A quarter of my first year abroad has passed, and it did so slower than I imagined. For all that I've heard about how time flies and the two and a half years "will pass before you know it," I have to admit that the first three months haven't felt like it. I suppose this is the first point of my quarterly review.
For the remainder of this post, I'll take a look at a few of my initial goals and stand them up against how they've transitioned from "planning" to "doing." These goals regard language proficiency, travel, socialization (meeting people), academics (understanding national and regional politics and history) and my profession (keeping up with being an Army officer).
These initial three months were the first of two "unstructured" quarters prior to beginning my advanced studies at a Moroccan university. No set timelines; no bosses; just me making the most of my time abroad. Prior to beginning this unchartered period, my goals were limited, focusing on language proficiency, traveling and socialization.
More specifically, I wanted to become familiar with the local dialect, continue my understanding of Arabic and travel around the country (and part of Europe) to see the cultures and begin interacting with people. During this time, however, I took stock of my unique situation and set two more goals.
First, I added an academic goal: Understand the local and regional history and current political climate in order to assist my transition to the university in the fall. Second, and professionally speaking, I sought to get back in shape. Though neither of these were ground-breaking given my situation, I've structured them a little more than originally intended and feel they warrant a little attention.
Bottom line: I don't feel that I've met my language goals; however, I think I've met or exceeded my travel, socialization, academic and professional goals.
(1) Language proficiency has been difficult. Some of this has been self-induced; some of it has been a result of this unique country and my prior training. At the onset, I wanted to sustain my level of Arabic proficiency, begin to understand the local dialect (Darija) and begin to familiarize myself with French. I've done none of them to the level I wanted.
On my own accord, I've not sought opportunities to practice speaking Arabic with the locals as much as I could. To keep up the speaking part of my language proficiency, I've tended to predominantly speak with cab drivers, restaurant staff and private instructors. Having my own vehicle has limited my exposure to the first set while my desire to get back in shape (and subsequently diet) has curbed the number of the second group. Not wanting to pay out of pocket for private instruction has subsequently decreased the third set. This hasn't been by design or all-inclusive. I've improved my speaking abilities in some areas, such as fluency and pronunciation; however, my vocabulary has decreased. If your reading this as a future scholar and language is your most important goal, seek out like-minded local nationals more vigilantly than I have!
Regarding the situation, it's just been difficult to find people with whom to speak in Arabic. No one in the streets appears to speak it unless they're making fun of a news broadcast or doing their equivalent to our snobby British accent. Darija or French are the staples but have been a bridge too far for me to comprehend up to this point. With my shrinking Arabic vocabulary, I've decided not to pursue learning them after my brief four-week Darija orientation (which was still quite helpful). Future scholars may benefit from having a basic understanding of the dialect prior to arriving in an Arab country.
In terms of prior training, I don't believe that the program of instruction in Monterey was most beneficial for future foreign area officers or those studying abroad. There are numerous reasons, but the primary one is the lack of emphasis on speaking that I encountered. From my estimate, the course was primarily designed not for the speaker but for the linguist, who requires a different skill set. Though a great course for the linguist, I would recommend that future scholars study Arabic in a different setting prior to beginning their time abroad, if possible.
(2) Traveling has been my highest priority and the one goal that I believe that I've met thus far. For the first month, I wanted to be familiar with my host city, Rabat. Complete. For the second month, I wanted to travel to each corner of the country and see the big cities. With the exceptions of two corners: complete. For the third month, the goal was to branch to Europe and revisit Moroccan areas of interest. Complete.
There are two causes for this high priority. First, I prefer to do and experience rather than read and theorize. Why read about these places when you can go to them? Second, I've not traveled a lot and feel the NEED to get out there. Not having any travel to Africa or Europe under my belt prior to this experience aside from a short time spent in Germany has made the decision to travel all the easier. Further, this "unstructured" time is sandwiched between long periods spent "in the books," making the option to travel more guilt-free.
(3) The socialization goal has been a little trickier to gage. As a rough estimate, I've had mixed successes with getting to know people and establish lasting relationships. With American and European ex-patriots, I've had more success than anticipated. It's been easy to find and get to know the various flavors of fellows, travelers and workers here in Rabat. Most fascinating is the range of motivations and goals that have brought them here.
Less successful, as I've alluded to before, has been my ability to meet locals with whom I've been able to maintain relationships. Reasons include my irregular schedule, the Arabic / dialect divide and a general common interest gap. At this point, however, I'm not extremely worried because I've begun reaching out a little more and only see my affiliation growing with local groups over the summer. Further, the university will provide a common setting for group interaction in the fall.
