Leaving Jordan

The small "graduation" ceremony, where we all recieved our grades and said goodbye to our teachers, was nice and to the point. We even recieved a nice certificate with our names on it saying what level of Arabic we completed.  I took some pictures with my teachers and then left the language center at Yarmouk University for the last time.  The rest of last Monday was spent organizing my belongings.

I relaxed a lot on Tuesday, but went on a GREAT adventure Wednesday.  Sara took me to this amazing old town just outside of Iribid, called Sumit.  Sumit is only a fifteen minute car drive away from Irbid, but one of Jordan's secret treasures.  The town sits up on a hill and has old houses from the Ottoman Empire.  There are also more recent houses that were built in the 1950s that are mingled in with the older ones.  Some families still live in the town, with the old ruins surrounding them, but not many.  I also saw a really old Muslim cemetary, which was almost unrecognizable.  There were sheep, camels, donkeys and dogs in the small town.  I really enjoyed walking amidst the ruins and taking lots of pictures.

I relaxed for a few hours after Sara dropped me off at my apartment.  Sara picked me back up a few hours later so that we could go to a shisha bar with some of her friends for my last night in Jordan.   Some of her friends were Christians from Israel studying in Irbid.  We all went to a shisha bar at the top of one of the local malls.  The cafe looked like it was decorated for a wedding reception.  There were round tables everywhere with nice tan colored tablecloths on them and matching coverings for the chairs.  A skinny man was singing to some keyboard music that was being played by his friend.  The cafe was really decorated for Ramadan and was a little loud, but the environment was relaxing nonetheless.  We decided to move to a different cafe that was outside and not as loud.  I liked Sara's friends that she introduced me to, and we all spoke about our lives and what we study.  The night ended all too soon, but it was a great ending to an amazing trip. 

Leaving Jordan was bittersweet.  I have so many fond memories from my now two summers there, and I learned more than I ever expected.  I feel like my Arabic has really improved and I've made some great friends!  My plane ride back to America was uneventful but seemed to go by quickly.  I am now back in Oxford, MS getting ready for my last year at Ole Miss. 

Last Week of Class and Ramadan Happenings

Since I have last written, I have taken two batches of tests and learned a lot about Ramadan.  The tests here always seem to be difficult for me, but I try my best and sometimes that shows.  Last weekend, July 29-30, I stayed in Irbid to prepare for my last week of classes at the language center.  It was a nice quiet weekend, something I needed for the busy week that came.  My last week of classes at Yarmouk University went by quickly.  We learned about Ramadan from our teachers and the reading assignment for the week.  We also discussed the financial crisis in America along with political cartoons from the uprisings in Egypt and Syria.  

Ramadan began on August 1 this year, but it changes every year depending on moon; it is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar and lasts for about 29-30 days.  Fasting takes place from dawn to sunset, and it is only ok to eat and drink again once iftar, the breaking of the fast, is announced from the mosque.  Ramadan is supposed to teach patience and humility, helping you become more spiritual and closer to God.  This is my first time experiencing Ramadan, and I have noticed a lot of changes in Irbid alone.  Some shops and homes are decorated with paper stars that have lights in them, and crescent moons and stars that light up their windows.  A lot of finals have taken place in the university resulting in a quiet campus.  Most stores and restaurants do not open until iftar or later, making the streets empty as well.  I have also experienced some food that is traditionally eaten during Ramadan such as dates, a sweet tamarind drink, and qatayef. 

Sara, my Jordanian friend, and I ate rice, lamb, dates, yogurt, Arabic salad, and drank a tamarind drink for my first iftar.  We listened for the call of prayer and then went out to find a restaurant that was open.  It was a good way to begin my Ramadan experience.  We walked around the city and talked about the places that we have visited and what we think about them.  Sara spent a year in Madrid, Spain because she is studying Spanish along with tourism.  She said that it was extremely different, but she enjoyed her time there and met many interesting people.  Sara offered to help me with some of my homework so we worked on that after our walk.  Sara is thinking about going back to Spain to teach Arabic so we both benefited from that tutoring session.

