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February 28, 2005
Disconnected From Brandeis
Part of my abroad experience has also been being away from Brandeis. I am really feeling it today because housing numbers come out and I really want to know what mine is. But of course, the office is closed seeing as it is only 7:49am in Boston even though it is almost 3pm here. This seems to be a constant frustration as I try to talk to people and get answers to various questions. There is always a lag time that just can't be avoided.
Although, the time difference did give me an advantage today. Yesterday I found out about a job that I really want and needed to apply to by Monday at 5pm. (yes mom, it is a paid position) Because of the time difference, I have extra waking hours to work on the application. I didn't need to worry about making the deadline because the deadline is in the middle of the night here, way past my bed time. I guess it just gives me peace of mind to know that there is no way I could accidentally miss the deadline because of some crazy problem that arises because I live in a third-world country.
Speaking of problems, today my Arabic class was quite challenging. And when I say challenging, I mean impossible. We were reading a story about a singing donkey who rides a camel but I didn't quite understand that plot line till half way through the class. I am glad that my family speaks English or I would never get through this class alive. But I did say I wanted a challenge.
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February 27, 2005
Settling Down
Now that classes have started, my schedual has become more predictable. I go to Arabic (level 4) from 9am-1pm. Then I go to lunch and hang out for the afternoon until my class at 3pm or 3:30pm (depending on the day). Sometimes I have a lecture in the evening like I do tonight but usually I go home to my host family and eat dinner. Then I watch some silly Arabic TV and study my Arabic vocab. On the weekends I usually sit around the house on Fridays and try to go out Saturday afternoons. This Saturday Annie and I went to Gardens Street and walked along looking at the shops. It was good to look around and get out.
Today my afternoon class was cancled so I am just sitting around on the internet. Even though this is the second week of classes, I still haven't had a normal day of class. I finally spent a day in only one level of Arabic but the rest of my day is all messed up. I was quite worried before I got here that the academic culture would be extremely rigorous but it seems pretty relaxed so far. I just hope the teachers don't expect me to magically know things they haven't taught me. . .
So I thought I would also rub in the fact that I am not even wearing a sweater today. Yes, it is so nice outside that I didn't bring a jacket or sweater with me today. Spring in Jordan is nice. I also went to Lebnani Snack today and got a Kiwi coctail. It is a perfect spring day full of sunshine and fruit smoothies. I could get used to this relaxed atmosphere.
Posted by rcollins at 9:17 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 24, 2005
Modern Standard Arabic
Today was my second day of Modern Standard Arabic class and I went to level 3 for the first half and level 4 for the second half. Level 3 was really easy for me (although it may be the 3 and 1/2 hours I put in last night making sure I was prepared) but level 4 was really hard. It was the grammer section of the class and I had no idea what the Arabic words for verb, noun, object, subject, ect. were. This experience makes me want to focus on the vocab of level three and not have to worry about crazy grammer. The only thing I am worried about is level 3 not counting toward credit at Brandeis. However, one class here is equal to two regular classes in the US so hopefully it will count as going in to level 4.
I really do need a challange if I am going to stay motivated here. I am already bored out of my mind and classes just started. The only suggestions I have gotten have not been sufficient to fill up the 10 or so hours a day that I spend watching "Star Academy" or "Who wants to win some money?" (I haven't quite figured out the real name of that one yet). I tried to fill it up with homework yesterday but I completed the entire chapter by 9pm. I didn't do the listening part because my cd player is out of battery but it won't take much time when I get around to it.
I am definitely going to sign up for the Wild Jordan photography class but I am already going to miss the first class because I have an AmidEast lecture that night. The class will be good though because it will encourage me to finish my film and send in some pictures. If you have any requests for what you would like to see, let me know and I will be sure to bring you some photos. :)
Posted by rcollins at 7:17 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
February 23, 2005
Women at the University
As I was walking to class this morning, I was struck by the number of women I was surrounded by. In fact, there were hardly any men around at all. What was even more striking was the fact that most of the women wore hijab (the head scarf) and a good number were fully covered (including their face).
