day off
"Arabic is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.
Having emerged in the 1st century, it is named after the Arab people"
It was language class and Professor Jasmine was giving a lecture on the history of the Arabic language.
Professor Jasmine carried on
"the term "Arab" was initially used to describe those living in the Arabian Peninsula, as perceived by geographers from ancient Greece.
Colloquial dialects vary significantly from MSA, impeding mutual intelligibility.
MSA is only acquired through formal education and is not spoken natively.
Now, this is the introduction I'm sure you all read"
Professor Jasmine stood up and carried on
"To figure out what I'm dealing with, I'm going to speak Arabic with those I heard could speak it or have some background knowledge.
For instance, Miss Battol I heard your mother is Lebanese"
Battle heart dropped, she answered in a shy tone
"Yes, she is"
Professor Jasmine smirked and said
"I See, I was right, my resources are reliable"
Professor Jasmine then turned to Battol and said
"Would you mind having a conversation in Arabic with me?"
Battol felt embarrassed, she said in a shy note
"I would love to if only I could"
Professor Jasmine raised her eyebrows and asked
"Come again?"
Battol sighed and said
"I can't speak Arabic"
Professor Jasmine's jaw dropped, she asked Battol again
"You can't speak Arabic? Not even a little bit?"
Battol answered
"Only a few words like Marhaba, Assalam Alykom,
But not a full conversation
Professor Jasmine felt disappointed, she turned away from Battol and said
"I see, thank you so much Miss Battol"
Professor Jasmine put on a fake confident smile again and said
"Well, what about you Miss Nora?"
Professor Jasmine turned to Nora this time and said
"I heard that you're a native speaker
Nora nodded her head and said
"It's true, I am"
Professor Jasmine's smile widened
"See I was right again.
Do you mind having a conversation with me then?"
Nora agreed, she said
"I would love to"
Professor Jasmine started the conversation and said
"Kayf Haluk Alyom?"
Nora answered
"Alhamdullah, Ana bekhier"
Professor Jasmine said
"Great, from your pronunciation It's clear that you're a native indeed, in that case, you don't have to attend the Arabic lectures"
Professor Jasmine turned her attention to all of her students and said
"It's ok if you only attend the examinations and the final test of the Arabic language
The same goes for all languages.
If there is a language out of the 4 that we are studying that any of you is a native speaker of You can simply skip the lectures of that language so you could focus on the other languages."
Professor Jasmine asked at the end
"Any questions?"
Karim raised his hand when he was allowed to speak he said
"May I ask, what if I'm not a native speaker of 3 of these languages yet I can speak them fluently?"
Professor Jasmine's eyes widened, she asked
"I'm sorry honey, I didn't hear you, come again?"
Karim asked again
"I said what if I'm fluent in 3 languages out of the 4, is it ok if I skip all their lectures?"
Professor Jasmine smirked and said
"Oh, wow how impressive,
My resources said nothing about a trilingual student, how odd!
Well, dear, if you can prove to me that you don't need the lectures I would gladly allow you to skip them."
Karim asked
"Well, how do I prove it to you?"
Professor Jasmine answered
"Prepare yourself, I'll test you in the following lecture.
Today, I wanna check out the other students."
Nora raised her hand and said
"May I ask?"
Professor Jasmine said
"Sure dear go ahead"
Nora asked
"I'm also a fluent English speaker, is it ok if I skip the English lectures?"
Professor Jasmine answered
"Sure, but I'm gonna test you in the following lecture as well"
Nora said
"Ok, thank you"
Professor Jasmine turned to another student and said
"Now, Miss Bushra, I heard that your Father is Arab"
Bushra answered
"It's True, and I can speak Arabic fluently""
Professor Jasmine said
"Great, then you can skip the Arabic lectures if you want"
Professor Jasmine said in a low voice to herself but everyone could hear her
"So far it's a 3_1 win for my recourses"
Battol whispered to Nora
"What is she talking about? These data about our background and nationality are in the files that we handed to the college when we first got accepted."
Nora rolled her eyes and said
"She loves the suspense even when the situation is clear to everyone.
Just ignore her"
After that Nora and Battol met with Maha.
Maha smiled and waved at them when she saw them, she said
"Hi, girls!
How are you today?"
Nora smiled and said
"I'm good, Alhamdullah"
Battol said with a forced smile
"Same"
Maha said
"You seem a bit pale Battol is something wrong?"
Battol answered with a pout
"I'm fine, just overthinking about how I am supposed to learn 4 languages in less than a year."
Maha said
"What are the languages you need to learn?"
Battol said
"Arabic, English, Spanish, and Mandarin"
Maha said
"Nice, I know English and a bit of Arabic and a bit of Spanish"
Maha asked
"I can help you with English if you want?"
Battol asked
"Do you have time for that?"
Maha smiled gently and said
"Don't worry, it would be my pleasure."
Battol smiled warmly and took Maha's hand and said
"Thank you so much, you're a lifesaver"
Ahlam said with a wave as she approached them
"Hi girls"
Nora said with a smile
"Hi"
Battol said with a genuine smile
"Hi, how are you?"
Ahlam answered
"I'm good, what about you?"
Battol said
"A minute ago I was miserable but my dear friend Maha just gave me a reason to smile again."
Ahlam said
"Wow, tell me what happened?"
"It's nothing I just offered to help her learn English."
Nora said
"It's about the languages course, we need to learn 4 languages in less than a year."
Battol said
"The languages are English Arabic Spanish and Mandarin,
Nora will help me with Arabic, and Maha just offered to help me with English now I only got 2 languages to worry about."