Bobby Joe and I broke the fast together the following night with kabsa in a restaurant right across the street from the university.  Kabsa is a rice dish that is considered to be the national dish of Saudi Arabia; the rice is cooked with special spices such as caramon, saffron, black pepper, cloves, black lime, cinnamon, nutmeg, and bay leaves.  Ours was also garnished with raisins, which is common.  I ate that with chicken and it was delicious!  The minute that we sat down in the restaurant, dates, tamarind juice, Arabic salad, and yogurt were placed on the table because those things are expected to be eaten during Ramadan.  There were many families there breaking the fast together, and when we left the restaurant some tables and chairs from other restaurants were placed on the sidewalk so people could eat outside.  The streets slowly got busier as the night went on and stomachs were filled.

Our speaking and dialect teacher, Rijan, wanted to spend some time with the whole group from Ole Miss outside of class so we all went to a cafe Friday night.  We met Rijan at Jafra, a cafe right across the street from the university that is decorated with Ramadan stars and taxidermied animals from Jordan.  There was an oud player present who sang while we all talked about our time here in Irbid.  Rijan thoughtfully bought all of us "The Message" a movie that tells the story of Islam.  I cannot wait to watch it!  I ordered the special Ramadan drink that turned out to be a three level fruit drink with strawberry garnishes.  The first layer was strawberry, then there was a yellow layer for the bananas, and last but not least a green kiwi layer!  It was really nice spending time with Rijan outside of class because she always jokes with us. 

Saturday, along with Friday, I read six pages of how and why fasting is beneficial for a number of health problems.  Dr. Kimal, our reading and writing teacher, said that a few pages out of the six were what we would be tested on for our final exam.  The reading assignment was difficult because of the medical terminology that was used, but I learned some new vocabulary words in the process of reading.  The real fun began when it was time to go to Dr. Kimal's house for iftar.  He invited everyone from Ole Miss to have iftar at his home with his family.  It was a great experience.  Dr. Kimal lives in a quiet neighborhood and a nice apartment with high ceilings and seemingly enough room for his whole family.  Upon my arrival, I was greeted by Dr. Kimal and went to the sitting room.  The sitting room has matching red and gold couches and chairs, with a glass coffee table in the center.  That room leads out to the front balcony which overlooks the street and neighborhood.  Soon after I sat down, Dr. Kimal's three daughters greeted me!  Their ages range from about four or five to nine or ten.  I was then led to the dinning room to meet Dr. Kimal's lovely wife and their one and a half year old son!  All of his children have dark curly hair with dark brown eyes with friendly and sweet dispositions.  For dinner, we were all seated around two tables and waited to eat until we heard the call to prayer announcing that it was time to break the fast. 

We all began our meal with dates, and then moved on to this creamy mushroom soup.  After that we were presented with a meat pie of sorts; it was meat cooked in the shape of a pie with tomatoes, onions and gravy.  Once that was eaten up, it was time for the main dish, maqluba.  Maqluba is a rice dish with cauliflower and eggplant that can be served with chicken or lamb; ours was with chicken.  The maqluba tasted amazing, along with the Arabic salad, yogurt, and potatoes.  There was also tamarind juice and water to drink.  It was an amazing meal!  I can only imagine how long it took to prepare everything and in such a huge quantity, especially without eating or drinking.  Once everyone had their fill, we went back to the sitting room for coffee.  All of Dr. Kimal's kids joined us; the two older girls were playing with each other, and wispering in each other's ear, giggling.  The youngest daughter kept asking for coffee and tea, she was never happy with the little bit that she was given!  Dr. Kimal's son tried to grab everything he saw and if it was taken away he cried for one minute until his dad said to be quiet in a stern voice.  After the first round of coffee came tea with mint.  We all sat in the room talking with each other and watching the kids play, they were so funny.  Dr. Kimal went to go buy a special dessert that is only eaten during Ramadan, qatayef.  Qatayef is made with batter that is cooked similarly to pancakes except that only one side is cooked.  Once that is done, unsalted cheese or nuts (pecans in my case) and cinnamon are sandwiched in the "pancake" and then deep-fried. A simple syrup is then placed over the final product adding another layer of flavor.   It tasted good and sweet.  Once we ate dessert, another round of coffee was presented.  I can only hope to be half as good of a hostess as Dr. Kimal and his family were to the Ole Miss group.  The night was an amazing experience that I thoroughly enjoyed!

