Arabic 101

Something that I had been looking forward to for quite some time has finally come to fruition. A few weeks ago I received a call from the Qatar Guest Center, a non profit organization for the propagation of Islam, the Arabic language and culture. Both Muslims and non Muslims are welcome to join or take the many classes that are offered.

I had called a few months ago inquiring about language classes, and at the time they were not offering them for women. Now that A is in pre-school, I can afford to spend a few hours for self melioration.

Classes in Arabic will start in a few days, I was told. If interested I should come by on such and such date and take a test to see what my level is.

Like the vast majority of Muslims of non-Arab origin (only 15-18 % of Muslims are of Arab origin, out of an estimated 1.84 billion Muslims worldwide) I had learned to read and write Arabic as a child, but never learned to speak. So it has since been a dream of mine to learn spoken Arabic, mainly in hopes of understanding the Quran when I read it. The Quran however is written in a more complex form of Arabic but speakers of the language do procure the essence of it.

The evening before the test K and I went to look for the center. The wonderful folks at a web forum called Qatar Living gave me directions on how to get there. We found it without much difficulty, only to be told that this is the men’s section, the women’s section has recently moved to a new location.

Now before I proceed I must tell you that finding addresses here or giving someone directions is an art form of its own. Forget Mapquest. Often the streets are unnamed, but even if they are no one bothers to know or refer to them.

Turn left at such and such roundabout, after going 2 kilometers you will find a Masjid (grocery store, laundry, palm tree, whatever), make a right turn. You will then see some construction on the left hand side (directions here almost always involve construction), turn left. After this much distance the blank (fill this with destination) will be on your right hand side. And so on and so forth. Having said this however, today’s landmarks may be gone tomorrow, victims of ongoing construction. It is just short of a miracle if you get there without getting lost the first time.

The gentleman at the men’s center told K that the women’s building is near the Immigration Center. Where near the Immigration Center? He tossed his hand in the air meaning of course, ‘near the Immigration Center'. You can not miss it; it is a villa with a white board. Ok, we knew where the Immigration Center was, it is not far from where we live so we headed that way. After wasting ½ an hour mindlessly meandering through every street and alley, we gave up and came back home.

The next morning I called in the hopes of getting better directions. A man picked up. I asked him where the women’s center was. Ok, make right at Immigration Center and left. It is there. Make right where, before or after? You know Dasman center (a department store)? It is next to it. We saw Dasman center in our fruitless expedition the night before, it was not there. Where near Dasman center I dared to ask. By this time the voice on the other side was becoming agitated. No no, not next to it across form it. Umm… can you please give me the number for the women’s center?

A woman (surprise) picked up, who did not know much English. She passed the phone to someone else who then passed the phone to yet another person. Yes we are near a small Masjid near a housing compound. I am of course recapitulating the condensed version of the conversation.

Equipped with this much information, I headed out on my quest. After 15 minutes of blindly driving around, I saw the compound. So, the mosque must be nearby, I thought. It was, one block over on the next street surrounded by construction. Once again I proceeded to drive through every single street and alley. Eureka!

But having said all this, I also want to add that most people who work at the Qatar Guest Center are volunteering their precious time for the betterment of people like myself.

Classes began a week ago, w'ana sa'id jiddan.

The Empty Nest

Okay, I admit the title is a bit dramatic. My nest will not be empty, thank God, for many years to come. I actually would like my children to remain living with me for a long time, even when they grow up. But I know this is wishful thinking. One day I will have to cut the apron strings and let them move on, to pursue their goals and dreams, and have lives and families of their own. But, eventually I would like all of us to live close by, so we can see each other at least a few times a week.

I have enrolled my youngest child in preschool. Now before I go any farther I want to bring up the subject of schooling here. Enrolling children in good schools has become increasingly difficult. The choices one has for good English schools are limited. A great number of families are moving to Doha, thus causing the demand to spiral upwards at an astounding rate. Some companies, namely the in the oil and gas industry, go the distance of reserving seats in good schools for their employees children prior to their arrival.

Waiting lists in schools are excessively long, some have exceeded their capacity. I have heard of a few families who have received employment offers, who ultimately have decided not to come, since their children were not accepted in the schools of their choice. Due to limited space availability, our two elder children go to two different schools, which is not uncommon here. The waiting list for both schools, especially the better school is extremely long, even for siblings. We have begun to give up the hope that they will eventually attend the same school.

Schools have also become increasingly expensive. Tuition, like everything else, is on the rise. After only one year tuition has increased up to 50% in many schools. A few employers pay 100% of their employee’s children tuition, but the majority either pays partial, or none at all. Though Qatar has a public school system, which is free for all residents, they are mainly Arabic.

This applies for preschools & nurseries as well. There are several preschools, but only a handful which will be a good fit for each individual child. Most are also full with long waiting lists and are quite costly. Tuition can start from 1,200 riyals a month to up to 4,000 riyals. Now I am one who would rather pay more for a child’s well being then less, but QR 4,000 for macaroni art and finger paint? I would rather save that amount for their college tuition.

After touring a few nurseries, I did like one enough to sign him up. His number on the waiting list? 30. One of my friends who owns one of the nicer nurseries generously offered to make room for him. The only downside was that it was far from our home and would have taken me about 40-50 minutes round trip just to drop him there. Add 40-50 minutes more to pick him up. Plus I have to pick 2 other kids up from their respective schools as well. Schlepping around town with 3 kids in Doha traffic is not my idea of fun. So I politely, yet reluctantly declined.

