It has only been a week since my last blog, but so much has happened. July 4th seems like it was ages ago when instead it's been less than a week. Of course we did not get a day off for our Independence Day, but there was a celebration nonetheless. Two guys from my class decided to make cheese burgers and cajun shrimp. Alex and I added to that meal with a peach cobbler, and some of the other guys bought fireworks! Making the cobbler was an interesting experience. It was my first time ever attempting a dish like this, and Alex and I were not sure what we would find in the store, ingredients wise. We googled some recipes and picked the easiest ones that required a minimal amount of ingredients. We used: cake batter, fresh peaches from a street vendor, cinnamon, and simple syrup. The dessert was a success! The whole group from Ole Miss got together in one of the apartments where all the cooking was going on. Some of the French girls that are here teaching French as a foreign language also joined us for the celebration. I thought that it was fitting since they did help us win our independence. After a while, we all went up to the roof of the building to watch the fireworks! It was such a fun night being with the whole group and expanding on new friendships.
My classes here have been going very well. I've been enjoying every day; all of my teachers offer me something different and they are so nice. This week in media class our teacher, Salim, tried to lighten the mood, since we were watching something about violence against women, and made a funny joke about one of us (students). After his joke he wanted to make sure that we all knew he was kidding and he said he was trying "to make a funny and refresh the atmosphere!" It was such a funny moment for the class. Probably a "you had to be there" moment. I like his class because even though he is goofy, he will not move on until he knows that everyone understands what is being discussed. Also, our dialect teacher, Rijan, brought in two Yarmouk University students, Asam and Sara, so that we could truly practice speaking in dialect. Asam and Sara are really nice and eager to help us with speaking. Asam is Arabic but has light hair and blue eyes while Sara has wild curly hair (she doesn't wear a hijab because she is Christian) and a friendly face. Sara and I exchanged numbers so I think we will try to go out sometime this week! All of my other classes are also going well! We have tests this week. It shouldn't be too difficult...
I have also been pushing myself to think more in Arabic. Dr. Clark, my Arabic teacher at Ole Miss, says that is "the key to language learning." I think it might be working on some level because I have already had one dream in Arabic!
Daily life seems to be going well. Alex and I have been cooking up a storm. This weekend we made teriyaki chicken with fresh vegatables, from our vegatable man across the street, and rice. We also made fried rice the next day with the leftover rice and bell peppers. When we don't cook we go to great restaurants like the Yemeni restaurant. The owner of the place remembered us from last year and when a group of us went this past week he gave us a free dessert, which consisted of some white cheese melted in pieces of their special bread with honey drizzled all over it. It had an interesting flavor. Yemeni food seems to be a mix between, Mexican, Indian, and stew. It has a lot of flavor. On another note, I hope that everyone is having a great summer!! Next weekend we go to Petra, Wadi Rum, and Aqaba (Red Sea)!
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