The Death of a Computer

I thought I would share what exactly happened to my computer. I am writing this on a friend's computer since mine is no longer with the living.

About 10 days ago I began house sitting for a family that I know here. In this house there are two cats. These two cats are the most needy cats the world has ever seen. Whenever I leave the house they cry; whenever I'm taking a shower they cry outside the bathroom and bump into the door to show their displeasure; when I sleep if I don't lock the bedroom door they will open (yes, that's right open) the door and climb in the bed; in the morning I am usually woken up to crying cats who are scratching at my door; when I walk around the house they follow lock step next to me, trying to rub themselves on me the entire time; whenever I'm just lounging they force themselves onto me, even if I'm doing something or have something in my lap. I know cats just like to be rubbed, but these cats act like they're sensory deprived or something. If they're not being touched or paid attention to they are unhappy. Oh, and when I say cry I do mean cry; they wail and moan.

So I'm taking care of these cats. One day about a week ago after I'd just returned from a run, I decided to sit out on the terrace behind the house and talk on Skype. Of course there was a cat sitting right there the entire time. When I was finished I pick up my computer and begin to walk up the stairs going back inside. About 3/4 of the way up the cat decides it's time he wants some rubbing and so he jumps in between my legs. It's night and I couldn't really see that well, I knew he was around me but didn't know exactly where. I brought my foot down and felt resistance before I found the stair. I immeadiately pivoted my foot so as not to step on the cat, but this threw my balance off. (You ever have to take an extra step at the last moment midstep to avoid something? It was like that, kinda.) I go tumbling down the stairs, and the computer goes flying. It lands and smashes to the ground.

The end of the computer. I was quite upset and have not gotten along well with the cats since then. (I'm not too fond of cats anyway.) I was quite bummed that my computer was gone, but moreso I was upset about all the data I'd lost. I hadn't backed anything up for about a month. It's been an interesting week not having a computer to get on whenever I want. I've been able to use other people's computers when I needed to, so that's been okay. Also, my amazing mother found out that I had a warranty I knew nothing about that covered my computer for a year. Thankfully, it is on route to the U.S. via FedEx right now to be taken care of. I will once again have a computer sometime within the next several weeks.

Until then, I will be posting no pictures (since I lost them all) and it will be sporadic. Hope all is well with everyone.

What's wrong with my tongue?

This morning while doing my daily Arabic study I said something that made me laugh. Actually, it's not so much what I said, but the sound that I made that made me laugh. But in order for this post to make any sense I have to explain a few Arabic terms.

The word for "Yes" is "Na'am;" the word for "No" is pronounced either "La", "Le" or "Lu" depending on the accent of the person you're talking to. Additionally, they use the sound "Ah" to mean something like "Yeah." (This "Ah" sound causes me a lot of trouble because I find myself making this sound when I understand something, like "ahhh....oh right" in English, but my language helper thinks I mean "yeah" and that I am agreeing with him. I've learned that I have to be very concious of every sound coming out of my mouth.)

When speaking Arabic and I'm asked a "yes" or "no" question, I find that I have a hard time not speaking my initial response in English. Instead of answering in Arabic, I usually just say "Yes" or "No." It even comes out as "yeah" or "nah/naw" if I'm being lazy.

I am aware of this problem and I've been trying to quell it recently. Today I was asked a "yes" or "no" question. About halfway through my answer I realize that I'm saying "nah" and decide to rectify this. So I quickly say "La, la, la." That would have been fine, except for the the fact that I said this all so quickly that it ran together in one unintelligible utterance. What came out was a sound quite similar to the phrase from a certain Christmas carol that goes "Tis the season to be jolly, Fah La La La La." The ridiculousness that came out of my mouth was something like "Nahlalalalala."

My sudden outburst of seeming glossolalia caused an eruption of laughter by both my language helper and myself. I'll admit that there's nothing like embarrassing oneself to correct a problem. The rest of the lesson I had no problem with saying "Na'am" or "La." I'm thinking of trying out a new language program in which I just constantly embarrass myself with the hopes of shaming myself into learning.

In all honesty, language is going great and I am excited about the progress I've made, but I still have a long way to go. I will keep at it and let you know when I make a fool of myself again, because it's sure to happen.