During my Arabic courses, we took time as a class to go over some Arabic poems. I was inspired by this due to my Arabic background and wanted to do more than what were doing in class. I started going online and reading Arabic poems as best I could. These poems gave me a deeper understanding of the Arabic/ Middle Eastern culture. I was very interesting to envision some situation through the eyes of the poet. I am still a beginner at reader Arabic so I had much difficulty in reading and translating some of the poems. I would go to the language lab to get some help. As a result I am now way better and faster at reading Arabic. In the future I hope to write my own piece. I have much work to do before I can even think of that. Learning Arabic and Arab culture through poems was a wonderful was to get a taste of the middle east. I plan on going on a trip in the summer to future strength my new found skills.