It's been one week

And so far, on the list of things I wanted to have done this week, I've only really accomplished one: obtained a cell phone (and that wasn't even really done all on my own ... thank you SQCC contacts!). The 3 Fulbrighters are still living under one roof, but tomorrow begins the serious hunt for housing close to our respective affiliations (I need to be near the ministries area). And as for the car, I've kind of split one with Liyam & Marcus (although M is the only one who knows how to drive stick), but I definitely plan on having one of my own once the dust settles. But honestly, I'm in the desert ... when will the dust really settle?

The one thing that has really been on my mind is the issue of language classes. Originally, I had planned to start language classes at the Polyglot Institute last Saturday. Ended up taking a placement test (incredibly easy ... definitely flashback to Driss days in Arabic 101) on Monday, which included speaking with the professor in Arabic. Part of the problem is, Polyglot focuses solely on spoken Arabic, ... Liyam and I need spoken and written Arabic. Plus Polyglot's classes are insanely expensive considering the language study stipend we get from Fulbright (580 rial for a one-on-one class = 1508 USD ... and group classes are 720 RO = 1872 USD). Inshallah, the US Embassy will be able to locate a suitable Arabic tutor to fulfill our needs, if not them, then I'm going to tap my SQCC resources here as much as I can ...

So this past week has just been a lot of observation and figuring out what needs to be done. Let's hope that tomorrow is the start of a week in which things do get done. Maybe I won't be moving or driving on my own, but the one thing I really do want accomplished this week is to get invited to an iftar (breaking fast) meal.

I'll let you know how that goes.