The first thought I had was suprise as to sheer number of women that are allowed to study in Jordan. I have met several women who are studying to become doctors or engineers and want to have carreers. Most women do end up quitting their jobs when they get married but it is still amazing that they even have the opportunity to study if they want to. I will admit that I assumed there would be considerably more men at the University of Jordan but I have definitely been proven wrong. Even in my Arabic language class there were only a handfull of guys. There, I am working with only international students and I assumed that there would be more guys than girls especially since that is my experience at Brandeis. However, this has also been proved wrong.
My second observation was that altough hijab women cover their hair, the scarf makes up for the lack of hair. Some women stick to the plain black but some wear sparkles and some wear orange or pink or even red. Although to a western, it would seem that not showing your hair would stifle a woman's personality, there are plenty of ways to make up for it. Even the fully covered women carry crazy bags and wear high heels when they go to class. I am impressed with their creativness but I also wonder what the point of the scarf is if they are attracting attention anyways? Do they realize that sparkles are just as flashy as well groomed hair? Or do they not have a problem with that?
Either way, I am very curious about these cultural differences.
Posted by rcollins at 7:52 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
An interesting occurance.
Lately, I've been having some interenting encounters with the Jordanians around me. It started with the placement test on Monday when I handed in my test and the proctors asked me (in Arabic) if I was Arab. Of course, I answer them politely that I am not, in fact I am as far from Arab as you can get: I'm American. Later that afternoon, I mentioned this to my friend Annie and she continues to tell me that the proctors were staring at me the entire time. At first she thought they were looking at her (because she actually is Arab) but she determined by their glances that they were actually looking at me.
I have also had a lot of experiences this week where Arabs with just start talking to me in full-blown super-fast Arabic. Yesterday a girl stopped me and asked where she should go to open a section, whatever that means. However, she said it in Arabic the first time until I politely told her that I speak English.
Now, this may be a product of my lovely Aqaba tan, but really, do I fit in that well? I have no idea why I would be confused for Arab but it is nice to think that sometime I may be able to avoid the obvious foreigner look.
Anyways, hopefully I will get a handle on this language thing soon so that I don't have to struggle to understand everyone. I started level 3 today and am looking at level 4 so I will at least be learning vocab soon.
Posted by rcollins at 6:09 AM | TrackBack
February 21, 2005
Southern Trip
My entries have been lagging a bit lately because early Thrusday morning I left for a trip to the south of Jordan. The trip started with a shorth drive to Madaba to look at a mosaic map of Moses' exodous from the Holy Land. The mosaic is in pretty good shape for being thousands of years old and really cool.
We then continued on to Mt. Nebo where Moses is said to be burried. From the mountain we could see Israel and the Dead Sea. It was a beautiful view and very moving to be where all that history actually happened.
From there we continued on to Kerak Castle and got to go inside and explore everything. Our guide was really knowledgeable and told us all about the history of the site. The castle was used by every group that came through there including the crusaders and all of the Islamic groups. Even during WWI the castle still had it's own governance system and was not controlled by the Ottoman Empire.
After an extensive tour of the dungeons, we got back on the bus and drove to our camp site for the night near Petra. We stayed at a mock Bedoin camp and slept in the traditional tents and ate traditional food. It was amazing to just camp out in the middle of the desert under the stars. The only problem was that this is February so it was a bit cold. The temperature difference between day and night is actually quite large so we had to huddle under thick blankets and wear lots of layers but it was worth it. It was also a great bonding experience because it was the first time we all got to hang out together without a planned activity. Some of my friends and I (along with some new friends) got to just sit around and play cards under the stars. I really appreciated the opportunity to relax a bit with people who are all really excited to be in Jordan.
The next day, we got up and walked to "Little Petra" which is a smaller site of Nabatean carvings and then drove to Petra. Petra is an ancient city carved out of huge sandstone mountains. You enter the site and walk for about a mile through a canyon about 20 feet wide and all of a sudden you turn the corner and see through the canyon the most beautiful building carved right out of a mountain face. Our guide made us hold hands and close our eyes as we approached and when we opened them there was just a gasp and complete slience as we caught our first glimpse of this amazing site. Inside the site we got to climb all over exploring the different tombs and temples that have been excavated.
