Classes / فصول

Most of my blogging from Israel so far has been a lot of food, friends, and travel. Obviously, that's just a part of study abroad. But, as the name tends to suggest, there is also a studying component. It just so happens that the studying component is hard.

The first difference between the United States and Israel is the days of the week. The work week runs Sunday through Thursday and the weekend is comprised of Friday and Saturday. Considering Shabbat is from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday, that really leaves you with only half a weekend where stores are open and transportation is running. However, I'll get back to the work week...

My work week consists of devoting my time to the Arabic Immersion Program at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. My schedule is comprised of a few components:

1. Core Courses in Arabic

I have 8 hours of Modern Standard Arabic (also referred to as fusha or MSA) and 8 hours of colloquial Arabic (in the Levante / Palestinian dialect) each week. I'm in the Intermediate class for MSA and the colloquial Arabic class is combined levels. My colloquial teacher is from Nazareth and teaches very specifically to her slang where she's from, so slowly but surely I'm starting to sound like I'm from Nazareth.

2. Belief and Ritual in Islam

4 hours a week of everything my Islam Professor at Allegheny College already taught me. However, it is a beautiful 4 hours of classes taught in English. This is something you value when your life is surrounded by Hebrew and Arabic.

3. Co-curricular Activities 

Don't be fooled. These are required classes that they just gave fun names toward. Every week we have "Movies/Storytelling" where we have to watch a movie and discuss it in Arabic afterword as well as "Coffee House" where we speak with local Palestinians in Arabic nonstop for 2 hours. Both of these activities take place in colloquial Arabic.

Additionally, there are a variety of trips throughout the semester. This Thursday we're going on an outing to the Old City in Jerusalem to visit mosques and work on our Arabic in context. Other trips include an outing to Jaffa, cooking workshops (in Arabic), the Islamic museum, and an overnight trip to Nazareth on Christmas.

All in all, Sunday through Thursday my life becomes an abundance of struggling with language, grammar, and vocabulary. However each day I manage to produce a little more Arabic than the last, which I suppose is a lot of the purpose of my studying abroad.