Turkey December 12, 2009
Posted by bookncurls in A Comment, Middle East.Tags: Arabic, Ottoman Turks, Turkey
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Turkey is quite an interesting place. For a while Turkey was courting the European Union but has been rejected so far. The country has both Christian and Muslim roots. The Ottoman Turks controlled much of the Middle East for a while. Noor, a Turkish TV series played very successfully throughout parts of the Arab world. Teenagers were glued and traditional Muslim parents were concerned. And that’s pretty much all I knew until this year when I have a student who moved from Turkey at the beginning of this school year taking my Arabic class.
Here’s a few random things I’m picking up from him. Stuff like:
- Words that overlap between Turkish and Arabic. Words like gharib (strange) as opposed to words in English and Arabic like algebra.
- I’m learning how to pronounce Turkish to help quiz his Arabic words. There’s some cool sounds in Turkish.
- He sees Turkey as both European and Middle Eastern. That’s really interesting to me because I know that intellectually but interesting how it plays out in real life in Turkish identity.
- He can not enter the class or leave without a greeting or goodbye. Even if we’re busy with other things, he will stop us to say goodbye. That’s a Middle Eastern thing in general. They are very respectful in class. Just interesting for me to be the teacher.
- He points out all the Turkish things he notices–everything from sweaters with Turkish soccer team logos, to foods Arabs eat, to buildings. Again, I know some of these things intellectually but it’s so interesting to have them come from a Turkish student who has a stake in it.
Ice Rink Driving December 8, 2009
Posted by bookncurls in A Comment.Tags: Winter Driving
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I just about remembered that the roads are an ice rink when I turned into work the other day and kept turning around and around. I stopped at about 180 and wondered if it was a sign I needed to go home and take a break. I mean, come on. When your car doesn’t want to go to work, it’s a sign. 
Ice rink driving. Making turns with my back wheels sliding across the ice behind me. All super fun until you’re sliding straight for an SUV and you remember why everyone else is driving white knuckled. Then the pumping breaks starts to slow me down and I check to see about how expensive of a car I didn’t slide into so I can be really grateful.
Lisa Bloom December 4, 2009
Posted by bookncurls in A Comment.Tags: Amanda Knox, American Justice System, CNN, Lisa Bloom
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Lisa Bloom did a good job tonight commenting on the Amanda Knox case. She stayed away from emotional analysis, did not disparage the Italian justice system, and drew very important parellels to the American justice system highlighting our need to look just as seriously at our own unfair trials.
I hope Amanda Knox will get a fair trial.
Well done, CNN for quality reporting and interesting analysis.
Twittering nEws November 30, 2009
Posted by bookncurls in A Comment.Tags: Middle East, news, Text, Tweet, Twitter
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I twitter my news. I got the idea from a Christian Science Monitor journalist presenting about how to make the Middle East come alive for high school students. This is beyond cool. There are news outlets which regularly publish English tweets from a variety of Middle Eastern countries and political bents. A savvy teenager could potentially be more political-wise than almost any American alive. Heaven forbid they might know more than Washington experts about goings on.
The idea is great but I’ve discovered holes in the application of it from the field:
- Not all teenagers are techy
- Most teenagers I work with would get a whoopin’ if they received that many texts on their parents’ bill (unlimited texting is essential)
- Some tweets are annoying
- You gotta know enough about the Middle East to make sense of many of the tweets
So my tweet news comes from one, sometimes two news services. I have untwittered myself from agencies that aren’t precise and weighty slash interesting. I’m warming to these texts alerts, though. It’s great to have news at your fingertips but when do you check? I like the idea of someone beeping in my ear, “you might like this piece of news”.
Commuter Plane and Charleston, SC November 25, 2009
Posted by bookncurls in A Comment.Tags: Thanksgiving
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I’m back home in Jackson Hole for Thanksgiving. I took a commuter plane from SLC to Jackson. A woman from Charleston, South Carolina sat next to me. Very talkative. Woke up at 3:00am Boston time to catch my flight out, I was kinda dreading the pleasantries.
But then she told me her husband died 2 years ago in her arms of cancer and not too long after that it came up that her first husband had died in a car crash. She was still struggling with his passing now almost 62 years old. Her family is in Jackson. She looked good and seemed upbeat, though.
It made me think what it might be like losing the man you love after 26 years of happy marriage.
MESA Conference, Boston November 25, 2009
Posted by bookncurls in A Comment.Tags: Arabic, MESA, Middle East
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Highlights
- Seeing people, meeting new people.
- Perfect weather.
- Seafood every day.
- Rental car with friends up the coast.
- Learning more about the Middle East.
- Looking through the books at the conference.
Comments
- My educational emphasis in both graduate school and undergrad was east Asia specifically China/Taiwan. I felt like I was trying to digest the meat before I was weaned off the milk. But I’m working on my Middle Eastern expertise.
- So I went to Chinatown for food to bring some equilibrium. It was great. My waiter was struggling to understand me so I switched into Mandarin and soon several waiters were trying my language skills out.
Dating Revisited November 19, 2009
Posted by bookncurls in A Comment.Tags: dating
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I took my original post about dating down because I didn’t feel like it needed to be said on my blog. I’m pretty happy and ultimately I don’t care when or if it happens. I just care that if and when it does happen, I will be happy.
Tonight, I went back to read the blog of a guy I had a super crush on for over a year. When I went to Egypt, he started dating someone and at the time it killed me. I just read that he stopped dating her. I kinda was wondering how I’d feel about it–but it is definitely over for me. The story emphasizes my belief in timing. I met him right before he was to leave for a year, he came home and I left for Egypt. He could be a good guy. I could be a good girl. But in the end, timing is everything. He’s not exactly the best example of this in my life because we never got a chance to date. However, I’ve been pretty serious with guys and almost got married twice but when it came right down to it, it just wasn’t right and both of us felt it.
So, now I have decided to let dating come and go as it pleases and focus on the things that are going really well in my life. Starting with my job and at least for now, my chances to learn Arabic. I’ve learned something from deaf people after interpreting and being around them so much. Sometimes, you have to take what you’ve been given and make the best of it and get on with life. Not worry about all the things that you don’t have. I totally like guys. One day the timing won’t matter so much, and the little stupid scared things I do when I like someone won’t matter so much, and it will all work out just like it has with my friends.
Cowboy Weekend November 15, 2009
Posted by bookncurls in A Comment.Tags: ASL, Silent Weekend
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I took 5 students and a chaperone to Silent Weekend 2009, cowboy themed. Stayed at the University of Utah overnight. Friday night we played card games together till late. There is a strict, no speaking policy–so we signed all day (mostly…I didn’t exactly know where I was in the morning and kinda slipped up until I was a little more conscious.) 
I drove the van 2 1/2 hours up and 2 1/2 back. Got home last night, did my last few errands for the week and completely crashed on the couch-dead. But it was fun.
Boston Trip 1 November 9, 2009
Posted by bookncurls in A Comment, Middle East.Tags: Arabic, Boston
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I can’t believe I can actually say I’ve been to Boston. After all the times I had it on my list of places to go. It was part site seeing and two different conferences. Learned a lot. I have to say, one of my favorite parts was visiting Steven Berbeco’s Arabic classes at Charlestown High School today. Some friends who are from the east coast in humid cold climates suggested leather as a way to stay warm. It worked well.
In the Christmas spirit… December 13, 2009
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