While in Petra, I did cave in and buy a bottle of sand. It has a camel and says Jordan in Arabic. My friend Annie who is half Jordanian (and speaks fluent arabic) bargined for us so that we only paid $3JD, which is a good deal. I did realize, however, that I am really glad that everything is fixed in price in the US because it took us about an hour to settle on prices, get the bottles made, and convince the guys that we had to go. It's always worth it to bargin because most of the time you can save a considerable ammount of money but it is really a pain.
That night we stayed in a very touristy but nice camp on the outskirts of Wadi Rum. Wadi Rum is a desert preserve with some of the most beautiful views I have ever seen. We took a sunrise tour in jeeps and spent the whole morning just enjoying the amazing views. On one particular stop a few of us decided to climb the biggest sand dune I have ever seen. Of course, the proper way to climb back down is to roll down the hill but I chose the sliding method because I didn't want to deal with sand in my underwear (one of the hazards of dune rolling). But I do have pictures of tiny little me standing on top of the dune!
We also got to climb to the top of a rock bridge when we stopped for tea. I've become quite adventureous since I've been here so I also have a picture of me standing on this skinny little sandstone bridge. It really is amazing what you can find out in nature.
After our morning trip, we finally got to go on our camel ride! My camel's name was Alia and I got to ride her for about an hour. It was surprisingly painless and very fun to see a heard of about 30 camels wandering around the desert. We wern't allowed out of the camp without something covering our head because it was so hot out so I have a great picture of me with my scarf wrapped like a bedoin would wrap it. Since I only came to Jordan to ride a camel I figure that now I can go home, right?
That afternoon, we drove to Aqaba and had the night off. Aqaba is the only port city in Jordan and lies on the northern tip of the Red Sea. I spend my night off with friends looking at souviners and playing cards. Aqaba has to be the only city in Jordan specifically focused on tourism so it made for quite an adventure. The shopkeepers all spoke English, which seems like it would be a relief but now we couldn't make up excuses as to why we were leaving. Usually you can walk by pretending you don't understand them but in Aqaba it is impossible to not understand. Although, for the most part they are still very hospitible and respectful.
The next day we toured around the historical sites in Aqaba (including an Islamic castle) and then spent the remainder of our vacation on a boat in the Red Sea. I got to go snorkling for the first time, too, along the reefs of the Red Sea.
From the boat, we could see the coast of Jordan, Israel, and Egypt at once. And just around the coast was Saudi Arabia. It was really impressive to see so much variation in culture and landscape in such a small space. I really am begining to understand just where I am in the context of history and how important this region really is. So many people have told me that I "just have to see Israel to understand the conflict" but I am beginning to wonder if they are the ones who really need to see. The fact that peace thrives in a lanscape such as Jordan or Aqaba is truly incredible.
And after the boat, we all drove back to Amman. All in all, it was a good trip and a great relief from crazy city life. And I will let everyone know when the pictures are posted.
Posted by rcollins at 10:59 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
February 15, 2005
New Reading Material
Since I've been so bored here lately, I decided to borrow a book from a friend. So yesterday I started the book "Princess" and read almost half the book!
It is the true story of a Saudi princess and her family. Basically, her life (and the lives of all women) are completely controlled by the men that surround her. She cannot leave the house unless she is with a man and she cannot voice any opinions. Her father and brother are considered gods and she is expected to serve them.
She tells the story of her 16 year old sister being married to a 63 year old man because it is good for her family's status. Her sister is then sexually abused by her husband and she tries to commit suicide. Luckly, her mother is able to convince the husband and the father that a divorce is the best option but the girl is still scarred for life.
I am currently in the middle of the book and can't wait to continue it. It is such a beautifully tragic story that I want to see how it ends. Two of my friends have read it and they both were extremely disturbed by the horrible stories that the princess told.
If anyone is curious about the treatment of women in the Middle East, this book is amazing. Definitely check it out!
