My Lessons in Arabic

Ahlan Wa Sahlan!

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Will Calder and I am a senior here at Delbarton. I find it a little ironic that I’m here speaking in front of all of you today, as a campus minister at Delbarton speaking on the traditions and customs of the Islamic faith might seem a little weird, but I hope that some of my wisdom and experience will resonate with you nonetheless.

I am now in the final stretch of my fourth year of Arabic under the wing of Mr. Tabor and this is now the third year in a row that I have fasted in solidarity with the Muslim community at our school. It seems like each year has gotten a little harder for my fast. During my sophomore year when the whole world was shut down, I remember spending my day of Ramadan lying on a yoga mat under a blanket binge-watching the recently released Outerbanks for hours on end. Last year, I was back to school, walking across campus, and doing some sort of physical activity, making the previous year’s fast look like a breeze. And this year, well, all I can say is trying to fast while engaging in a serious practice of Ultimate Frisbee truly is one of the hardest things a Delbarton senior can do.

In all seriousness, the reason we are all here today is in solidarity with each other. The name of this event is Interfaith Fast and Feast. Interfaith literally means when people or groups from different religious/spiritual worldviews and traditions come together and celebrate each other’s heritage. We are here as one Delbarton community in order to empathize with those who are celebrating one of the most important holidays of their tradition, just like they celebrate Christmas and Easter with us at Mass. Interfaith is hard. Fasting for one day was more than enough work for me, and yet, there are people in my community who do this every single day for thirty days. I had the pleasure of growing up with Amir Eltaki and I watched him struggle to get through baseball games in the burning hot sun with water towels around his neck to try and cool him down. To this day, I still don’t know how you do it, but you, and the rest of

Over spring break in March, the Global Delbarton excursion to Jordan included living for 24 hours in a Bedouin tent erected by the group in the Wadi Rum desert.

At dawn on April 22, Arabic teacher Zack Tabor led students, parents and faculty in an online Ramadan fasting presentation. those who celebrate this holiday, have certainly earned my respect, and I am so eternally grateful that you are sharing this celebration with all of us. I was fortunate enough to go on the Jordan Trip during spring break and saw some remarkable things. The beautiful landscape of the desert Wadi Rum, the ancient city of Petra and its history, and of course the baptismal place of Jesus and the Jordan River are all things I will cherish. However, while the sites were beautiful and breathtaking, the part of the trip that I will never forget is words. Yes, a series of words have resonated with me more than a collection of some of the world’s greatest natural beauties. For 24 hours, our group of 16 experienced a Bedouin lifestyle in the middle of Wadi Rum. We lived in tents, cooked food under the sand through a very intricate system that I still don’t really understand, and, the most horrifying of the bunch, had absolutely zero cell service. We learned quickly that hospitality is one of the most important virtues a Bedouin can have so, after spending an entire day living among the Bedouins, the Bedouins showed us their appreciation with hospitality in the form of a 70-year-old rug that had been part of their family for years and was their prized possession. While the gesture in itself was unbelievable, it was the look on the man’s face that truly made the exchange so worthwhile. The entire day Ali, our Bedouin tour guide, was so friendly and welcoming, always smiling, so the official handoff of the rug to Mr. Tabor nearly brought him to tears…true hospitality. We tried to match his hospitality with the hospitality of our own, giving him our Delbarton flag, and, even though the items don’t necessarily match in price value, the sentimental value prompted endless gratitude from Ali. The thing I find so unique about the Delbarton flag is the symbols and motifs that speak to who we are as a community. Significantly, the lion on the flag, physically looking backward, but his torso leading him forward represents the balance between looking back at tradition while preparing for the future. There must be an equilibrium between these two actions in order to find balance. This specific part of the flag prompted a response from Ali, the Bedouin, that really resonated with everyone in the camp. He said that he and the rest of the Middle East have seen social media and heard all of the things about anger Americans hold against the region and vice versa. He’s heard about the so-called “hatred” America has against the Middle East. For him, however, the very idea that we, as a Delbarton community, were physically there to talk to him and experience Jordanian culture shows that that belief of hatred isn’t real and that

there truly is a better future, because, in his words, we are all brothers. Brothers…a Bedouin with broken English was telling us, Delbarton Brothers, about the importance of a community, about the importance of a Brotherhood.

I truly believe that is why we are all here tonight. As a community, as a brotherhood, we are learning and enriching ourselves with the traditions and the celebrations of something that is unfamiliar to us. We are trying something completely new. Whether it’s trying Arabic food for the first time or fasting, just being present with each other and going through the same experiences just brings us one more step closer to each other. Our community is just getting that much stronger. I encourage you all to celebrate with each other today, and all of the future days of Ramadan for years to come. Tonight should not be a one-night celebration. This should serve as a stepping stone for all of us to learn and appreciate all of the things around us. Let’s grab onto Delbarton’s diverse community and never let go. Let’s look back on our traditions and move forward together, just like the lion on the flag. Thank you for listening and, in the words of Ali the Bedouin, talking is the first step to understanding and appreciating, making peace one word at a time! Shukran!

That evening, the group broke its fast together with a celebratory feast in the Senior Garden.