Habe ich mich verhunzt?

What would you sacrifice in order to gain a good education?

As an elitist idealist, I would say "Nothing! Never give up, never surrender! Education is a right to be pursued by those willing to work hard and participate in the never-ending expansion of shared knowledge. Sacrifice has nothing to do with education."

The reality is, I would somewhat sacrifice myself to gain a good education. For the sake of improving my ability to read aloud in Arabic, I have broken down and asked a male colleague, who is VERY knowledgeable about Classical Arabic, to help me read aloud once a week. I'm playing with fire, here, in that I am a poetic muse for said person. The poetic style that I "inspire," for sure, gives Lord Byron indigestion from its sappy romanticism.

Here's my strategy for my literacy lessons:

1. Meet in a public place (Curse you, Saudi for not having public libraries like "normal" sovereign nations!)
2. Set up clear boundaries of appropriateness in speech and actions
3. Bring a mini-pillow as a back-up buffer, yet cite it as a back support supplement
4. Keep sharpened pencils at a close distance in case needed as an eye gauger

Something interesting to note about my Arabic-learning experience: finding people who can really understand فصحى and aren't complete loons or get their residency visas revoked are hard to come by...