Posted by rcollins at 5:47 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Timely Subject
I wrote my post yesterday before I found out about the assination of the Lebanese Prime Minister. But the whole incident just shows how random these things are. Beruit is called "The Paris of the Middle East" and the area that the bombing occured is the richest part of town. There are only very limited ways to protect yourself against these attacks and obviously even a highly priority individual can be targeted and killed.
The comment by Becca is interesting because my experience is actually quite the opposite. I can take cabs by myself at all hours of the day and feel relatively safe or at least as safe as I would feel in America. AMIDEAST has an unofficial driver, so if I call him up I have no worries at all: he even knows exactly where I live. I am not going to be pickpocketed or robbed because crime here is extremely low. And even as a woman, I am more likely to be left alone because if anyone were to touch me all I would have to do is cry out and a mob of angry, religious men would come to defend my honor. There is such a taboo against it that men here are even wary about offending a western woman. Of course, I still get stared at, but all women here get stared at.
Instead, I am expected to worry about random acts of terror. These acts are extremely rare in Jordan but they are the biggest threat at Americans (besides traffic). The only thing I can do is be aware of my surroundings and remember that there has only been one American killed by terror here in almost 50 years.
Posted by rcollins at 5:25 AM | TrackBack
February 14, 2005
Filling My Schedule
In the last couple of days, I have been figuring out my normal schedule. Unlike you kids at Brandeis, I haven't even started my regular classes yet. Yesterday I registered for Prospects for Democracy in the Arab World and International Relations and Diplomacy in the Middle East. I also will have Modern Standard Arabic starting the 23rd of February. For now I am just taking Colloquial Arabic and the lectures given at AMIDEAST.
I also got information on a Photography class offered by a program called Wild Jordan and a Biblical Arabic class offered by a church here. Unfortunately I have class during the Biblical Arabic class so I cannot take it and the Photography class costs 75JD so I haven't decided on that one yet. I would love to join a club here but they don't have many because everyone lives at home and leaves the university at 5pm. I need some extracurriculars though to keep me busy. I have slept in more days here already that I normally do in an entire semester at Brandeis. I just don't know how much of this I can take.
On a positive note, my friends and I went to a restaurant called Labani Snack yesterday and had the most amazing fruit smoothies I have ever tasted. It is right behind AMIDEAST so this may become a dangerous habit but it is worth it if it keeps me sane.
My host sister also left yesterday to visit her Aunt for a few days so that means that I have a room to myself. It is nice because with this darn cold (did I tell you I was sick?) I blow my nose every 1/2 hour. I haven't even heard a local blow their nose so there is probably some cultural rule against it that I am breaking. Anyways, at least she gets to sleep in peace.
Oh, and speaking of peace. Yesterday we had a breifing by the Embassy on security matters. They told us that there is almost no chance of our purses being stolen and crime almost never happens but we do need to watch out for assasination attempts. He told us to vary our routine and never leave the house in the same pattern. Too bad he hasn't seen my house. If you go left, you climb a huge hill. If you go straight, you fall into a construction hole. And if you go right, you can catch a taxi. So really, I have one option so I am easy to assinate.
He then continued to explain that we should always sit behind the driver in a cab so that he can't pull a weapon on us. But that may not work, because most of the time the left hand passenger door doesn't work in taxis. So I will probably die there too. And calling a taxi is the safest except that then you become predictable so you die anyways.
I swear, this is the only study abroad program that can boast of teaching it's students how to break a cabby's wrist. Ok, so they didn't actually teach us but they did suggest it as an option if we are in danger.
Today's lecture is on Current Affairs in Jordan so now I need to brush up on my knowledge of what is going on. Better read the Jordan Times.
Posted by rcollins at 6:23 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
February 12, 2005
Lazy Days Around the House
So I realized to day that I am extremely bored right now. Today is Saturday (the second day of the weekend) and because of the snow and the national holiday I have been sitting at home doing nothing for four days. I finished my book and now sit watching tv that I don't understand.
Today I escaped from my house to go out with friends but it is still frustrating because I don't need anything from the mall and there is very little to do on the internet. I just want a book or something to keep me busy.
It isn't that I am not having fun, it is just that I am used to being super busy. I schedual every minute of my day and here I maybe fill three hours. I wake up with a headache because I don't do enough during the day. Instead, I eat way too much junk food and feel icky. Hopefully when classes start I will be busier.
