Lost in Translation

A week ago I first met two professors from Al-albayt University in Mafraq, Jordan. One Dr. Yousseff, who was a professor of English, and one Dr. Amr, who is the head of the Language department and speaks no English. This was my first contact with anyone from the university and our conversation went something as follows:
(all of Drs’ text translated from Arabic to English and back)
Me: It’s so nice to meet you! I’m so happy to have this opportunity!
Drs’: We are so happy also to have you. You want live in Mafraq or Amman?
Me: umm well, I already live here in Amman. But that actually brings up a good point.. I was told there would be transportation from Amman to Mafraq, is there a driver?
Drs’: no not driver… there is bus. You can take bus no problem. And how many days you want teach?
Me: umm well, I’m not really sure, I mean, how far is it? I would like to be a part of the community at the university
Drs: ok well you will teach 12 hours a week you can teach 4 hours for three days or 6 hours for 2 days each.
Me: well, I really want to be involved, so 3 days?
Drs: ok you find the bus nearby where you live at city circle and we will have another teacher call you if you have problem. You come Tuesday first day and we will give you tour of school. You teach English level 99 and 101 I think is better. Beginning level. Classes are maybe.. 50 students and you teach in a computer lab. There is set curriculum.
Me: um, well, I hope that works because I’m really supposed to be more of an assistant… So I’m not really trained to teach by myself but if there is a set curriculum, maybe, we could see how it works..
Drs: very good. Ok school starts Sunday but you come first time on Tuesday. We give you tour of university, you can see the class.
Me: ok! So nice to meet you, I am very much looking forward to working with you.

You can take bus no problem: So things changed and I decided I would work 2 days a week because of the long commute. There was some confusion as to which day I would first come then, so on Monday, I went out to find this bus, just in case it was the day that I was supposed to go.. but no luck. No call from the professor who was supposed to help me find the bus, and the circle where I was supposed to find the bus was very busy, many many busses. Impossible to find the one bus for me. So, only slightly disheartened at 6:45 a.m., I changed out of my very modest and professional clothing and went back to bed. Day two, I was equipped with a new phone number of the teacher I was supposed to call if I had any trouble finding the right bus. An e-mail exchange told me Tuesday would be a fine day to come for the first time, so again, I went down to this major intersection, and, upon seeing once again, a million busses, called Dr. Mazen. His phone was off. I called Dr. Youssef, who is supposedly my sponsor teacher. His phone was also off. I started asking people for busses to Mafraq. Ooo noo, you get on bus to Zarqa, then from there get on bus to Mafraq. Here get on this bus… I will tell the driver for you. uhhhh. And the adventure begins. Luckily, I ended up sitting by a student at Al-albayt University. Hem dul allah! Eventually, we stopped at this giant bus stop center in the town of Zarqa (these are the towns that you think of when you think of Jordan… not metropolitan Amman, but in the middle of the desert, nothing much there) My seatmate gets off the bus, and the bus driver points to a large mob of people and several dozen different busses. “To mafraq” umm ok great thanks. My seatmates shoves me up onto one of the charter buses and I meander to the back. I hope she comes to sit by me again but instead I am joined by another younger student at the university. Shaema, is very nice, and when we get off at the military complex that has now become Al-albayt university, she and her friends are kind enough to help me find the language center. “you are welcome to our country!” is most of the English that they know.. and they mostly giggle in Arabic. They do ask “Are you Christian or Muslim?” Christian gets an appropriate mumble of a response for being rather an unsatisfactory answer. Shaema finally drops me off, not with Dr. Yousseff, who I had imagined would be waiting for me with open arms, so glad to finally see me again and that I had found my way, even though his mysterious “faculty bus” did not seem to exist. Instead, I find myself sipping Turkish coffee in a room of females. Three English teachers, and one Arabic teacher who speaks no English. The group says hello, and then continues to gossip and laugh in Arabic. I sit, quietly, wondering if my presence is as awkward for them as it is for me. Occasionally, one of them lets me in on the topics- “We are talking about when we were young, we are talking about her bag, we are talking about a toy car for her son” and it is also explained to me, “We would either have to translate for her (motions to Arabic teacher) or for you, so we keep talking in Arabic” Naturally. I ask for advice, “Be strict,” they tell me. “The students are not very nice and they do not study” great “They have to take English but they do not speak it. but you just follow the book and you will find it very easy. Just do not joke with them do not smile. You must be very strict.” Ok. no problem. I am only a year if that older than the students and look at least five years younger than most but I will just put my foot down. I have problems disciplining small children, let alone college students, but why not? I can be tough, right? Finally Dr. Heeyam invites me to her office and asks if I have questions. Later, she says we will see the lab where I will teach and go to my office. Do I have questions. What do I not have questions about? "well," I said, "I guess one thing would be, where can I find the right bus?"