It was the beginning of summer 2010 and I remember sitting on the plane as it left Germany and approached the Middle East thinking "What am I doing? This is crazy!" I was nervous and I watched while the women on the plane started to put on their burquas and hejabs as they neared their home country. I started to get anxious. Why did I quit my job to come to a foreign country and meet women I didn't know and teach them English? My curiosity had gotten the best of me. I was tired of watching the news about extremist Muslims that wanted to blow me and my family up. I didn't know much about Muslims, but I wanted to. I wanted to get to know women that lived quietly beneath the black veil. I wanted to know about the mysterious culture. Common sense told me that not every Muslim was secretly thinking of ways to kill me. In the U.S. I didn't know many Muslim women and in the Subways of New York occasionally I would see a women with a veil out with her husband and children. I was intimidated now, but it was too late to turn back. I pulled my pink scarf up to cover my golden hair and took a deep breath as I clutched my passport with white knuckles and we neared the ancient land where the history is so rich and deep...
My team members and I started taking Arabic lessons each morning of the first week and then we went to the English classroom at the University in the afternoon. The first day I sat down next to a female student. We were both a little nervous, but we began to chat and get to know each other. Gradually each day I got to know the girls a bit better and practiced recognizing each of my new friends by their eyes and their shoes, since each women wore the same black burqua and veil. They were just like myself and other women I knew in the States. Maybe it doesn't seem like much of a revelation, but they were just regular women. Just as I was a bit fearful and insecure of what they would think of me, they felt the same insecurity! The walls came down for me and I lost the timidity. In the lunchroom an American friend and I walked into the female side of the cafeteria as I was mumbling to myself practicing ordering a water and a falafel in Arabic. The lunchroom got quiet and the girls turned to stare and whispered to each other quietly. A couple girls in line timidly asked us where we were from and we practiced our new phrases like "Asalam Alakum: Peace be to you" and "Tasharafna: Nice to meet you". Ana Ismi Trinity! Aish ismik? The girls got a kick out my Arabic and I gradually became less and less nervous with each interaction. The invisible barriers were coming down...
The dialogue had begun and I've wanted to know more about this mysterious part of the world and the religion behind it all. I definitely found perspective on the journey that summer and was able to build relationships with many young women and experience things many American women would never get to experience... That's why I want to share more of my experiences and learn more from others.
My team members and I started taking Arabic lessons each morning of the first week and then we went to the English classroom at the University in the afternoon. The first day I sat down next to a female student. We were both a little nervous, but we began to chat and get to know each other. Gradually each day I got to know the girls a bit better and practiced recognizing each of my new friends by their eyes and their shoes, since each women wore the same black burqua and veil. They were just like myself and other women I knew in the States. Maybe it doesn't seem like much of a revelation, but they were just regular women. Just as I was a bit fearful and insecure of what they would think of me, they felt the same insecurity! The walls came down for me and I lost the timidity. In the lunchroom an American friend and I walked into the female side of the cafeteria as I was mumbling to myself practicing ordering a water and a falafel in Arabic. The lunchroom got quiet and the girls turned to stare and whispered to each other quietly. A couple girls in line timidly asked us where we were from and we practiced our new phrases like "Asalam Alakum: Peace be to you" and "Tasharafna: Nice to meet you". Ana Ismi Trinity! Aish ismik? The girls got a kick out my Arabic and I gradually became less and less nervous with each interaction. The invisible barriers were coming down...
The dialogue had begun and I've wanted to know more about this mysterious part of the world and the religion behind it all. I definitely found perspective on the journey that summer and was able to build relationships with many young women and experience things many American women would never get to experience... That's why I want to share more of my experiences and learn more from others.
