Cultrual No-Nos

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Well my first night here Michael took me to get some leather slippers to wear in the house. It was hard to find some that would fit me but once we found some we bartered the guy down to around $10 USD. The slippers are really nice, hand made. When we got home Rashid asked what I got and so I pulled em out and handed them to him. He thought they were cool and put them on. Yesterday I couldn't find them and asked Rashid where he put them. He got this sad puppy face and went and got them. He explained to me that he thought I got them for him as a gift. I didn't mean to convey that by simply showing him the slippers, I felt really bad. Oh well.

I tested into Arabic 201. We start near the end of Al Kitaab book one. Today was the first day of class. My teachers are okay. We get a LOT of homework though. All in all I am feeling more at home here by the day, even if I feel grimey 24/7. My Arabic (MSA) is really improving, especially speaking. My host parents teach MSA and so I can communicate at home with them really well. Last night it was just flowing and it was one of the coolest things I have ever done.

More to come later.

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