Arabic mini-immersion Trips

Having a trip to Bridgeview, an Arab American community in the suburbs of Chicago, with professor Sawsan was so exciting. I thank her for all lovely chats and great time. After a long time, now that we are in our summer semester with no Arabic, I had the chance to practice reading more Arabic. We went to some stores and I was proud to be able to read some Arabic words off labels and signs, which are related to Arabic 101 and 102. Then, we went to Bridgeview mosque. It was a special occasion- the Friday congregation or prayer. I saw many people of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds and got the chance to practice listening to the sermon in Arabic. While in the mosque, I felt I was in one of the Middle Eastern countries because of the general atmosphere. After that, I had a chance to eat Arabic food, some of which I learned about and learned to order in Arabic 102 class. We ate so many things like tabule, chicken shawarma and kunafa, a special Nabulsi dessert. Of course after that, we tried the Arabic Bedouin coffee, qahwa.  Upon going back home to my apartment, I felt as if I just had a quick short visit to an Arab country and came back to Chicago.