One fun thing I saw today was a little cart on the sidewalk selling corn in a bucket. Yup, just corn like you would buy frozen in the store. They even had different sauces to put on top. I almost took a picture but I decided not to look like too much of a tourist.
Posted by rcollins at 10:03 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 10, 2005
Islamic Holidays
Now that I am in a Muslim country, I get all the Islamic holidays off. At Brandeis I get the Jewish holidays of and here the Islamic ones. Man, when do I get my holidays off? :)
Today I did not have Arabic class so I got to hang out at home. My host sister found a pile of flash cards from the last girl that stayed at her house so now I am learning them all. She quizes me and we both learn vocab. (she learns in English, and I learn in Arabic)
On a random sidenote, I found a new candy bar like a mounds bar in the U.S. It is called the HumHum and it is only 10 piasters. I needed change to take a cab so I went and bought one. They guy at the store thought I was really funny because I bought it with a 10jd note.
Also random, the gas trucks here play icecream truck music. At first I just thought that Jordanians ate a lot of icecream but I asked and it is actually the propane trucks. They used to just yell "gas! gas!"
or honk their horns but supposedly that woke up all the babies so they passed a law mandating icecream truck music. Anyways, it's pretty cool.
Alright, on to my dialogue with young Jordanians.
Posted by rcollins at 10:34 AM | TrackBack
February 9, 2005
Snow Day
You will never believe it but yesterday was a snow day in Amman! I woke up and Mohammad (my host brother) tells me not to take a shower because I don't have class. I must have given him the wierdest look because he makes me go out on the balcony and watch the snow. Sure enough, snow was covering the ground. It was just a light coating but it was enough to cause huge problems. We live on a steep hill so we got to watch cars try to go up and come sliding right back down. I sat all day watching movies and reading my book because they wouldn't let me out of the house.
I am especially glad that I went on Monday and bough a warmer coat. I never though I would need one but now it is really handy. I found a knee length brown wool coat for only 17JD! In February every store is required to have a sale by law so my coat was 50% off. Now all I need is a nice fancy scarf to go with it.
That's another thing. Everyone here dresses up to go into public. My family and I may lounge in our pj's all day in the house, but we have to put on nice pants and sweaters and fancy shoes to go out. I am a slob because I wear jeans and tennis shoes to class. It doesn't really bother me though because I'm going to be stared at anyways no matter what I wear. I just have to deal with it.
Today we have a lecture on Gender Issues in Jordan. I hope it is better than the tribalism one. It was so warm and cozy that I started falling asleep because the guy was so boring. And the stuff he talked about was pretty obvious anyways, or maybe it is just because I have studied it before. Anyways, I hope this one is more interesting.
Tomorrow is a national holiday. It is the Islamic New Year so I do not have Arabic tomorrow. I do have Arabic homework though!
Posted by rcollins at 6:11 AM | TrackBack
February 7, 2005
A lesson in Arabic.
So I finally got to look at the pictures of the Geneva Hotel that Karl posted earlier. They are pretty acurate but the hotel is a bit dirtier. In fact, all of Amman seems to have a thick coating of dust all over it. It may be that it has just been cloudy and raining the whole time I have been here but it seems very dingy.
So I had my best meal yet last night. It was rice with a fish on top and salsa on the side. It was the most flavorful, tasty meal I have had so far. I never knew how much I would appreciate salsa!
Have I mentioned that my family feeds me a lot of food? Yesterday I got home at 6pm and ate the above meal until 6:20. By 7pm we had also consumed a plate each of apples, oranges, and tangerines, followed by cups of mixed nuts. From 7-8pm we watched Oprah. Then, I started falling asleep on the couch so they had me take a short nap (they insisted!) and I awoke at 8:30pm. At that point they brought out the tea and sandwiches for dinner! Not only was I completely full, but the sandwiches were grilled feta cheese with tomatoes and cucumber. I know it sounds good, but the cheese here is really salty. It was like pouring salt down my throat. I started gagging halfway through my first sandwich and I gave up. Probably a good thing too or I would have been stuffed.
