Well, yes, I am starting to wonder what kind of job I could get when I get back home. I’ve become convinced that my Arabic will not be good enough to get any sort of job as a translator, certainly not after a single year here. I do think I’ll be able to have basic conversations and read newspapers and the like. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions for a potential job back home I’m all ears…
Right this second, I’m thinking about getting a job here. I would be teaching English of course. It’s a hot job market here for native English speakers. Of course the pay sucks when compared to other places despite the fact that it is a hot job here. As a conversational English teacher (i.e. a native speaker that is articulate but does not have a degree in English or any certification for teaching English) I can make about 10 bucks an hour. That doesn’t sound like much (it isn’t) but remember, country wide the average yearly income here is only $400 US dollars a year. So it turns out to be a rather well paying job for this country. If I could work 10 hours a week, I could make an average yearly salary here every month. If I have 10 hours a week of class and 10 hours a week of a job, that is only 20 hours a week taken up. That should leave plenty of time for me to do whatever else I need to do, like study:-) From my perspective, it would allow me to extend my stay here and hopefully learn the language better. There’s no way in hell I will spend Christmas here, but if I can get a job I will be able to afford a round trip ticket back to the states and come back for more. I’m going to start looking around this week for positions. I feel pretty confidant that I can get a job since I have the very desirable “neutral” American accent. I know that some schools supplement the pay with Arabic lessons as well, so that could be a plus. We’ll see what’s out there for me…