(4) Regarding my new-found academic goal, I feel that my written and reading language proficiency, travel and this blog have assisted me in obtaining it over the past couple of months. The first two factors go hand-in-hand with learning the political and historical nuances of this nation and the region. Being able to read the news and books in Arabic has certainly opened doors to understanding another perspective while being able to visit historical and cultural places provides invaluable context and experiences that tend to stick a little longer than words on paper.
However, the biggest factor that's helped me in this respect has been this blog. Though I only started recently, I've used the bottom portion of my "scroll" to capture the satellite or internet news, articles from a local periodical and thoughts about the books I'm currently reading. After posting, I save them to my archives for future use.
The blog has created a forum in which to capture the thoughts; hopefully, the archives save me a little time when I begin my studies in the fall. Combined, they've given me a larger sense of purpose than self-knowledge: sharing a different perspective with you. How does the Arab or international media view a particular event? What are some national concerns outside of America? How do the Arabs view the crusades? Though less interesting than visiting Fes or escaping monkeys in Marrakesh's Jamaa el-Fna, they're an important part of my experience.
(5) Another important part of my experience - and career - happens to be my physical fitness. Fortuitously enough, one of my classmates has provided me a great opportunity to get back in shape as well as contribute to a worthy cause. As a result, I've re-prioritized my fitness goals a little earlier than I expected by getting back into "marathon shape."
Though I don't want to get into the particulars just yet (can you sense a blog about this later?), my goal has been to finish a 54-mile ultra-marathon in June and raise $2000 to assist Team Red, White and Blue provide advocates to wounded warriors and assist their transition from the war-front to the home-front (donate here). Given this worthy cause, it's been easy to swap Marlboro's and fatty Tajines for a heart rate monitor and over twenty miles a week in running shoes. My transition back to the Infantry in a couple years should benefit from this as well!
This was a different approach from my first month's review and will likely continue on a quarterly basis. If I missed anything or you'd like more specifics, let me know and I'll do my best to oblige. Until then, you'll hear from me after I explore one of my previously non-visited corners!
For the remainder of this post, I'll take a look at a few of my initial goals and stand them up against how they've transitioned from "planning" to "doing." These goals regard language proficiency, travel, socialization (meeting people), academics (understanding national and regional politics and history) and my profession (keeping up with being an Army officer).
These initial three months were the first of two "unstructured" quarters prior to beginning my advanced studies at a Moroccan university. No set timelines; no bosses; just me making the most of my time abroad. Prior to beginning this unchartered period, my goals were limited, focusing on language proficiency, traveling and socialization.
More specifically, I wanted to become familiar with the local dialect, continue my understanding of Arabic and travel around the country (and part of Europe) to see the cultures and begin interacting with people. During this time, however, I took stock of my unique situation and set two more goals.
First, I added an academic goal: Understand the local and regional history and current political climate in order to assist my transition to the university in the fall. Second, and professionally speaking, I sought to get back in shape. Though neither of these were ground-breaking given my situation, I've structured them a little more than originally intended and feel they warrant a little attention.
Bottom line: I don't feel that I've met my language goals; however, I think I've met or exceeded my travel, socialization, academic and professional goals.
(1) Language proficiency has been difficult. Some of this has been self-induced; some of it has been a result of this unique country and my prior training. At the onset, I wanted to sustain my level of Arabic proficiency, begin to understand the local dialect (Darija) and begin to familiarize myself with French. I've done none of them to the level I wanted.
On my own accord, I've not sought opportunities to practice speaking Arabic with the locals as much as I could. To keep up the speaking part of my language proficiency, I've tended to predominantly speak with cab drivers, restaurant staff and private instructors. Having my own vehicle has limited my exposure to the first set while my desire to get back in shape (and subsequently diet) has curbed the number of the second group. Not wanting to pay out of pocket for private instruction has subsequently decreased the third set. This hasn't been by design or all-inclusive. I've improved my speaking abilities in some areas, such as fluency and pronunciation; however, my vocabulary has decreased. If your reading this as a future scholar and language is your most important goal, seek out like-minded local nationals more vigilantly than I have!
Regarding the situation, it's just been difficult to find people with whom to speak in Arabic. No one in the streets appears to speak it unless they're making fun of a news broadcast or doing their equivalent to our snobby British accent. Darija or French are the staples but have been a bridge too far for me to comprehend up to this point. With my shrinking Arabic vocabulary, I've decided not to pursue learning them after my brief four-week Darija orientation (which was still quite helpful). Future scholars may benefit from having a basic understanding of the dialect prior to arriving in an Arab country.
