guess right?" he asked.

"You're batting 1000%, Williams. Maybe I'll settle in and take a rest before chow time. Thanks for the maps. See you later corporal," he said, and with that he walked out of the office and headed back to his quarters. Those quarters were shared with a black soldier from Atlanta, Georgia. Their room had the usual Government Issue furniture: two single beds, two OD green metal wall lockers, two OD green desks with chairs and lamps, and the required and ever-present army footlockers. When he entered his room, his roommate, Private Ibrahim Smith was resting on his bed with his eyes closed. He appeared to be out like a light. Not wanting to disturb him, Joseph slipped onto his own bed and recalled their brief meeting before Joseph had headed to New York City, while Ibrahim had gone to a town in Jersey called Patterson.

Ibrahim seemed to be a nice guy. He was taller than Joseph; about 6 foot 2 inches, with light brown skin. The light skin color and his rather handsome Caucasian features were most likely due to "mixed" blood. For an enlisted man he was well educated, having graduated High School and gone on to a community college in Georgia. He did well there in his studies, until a recession hit and dried up what little money he had put aside for his education. Unable to find money or a part time job, he was forced to leave school. Ibrahim's family, like Joseph's, were farmers and just could not see their way clear to continue to help pay for his education. It was a shame because he loved learning and was a good student. While there might have been scholarships, the recession had also dried up their ability to collect funds. The only other means of continuing his education turned out to be the army. They offered to enroll him in their ROTC program, but he was not really looking for a career as an Army officer. Besides, he did not want to tie himself down for that long of a time. As an enlisted man, he could serve his time and save enough to continue his education without having to sign his life away. Who knew, in two or three years the economy was bound to get better and more part time jobs might be found. The army was glad to have him because he had something they needed badly. Ibrahim was a Muslim, having converted in High School. He had learned to read Arabic in order to convert, but he had never really learned to speak the language.

Ibrahim was therefore perfect for a new method of language instruction with which the army was experimenting. Potential translators would be gathered together and totally submersed in the language and culture. There were two main components to this new method: Creating an environment where Arabic was used as the prime means of communication and restricting the use of English; and grouping together novices and people with some knowledge of the language. By doing this, it was hoped that they would play off each other and speed up the learning. So it was that by the luck of the draw that Joseph found himself rooming with Ibrahim Smith, a black guy.

Joseph, coming from a small town in upstate New York, had very