Mumtaz

Mumtaz is one of the first words I learned in Arabic. I mean, it is one of the first words I really learned. I was flitting about my apartment one day, doing something mindless like cleaning or cooking, I don't remember, and this word came to my mind. I didn't know what it was. It wasn't until I went to class the following Saturday and Ybti came around and checked something we had written in our books and said (and wrote in Arabic) mumtaz! It means excellent.

It is interesting to me that I learned this word before any others, yet it was not a word we were explicitly taught. She never wrote it on the board, she never told us what it was, but she used it often with us. Some of the other words that we are "taught" and see once, I could not recall, or even if I saw them, tell you what they meant, if my life depended on it. It's just an observation, but for me the implications are obvious. I won't bore anyone else with what I make of this.

Today's class was smaller. The three libano-siriano kids who spoke some Arabic have stopped coming. Today there were maybe two people absent, so I guess our class has around 11 people. I didn't go to the "phonetics" class (I am now using John McCain air quotes for things I wish to deride), and it is a good thing I didn't because no one else went. There were two students, Ena and Carolina, both from more advanced classes. It would have meant I would have been the absolute lowest in the class with very little opportunity to hide.

When Ybti asked us why we didn't go, I told her I was tired. I guess I could have lied and told her I had a doctor's appointment or something like that. Truth is, I am tired of that class and not sure if I want to go back. I'm being very nice and trying not to show my frustration with the class, that one in particular, which is higher than what it should be and ends up being "pass the book".

Today in our regular class, Ybti tried "pass the book" but it didn't work. My clasmates say when they are confused, and without having a book in front of them, many people were, and they said it. So, she read the dialogue to us and we said what it meant. A better option, but not the best (I would have loved to try to write the dialogue as a dictation and then practice it, but that is beyond her abilities as a teacher).

Once again, this woman Paris, who is an older Lebanese woman who for some reason can not speak Arabic, put Ybti in a bad mood. I didn't really catch what was happening, but at the beginning of class, Paris was sitting very comfortably with her legs crossed and she said something to Ybti about being confused. Ybti responded and Paris responded, but I was completely lost and ended up just observing the physical behavior. Ybti began to raise her voice, but Paris was still smiling and sitting with her legs crossed. It seemed she was being indirectly critical. Ybti was being kind of agressive and trying to move on and begin the class, but in a very dismissive kind of way. And that was it. Paris then uncrossed her legs and her body language became very shut down. It was not a pretty scene for me. I think Paris was probably asking why the class is at the advanced level that it is when we are beginners (at least the words I did understand lead me to believe that was the crux of the issue).

After that, Paris was pretty quite, even withdrawn and Ybti eventually calmed down.

The class is very funny because of the people in the class. One guy, Martin, is especially funny - I guess he is becoming the class clown. Claudia Duffy was there and sat next to me. She is easy to make laugh, so between Martin on her other side and my occasional jokes, Claudia was laughing a lot. I'm glad I am taking the class, and I am learning and making progress in spite of the substandard teaching. Mumtaz!

After class I met my conversation partner from Peru, Carlos. We met at the Facultad de Economicas on Cordoba. The building was quiet except for a few students in some of the classrooms and some people hanging out in the courtyard.

We spent about a half hour in Spanish and then switched to English. I like Carlos, he is easy to talk to. Today he was all dressed up in a pressed shirt and slacks because he met another classmate from his economics program to get some tutoring in math.

As we were finishing up with conversation exchange, he asked me if I could help him with a letter he had translated from Spanish to English. It had to do with an incident that happened between his wife and her former employer. The letter was pretty clearly written, but I didn't understand enough of the situation, so I spent some time clarifying things with him. His intention was to send the letter out and have people sign it and send it to his wife's ex-boss to express solidarity with her.

Briefly what happened was that her boss was paying her but not recording all of her salary, so her pay-stubs were inaccurate and she knew that her recorded pay was what would be used to determine things like unemployment benefits, severance pay, etc. Half of her income was under the table. When she questioned her boss about this, they began harassing her and her clients. Finally the V.P. of the company went Argentine on her (I was suspecting there was a cultural element too, her being from Peru), meaning he got loud and obnoxious and started yelling, and she felt threatened and never returned to work. Now they are trying to get an acurate record of her earnings and also an acurate severance package (based on her real earnings). They are working with different agencies in Buenos Aires, but also sending out these letters and asking people to contact the company. I kind of felt it was only inflaming the situation, but I didn't say that. I also felt that Carlos and his wife needed to sit down with a cross-cultural mediator to try to work things out, but I could be completely reading this thing wrong.

It's a lovely, warm summer-like day. I'm going to go out and take a walk now.