Today has also been busy; we had our final exams which were not without difficulty.  Reading was the most challenging, but I think I did well on listening and media!   Tomorrow we are going to have a graduation ceremony of sorts and an opportunity to say goodbye and thank you to our teachers for the last time.  Leaving is going to be bittersweet. 

Amman

Classes last week were nice.  I went walking with my friend Sara on Monday, and I met two of her friends in a coffee shop; we all had tea and talked about life here in Jordan and life in America.  Last week flew by because on Thursday I had a very important meeting planned.  I luckily managed to schedule a meeting with the creator and president of Questscope, Dr. Curt Rhodes.  Before I could meet with Dr. Rhodes, I had to get to Amman.  Gideon, another classmate/friend, and I went to the bus station in Irbid and jumped on the first Hijazi bus going to Amman.  My meeting was scheduled for 4pm, and I made it to the Questscope heaquarters with 30 minutes to spare. 

The Questscope building in Amman has four stories and is in a quiet neighborhood just around the corner of the Paris Circle.  I waited on the first floor for my appointment to begin, and spoke with some of the workers in Questscope.  They were curious about what I was doing there, and why I was meeting with Dr. Rhodes.  Questscope is a company that is "dedicated to transforming the future of vulnerable youth and communities in the Middle East––by equipping them with the resources and hope they need to become compassionate and productive citizens."  The company is located in several countries in the Middle East, and uses many trained volunteers to work within each city. 

My meeting with Dr. Rhodes began right on time.  We spoke in a board room on the fourth floor of the building.  Dr. Rhodes walked in and shook my hand with great enthusiasm.  He is an older American man with white hair and blue eyes, and has been living in the Middle East for about 30 years.  Our conversation began with introductions.  I had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Rhodes on the phone in February, so we both knew a little bit about each other.  I told Dr. Rhodes about my studies here in Irbid and at Ole Miss.  He seemed very interested in them.  We spoke about history and where certain political ideals have came about.  I then asked Dr. Rhodes to just give me some advice on life here in the Middle East and a little bit about human rights.  Dr. Rhodes said to look at "the dark side of the moon".  As outsiders we have to ask what other people know and work from there.  What others perspective on life is and how they live.  He emphasized this point by explaining how Questscope works with underprivileged youth who have dropped out of high school and do not seem to have a postitive future.  Before anything, Questscope sits down with an individual and asks them what their daily life is like.  From there they help the individual get some education and/or obtain a trade so that he may work.  The main goal is to teach  the individual how to utilize their strengths in a positive and productive manner, and to teach them how to think for themselves.  It is a very interesting process, which is also explained more on their website: www.questscope.org  The meeting was very inspiring for me.  I am so glad that I had the opportunity to meet with such a remarkable and interesting man! 

Once the meeting was over, Gideon and I checked into the hostel that we were staying in, Abbassi Palace Hotel, located in downtown Amman near the Roman Ampitheatre.  Our hostel was worth the money that we paid for one night.  Gideon and I ate near our hostel called "Cairo Restaurant."  It did not serve Egyptian food, but instead had common Jordanian food such as makbula and mansaf (Jordan's national dish).  I had an interesting rice dish with chicken, it tasted amazing!  Gideon and I took a taxi to another part of Amman that seemed like a comletely different world than downtown.  The streets were cleaner and the buildings newer, and the restaurants seemed to be more expensive.  I loved being in the city, everything was new and exciting for me.  From my experience, taxi drivers usually ask Gideon if I am his wife or sister as if I am not present; so we decided that if anyone asked, we were siblings.  It's very interesting for me to be in a taxi because the driver usually completely ignores me and only talks to the person in the front seat (a male classmate).  Gideon was good at trying to keep me involved in the conversation, but I usually just listen.  One taxi driver started talking about religion and said that God does not have a son, that was a first.  Other cab drivers just ask where we are studying and what we think about Jordan.  Most of them are very friendly and curious. 