I had my first real arabic class today and still haven't decided which section to be in. I have to decide by wednesday though. I might just stay in the one I went to today (the second one) and hope to learn lots of arabic from my host family.
We also start our supplemental lectures today. This afternoon is about tribalsim. I think it will be interesting. And I will write more about it when I get a chance.
Sent from: terbium
Posted by rcollins at 6:40 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
February 6, 2005
Lugga Ammeea
Today was the first day of Jordanian Arabic. We are focusing on speaking so hopefully I will learn enough words to communicate with my family and the ever present cab drivers.
We did an informal oral exam and I kind of decided on level 2 of 3 but I am not sure if that is where I belong. I understood the conversation of the level 3 people but I can't really answer them back in the dialect. One of the students in my program that I consider to be at the same level as I am is in the third group but I just don't know.
Anyways, I think I am going to go to both classes tomorrow to find out where I belong.
Posted by rcollins at 4:36 AM | TrackBack
A Note About Traffic
So there are two things I found interesting abouta href="http://www.jordantimes.com/sun/letters/letters1.htm">this article:
First, I know where Shmeisani is! This is very satisfying because I feel very lost sometimes in a huge city. My 13year old host brother has to go get me a cab if I want to go anywhere. And then I am lucky if I can get it to go where I want.
But traffic here is nuts. There really are no rules and everybody just kind of goes and hopes that they don't get in an accident. I think I have almost died several times. Everyone takes taxis and they are extremely cheap (less than 2 dinar to get across the entire city), however, they seem a little dangerous. The program does recomend them so I guess I will be fine.
The knitting idea though is pretty cool. I have my knitting here so I could work on it if I want but that would mean carrying it around with me all the time. Once I start carrying books this might not be such a good idea but it is a thought.
Posted by rcollins at 4:20 AM | TrackBack
February 5, 2005
Ahh, the weekend.
The weekend here is Friday and Saturday so I have had two days off now. I was supposed to go on a tour of the Amman sites today but it got rained out. Instead I went to lunch with friends at the Chilli House and now I am at Annie's house. She lives with her aunt and has free internet!
So I spend Thursday night and all of Saturday with my new host family! They are very nice but they speak very little english. It is very hard to communicate anything with them. Today I tried to tell them my tour was cancelled but they didn't know what cancelled meant. They just kept asking why? why? aren't you going to Amideast? The worst was explaining that I was meeting friends instead because they couldn't figure out why I was leaving. Of course, I couldn't tell them it was because I was about ready to go crazy watching another hour of "Star Academy" (arab american idol) or another bad American movie. They try to be nice and let me watch the english channels but they only show the worst movies every made. And I mean the worst.
So I haven't figured out how many people actually live in my house yet because there have been around 16 different people over at various times. Last night every couch was full of people staying over. I think that the aunt and her daughters are staying over but I really have no idea because no one can explain it to me. They are all a lot of fun, but I wish they would stop teasing me about being shy. I'm not actually shy, I just can't understand a word they say! Hopefully this all will pay off in the end.
Tomorrow I start coloquial arabic so hopefully I will learn some new stuff to help me talk to my family but I don't know what exactly will happen.
Oh man, so I just figured out I could buy 600 shwarama with my stipend. Good thing i like shwarama.
Sent from: terbium
Posted by rcollins at 9:35 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
February 2, 2005
Homestay Update
I got information about my homestay yesterday. (and my stipend! who knew we would be getting several hundred dollars a month? yesss)
Anyways, my family has had lots of students before so I am like the 9th girl they have hosted. They are Muslim but they don't seem to be extremely conservative. There is a girl my age who studies at another university and a boy who is 15. The father is an engineer and the mother is retired and stays at home. I live like 5min from UJ so it will be a short ride or a long walk to school everyday.
I share a room, but my host sister is very cool and supposedly blow dries her hair and wears makeup and heels so she should be cool. I am very excited.
