Between University and Dabke.

Sunday - Tuesday, November 10th - 12th

The last three days have been long, very long. Sunday and Tuesday were very similar: wake up early, jog, breakfast, learn Arabic + university stuff, Arabic class at the university, evening lecture, then more Arabic + university stuff. We have a lot to do for the university right now. Unlike most German universities, we don't just have an exam phase at the end of the semester, but "mid-term exams" at the end of November and finally the "finals" in January. So, for all four of our classes, there are various tasks and assignments to be completed for the mid-terms. All of these assignments have to be done in group work, and I really don't have an overview of what needs to be done for which lecturer in each group. Besides all of our obligations, lectures, internships, Arabic classes, etc., it is also not that easy to schedule appointments where all group members have time. So, there is a kind of general overwhelm in our course right now. But that's okay. Hopefully, we will have survived the first wave of stress by the Christmas holidays and can then take a little break before the finals. You just must never lose your sense of humor.

As long as Sophia and I work at Tarabot, we won't lose it either. When I show up there on Monday morning shortly after 9, I can already see from a yellow school bus in the courtyard that it is full. No one can explain to me exactly what event is taking place so early, but it is definitely well attended. In the craft room, younger children sit and make colorful umbrellas on DIN A4 sheets of paper. In the other larger room, a projector and screen are being used today, with older children sitting and watching a film about the history of the Arab countries. One thing that has caught our attention here before: boys and girls are separated even at the earliest age. When dancing, singing songs, or simply forming lines to leave the building in an orderly fashion. And also here during the film: girls on one side, boys on the other. While this strict gender separation always astonishes me, it seems completely natural to the children and supervisors here.

After a short time, as with most activities and workshops offered here for children, panic breaks out again. "Bsirra, bsirra!" you hear the supervisors in the craft room shouting, translated as "Faster, faster!". So, I quickly help the two boys in the corner finish their umbrellas while everything around us is already being cleaned up and tidied up at a rapid pace, then we all find ourselves in the large hall in the middle. After the "Aramsamsam" dance, which is always a hit with all the children, the highlight of today follows: Amer and Ibrahim have slipped into two huge costumes, Mickey Mouse and Smurf, and now they dance into the hall while the children hop around them joyfully. The Tarabot staff really manage to spread joy and happiness every time. And it's incredibly beautiful to watch.

After the dance, all the children receive a backpack as a gift (picked up one by one, first all the girls, then all the boys), and then there is a moment of calm at Tarabot again. After the lunch break, the next item on the agenda: Dabke.

Dabke is an Arabic folk dance that will be taught to the children who spend their free time at Tarabot during the next few weeks. Kemo takes care of that, like everything else involving music and drums. Suddenly, the marching game he practiced with the children last week, which I dismissed as strange soldier imitation, makes sense again: it was a preparation for the dance, where the children have to coordinate their right and left steps. And they do remarkably well. Probably because everyone visibly enjoys it, and what you learn with joy, you learn quickly. Kemo drums to the rhythm, and time passes much faster than the children and I might wish. I really love being here at Tarabot.