Posts
Damascus, Syria
In April 2011, the Damascus Community School principals told me I would not have a job the following year because they were closing my music department. I wanted to remain in Syria primarily to continue learning and practicing Arabic, but secondarily because I very much enjoy the way of life.
In June, I enrolled in Arabic language classes at an institute in Mezzeh, in Damascus so I could continue to learn Arabic and so they would sponsor me for residency. I rode my bike there (about 20 minutes) everyday. Classes were from 9-12:30 Sunday through Thursday. Classes were fun and easy. It was about 2 weeks into the clas before the teacher could get to material I had not already taught myself from books. I knew how to speak a basic form of colloquial Arabic, but the class was for Classical Arabic; it is similar. I was easily the top in the class. I was the only American, but most other students knew English, so it was the only other language we spoke as a class majority. There were people from Portugal, Finland, Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea, China, Serbia, Russia and Ecuador; this Arabic class was at least a 3rd language for most of the people. Most of the women in the class had husbands who spoke Arabic and worked in their country's embassy, others had parents in the embassy, some worked in companies who sponsored them, but few were drifters like me with out an umbrella company providing.
In April 2011, the Damascus Community School principals told me I would not have a job the following year because they were closing my music department. I wanted to remain in Syria primarily to continue learning and practicing Arabic, but secondarily because I very much enjoy the way of life.
In June, I enrolled in Arabic language classes at an institute in Mezzeh, in Damascus so I could continue to learn Arabic and so they would sponsor me for residency. I rode my bike there (about 20 minutes) everyday. Classes were from 9-12:30 Sunday through Thursday. Classes were fun and easy. It was about 2 weeks into the clas before the teacher could get to material I had not already taught myself from books. I knew how to speak a basic form of colloquial Arabic, but the class was for Classical Arabic; it is similar. I was easily the top in the class. I was the only American, but most other students knew English, so it was the only other language we spoke as a class majority. There were people from Portugal, Finland, Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea, China, Serbia, Russia and Ecuador; this Arabic class was at least a 3rd language for most of the people. Most of the women in the class had husbands who spoke Arabic and worked in their country's embassy, others had parents in the embassy, some worked in companies who sponsored them, but few were drifters like me with out an umbrella company providing.
Wednesday, June 28, I was on my way home from class when I decided to get a shwarma sandwich because I didn't have much food at my house. That night I woke up with all sorts of pains in my stomach and was forced to visit the bathroom many times. As morning came, I called the instructor and I told her I was sick and I wouldn't be coming to class. I don't remember what drugs I took, maybe ibuprofen or maybe it was the De-Vomit medicine, but I felt better so I rode my bike to class in the hot Syrian sun.
When I got to class, I didn't feel good, but I didn't feel bad. I had sweated more than normal while riding my bike, but that was expected because it was a little later in the day. I did my best to pay attention, but I couldn't get with it. I blamed it on my being out-of-sync schedule wise sleeping late and going to class late. I got home at 1:00 and laid down.
This same day, Wednesday, June 29, was my first day of American Language Center training one-on-one with my mentor, Anna. I sms-ed her from bed to ask if we could postpone our meeting, but she could not. I did not want to play the sick card because I wanted to have mind over matter. I knew I'd be miserable for a while, but I needed to go because I needed to know what to do for the first day of classes which was tomorrow, Thursday, June 30.
Since I was moving out of my apartment, I had packed all my belongings and was moving my boxes into my friend Annie's house for storage while I looked for an apartment. I was sweating in the hot sun, moving boxes, nauseous.....I was a mess.
I managed to get to the ALC somehow and met her on time (4:00 maybe). I'm sure I was pale as could be during the whole meeting because I wasn't sure if I was going to lose my lunch again. At one point in our talking, I did have to excuse myself to the hammam for a sudden ejection. I felt better afterward. Anna and I got to talking and she is just one of those people you can have a conversation with and you both always have something to say. Our 'meeting' was about 3 hours long because we were talking about everything. For the next month that I worked there, Anna joked with me about having to excuse myself during 'orientation.'
Thursday, June 30th I could not go to Arabic class because I had "Syrian Stomach" which I have come to learn is the polite way of saying one has food poisoning. My first day of ALC class was successful and it continued to be the highlight of my day.
The same day, I moved out of my school-provided apartment and had food poisoning, I moved in temporarily with an Australian couple I had met at church. They were absolutely wonderful with their hospitality, their overseas expertise, and assisting me with advice in deciding what to do next. I ended up staying with them for the month of July.
That Wednesday (maybe July 3) during Arabic class, I got a call from Khalid, DCS's off-campus director:
Me: "Hello?"
Khalid: "Hi, Kat. Kaaaaaat, your stuff is in Annie's apartment. How did you get into her apartment? You're not allowed in any DCS apartments. Did she give you a key?"
Me: "Yes, she said that since she wasn't going to be there this summer that I could put some things in there."
Khalid: "You need to get your stuff out of her apartment before Saturday or I'm going to call security."
Me: Cheerily, "No problem Khalid, thanks for telling me."
Khalid: "Kat, I'm going to have to tell Dr. Jim about this. He is not going to be happy."
