After 20 Miles of Looking for an Apartment...

The couple weeks before the big move to Lebanon, I had trouble finding the motivation to study. However, one week in Lebanon and I’m well on my way! I began Arabic classes at the American Language Center (ALC) this Monday. The ALC’s location is perfect as it sits directly in front of AUB’s main gate.

I have the class from 7pm-8pm, Monday through Thursday. That may not seem like much time in class, but it is a handful. We are beginning with spoken Arabic instead of MLA and it is exactly what I need. Even between the two of us, Alex and I found it hard to hold a small conversation with a native Lebanese. We thought that it might be dialect; instead I found out that we were only learning classical Arabic in America. The people we speak to on a regular basis may not be as educated and do not understand what we are saying.

Although learning classical Arabic will be a must if I want to be proficient, I must say that this program has helped me very much even after two days of class. Everything I learned in my two years of Arabic at Seton Hall has been corrected, down to the pronouns and numbers.

I’m putting in a couple hours of study everyday. I’m glad that I’m not registered for classes this semester so I can devote plenty of time to learning the language. I will be auditing a class at AUB which I’m hoping to be intermediate Arabic. I planned to audit at Haigaizen University but AUB confirmed that I do not have to apply to audit, the fee is less, and it is much closer to our apartment.

Speaking of apartments, we finally found one and it is furnished! It’s actually a hotel, but they gave us a great long-term rate. We have a balcony overlooking Rue Hamra (pretty much the busiest and most popular street near AUB), air conditioning, satellite TV, AND (you won’t believe it) maid service twice a week. We landed the room for $550 a month (not including internet) and everyone is telling us that it’s a great deal. After apartment hunting for a couple days I definitely believe it.

Also after apartment hunting I noticed that the price to rent a room is very high. Not as high as New York City, or South Orange for that matter, but our apartment is situated in a place similar to Newark with high prices. However, material goods are less expensive unless you are shopping at boutique-y places. I do not understand the parody between apartment prices and the price of goods. But then again, I do not claim to be an economics expert.

Hope everyone is well!

PS) Tomorrow Alex and I will travel to Batroun in the north for Alex’s surprise birthday gift. I will let everyone knows how it goes and post those pictures along with the others I’m still trying to upload.