I wrote this!

I knew going into this that arabic wasn't going to be easy. It was partly because of the challenge that I chose to major in it. I liked the idea of having to work hard at something; I didn't want to be able to slide through arabic like I have so many other school subjects. I certainly got what I wished for. Although Egyptian (spoken) Arabic hasn't been a breeze, I feel that like I am at least holding my own in the class. Modern Standard Arabic is another story- it's been kicking my nether regions since day one. I am finally at the point in which I can- albeit pathetically- read and write. Or at least that is what my teachers say. I suppose if you call the painful sounding out of syllables "reading" and the slapping together of letters "writing" then I am literate.

Tonight I had to write a small paragraph introducing myself for my Modern Standard class. It took me over an hour to write six simple sentences. It was frustrating as hell. First I wrote the sentences in transliterated Arabic (Arabic in the Latin script), and then I had to re-write them into real Arabic. But now that I'm done, I feel a sense of real accomplishment. I've never written so much Arabic before, and I can actually read the page with some ease. There are certainly mistakes in it, my handwriting is frankly terrible, and it's dry as dust, but the fact remains that I wrote it.

It says, "Ismee Sarah Leonard (My name is Sarah Leonard). Ana amrikiyya min madina Seattle (I am American, from the city of Seattle). Ana taaliba fee gamea al amrikayyia fil qahera (I am a student at the American University in Cairo). Ommree eisreen wa ithnayn sana wa mish mutazawwiga (I am 22 years old and not married). Ana mish akh aw ukht (I don't have a brother or a sister). Aby muhasib wa ummi sikirteera (My father is an accountant and my mother is a secretary). Ana bahibb korat il qadam il amrikiyya wa kora il qadam (I like American football and soccer).