Holding Pattern

Monday, January 23, 2006

I feel like I am in a holding pattern right now. I have a week until I move into my new apartment (yay!!), and do not really want to get started on much until I am settled into my own place. My focus right now is just learning as much Arabic as I can and meeting as many people as I can. Some days I feel like I’m almost fluent, other days they ask me if I slept well and I have to ask them to repeat it. Some days I feel like Miss Socialite of Agdz, spending hours visiting and going to tea and many families homes, greeting friends on the street, and chatting with Antoine and other friends (male only) in the coffee shops. Other days (like today) I really do not feel like talking to anyone, being outgoing, or meeting anyone, I just hide in my guest room and read and study Arabic. Some days (like today), I feel useless, like I am just hiding out. But the fact is, that with the type of work I plan to do here, language learning and relationship building (i.e. community integration) are key to the success, and a crucial first step before I approach any actual development strategies. I have met several carpet makers, several painters, and carpenters, talk to carpet bizarres for tourists as to where they find their rugs, that’s my “research” for now. The association I am supposed to be working with (that does not actually do anything related to artisanal work, as far as I can tell) is a bit of a strange animal. They asked me to teach them an English lesson once a week, but the last three weeks (and I didn’t even go the week of the big holiday) no one showed. I ended up going to a Berber wedding instead. I met a carpet maker. I figured that was more productive than teaching English at this point. So… I’m just contenting myself with Arabic, reading, making friends, and dreaming of how I will decorate my new home!