halfway done
We’ll see how that Arabic final that I just took turns out… whew, I’m just happy that its over with. I actually thought that the written portion was pretty easy and straightforward—things like verb conjugation and sentence translation and other grammatical stuff that I’ve been preparing for. The tough part of the exam was the spoken portion…sitting in a room with our oostezah (professor) and having a 10 minute conversation about anything she wanted to bring up. It was a little bit intimidating. Maybe she’ll be merciful…
This past week was also our final week of Islamic Thought and Practice. The exam was an in-class essay assignment detailing how several different groups having shaped Islam over history. I wrote about 5 pages on the caliphs, ulama, Mutezalites, and Sufis. Two days before that, we turned in our major research assignment on methods and applications of Qur’an interpretation. We each studied different passages in the Qur’an and basically did like a commentary study on it and interviewed scholarly sources. I got to focus on what Muslims do with alcohol—it was great. But yeah, it definitely feels so good to all that have accomplished too. They tell us all the time here, “this semester is not about gluing you down with academics” …I think I believe that a little more now that I get to breathe for a couple of days before I start working on my building list of other assigned papers, which is up to about 10 or 11 now.
I really have enjoyed these classes though. Even the small time that we did spend in the classroom here was so enhanced by the fact that we were in the setting of all the history, culture, language, religion we were learning or reading about. For most assignments, research consisted of talking to our neighbors and roaming the streets taking notes on how everyday life went on...which definitely beats holing up the in the library (even overnight).
The semester is going to be totally different from here on out though. On Thursday, we’re flying to Istanbul and starting a month of travel around the region. We’ll be in Turkey for awhile, then Syria and Jordan for a couple of days, and finally end up spending about 2 weeks in Jerusalem. Like I already mentioned, assignments continue to pour in during this time and I’ll spend a lot of time writing responses to the many important, interesting speakers that will have the chance to meet with in each country. It’ll be busy, but my goodness, can you even believe that I get to do this?! I guess you could say that I’m kinda excited about it.
I looked over the last couple entries I’ve had on here and realized that I’m probably depressing anyone that might read this. I don’t mean to sound overly negative when I write about some of the hard things here. It’s a challenge…a struggle sometimes, but my eyes are being opened wider than they ever were before. And in the middle of seeing some of the hard and hurting things all around me, I see God’s goodness in Egypt. Really, really, I love it here. Everyday is an adventure…the unexpected is normal—and while that may sound a little like what Darkwing Duck used to say, its true in Cairo… just hop in a taxi.
And if you don’t know who Darkwing Duck is, find it and watch it.
This past week was also our final week of Islamic Thought and Practice. The exam was an in-class essay assignment detailing how several different groups having shaped Islam over history. I wrote about 5 pages on the caliphs, ulama, Mutezalites, and Sufis. Two days before that, we turned in our major research assignment on methods and applications of Qur’an interpretation. We each studied different passages in the Qur’an and basically did like a commentary study on it and interviewed scholarly sources. I got to focus on what Muslims do with alcohol—it was great. But yeah, it definitely feels so good to all that have accomplished too. They tell us all the time here, “this semester is not about gluing you down with academics” …I think I believe that a little more now that I get to breathe for a couple of days before I start working on my building list of other assigned papers, which is up to about 10 or 11 now.
I really have enjoyed these classes though. Even the small time that we did spend in the classroom here was so enhanced by the fact that we were in the setting of all the history, culture, language, religion we were learning or reading about. For most assignments, research consisted of talking to our neighbors and roaming the streets taking notes on how everyday life went on...which definitely beats holing up the in the library (even overnight).
The semester is going to be totally different from here on out though. On Thursday, we’re flying to Istanbul and starting a month of travel around the region. We’ll be in Turkey for awhile, then Syria and Jordan for a couple of days, and finally end up spending about 2 weeks in Jerusalem. Like I already mentioned, assignments continue to pour in during this time and I’ll spend a lot of time writing responses to the many important, interesting speakers that will have the chance to meet with in each country. It’ll be busy, but my goodness, can you even believe that I get to do this?! I guess you could say that I’m kinda excited about it.
I looked over the last couple entries I’ve had on here and realized that I’m probably depressing anyone that might read this. I don’t mean to sound overly negative when I write about some of the hard things here. It’s a challenge…a struggle sometimes, but my eyes are being opened wider than they ever were before. And in the middle of seeing some of the hard and hurting things all around me, I see God’s goodness in Egypt. Really, really, I love it here. Everyday is an adventure…the unexpected is normal—and while that may sound a little like what Darkwing Duck used to say, its true in Cairo… just hop in a taxi.
And if you don’t know who Darkwing Duck is, find it and watch it.
posted by matt at 2:18 PM
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