Me: "Alright Khalid, is there anything else? "
Khalid: "Have a good day, Kat"
---------------------------------------------------------------
That afternoon, I visited Annie's apartment, after teaching my first ALC English class with a truck. I couldn't get the keys to work. I couldn't get any of the keys to turn the lock. I called Khalid back and he ensured me that he had changed the locks so that I could no longer go inside. We rescheduled my moving-out to Saturday morning.
Saturday morning came around and I woke up with feathers in my stomach. This is always the first feeling in my stomach before it wretches itself. How was I sick again? Another food poisoning?
............
............
The class was successful the first month. On July 10-11, the US Embassy sustained damage from a government-inspired riot which tried to smash windows of the embassy. During the demonstration, someone climbed on top of the building, switched the flags from US to Syria, and tried to enter the building, but the marines stopped them. (Where was the Syrian security who promised to protect our embassy? Interestingly slow in doing anything....) This whole thing came about because the US ambassador, Robert Ford, had visited another city, Hama, to see what was really happening. What he saw was that there were no 'armed gangs' and only peaceful protests. He mentioned at one point, he saw "a boy with a stick in his hand." Syria wasn't happy about this move because it exposed, in the public spotlight, some of the lies the government had told as well as showed US support to the people of Syria. Syria felt as though its pride had been compromised and so wanted to do something in retaliation.
After the embassy incident, I wasn't comfortable being an American anymore, so I became "Australian." I also seriously considered my next move about whether I was going to continue to stay in the country or move on. I had a wonderful job at the American Language Center which I enjoyed immensely, I had great friends, I was able to bike, run, learn Arabic, but I was not able to travel around outside of my walking-distance little bubble.
The Arabic class started to bother me because the teacher wanted the students to ask her for permission before we went to the bathroom and she stopped the class and hollered at us if we came in late. The ages of the students were from 25 - 50, so we're not small children who need to be taught discipline, nor were we leaving class to go 'play' in the bathroom. In this language class, she did not allow us to speak to our neighbor or speak at all unless it was an individual's turn to read a conversation alone.
After being trained in cooperative learning techniques and having it reinforced at the ALC, I was getting so mad at the class. The class was about copying from the board and not practicing or speaking. I wasn't able to learn as fast as I was when I was teaching myself, but I was able to learn different things in different ways. I learned the dictator-style teaching that "if you have a question, you ask the teacher," and conversation opportunities which were offered only when I would nag the teacher for time to practice talking to each other.
After I stopped going to the Arabic class, I focused on enjoying my job at ALC teaching English. I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to learn more and work for a certification in the field. My boss recommended that I go straight for a master's degree in the field rather than any other certification because it would be much higher ranked in the academic world.
After realizing I had only been teaching English for a month and it wasn't enough for me to justify a master's degree in this new field, I decided to go for just a 'quick' certification. CELTA certification by Cambridge was less than a master's degree, but if I focused, I could complete it in one month and I would be able to travel the world and teach English anywhere. The website had a shopping list of countries I could go to for the certification. Basically, the course costs the same in every country, but if I had a choice, where would I want to go? Hands down, I wanted to go to Spain.
I had an adventure trying to get an exit visa from immigration where I learned I was illegal, but in the end, after some bribing, it was granted. I booked my ticket for $300 with a fraudulent international student card, packed my things, applied and interviewed for the course and shipped out all with in 5 days.
Continued in Part II
After the embassy incident, I wasn't comfortable being an American anymore, so I became "Australian." I also seriously considered my next move about whether I was going to continue to stay in the country or move on. I had a wonderful job at the American Language Center which I enjoyed immensely, I had great friends, I was able to bike, run, learn Arabic, but I was not able to travel around outside of my walking-distance little bubble.
The Arabic class started to bother me because the teacher wanted the students to ask her for permission before we went to the bathroom and she stopped the class and hollered at us if we came in late. The ages of the students were from 25 - 50, so we're not small children who need to be taught discipline, nor were we leaving class to go 'play' in the bathroom. In this language class, she did not allow us to speak to our neighbor or speak at all unless it was an individual's turn to read a conversation alone.
After being trained in cooperative learning techniques and having it reinforced at the ALC, I was getting so mad at the class. The class was about copying from the board and not practicing or speaking. I wasn't able to learn as fast as I was when I was teaching myself, but I was able to learn different things in different ways. I learned the dictator-style teaching that "if you have a question, you ask the teacher," and conversation opportunities which were offered only when I would nag the teacher for time to practice talking to each other.
After I stopped going to the Arabic class, I focused on enjoying my job at ALC teaching English. I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to learn more and work for a certification in the field. My boss recommended that I go straight for a master's degree in the field rather than any other certification because it would be much higher ranked in the academic world.
After realizing I had only been teaching English for a month and it wasn't enough for me to justify a master's degree in this new field, I decided to go for just a 'quick' certification. CELTA certification by Cambridge was less than a master's degree, but if I focused, I could complete it in one month and I would be able to travel the world and teach English anywhere. The website had a shopping list of countries I could go to for the certification. Basically, the course costs the same in every country, but if I had a choice, where would I want to go? Hands down, I wanted to go to Spain.
I had an adventure trying to get an exit visa from immigration where I learned I was illegal, but in the end, after some bribing, it was granted. I booked my ticket for $300 with a fraudulent international student card, packed my things, applied and interviewed for the course and shipped out all with in 5 days.
Continued in Part II
No comments:
Post a Comment