ana bohebik, khitam

my host mom is the cutest.
last night she came home from the gym feeling good. she asked me (in arabic, she speaks about 2 words of english) how she looked and did a little twirl. she looked great!

later she said she was going to the bank and asked if i wanted to come with her. i tagged along, and she hooked her arm in mine as we skipped down the stairs out of the apartment. we had a great conversation (the fact that i could understand her speaking so quickly and then respond in arabic was a huuuge confidence booster). she asked me if i drove at home. i said yes. she was very happy about that. she said she thinks it's important for women to be able to drive and to have independence. she said that the prophet mohammad (PBUH) thinks so too. he wants all things for women as well as men.

she asked me about my studies, when i'm going to graduate (spring 2012, "insha'allah"), and what i want to do after graduation. i said teach, partly because it's in my top 5 careers, and partly because i don't know how to say "map store owner/cupcake seller" in arabic. teacher ("mo3lima") is a little easier to explain.

she asked about my family. i said my sister is moving to china and i am very sad but also excited because maybe i can have christmas in china. the first thing she asked is if she's married (naturally). i said no, she's only 21 and she's not done with school yet. she asked what she was studying and i said chinese language, which she didn't like that much. she said chinese is not an attractive language. i think her opinion was also a bit colored by the fact that arabs here have very few interactions with pan-asians other than custodians or maids (jordan is not the most ethnically diverse of countries). we don't have a maid, but a lot of families have relationships with their maids that in america we would consider disrespectful; jordanian norms regarding service are much different than american.

anyway, after the bank we stopped for ice cream and happily nommed on it as we drove back home. ana bohebik (i love you), khitam.