Excitement

I am very excited; this Tuesday I will start volunteering at the Jesuit Refugee Center, which is an education center in East Amman that serves the Iraqi refugee population. I visited last Tuesday and knew immediately that it was a place I wanted to spend some time. The center runs classes for all ages Monday through Thursday from 3-6 pm. They have music, art, English, and computer classes, as well as a football (soccer) team. Talking to Colin, one of the directors and soul western employee, I quickly filled in the large gap of knowledge I had about Iraqi reugees in Jordan. Most are waiting for visas to America, which is a long, long process that has an unknown length of time and outcome (and I thought getting my green ATM card was hard..). They are not allowed to work in Jordan, because of course the idea is to get them to leave as soon as possible. Their kids are allowed to go to public schools, but many don’t because they are “leaving soon to go to America” or back to Iraq or anywhere that they can settle and have a real life. Colin explained that the center tries to balance giving students a good education and simply providing a place of support and community for people who are not given either. I have never so much felt the effects of U.S. foreign policy as I do in Jordan, and let me just say, it should not surprise anyone that we have a bad reputation. It’s funny to be removed from national politics, I’m sure Michelle Bachman is still saying ridiculous things, but as outraged as that would’ve made me a month ago, it doesn’t seem to matter all that much compared to the apparently Democratic and Republican policy on Israel. That is an entirely different blogpost though, the point here is that being at the JRC was a very real reminder that there is an actual place Iraq, there was an actual war there with real war consequences, and real people who are displaced because of it. Things we all know but are too easy not to think about. So I am going to start teaching English here, an adult conversation class. I wanted to work with the kindergarten class, but my eardrums wouldn’t have it, yelling is apparently the appropriate way to communicate with children here, and having them yell things back in unison is how to make them learn. So instead, I will be reading short news articles, short stories, and other tid bits with three classes of 10- 15 adults. The classes I sat in on were wonderful. Everyone was fully engaged and cracking jokes. The teacher would have the students read aloud, stopping every few sentences to discuss the meaning of words and phrases, especially references to American culture. A discussion of “virtual happiness” led to not only a technical definition of the word “happiness” but also a small philosophical debate. It was inspiring to see people so bravely learning and using this language, though I am getting used to classes at al-albayt, it was refreshing to be around people who really wanted to practice and speak, and I hope that I can be of service in their English endeavor. So, if you read any, please point me in the direction of interesting articles that might be good discussion starters.
Also, I am excited to be a student again! Starting tomorrow, I will have Arabic class twice a week at the Qasid language center, conveniently located just down the street from my apartment! I have not been very good about Arabic here and I’m looking forward to getting back into the groove and in shah allah, being able to communicate more and more (shewya shewya) in Arabic. I am focusing on the colloquial here, Ammeya, in hopes that at the end of ten months, I can actually have a conversation with someone. Someday, in shah allah, I will sit with a group of Jordanians and know, at minimum, the topic of conversation. In shah allah.