One of the professors for the more advanced classes and I chatted for a bit today. He told me that I had progressed well but that I would need to spend 2 years to learn Arabic well. I said in Arabic, “Actually, I already speak Amharic and read Hebrew, so it shouldn’t take that long.” He and his friend looked at me funny, so I was like, “You must know the Habesha if you are Muslim.” Sure enough, he composed himself and managed to recall the story of Muhammed sending some of his family to Ethiopia.
On that note, things are heating up in East Africa. BBCAfrica has posted a number of stories about the events over the past couple of months and here is some of the latest news – not good for the region.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article1193088.ece
Learning Arabic 