Happy Birthday Jenna

عسلا-م-علكوم

Or as we say in America, hello!

I hope all is well in the States. I wanted to publicize (ie. the title) that Jenna gets another year older today. She gets to experience the joy and priviledge which comes with being 23!

As for myself, all is well. When I went into school on Tuesday I noticed that my article about the football-soccer game was posted on the bulletin board and on top of that it was quite a hit, so it looks like my journalism career might just be taking off after all.

My classes are going well, four hours a day is a bit daunting but I am starting to settle in. I figure 4 hours of Arabic class a day is like taking 24-25 credits at Quinnipiac, except it's all in the same subject. Overall though things are going well in class and my studies. I have my ups and downs. At times it feels like I'm improving so quickly and other times I feel like I don't know a thing. It is amazing how sometimes on the streets I have moments of "brilliance" when I'm talking to people but then fifteen minutes later I'll be talking to someone else and not be able to say a thing. With this being said though I am definitely making a lot of progress. I've also had the priviledge of eating lunch with the teachers the past couple of days (what can I say, I'm a suck up) so I'm not only making friends among the students but also amongst the faculty.

Most of my week had pretty much consisted of going to my lessons or studying but yesterday to break up the monotony I decided to go watch Real Madrid v. Bayern Munich (live at 10:45pm here) at a little cafe in Tahrer which has pay per view tv. The place was pretty much packed with fans and it was amusing watching the Yemenis celebrate when either team scored a goal. Whenever someone would score at least a couple guys would get up and run over and start yelling in someone elses face. Ben (who I went with) was telling me that the Yemenis tend to root for Barcelona, Real Madrid or Chelsea, although he mentioned and I witnessed that they pretty much just cheer for either team. I also smoked sheesha (sp?) for the first time. We got grape flavor and I couldn't believe but it actually did taste like grape. It was a pretty cool experience having the big huka and just sitting there puffing on grape tobacco while watching the game. Plus you don't inhale, or else I probably wouldn't have been to in to eat because than it would just be like smoking flavored cigarettes. As for the game, it turned out to be a cracker with Real Madrid winning 3-2 over Bayern in what is the first of two legs. Now in two weeks they will play each other again in Munich and the team with the better aggregate score will advance. It is currently the round of 16 so it is starting to get exciting. Tonight Ben and I are going again to watch Barcelona v. Liverpool in their first leg game in Barcelona.

As for the upcoming weekend, I have a couple plans. Tomorrow I am going to chew qat for the first time with Crazy Mohamad, Abdul Ghader and whoever else decides to join us. I'm looking foward to seeing what it is actually like since I've been here two weeks and have yet to try it yet. Plus it will provide me with a good opportunity to practice my Arabic. Oh, I also have class tomorrow morning because my Professor Ameen was not feeling well today so he canceled class. Then on Friday we have team football practice because as evidenced by the last game we definitely need to practice/ get in shape before we play another game, at least against a real organized club team like the one we played last weekend.

Good Luck to everyone running at New Englands this weekend!