Ismee Linda

It's hard to believe I've been here 2.5 weeks already but I think I'm finally starting to adjust. This week threw me for a bit of a loop as it was the first week of my Arabic program which is intense--5 hours a day learning hundreds and hundreds of useful words like communism, satellite, antenna, etc. Because I am going to a French institute here it has been double culture shock with the French way of doing things plus being in Syria. I have been reminiscing about my time in France and how annoying the French can sometimes be. But alas, I got an invite to the Bastille day celebration at the French Ambassador's house so I guess I shouldn't complain too much (and I'll pretend it's the 4th, not the 14th).

Because I've gotten a few questions about my family and what it's like living with a family, I thought I would elaborate on it.

First off, NO ONE can pronounce my name. Not even the French (it translates to Lahn-zee Cahn-kleen in French) and the Syrians just don't even try. SO at my house sister's suggestion, my house mom has started calling me "Linda" which is apparently a lot easier to handle. I have gotten quite used to this, especially since it's usually followed by, "Do you want something to eat?" ("Linda, shoo bheb taim?").

This brings me to my house mom's name. Her first name isn't "Umm" as my mom first thought. "Umm" actually means "mom" in Arabic (and could be trans-alliterated many other ways). So her name means "Mother of Mohammed" and Mohammed is her 30 year old son which is a very common way to refer to adults here. However, I was under the impression that parents became "mother of" or "father of" the name of the oldest child (so my parents would be "mother/father of Courtney") but Mohammed has three older sisters so I guess it's another case of boys rule, girls drool in the Arab world.

In addition to my house mom, I have a house sister who is 23 years old and studying English translation. She's very outgoing and nice and we often watch bad movies on TV together. She is the youngest of 5 and has mainly grown up with just her Mom around. She told me the family's story the other night. Apparently her mother is divorced because her dad is a "horrible man" (her words) who took on a second wife shortly before she was born. So she has a half-sister her age and then a few that are younger. I also found out that her dad is Palestinian so she is considered Palestinian (and has a Jordanian passport) even though she has lived in Syria all her life and her mom is Syrian. This is because nationality passes down through the father.

All in all, it's been a great set up so far because they are very very nice and accommodating even if they stay up late (2 or 3 am every night). The problem is EVERYONE stays up late which is a problem when you have class at 8 am and your room is in the front of the house. The neighborhood kids have taken a great liking to me--they like to ring the doorbell 20 times in a row when they know that I am the only one home and they also like using my window as a soccer goal. I've been tempted to throw the ball down the hill a few times but I've restrained myself...for now.