The other night, I went over to have tea with one of my students from class. We had a great, albeit quiet, evening together. She played Turkish and Chinese soap operas in the background while we ate our chocolate cake and Moroccan crepes.
I'm admittedly not so good with the small talk, but I tried. I asked about all five of her children. Memorized their names, ages, and current countries of residence. I "ooohhed" and "ahhed" over everything she made. And she sat in silence, just smiling at my attempts to fill the silence with words, words, words.
Later, I was talking about her to a friend of mine. My friend lived in Morocco this past year, and someone mentioned that the village of Anze is a village known for its quiet woman.
Well, guess where my student is from? Anze.
So, her village's one claim to fame is their uncharacteristically quiet women. Isn't that interesting? Anyway, my friend told me that it's best to just let her be silent and be silent with her.
"It isn't necessary to talk all the time," she said. "We Americans think we need to fill up silences, but she likes them. She's used to them."
Oh well, mental note for the next time, I guess. In the meantime, I've begun some basic Arabic lessons with another lady from class. I was planning to ask her to teach me all those practical phrases such as, "How's the weather in Morocco?" and "We're having lovely weather today!" and "Your cakes look delicious!" But scratch that. Not worth the mental strain!
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