When I am not bumming around I do go to class, study and have volleyball. I realize I haven't really said much about my classes so here is a quick overview.
*"Arabic-Islamic Culture and Civilization" is probably the least exciting of my courses because we are currently studying things I have gone over before but it isn't transferring back so I don't mind.
*"Media Arabic" is my main Arabic course and is taught by an American who is fluent in Arabic. I really love this class because even though it is difficult and we never understand everything, I am learning so much. We watch news clips and read articles (all in Arabic) so that we can gain the vocabulary necessary to understand Arabic in the Media. I thought American news reporters spoke quickly but no, it is incredibly difficult to distinguish words in Arabic broadcasts. Even my roommate who is a native thought it was fast. (Check out what we had to listen to). We transcribed the report, translated it, and learned the new vocabulary from it. Difficult but super helpful in the real world.
*I have a second class with the same professor, "Social Context of Arabic," which is a seminar where we discuss national identity and social context (hence the course title) based on language and in particular the different dialects of Arabic. It is so interesting to hear my classmates perspective on everything since they are from all over the Middle East. I am excited to see where it goes this semester.
*I then have "Politics of the Arabian States" which I am not quite sure you can actually call a course. Just picture our first lecture...we walk into class, take attendance (which is always funny because all of us exchange students are at the end of the list and have the most obvious non-Arab names), and wait. About ten minutes into class in walks our professor, did I mention he is the Deputy Prime Minister of the UAE, Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. (He is an impressive individual. Read about him here). With Starbucks in hand, he sits down and begins to talk. By the end of the class (which was out of no where interrupted so he could sign some papers) all of us exchange students left under the impression that we had no readings, no assignments and no exam. All we had to do was ask questions and he will give us an A. After our second and third classes we have confirmed that is in fact the case. Despite the fact it is not really a traditional class it is really interesting and should be a great course. Yesterday was particularly entertaining because it was the first day that the Sheikh was told he had exchange students in his class. As noted early, we are super easy to spot considering all of our classmates are in traditional Emirati clothing and we are cliche Americans so he called on us and pointed us out frequently. It was rather entertaining to say the least.
*My final class is my biggest fear. No joke, I get super nervous every time I walk into class. It is "Introduction to Translation" and I am the only non-native speaker of Arabic in the course. The first day I could tell I was in a little over my head so after class I asked Professor Hatim (he is a leading translator and expert in the theory of translating) what he thought and he said I should be fine and that as the only native English speaker I have something to give to the class. So I left confident knowing he thought I could do it. Fast forward 24 hours and my CIEE Adviser calls me into his office to tell me that my translation professor had been in contact with him and that he rethought his recommendation. The professor didn't think I should take his class because I wouldn't be able to keep up and he is not able to offer me extra assistance. He also was not confident that I would do well in the course in general. (There were a lot more dramatic details in his suggestion for me to drop the course but I will leave it at this for now.) Since it is up to me I took what he said and thought it over. I went straight from the conversation with my adviser to practice and spent the time we had to run thinking of my options. I could drop the class, make the professor happy and decrease the stress/work in my life...or...I could take the class, work hard, and prove the professor wrong by doing well. That is when I realized if I would have listened to people's opinions throughout my life I would not have gone to Italy in HS, I wouldn't be at Dartmouth and I probably wouldn't be here now so I decided that I would take it to prove that a LOT of hard work can pay off. That is essentially what it is...A LOT OF WORK! I spend hours a night translating pages from our book and looking up words so if by chance he calls on me I will know the word. It is stressful to say the least but so far I have learned more in that class than in any other.
In general, classes are going well and I am enjoying this opportunity to experience a different approach to academics. It is so interesting to me here that when our professor assigned 10 pages of reading for the weekend more than half the class complained and tried to get it changed. 10 pages for the weekend would be the greatest blessing back home but here it is a burden. I don't mind the lighter load though because it gives me the chance to pursue my own interests more and learn about things that aren't covered in classes.
In other news, volleyball is still the highlight of my days. The girls are crazy and hilarious and make life feel like back at home. We played two games against AUD (American University in Dubai) this week and of course won both of them to start off the season 2-0. Next week we have another game as we prepare for Italy in less than two months. They sent us our flight itinerary today and we are there for about 6 days and have essentially two full days off which is great! I am so excited to spend some good ol' quality time in Rome with my team.
Tonight we had our first Girls' Night which requires its own entry so be ready for that post...it is coming soon!
I leave you with a quick tour of our library since this post is mostly about academics....
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| From the second floor looking up to the top floor |
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| This library is so beautiful and functional! It has tons of books and references as well as presentation/tech rooms and tons of desk space |
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| The Library casually looks like a palace |
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| This will be a great place to bust out some work...before it closes at 10pm of course |
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