Carol Zaru was born in Jerusalem and lived in the city of Ramallah, Palestine most of her life. After graduating from college in the USA, she went back to Palestine where she worked and lived with her family until the summer of 2001. She is fluent in both Arabic and English. She has been living in the USA since moving here in 2001 and has been enjoying teaching Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced Arabic at McDaniel College in Westminster since the fall semester of 2007. In addition she is the Coordinator of the interdisciplinary Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies Program at McDaniel College.