Also, they speak very limited english so I should come back speaking tons of Arabic. That is really why I am here so I am excited. Finding all of this out made me a lot less nervous and I feel like I can enjoy myself now that it is all taken care of. I was worried that my family wouldn't know what to do with me and would be just as akward as I am. That would be really hard to deal with seeing as I can't even adjust to the culture!
I move in tomorrow and hope that it all goes well. I can't wait to speak Arabic with them!
Sent from: terbium
Posted by rcollins at 11:00 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
First day at UJ
No, not the university judiciary committee, it's the University of Jordan! We spent the morning going over academic policies (like "no missing class") and the afternoon we toured all the buildings. It was pretty crazy because it was the first time we wandered about in a very open, public place. All the girls were vailed and everyone was staring at us. We stand out sooo badly! The tour was pretty useless because it was really confusing and everything looks the same. Also, the campus is about 10 times bigger than Brandeis so I feel very lost. Luckily, we will only be using like 4 buildings so it should be fine.
I am also beginning to regret no bringing my heavy jacket also. It really cold here and it doesn't help that we have to go on all these crazy walking tours. Hopefully spring will come soon.
And one more thing I forgot to tell you that I didn't like: toilet paper cannot be thrown in the toilet. Nope, it goes in the trash basket next to the toilet. I think that this is the hardest part to get used to. And all of the bathrooms are filthy so it doesn't help at all. The only one we would dare to use at the university is in the Center for Strategic Studies and it is quite a walk from the other buildings. The group from last semester named it "hamam jameel" or beautiful bathroom because it is sooo much cleaner than the other ones. The new language building is supposed to open really soon so then those bathrooms will be available but it is still crazy.
Tomorrow is our first adventure in the city, wish me luck!
Sent from: terbium
Posted by rcollins at 10:55 AM | TrackBack
February 1, 2005
Thing I like and things I don't like.
Things I like:
Pictures of the King EVERYWHERE.
Speaking Arabic
The beautiful scenery.
Things I don't like:
Call to prayer at 4am to 5am.
Being honked at by cabs who think we are crazy for walking.
The food.
Not being able to communicate.
Being completely scared by orientation.
Being really tired.
The food, again.
Oh goodness, is it too early to be in culture shock? I can't even cross the street without being run over! Hopefully it will get a lot less frustrating really soon because I just miss my country. Oh well, I am staying positive and I know I will enjoy it soon. And now it is lunch time so here comes more icky food. . .
Posted by rcollins at 5:14 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
And I have arrived!
I have been in Amman for about a day and a half and am doing well. I had a lovely flight out of Boston and tried to sleep most of the way to Paris but didn't really succeed. In Paris I had my fist adventure trying to find my connecting flight. It is a good thing that I had a long layover because I had to take two different busses and no one knew which busses I was talking about. And we taxied twice around the part of the airport that collapsed. That was a lot of fun.
In Paris I met Emma (another girl in my program) and we got to chat for a few minutes about how crazy this all was. We then got on the plane and had a great 5 hours waiting very excitedly. The coolest part of the trip was wakeing up on the second part of the flight and seeing the Swiss Alps out the window. It was incredibly beautiful and it made my day.
When we arrived in Amman, we stood around in the airport for about an hour as we tried to decide what we were supposed to do. We kept looking for a sign that said CIEE and even attempted to ask someone where we might find our program director but of course the man we asked didn't speak english. We finally made it to baggage only to find that Emma's luggage was still in Paris so we had to fill out claim forms and negotiate with the Arabic-only speaking baggage office. We then went through customs (they didn't even look at us!) and met Sally our resident director on the other side. She took us to the hotel where we dropped our luggage off and went straight to dinner.
Dinner was at a traditional arab restaurant and served chicken and lamb kabob along with numerous apatizers and fruit for desert. It was acceptable after all the airplane food but I am sill a bit wary about eating.
Yesterday and today we are doing orientation and this afternoon I get to learn about my homestay. Yup, that's right, I got a homestay! I am really excited but also very nervous because they keep warning us that this is going to be hard to adjust to. Hopefully everything will be fine. . . .
I now have a cellphone so if you feel like calling me, just drop me an e-mail and I will send you my number. It is a bit spendy to speak to me but it is worth it. ;)