Happy New Year!

I came back from a wonderful time in Algeria and had loads of energy. Maybe it was something in the hot springs bath we visited on Christmas day. A few days back and I caught what everyone else has here so the energy was drained and this is my first opportunity to share some Algeria thoughts.

People were wonderfully welcoming. An older woman stopped me in the market of Algiers and asked me in French if I liked Algiers. She welcomed me and wished me a happy new year. When I was in Setif, people wanted to know if I liked Setif. They wished us a merry Christmas and decorated the school dining hall on Christmas eve. An official from the Dept. of Education in Setif wished us peace and love in the new year. He said that we may practice different religions and celebrate different holidays but where it counts, we're all the same. We felt love from the teachers we trained and kindness everywhere we went. When I spoke Arabic, people were thrilled. And did you know how many English words come from Arabic? I knew a lot of Spanish words came from the language but what about .....

soda, tabby, so long, alcohol, alcove, admiral, arsenal, artichoke, carat, gauze, lute, macabre, masquerade, mattress, tariff, zenith, giraffe, sugar, cipher, syrup and that's just part of my list.

I have the Arabic original words and meanings for these if anyone is interested. Language is a wondrous thing.