"Na'am", Arabic for yes.

(Family names have been abbreviated for privacy purposes.)
During my previous visit, R. had spoken with her father, S., on the phone after I explained I would like to meet him but he hadn't responded to my texts/calls. She was the "appointment setter".  S. and the three year old, J., were the only two of this family of seven that I hadn't met. I was excited when S. answered the door. This meant, despite our language barriers, we had successfully set the right appointment time and everyone showed up! As I entered, I gestured to remove my shoes, but he shook his head and said "no, no, no" as if I didn't need to. So in order not to defy him, I kept my shoes on despite having done so other times. I handed him the wrapped present I had bought the family; the game Jenga built in family fun for the whole year and easy to play despite language barriers. They probably opened it later that evening and I imagine wondered about it.

We quickly determined that I didn't speak enough Arabic and he didn't speak enough English to make sense to each other so out came the cell phones and Google Translate. Over the course of the next hour I explained who I was, that I wanted to be their friend and help them in anyway I could. S's priority now seems to be learning English and he currently attends English classes in the mornings at the International Institute. I typed into Google that the Oasis also offers English classes but I'm pretty sure that did not do a fabulous translation job. He didn't understand. I'm meeting with a church this week that will provide me English language curriculum. I'm praying about tutoring the family for an hour during my visits (and having them teach me Arabic).

It's unclear what he does in the afternoons but he's never been there when I've visited in the afternoons. He seems to be interested in whatever type of work he can get and was not permitted to work in Turkey because of his Kurdish nationality and may have done some "agricultural" work in Syria.

He has an instructor's permit and currently takes the bus to the Institute. I had called the DMV and inquired about how he and R. could obtain their driver's licenses. "As long as their Instructor Permits are not expired, they take those, proof of residence, and their I9s to the DMV and need to pass the driving exam." Wow, sounds easy enough but a big responsibility. Do I teach them to drive using my car??? From my experience with other refugees, depending on the bus as the only mode of transportation can get really frustrating really fast because it takes double the time to get anywhere. When you're earning minimum wage, an hour commute each way is tough. We'll see, something to pray about.

At the end of our time together, he invited me back, this time for dinner in two weeks. "Nem, shakran. " (yes, thank you), I said. I felt honored. The whole family will be there. I'll bring more pictures of my family and St. Louis landmarks like the Arch and explain Cardinals baseball to them. And maybe we'll get to play Jenga together.