But I did want him to go to a nursery; more for socialization then anything else. I then spotted some signs near my home for one that had recently opened. It was only 3 minutes away from my home, so I decided to check it out. It turned out to be an Arabic nursery, but the owner spoke English well. I toured the facilities; they were clean and well equipped. The children were happy, well taken care of, and most importantly loved. I spoke to the owner and she assured me that she will step in when needed. So, I took a chance and enrolled him. He now goes 3-4 days a week for about 3 hours and is adjusting well. On his first day a delightful 4 year old decided to take him under her wing. She speaks to him in Arabic, he replies in English. They get along fine.

Learning Arabic is a high priority for me while I am here, both for myself and my children. The 2 older children study it as a language in school, plus I have a tutor who comes to teach them (A refuses to sit with them). I will also start classes in September, since I was waiting for A to start school. He has already picked up a few words and he understands many more, mainly simple sentences. In a few months he will be teaching us inshaAllah.

A Brief Introduction

I have noticed that I am getting a little more traffic to my blog than the 3 people (my beloved mother and sisters), for whom I had initially created it. So a bit of an introduction is in order. As some of you must have gathered from my previous posts, we are an American family, and have recently moved to Doha, Qatar a little over a year ago. We are a family of 5. We are conservative Muslims, and keeping with the spirit of an election year, liberal Democrats.

Although there were several reasons for this life changing move, the first and foremost was job security. Both my husband and I are professionals in the technology industry. Gone are the days when one would join a company at the onset of their careers, and leave at retirement with a pension or a company contributed 401K, and adequate health insurance to live their retirement in peace. Sadly, laying employees off, no matter how loyal and hard working they may be, has become extremely common in corporate America. Just a few weeks ago the tech giant Yahoo had announced it would lay off 1,000 employees, for ‘the stability of the company’. I am sure the vast majority of these workers are holding their pink slips and worrying about their own stability. So, after much deliberation, we decided to move abroad.

Moving is never an easy task; moving halfway around the world and leaving everything, and most importantly loved ones behind is even more difficult. My eldest child was initially like a fish out of water. But we try to keep him busy and he is settling in, though he has made it very clear he will move back upon completion of high school. We have also adjusted to our lives here and find many things endearing. Though life here, like anywhere else in the world, is not perfect, I prefer to focus on the positive. Here we have attained peace, something which had eluded us for years. Qatar is a rapidly growing country, yet it retains a balance between western style modernization, and its moderate religious and rich cultural roots. It also pays a tremendous amount of importance towards education, which will ensure its future success (here is a recent New York Times article on the Education City). It is also a family oriented country and has much to offer, some of which l try to incorporate in my entries.

The main reason I began to write this blog is to keep my immediate family informed of the many new, interesting, and quirky things unique to Qatar which are a part of our daily lives. By writing this blog I am also documenting my life here, something which I can reflect upon in my later years. So ahlan bikum! I do hope you enjoy what you read here. If you have any suggestions or topics you would like to see, please drop me a line.

Doha 18th International Book Fair

We recently attended the Doha 18th International Book Fair, sponsored by the National Council for Culture, Arts and Heritage. This is an annual event and was held at the magnificent new Qatar International Exhibition Center in the West Bay area of Doha. The exhibition was extremely well attended. We had arrived at 6 pm presuming we were early, since most people here tend to go out later at night, but we were in for a shock. Although the center has a huge parking lot, it was completely full. Some had even parked in the surrounding open grounds. Needless to say, parking was a nightmare, as it usually is at popular events and most shopping centers. We eventually followed someone with shopping bags and took their spot.

It was a mammoth event, with over 100 stalls and vendors. Major publishing houses from all over the Middle East (namely Syria, Egypt, Jordan and UAE among them) displayed their wares, along with a few Western ones such as Penguin and Scholastic. The vast majority of books - I would estimate at least 80-90% - were in Arabic. Many were religious books. We found a stall that specialized in Islamic texts in English, from where we picked up several excellent books. We saw many exquisite Qurans of all sizes, some which were over two feet! Seeing I was missing out on such great books, it fortified my inspiration to learn Arabic; something on my to-do list while I am living here.

Choices available in the general English section though, were scant. I had gone there with the presumption I would be able to pick up some good reading material, but came back empty handed. I did, however, see the British influence in this country. Qatar was once (like much of the world) a British colony. It regained its independence in 1971. I saw books by Enid Blyton, Agatha Christie, Roald Dahl, and the ever popular Barbara Cartland. There were also the classic novelists; Thomas Hardy, the Bronte sisters, Jane Austin, Rudyard Kipling, and the bard himself, William Shakespeare, just to name a few.

There were several good stalls for very young children which had both games and educational material. Though most were in Arabic, at this age language is less of a barrier. We all agreed A had the best shopping spree. We bough several educational items for him in addition to a few delightful and traditional Arabic toys.

I was also pleased to see college aptitude test preparation books (TOEFL, SAT and a few GRE & GMAT’s) were both in great supply and demand. Qatar places a great deal of importance on education. Guided under the auspices of the Emir’s wife, Sheikha Mozah, this is home to the Qatar Foundation’s Education City, which boasts branches of such prestigious US universities as the Weill Cornell Medical College, Georgetown School of Foreign Service, Carnegie Melon Schools of Computer Science and Business, Texas A&M University for Chemical, Electrical, Mechanical and Petroleum Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Arts, and soon to be added in 2008, Northwestern University Schools of Journalism and Communication. All universities offer four years Bachelors degrees, with the exception of Cornell, which offers a 6 year Doctor of Medicine degree.

Though there are plenty of book stores here, the majority are in Arabic. The only western outlets are Jarir Book Store and the newly opened Virgin Mega Store. Selections at both stores are limited and prices are exorbitant. There is a great demand here for good book stores. Though back home I preferred to go to independent book sellers, where I not only found the latest best sellers and other new books, I also found many rare items as well as some funky finds. But I can see how well the giant conglomerates like Barnes & Noble and Borders will do. I hope someone from the New Store Development department is reading this!