got here I've been cold. And it will be four months tomorrow (!) All of a sudden all that Middle Eastern heat that everyone was telling me about has moved in. It's actually really nice outside and the two-week long spring is still hanging around with hints of green-ness, but in my apartment the freezer box is starting to turn into a bit of an oven...

I'm exaggerating a bit - I know it's supposed to get much worse. And being from Atlanta and having lived and traveled all over Latin America, I'm no stranger to heat. So bring it on!

Green

Living in the middle of the desert is...monotonous at times. There are thousands of shades of brown, beige, yellowish, and off-white, and perhaps there are desert-dwellers can appreciate the nuances of each shade, but this Georgia boy misses him some green.

But I didn't realized it until a few weeks ago when I left the city and saw a bunch of trees. And almost shed a tear.

Thankfully, recently the weather has changed, spring has sprung, and there is much green all around!! It does the heart good. I stop and thank the Creator every time I see a field of grass or a tree with newly sprouted leaves.

All my life living in the eastern US and Latin America, I took all the green around me for granted. But no more! Now I now how blessed the Americas are and I find a myself a little homesick every time a see a blade of grass these days...

(I'd love to upload a picture to show the lovely greenness, but I have temporarily misplaced my camera cord...)

2 Months of Language School

شهرين

The last 2 months my life have been focused on learning Arabic. Putting in 40+ hours a week of class, studying, or speaking with people in the community- it's definitely like a full-time job. But I have loved it! Any one that has known me over the last few years knows how much of a language nerd I've become. This has been such a cool experience so far.

Before I came I tried in vain to learn Arabic. When I got here, I knew the alphabet and had a lot of words in my head, but no idea how to put them together! But within the first 2-3 weeks, I was able to sort out the words, pick up a ton of new basic words and start forming sentences. Two months later I'm having conversations in Arabic daily!

I had a test this week to see how much I've learned, and I didn't do as well as I had hoped. But the real test came later that day when I ran into a group of young guys in the street. I hung around and talked with them for about 30 minutes, just talking and joking about whatever. The true test = can I actually use Arabic in daily life? YES! I love it. I still have my sights set on what some would call pretty unrealistic language goals this year, but I must keep pushing forward...

يا الله - Let's go!

Climb Life's Mountains

Arab Hospitality

Lately I've been making new friends here in Tierra Seca, and that means visiting homes and eating at nice local restaurants. Both of which mean lots of food!

2 weeks ago I had my first real Arab restaurant experience- we reclined on cushions at a table that was less than a foot off the ground and had to remove our shoes before approaching. We shared a large plate of rice and chicken, which we ate with our hands, and drank yogurt to wash it down. And of course, as an "honored guest" I was not allowed to pay for any of it.

Twice in the past week or so I've also been invited to homes where we've spent hours eating, drinking tea and coffee, talking about religion and philosophy, and sharing music. I got back home from dinner the other night at 1:45 am! That's life around here, though, and I love it. Food, friends, good conversation, more food, and music!

New Haircut

I decided to get a haircut today, just to have the cultural experience and to clean up my look a bit. I went in, hoping I could communicate what I wanted, but it went bumblingly and stumblingly more like this:"Maybe little bit off here, maybe not so much here, sorry I doesn't know word, um, yeah I doesn't with me a picture either. Okay."

But this guy was a real professional. I think he used about 10 different "tools" in the process and spent at least 15 minutes on getting my hair perfectly coiffed like I was about to attend the most important business meeting or newscast of my life. 

Here are the results, ladies and gentleman:

One Month

Tonight around 1am, I will have officially been here one month. It seems like I've already been here a while, but the time has also flown by! I thought I'd list a few of the interesting things I've noted about life here:

1. Everyone is really friendly except the guy who takes your money on the bus. Also on the bus, pretty much no one talks. One of the things I appreciate about the buses, though, is that men give up their seats for women.

2. I've really enjoyed the food here, especially the desserts, but I've already kind of written about that. I just wanted to say it again.

3. Walking across the street is totally like playing Frogger. You walk halfway across the street, stand there as cars whiz by you on both sides, then wait to cross the other half, sometimes crossing 4 lanes this way.
(I can just hear my parents now, "Oh Ronnie, I hope YOU aren't doing that- promise me you'll never do that!)

4. People park however they want- it's like a jigsaw puzzle and if you're the first one to arrive somewhere, I have no idea how you get your car out when there's 18 others in the way.

5. If you make a friend here, or pay someone a visit, the hospitality is amazing.

6. People love to talk about religion and it is brought up in almost every conversation.


I'm sure there are other things I could list, but as each day passes, those things that were initially surprising or weird are becoming just a part of normal life. Today, to celebrate one month, I decided to eat at an American fast food restaurant, which is super rare for me. I went to McDonald's (I don't think you can get more American than that)...but I got the McArabia. I felt I still needed to remember that I'm in the Middle East.
 
                    

Yesterday my Arabic class was canceled, so I decided to explore the city some. I wanted to find the Institut Français to find out about French conversation courses and cultural activities. Instead I found the Insituto Cervantes, basically the Spanish version. I talked with the receptionist and got some information, then made my way to the French school.

After hiking all over town and climbing a really tall mountain, I gave in and took a taxi...and it was just around the corner. Of course the guy drove the long way around so he could charge me more, but my Arabic still isn't good enough to protest. So I paid him and then headed to the Institut Français where I spoke to the guy about their activities. There was no one there but him since it was so late, but I might try to go back another way.

Afterwards I grabbed a falafel quesadilla (it's like a theme in my life lately- Mexican Arab food) and then headed to a service at a local Alliance congregation. The music was great, but I couldn't understand much of anything since it was all in Arabic. There were a few folks in front of my speaking Portuguese, but I didn't get a chance to chat with them. I was hoping to so I could claim that I spoke 5 languages in one day! Maybe next time. It was one of those days, though, that a language nerd like myself loves.