what office? well no office, but here's a typical day more or less
I woke up early to catch a ride to El Biar with my neighbor, Mr. Sabri. We rode the elevator to the underground parking lot and he warmly greeted some other neighbors.
We headed towards the cars and a grey Mini caught my eye. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that this was his car and that we were going in it! This was really a shock because Mr. Sabri is quite tall and it was not the sort of car I expected to be riding in. It was wonderful and he loves it. His is a 2003 model and he said that he is ready to buy a new one.
This BMW-manufactured car gets great gas mileage and even though it is a compact car, is rather roomy enough for even folks taller than myself like Mr. Sabri.
He dropped me off and I immediately jumped into a rickety old bus headed for Bouzareah. The abrupt change felt a bit like instant time travel. This is my new routine for making it out there on time. I either get a ride or bus or taxi to El Biar and then hop a bus to Bouzareah. For some reason, this works very well, so I no longer look for a ride at the student bus stops. The student bus stops are just too crowded and then once you’re on the bus, it spends a lot of time at a standstill in traffic.
Again on the bus, I didn’t have enough change, but the fare collector let me slide. Though he did ask me for my mobile phone number. Once I got off the bus, I headed for the University and stopped at a patisserie for a big nice chocolate pastry and a glass of asiir mishmash (apricot juice). After that I headed for the English department. Professor Amran and another were the only ones there besides me. Amran smiles a lot and enjoys sharing complementary commentary about her country and other places she’s been. I have always admired meeting people who are proud of their country and explain why it is special. The good thing is she always shares this with me. She does have some good tips too. Today she said I should make it a habit to explore the “real” Algeria that still exists in the small coastal towns just outside of the city. In her opinion, the urban sprawl of Algiers has altered the way of life as it was in yesteryear.
The classes went rather well. I met the rest of the students and they seemed to enjoy the subject matter as best they could. I need to work more on the lessons and have more copies for them next time. Of course, I am the star “native” speaker of English, which is kind of fun. They seem to not have a high opinion of their proficiency, but I must say I think that for the most part they are very capable. The students are not all at the same levels. I suspect their experience of a multilingual reality coupled with their extensive knowledge of French plays a hand in their overall grasp of English as a foreign language.
I stopped in to the English Department and scored me a brand spanking new eraser. I also verified some logistical housekeeping info with the staff. At 12:30, I was to meet up with Nazim, an Algerian guy who was friends with last year’s English Language Fellow. He already has a Bachelors in Business Administration and now is in his 4th year of studying English. Nazim simply has a hospitable nature and offered to show me around some. His English is very good and he is embarking on a course in basic Turkish.
Nazim and I took off and went to have lunch at Pizzeria L’Artista. It was good and the conversation was interesting. Nazim is quite helpful and a nice host. He had his father’s car and offrered to show me around a bit. We went to see Madame Afrique. Madame Afrique is the nickname for Notre Dame d’Afrique a monumental church that sits atop one of the hills overlooking the bay of Algiers. Too bad the weather was rainy and there was nowhere to park. Nonetheless, it was nice to see exactly how the road is to get there.
At about 4pm we parked the car at Chemin Neuf (or is it Champs Manoevre)and hiked it towards La Grande Poste. On the way, Nazim gave me little cultural and historical tidbits. We stopped by the Instituto Cervantes and met some nice folks there. El Instituto Cervantes is a Spanish cultural and language learning center. They apparently have a network of them like Germany’s Goethe Institut and France’s Alliance Francaise. Ahora si se donde ir para charlar en castellano. As we are close to Iberia, there’s alot of lisping there. ;)
We headed towards the cars and a grey Mini caught my eye. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that this was his car and that we were going in it! This was really a shock because Mr. Sabri is quite tall and it was not the sort of car I expected to be riding in. It was wonderful and he loves it. His is a 2003 model and he said that he is ready to buy a new one.
This BMW-manufactured car gets great gas mileage and even though it is a compact car, is rather roomy enough for even folks taller than myself like Mr. Sabri.
He dropped me off and I immediately jumped into a rickety old bus headed for Bouzareah. The abrupt change felt a bit like instant time travel. This is my new routine for making it out there on time. I either get a ride or bus or taxi to El Biar and then hop a bus to Bouzareah. For some reason, this works very well, so I no longer look for a ride at the student bus stops. The student bus stops are just too crowded and then once you’re on the bus, it spends a lot of time at a standstill in traffic.
Again on the bus, I didn’t have enough change, but the fare collector let me slide. Though he did ask me for my mobile phone number. Once I got off the bus, I headed for the University and stopped at a patisserie for a big nice chocolate pastry and a glass of asiir mishmash (apricot juice). After that I headed for the English department. Professor Amran and another were the only ones there besides me. Amran smiles a lot and enjoys sharing complementary commentary about her country and other places she’s been. I have always admired meeting people who are proud of their country and explain why it is special. The good thing is she always shares this with me. She does have some good tips too. Today she said I should make it a habit to explore the “real” Algeria that still exists in the small coastal towns just outside of the city. In her opinion, the urban sprawl of Algiers has altered the way of life as it was in yesteryear.
The classes went rather well. I met the rest of the students and they seemed to enjoy the subject matter as best they could. I need to work more on the lessons and have more copies for them next time. Of course, I am the star “native” speaker of English, which is kind of fun. They seem to not have a high opinion of their proficiency, but I must say I think that for the most part they are very capable. The students are not all at the same levels. I suspect their experience of a multilingual reality coupled with their extensive knowledge of French plays a hand in their overall grasp of English as a foreign language.
I stopped in to the English Department and scored me a brand spanking new eraser. I also verified some logistical housekeeping info with the staff. At 12:30, I was to meet up with Nazim, an Algerian guy who was friends with last year’s English Language Fellow. He already has a Bachelors in Business Administration and now is in his 4th year of studying English. Nazim simply has a hospitable nature and offered to show me around some. His English is very good and he is embarking on a course in basic Turkish.
Nazim and I took off and went to have lunch at Pizzeria L’Artista. It was good and the conversation was interesting. Nazim is quite helpful and a nice host. He had his father’s car and offrered to show me around a bit. We went to see Madame Afrique. Madame Afrique is the nickname for Notre Dame d’Afrique a monumental church that sits atop one of the hills overlooking the bay of Algiers. Too bad the weather was rainy and there was nowhere to park. Nonetheless, it was nice to see exactly how the road is to get there.
At about 4pm we parked the car at Chemin Neuf (or is it Champs Manoevre)and hiked it towards La Grande Poste. On the way, Nazim gave me little cultural and historical tidbits. We stopped by the Instituto Cervantes and met some nice folks there. El Instituto Cervantes is a Spanish cultural and language learning center. They apparently have a network of them like Germany’s Goethe Institut and France’s Alliance Francaise. Ahora si se donde ir para charlar en castellano. As we are close to Iberia, there’s alot of lisping there. ;)
No comments:
Post a Comment