Part II - Umm Rami

I got to this job via the place that I eventually found to take Arabic in (finally!!!).  now was it the several series of emails that i sent to the University of Jordan that led me to find this Arabic course? no. was it the slew of emails that i sent out to 'language' centers that i found out about via google? no.. was it the asking around friends and kids who are taking summer courses that led me to find an arabic class? nope.

it was the lady that brings me coffee twice or three times a day, whom i can barely communicate with because my Arabic is as weak as her English is, but someone that I share a silent, but loving respect with, who just took me out, after finding out that I do wish to study Arabic over the summer, not just vegetate in my room and drink her coffee, walked with me for 15 minutes to take me, literally, inside the registration office of the Modern Language Center right in the area where I was staying, which I had no clue existed.  She waited while I enrolled, and walked back with me with an understanding smile.  

Umm Rami (mother of Rami), kind of a silent figure that I smiled to for the first couple of days here, somehow tended to my needs without me ever asking for it, and half the time noticed me not taking care of myself way more than I even did.  She saw the clothes that I had spilling out of my duffel bag resting behind the door, and without saying anything, dragged this heavy wardrobe closet thing out from another room and into my room, saying to Suzanne (who knows English so she is the middle woman translator) that " I don't like her clothes on the floor, please tell her to put them in here", or her coming into my room and asking why I haven't asked for laundry and insisting that I hand over SOMETHING that needs to be washed, and neatly having it folded on the corners of the bed the next day, or worrying that I didn't eat all day, so coming into my room and giving me a plate full of those cheese pies with a beaming "Sahtain!" (arabic way of saying "bon appetit"), or being like "why haven't you asked for something cold?? when it's so hot outside today" and then bringing over a cold glass of Tang.  and mid day, and around 3pm she'd always bring in a small cup of that strong Arabic coffee stuff.  The thing with that coffee is that I know Arabs love it. 

     Typical Arabic Coffee presentation

                  The Stuff I drink

But I'm Bengali.  and we drink a lot of tea, i mean a lot. but when we Bengalis say "tea" we mean like 75% milk and 25% actual tea and like 3 teaspoons of sugar.  so this Arabic coffee stuff, straight up espresso, real coffee thing WITHOUT milk, is a bit too much for me to take.  In fact I hate it.  I want my milk concoction.  But Umm Rami makes it every day, twice a day, and I can't throw it away because she'll see it.  So, I drink it.  And honestly it's not too bad after the bad taste is gone and you swallow the whole thing like a quick shot.  My non-alcoholic self actually has a fun time pretending that it's a shot glass.  And after a couple of weeks of having this stuff a couple of times a day, I can actually drink it without making too bad of a face.

This was pretty incredible, and I can't wait to continue my Arabic, so that I can speak to Umm Rami, but she told Suzanne that her family is all over the place, and they are all either displaced or refugees or in some situation where they can't see each other and that she knows what it feels like to be alone in a country and not know anyone and how much being helped can mean.  At first I didn't realize where this was coming from, but after ruminating for a while, I realized she was referring to me, and it was honestly too sweet to think of how she embraced me under her wing..after recognizing me as a refugee lol.

So, the point being.  this lovely woman not only led me to my job, but also to a productive summer of Arabic learning like I had originally wanted.  I feel utterly blessed and humbled and just...damn. God is too cool.  People in your life, no matter what their role, how big or small they might seem on the surface, are just, honestly guiding angels.