In terms of prior training, I don't believe that the program of instruction in Monterey was most beneficial for future foreign area officers or those studying abroad. There are numerous reasons, but the primary one is the lack of emphasis on speaking that I encountered. From my estimate, the course was primarily designed not for the speaker but for the linguist, who requires a different skill set. Though a great course for the linguist, I would recommend that future scholars study Arabic in a different setting prior to beginning their time abroad, if possible.
(2) Traveling has been my highest priority and the one goal that I believe that I've met thus far. For the first month, I wanted to be familiar with my host city, Rabat. Complete. For the second month, I wanted to travel to each corner of the country and see the big cities. With the exceptions of two corners: complete. For the third month, the goal was to branch to Europe and revisit Moroccan areas of interest. Complete.
There are two causes for this high priority. First, I prefer to do and experience rather than read and theorize. Why read about these places when you can go to them? Second, I've not traveled a lot and feel the NEED to get out there. Not having any travel to Africa or Europe under my belt prior to this experience aside from a short time spent in Germany has made the decision to travel all the easier. Further, this "unstructured" time is sandwiched between long periods spent "in the books," making the option to travel more guilt-free.
(3) The socialization goal has been a little trickier to gage. As a rough estimate, I've had mixed successes with getting to know people and establish lasting relationships. With American and European ex-patriots, I've had more success than anticipated. It's been easy to find and get to know the various flavors of fellows, travelers and workers here in Rabat. Most fascinating is the range of motivations and goals that have brought them here.
Less successful, as I've alluded to before, has been my ability to meet locals with whom I've been able to maintain relationships. Reasons include my irregular schedule, the Arabic / dialect divide and a general common interest gap. At this point, however, I'm not extremely worried because I've begun reaching out a little more and only see my affiliation growing with local groups over the summer. Further, the university will provide a common setting for group interaction in the fall.
(4) Regarding my new-found academic goal, I feel that my written and reading language proficiency, travel and this blog have assisted me in obtaining it over the past couple of months. The first two factors go hand-in-hand with learning the political and historical nuances of this nation and the region. Being able to read the news and books in Arabic has certainly opened doors to understanding another perspective while being able to visit historical and cultural places provides invaluable context and experiences that tend to stick a little longer than words on paper.
However, the biggest factor that's helped me in this respect has been this blog. Though I only started recently, I've used the bottom portion of my "scroll" to capture the satellite or internet news, articles from a local periodical and thoughts about the books I'm currently reading. After posting, I save them to my archives for future use.
The blog has created a forum in which to capture the thoughts; hopefully, the archives save me a little time when I begin my studies in the fall. Combined, they've given me a larger sense of purpose than self-knowledge: sharing a different perspective with you. How does the Arab or international media view a particular event? What are some national concerns outside of America? How do the Arabs view the crusades? Though less interesting than visiting Fes or escaping monkeys in Marrakesh's Jamaa el-Fna, they're an important part of my experience.
(5) Another important part of my experience - and career - happens to be my physical fitness. Fortuitously enough, one of my classmates has provided me a great opportunity to get back in shape as well as contribute to a worthy cause. As a result, I've re-prioritized my fitness goals a little earlier than I expected by getting back into "marathon shape."
Though I don't want to get into the particulars just yet (can you sense a blog about this later?), my goal has been to finish a 54-mile ultra-marathon in June and raise $2000 to assist Team Red, White and Blue provide advocates to wounded warriors and assist their transition from the war-front to the home-front (donate here). Given this worthy cause, it's been easy to swap Marlboro's and fatty Tajines for a heart rate monitor and over twenty miles a week in running shoes. My transition back to the Infantry in a couple years should benefit from this as well!
This was a different approach from my first month's review and will likely continue on a quarterly basis. If I missed anything or you'd like more specifics, let me know and I'll do my best to oblige. Until then, you'll hear from me after I explore one of my previously non-visited corners!
The language thing is tough - kind of use it or lose it. I can manage the greetings and small talk, but never enough to have a serious in-depth conversation - makes for being a bit lonely in a foreign place. I've been learning American Sign Language for the past several years, but it takes lots of practice. I once asked ladies at a Christian Deaf Women's Conference if they wanted coffee, water, or sex (should have signed tea). Good thing deaf women have a sense of humor.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry, babe- this summer, you'll achieve ALL your goals, because they are my goals, too! Although socializing with restaurant staff will be replaced with socializing with Label Vie staff and food vendors in the souq- we'll be doing a lot of cooking to stay fit... and by the time I leave you'll speak french bien sur!!
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