english conversation hour #1

Yesterday, we had our first "English Conversation Hour." Members from AIESEC Qatar meet me at a coffee or juice place and we chat in English for an hour about whatever we want in an effort to improve their English skills and help me learn more about the culture.

I was pleasantly surprised to see seven members waiting for me when I walked up the stairs to our favorite meeting place. We started out slowly, talking about how everyone's day was... and conversation was significantly lagging. So, to spice things up, I introduced a topic. And I said many disclaimers on the topic before I brought it up, that we didn't have to talk about it and if anyone felt uncomfortable to say so right away. So we started talking about 9/11. I know, I know... great topic for a bunch of Middle Easterners and an American to chat about.

It was actually one of the most significant and impactful conversations I've had since I've been here (a month and a day, to be exact). I so appreciate the way the members opened up to me. My first question was how the media covered the event in the Middle East, and we progressed to what they thought about the event. We talked about stereotypes of Americans and Arabs, media bias, current conflicts, religion, politics, Iraq... what a great conversation! It was one of the first times that I felt like I was on the same level as the members, especially because we were all learning about each other in ways that we don't from the normal conversations of movies and music and AIESEC.

I'm looking forward to next week!

In other news, I leave tomorrow night for Bahrain for the weekend! I'll be back Sunday night.