the truth is that i am writing about this because i am trying to write another entry that i think is better, but its not flowing at the moment, so i figured id give you a bit of an update on my life, so if you dont care stop reading here.
thank you to those still reading, i appreciate it.
so my arabic classes are finally starting to take off, and its a bit of a whirlwind. man oh man am i in for a trip. as some of you may know, my current goal in life, aside from those permanent goals such as living a good, happy, and meaningful life, is to learn arabic and french before i am 25. as i am 20 know going on 21 i think that i am in a good position. i have recently had a great stroke of good luck, what do you know, because arabic is now being taught at ithaca college, so that i will be able to continue studying for the next two years while i finish up school. so my plan is to take one arabic and one french class per semester for the remainder of my stay at ithaca. i think this will be enough to get me in position for the next move which is moving to an arabic speaking country for at least a year or as long as it takes to get it down pat. i am optimistic. initially i was thinking of morrocco or egypt. then i was informed that these countries have very strong dialects, which is not ideal for the learning of classical arabic. so i figured that i would end up going to syria lebanon or jordan. and then the other day i met this dude who is also studying arabic and he went to cairo last year and he said that the dialect is definetly managable and that it is a really good place to go. i have more of an impulse to go to egypt than any of the aforementioned countries so i found this to be good news. if anyone has any thoughts, opinions, information on the subject this would be the place to say something. so now all i need to do is make that happen, prospects are looking good as always.
on the home front, it looks like im going to barcelona this weekend, hopefully ill be able to watch the first game of ronaldinho, eto'o, and messi are all back and playing together. it would be a momentous occasion. i am quite looking foward to going to barcelona, i have a few friends there, from new ones to old childhood ones, and like i said earlier, it is a happenin city.
my friend KelLee from ithaca has taken a semester aborad here and i have been able to hang out with her and a few friends from her program, so rest assured folks, i wont be forgeting my english. in truth it is good see her, and it makes me look foward even more to returning to ithaca, while at the same time im looking foward to spending every second i can here. life is good. i have also made a new friend from scotland, and his name is Scot, no trouble remembering that name. he is quite a well traveled individual, as his dad works for chevron so we have accidentally developed in a similar way.
long story short: Im OUT.
peace folks good talk
About Me
- Emiliano
- I am a 22 year old mexican-neuyorican mix from new york. Currently I am living in Ithaca, NY taking advantage of a favorable living situation to live in community. I should also note that I am the luckiest person in the world, and am currently figuring out how to use my providential destiny for the betterment of the species, planet, and universe. Peace is the goal, Love is the way.
2 comments:
emi,
i admire the goals you have set for yourself.
i have friends in cairo. they moved there about a year ago. the son hated it and moved back here to go to school in florida. but the rest of the family loves it. they have said good and bad things about it but i think you will find that anywhere. sorry i havent read your blog in a while. its been crazy for me. im finally in turkey!
talk to you soon
nuni
I think that it is so great that you are seriously studying arabic these dasy. I think this crazy world needs more people who can act as bridges between worlds, especially worlds that seem more than miles apart. We jsut saw Babel last night and part of it takes place in Morocco and one of the things I was left with is the chasm that exists between the muslim world and the so-called "developed" world. It's not jsut language- it's that people don't even know how to see each other, how to understand each other's worlds with something other than fear.
So bridegbuilding is partly about languages but even more about building shared understanding. I do think that languages provide us with the most usefel (and Indispnsable) key for really getting inside a culture. Can you imagine your experience in Spain without being able to speak Spanish?
And yet how do we help build this understanding, perhaps even compassion without expecting that people must first learn to speak a new language?
I call this role being a "tribalhopper"- being able to move between different "tribes" and let the others know what that tribe is really about.
Now that I think of it, I have oriented part of my life in this direction as well.
I am inspired by your blogmusings!
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