Recently I was given the tremendous opportunity to travel to a Chicago neighborhood that has a heavy Arab population. On this excursion I was immersed in the cultures of the Middle East and encouraged to use my familiarity with the Arab language to witness the world around me. This was also an incredible opportunity for me to practice my Arabic outside the classroom because I can be pretty shy in class when I’m surrounded by classmates with different strengths and proficiencies. I was accompanied by my Arabic professor, her two girls, and a fellow classmate of mine.
On our outing we went into a few different stores selling groceries, clothing, and sweets. I was amazed by how authentic everything seemed in these shops. It was exciting to go into the grocery stores and be able to read a few of the labels on the food because I could recognize quite a few things (we had just covered food vocabulary in class).
We stopped at an Arabic restaurant for an early lunch because I forgot to eat breakfast! The waiters and waitresses at the restaurant were wearing traditional Arabic clothing. The waiters spoke Arabic to our professor and we even ordered our own food in Arabic. We ordered the famous Arabic salad Tabule. I didn’t think I would like the taste of it, but it had a heavy taste of parsley and I loved it. The restaurant was very beautiful because it had Arabic accents throughout it. The paintings were especially beautiful. My favorite painting was of an Arab girl sitting outside her home in the outskirts making pita bread and she is wearing a beautiful dress with orange designs embroidered on the cuffs.
We stopped at various bakeries which smelled amazing inside. I had a sweet tooth and we tried Turkish desserts that were very colorful, surprisingly chewy, and filling! The stores were organized so well, everything was decorated and arranged so precisely. Something I learned is that in the Middle Eastern cities, similar stores are all housed very close to each other and this just goes on for streets and streets. This reminds me when I see a Starbucks and a Metropolis built right next to each other. Another interesting fact I learned about the bakeries is that in the Middle East, the owners are very precise about the presentation of their products. They see it as a competition against other bakeries and as a way to distinguish their store from others.
My favorite part of the trip was to go to Arabic clothing shops and look around. I loved looking at the different styles of dress from different countries in the Middle East. I found it fascinating that you could tell which country someone was from by his/her clothing. Each country has specific differences between others in their style of dress. It was interesting seeing the traditional and the modern styles that were available. Some of them were very eccentric and glamorous while others were more relaxed and subtle in their beauty.
I consider myself so lucky to have been able to go on this mini-immersion. I learned so much about community, culture, and even picked up more Arabic vocabulary. The diversity of Chicago still amazes me and I can’t wait to go back and explore more! Also, the highlight of my day definitely came when my professor’s youngest daughter shared her cookies with me after I let her wear my sunglasses for awhile.
