Mohammed, who does cleaning and odd jobs at the Jerusalem branch of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel where I volunteer, is teaching me in exchange for my teaching him rudimentary French. سڵم
I had an old friend from Lebanon that taught me how to swear (and by swear I mean he taught me stuff that is highly insulting) in Arabic. Great stuff when you're in a cab and the cabbie is taking his time.
I'm learning the alphabet, the spoken language and being able to mingle in the culture is a looooong way off, even if I ever get there.
