Wednesday, September 7, 2011

I've Arrived and I Don't Understand a Damn Thing

Following a six hour plane ride to France (which I didn't sleep a wink on) and a four hour plane ride to Lebanon (which was completely empty and where I put the arm rests up and slept across five seats) I finally arrived in Lebanon.

My first day was a bust, I slept almost the entire time and finally went out to dinner at 10:00pm (this is a normal time, even on the weekdays. Dinner before 8:00pm is unheard of).

Today is really my first day. I am still getting used to the fact that the electricty goes out when you turn on the blow dryer and iron at the same time. And the hot water has to be turned on at least an hour befor you shower. I, like many of you, sleep until the last minute, jump in the shower and run out the door. Life is just going to have to be more planned out. Although this morning, after a quick 2 mile jog along the beautiful Lebanese coast I was overjoyed to take a cold shower. It was at least 90 degrees at 10:00am (holy hot as hell).

This afternoon I went shopping and bought fabulous shoes from the Armenian shopping district. Here's a interesting fact: Of all the people who have moved to Lebanon, the Armenians are the only group of settlers who are recognized at true Lebanese people (almost everyone else is viewed as a refugee even if their family has been here for a hundred years; mainly the case with Palestinians, Iraqis and Sudanese people, wiki) The Armenian people are great craftsmen. They are known for their custom clothes, shoes, and jewelry. So as my I dad was conducting business I went about my way and bought some locally made shoes. This is when I encounterd my first major language barrier.

I went up to the local street vendor to buy a popular mid-day snack called KayKi (pronounced Kahki, like the pants) (it's a delicious sesame-coated, toasted bread stuffed with a unique blend of tangy spices). As anywhere in the world, the street vendors typically only speak the native tongue. So I ended up paying twice as much for one of my favorite treats. It was only 75 cents more, but it wasn't about the 75cents, it was about the fact that I couldn't understand the vendor's colloquial lingo. So, afer explaining this to my dad I am happy to say I am starting "Urban Arabic" classes in a few short weeks. I'm excited to to be able to say more than the curse words and the basic things such asking for money and food. I guess I really don't understand a damn thing (this is a lie, I understand a lot but I could always learn more).

I'll let you know how the classes go when they start. Until then, I am going to have dinner with my family and maybe do some more shopping.

1 comment:

  1. That's my girl. Shoes! You'll learn to haggle along with the best of them once you get the currency understood and the price of things.

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