I have always liked to write, and since I've been at Earlham I've spent more and more time doing it. Since coming here, however, I've been unusually wordy--I think because being surrounded by and speaking in a foreign language so much of the time has made me realize how much I love the tricks I can play with my own language. Also (and this is less poetic but maybe more true) since I am limited in how much I can say in Arabic it is a relief to be able to talk as much as I want, even if it's just to myself, on paper.
So: here I am. I am lucky to be on a wonderful program with wonderful people, and to be living with a host family that couldn't be kinder or more understanding and helpful to me. I am lucky to have an Arabic teacher, Rima, who makes speaking this crazy counter-intuitive language seem like something I might be kind of okay at someday. And I am lucky to have as much support as I do from my parents, brothers, cousins, aunts, uncles, friends of friends and friends back at Earlham--as well as all my friends who are having their own adventures everywhere from Mexico to New Zealand.
