I passed my State Department Arabic class! After 12 weeks of not-as-diligent-as-it-should-have-been study, I can now read the alphabet, count to a million, say hello, and introduce myself. My teacher left me with a long list of subjects I need to work on before I start the second course in the series. Good thing it was pass/fail.

Exciting things I can do with Arabic in Cotonou:

• Read Koranic verses on the walls of my favorite Lebanese restaurants
• Greet the owners of my favorite Lebanese restaurants
• Figure out what they’re saying during call to prayer at 5:30 every morning
• Read arabic poetry (OK, not yet, but that’s the thing I’m most excited about!)

Can you think of anything else?раскрутка