We are 15 people crammed around a table in a stuffy room in the center of town, the Red Light District two blocks one way, a canal out the window, deep clouds in the sky. This is where you will LIVE they say.
We discover our newest kin- from The Netherlands, Germany, Thailand, Indonesia, Canada, India, Ethiopia, Iran, El Salvador, Mexico, United States, Rwanda, Nicaragua, and India, we are a diverse group, and we are instantly... happy. All of us curious, open, relieved to find similar souls- questing for more, questing for branches outside of our own.
We are social scientists, doctors, nurses, dentists, psychologists (1 more!!), NGO professionals, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, film enthusiasts, animal lovers, and more. I realize if all I do is ask questions, sit back and listen, I will learn more in this year than is printed in any curriculum.
On our first excursion, a boat ride on the Amstel, we hover under the deck to avoid the Dutch rain. I dig in to my first lessons in my newest languages to discover: Javanese Indonesian and Amharic.
Though we have three students from Indonesia (one with two pet fish I have heard all about!), there are 4 distinct language patterns, based on a class system, with multiple variables. Jakarta alone (the capital of Java) is divided from West to Central to East, and the language depends on one's status in society as well as where one lives. Ngoko is the lowest language, spoken by children and the poor. Kromo Alous is 'middle low', Kromo Madya is 'middle class', and Kromo Hinggil is reserved for the highest class. The language has been influenced by Hinduism and Sanskrit, but the local spiritual practice is dominantly Islam. (We are mid Ramadan, so I have dinner partners each night as I eat late naturally and during this fast, they must.)
As for Amharic, while related to Arabic, it is its own distinct language, and, I discover, also the only African language with its own distinct alphabet, known as 'sabaletters'. One of 6 Semitic languages in Ethiopia, it derives from South Arabia, and is only 1 out of 85 spoken tongues! My classmate explains that while tribes are everything, religion a choice one can become. (His mother, raised Muslim, converted to Christianity with no problems.)
I want to learn to say 'good morning'. (I figure this is a safe thing, and will put me on the best sides of my housemates throughout the year.) Simple? Ok: lesson number 1:
Amharic
1- Do I want to say it to a man or a woman?
ndemenad'rsh (to a woman)/ndemenad'rk (to a man)
note: This is MY spelling interpretation, as I cannot quite handle the alphabet just yet!
2- Do I want to say it to more than one person?
ndemenad'rashu
3- Or to the elderly?
ndemenad'ru
ok, deep breath! Now for Javanese Indonesian:
A much easier...
salamatpagi!
Except the 'p' sounds like 'd' and the 'g' is a hard g... now, remember that. Not a soft 'g'.
We are going to have a quiz later.
At exactly 7 a.m., that is.
For the Latin contingent has suggested we should all wake together tomorrow to be on time for class. Did I mention almost all of us live on the same floor? And those who don't, will soon be coming for dinner. Or breakfast.
The lessons never end... I think I just might be in heaven.
Salamatmalan!
Welterusten!
Buenas Noches!
Goodnight!
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