It could always be worse
So, I've rethought this bad day thing, and today has been pretty darned good in the end.
For some strange reason, everyone around me seems to be having bad days lately. Okay, not everyone, but a lot of people. Eric had a really bad one yesterday, Crystal's having a bad week, Whitney at least had the bad moment with her piccy, and she and Crys both had roomie issues, and Dylan's having a bad day today. I had a bad day Monday and Tuesday.
In spite of this, it really could be a lot worse.
I went in to Arabic class today, pretty tired and groggy, and not prepared for the class. To be fair, I'd just finished studying for 2 hours straight, but I had only covered about half of the material I was to know for the class today. I would have skipped, but I'm the only student, and Hameed is my friend.
Hameed came in, huge bags under his eyes, and said he hadn't slept since yesterday, and man was he tired. He studies and works literally almost every waking hour that he has, and then he has to play with his baby boy when he gets home, 'cause Ahmed doesn't get out much to play with other kids, and Hameed's wife has been crying all the time 'cause her brother was just killed one or two weeks ago in the fighting in Yemen. He doesn't even know if his family members are alive or dead, because their phone connections were cut in January, and they have to hide out in the mountains to keep from being killed. His family is being targeted by the government now because of their family name, so he might be abducted and killed if he ever did return to Yemen - which he wanted to do as soon as he got his degree, because he'll make more money there. They also target university-educated people for these abductions, so he'd be doubly screwed.
As things are here and now, he only makes $600 a month, which is nowhere near enough to provide for a family, even in Kansas. With his own sorrow, and that of his wife, he hasn't been able to study well, so he might lose his assistanceship, and then he'll be without work, and eligible to be deported to Yemen. He can't get WIC vouchers because he's not a U.S. citizen, and he only has the potential for having a summer job, nothing actually lined up, even though bills and lives count on it. He's actually getting gray hairs from the stress, and he's only in his late 20s (maybe early 30s, but I think 20s)! He's been getting little to no sleep, and he actually told me today that he almost called in to work to say he couldn't make it to my class, but that he had to get away from it all for a bit. Instead of class work, we spent the whole hour and a half looking at Yemenese news sites, I listened to Hameed unload his burdens, and he taught me new words which are all pertinent to his situation right now:
Poverty
Hunger
Sorrow
Despair
Loneliness
Fear
Being adrift/lost
Craziness
Anxiety
Pessimism
Homesickness
I am tired.
My life is tired.
After that...I don't have the right to complain much about anything. And tonight has been great, relaxing with Eric. I wish I could help Hameed more, but he only told me because he talked to me today as he would to a younger sister, in confidence. He said he would rather die than beg, or ask others for help. Still, he didn't have to take on this teaching job, and it's putting even more of a strain on him than he already had. At the end of this semester, I am determined to do something really nice for him: cook for his family, and/or knit them something as a way of saying thanks. His wife still only has the clothes she brought over from Yemen; money's been too tight for her to buy anything new for a long time.
My heart goes out to Hameed, his family, and everyone in similar situations...
For some strange reason, everyone around me seems to be having bad days lately. Okay, not everyone, but a lot of people. Eric had a really bad one yesterday, Crystal's having a bad week, Whitney at least had the bad moment with her piccy, and she and Crys both had roomie issues, and Dylan's having a bad day today. I had a bad day Monday and Tuesday.
In spite of this, it really could be a lot worse.
I went in to Arabic class today, pretty tired and groggy, and not prepared for the class. To be fair, I'd just finished studying for 2 hours straight, but I had only covered about half of the material I was to know for the class today. I would have skipped, but I'm the only student, and Hameed is my friend.
Hameed came in, huge bags under his eyes, and said he hadn't slept since yesterday, and man was he tired. He studies and works literally almost every waking hour that he has, and then he has to play with his baby boy when he gets home, 'cause Ahmed doesn't get out much to play with other kids, and Hameed's wife has been crying all the time 'cause her brother was just killed one or two weeks ago in the fighting in Yemen. He doesn't even know if his family members are alive or dead, because their phone connections were cut in January, and they have to hide out in the mountains to keep from being killed. His family is being targeted by the government now because of their family name, so he might be abducted and killed if he ever did return to Yemen - which he wanted to do as soon as he got his degree, because he'll make more money there. They also target university-educated people for these abductions, so he'd be doubly screwed.
As things are here and now, he only makes $600 a month, which is nowhere near enough to provide for a family, even in Kansas. With his own sorrow, and that of his wife, he hasn't been able to study well, so he might lose his assistanceship, and then he'll be without work, and eligible to be deported to Yemen. He can't get WIC vouchers because he's not a U.S. citizen, and he only has the potential for having a summer job, nothing actually lined up, even though bills and lives count on it. He's actually getting gray hairs from the stress, and he's only in his late 20s (maybe early 30s, but I think 20s)! He's been getting little to no sleep, and he actually told me today that he almost called in to work to say he couldn't make it to my class, but that he had to get away from it all for a bit. Instead of class work, we spent the whole hour and a half looking at Yemenese news sites, I listened to Hameed unload his burdens, and he taught me new words which are all pertinent to his situation right now:
Poverty
Hunger
Sorrow
Despair
Loneliness
Fear
Being adrift/lost
Craziness
Anxiety
Pessimism
Homesickness
I am tired.
My life is tired.
After that...I don't have the right to complain much about anything. And tonight has been great, relaxing with Eric. I wish I could help Hameed more, but he only told me because he talked to me today as he would to a younger sister, in confidence. He said he would rather die than beg, or ask others for help. Still, he didn't have to take on this teaching job, and it's putting even more of a strain on him than he already had. At the end of this semester, I am determined to do something really nice for him: cook for his family, and/or knit them something as a way of saying thanks. His wife still only has the clothes she brought over from Yemen; money's been too tight for her to buy anything new for a long time.
My heart goes out to Hameed, his family, and everyone in similar situations...