Ahlam said
"I see, I can help you with Spanish if you want."
Battol's eyes widened and she asked
"Really?
You know Spanish!"
Ahlam smiled proudly and said
"Yeah, I lived in Spain for a few years."
Battol put her hands together and happily said
"That's great, thank you so much"
Ahlam smiled gently and said
"Don't mention it"
Maha put her hand on Battol's shoulder and said
"That's what friends are for."
Ahlam sat down finally and said
"Did you girls order anything?"
Maha answered
"No, not yet."
Ahlam said
"How about some pancakes then?
I'm craving something sweet."
Maha said
"Ok, I would like that too."
Nora and Battol finally Adapted to this institution.
They made friends, and became familiar with the routes of the campus and the corridors of each building,
But most importantly, they adapted to each other,
How far will their friendship go in this place?
And how far will they go in this institution?
The weekend came at last, what do you want to do?.
Battol said
"Nora wake up!"
Nora said
"Why?"
Nora said
"It's only 9 am and it's Saturday."
Battol said
"Because we have plans today."
Nora said
"What plans?"
Battol said
"Maha texted me last night and we made plans to go downtown today."
Battol said
"It will be fun, we will go shopping and sightseeing and we're going to have so much fun."
Nora said
"OK, enjoy your time kids."
Battol said
"Don't act like a grandma!"
Battol said
"You're coming too so get up and change."
Nora said
"Fine!"
Nora said
"You're even scarier than my mom when you're angry."
Battol said
"Then don't make me angry."
Battol said
"I'll make breakfast while you change."
Nora said
"Thanks, please make boiled eggs and some milk."
Battol said
"Ok"
Nora said
"Are you sure this is where we're supposed to meet them?"
Battol said
"Yes, don't be impatient, we've only been waiting for a couple of minutes."
Nora said
"But, it's too hot today!"
Battol said
"It's not that hot, stop acting like a child."
Maha said
"Hi girls, sorry for making you wait."
Ahlam said
"I've been ready for almost an hour it's Manal's fault that we're late"
Manal said
"I'm sorry."
Battol said
"It's ok, we only waited for a few minutes."
Ahlam said
"Alright, shall we go now?"
Nora said
"Yes, please I don't want to stand in this heat any longer."
Nora said
"We're taking the train?"
Maha said
"Yes, Manal knows a very nice town to visit, we will go there by train and it won't take long."
Manal said
"My uncle lives there, he will show us around, it will be fun I promise."
Ahlam said
"I got the tickets, let's go."
Battol said
"Wow, check out the landscapes!"
Maha said
"It's very beautiful."
Battol said
"Nora look, don't fall asleep we just woke up!"
Nora said
"Sorry, I'm still a bit tired."
Battol said
"I know, that's why we planned this trip to get away from stress and have fun."
Battol said
"Look at how beautiful the landscapes are!" are
Nora said
"It's gorgeous indeed."
Battol said
"Wow, what a lovely town!"
Ahlam said
"It's gorgeous."
Manal said
"I know right, I used to have so much fun here when we visited my uncle when I was younger."
Ahlam said
"Where are we going now?"
Manal said
"We can go to a nearby cafe, I know a cozy one and it's nearby."
Maha said
"Sounds like a good idea."
Battol said
"Yeah let's go!"
Nora said
"Yeah, I hope it's very close because I don't want to walk anymore."
Battol said
"Enough of the grandma's mood already!"
Ahlam said
"It's a nice place indeed, well done Manal."
Battol said
"Yeah, and the food is great too."
Maha said
"Are you having fun, Nora?"
Maha said
"You've been quieter than usual today?"
Nora said
"I don't usually do this, that's why I'm a bit awkward."
Nora said
"But I'm enjoying my time, thank you."
Battol said
"Were your parents strict?"
Nora said
"No, not really."
Battol said
"Then how come you never hang out with your friends?"
Nora said
"Because I simply never had close friends, only classmates."
Manal said
"Were they mean to you?"
Nora said
"No, it's me I was more introverted than I'm now."
Nora said
"I wasn't planning on changing."
Nora said
"But after ending up with a roommate like Battol I become more talkative."
Maha said
"Yeah, Battol is such a sunshine."
Battol said
"I indeed bring the best out of people."
Nora said
"But that's not what I meant."
Nora said
"The thing is, I'm more tired than usual today."
Battol said
"At this rate, we will be staying here all day."
Nora said
"What's wrong with that, this cafe is cozy and I bet the owner wouldn't mind, there aren't many people coming in anyway."
Battol said
"We came all this way for the vintage shops and to see the landscapes we can't stay here."
Maha said
"It's usually the other way around, seeing Battol scolding Nora is funny."
Ahlam said
"Yeah, you're right, when Battol is the one being angry at Nora it's like seeing a mother scolding her child."
Nora said
"Do I look like her child to you?"
Ahlam laughed and said
"No, but you're acting like it, it's really funny."
Battol rolled her eyes and said
"Oh please, she's acting like a grandma, not a child."
Battol said with a frown.
"Even old women have more energy than her."
After an hour they left the cafe and took a taxi to a lake near the forest.
"Wow, what a nice spot!" Exclaimed Battol.
Manal said proudly
"That's my surprise for you."
Maha smiled at her and said
"It's a wonderful spot, thank you so much, my dear."
Battol turned to Nora and said
"Admit it Nora you're happy I dragged you with me"
Nora rolled her eyes and said
"Yeah, that's exactly what my mother would say."
They all laughed together.
They spent a couple of hours walking and spending time together in that spot.