Friday morning, Gideon and I headed out to Rainbow Street.  On Fridays there is a big market where you can buy anything from carpets to fresh made pickles; there are jewelry, coins, and paintings.  While on the street looking for souvenirs, security men brushed by me and I turned around to see an important couple most likely from Europe.  I'm not sure why those people were famous or important, but they had a lot of security, making sure that their visit was safe.  The rest of the day was spent wandering around downtown Amman.  There are stores for anything imaginable.  Especially, souvenirs.  The day was warm, but the walk was nice.  Not all businesses were open of course because it was Friday, when most things are closed.  Downtown is dirtier and livlier than other parts of Amman.  The streets always seem to be busy with people trying to sell their goods.  It felt like I was walking through a huge flea market; I could buy anything from souvenirs to clothes and fruit. 

The bus ride back to Irbid seemed to go by quickly.  Once back in Irbid, I relaxed so that I would be ready to study on Saturday.  Saturday morning I did homework and studied for the LSAT with Iskander which went well.  Though it is still the beginning of the week, class is starting to get busier.  We have another round of tests on Wednesday, which will hopefully go well.  It is hard to believe that next week will be our last full week taking classes at Yarmouk.  Sometimes I'm not sure where the summer has gone!

Adventures in Irbid, Petra, Aqaba, and Wadi Rum

This is going to be a long post, because there is so much to tell...starting with Monday the 11th.  Last Monday, my friend Gideon and I were invited to hang out with Sara, the girl that had been coming to our dialect classes to help with speaking.  Sara wanted to go walking for exercise, so we walked a few blocks over to this public exercise complex.  There were families walking around the exercise tracks and we joined them as we spoke about living in Jordan as a Christian or a Non-Muslim, since Sara is a Christian.  Sara said that living in Jordan was fine because she only associates with open-minded people, which made sense to me.  No one has ever said anything negative towards me, and all of the Jordanians have been nothing but nice and friendly.  The walk around the track stopped when one of Sara's friends showed up in her family's new silver car.  Sara's friend had long brown hair, and lots of makeup on her face.  Gideon and I hopped into the back seat of the car, that still had plastic on it, and off we drove.  We drove all over town just talking and listening to music.  After a while, Sara, Gideon, and I were dropped off in the middle of town and we walked to this amazing sandwich place called "Night Town."  There was fresh French bread there, and I ate a delicious chicken sandwich.  After dinner, we walked one block over to pick up a shirt from one on Sara's friends.  Even though it was late, we decided to sit on the sidewalk and talk.  I had a great night going out in Irbid with Sara and speaking Arabic.

Tuesday just happened to be test day.  I woke up early and had a breakfast of coffee and a donut to ensure that I would be ready for the long day ahead.  Reading class was held, and then we took our speaking tests.  I compared life in Irbid to life in Oxford, I think it went well; I am still not sure what grade I made.  Dialect was after our speaking test and our teacher, Rijan, decided that we should all go to the donut shop for a small field trip.  The donut shop is quiet in the morning, but in the afternoon, it is a whole different place.  There were "No Smoking" signs all over the walls, but there was cigarette smoke all over the room.  There was loud club-like music playing in the background and the front room was filled with men, while the back room, where you order your food, was filled with women and mixed company.  After that fun field trip, there was a short break and then it was test time.  Media, reading, and listening was the order of the tests.  The hardest test was reading, but I got through it okay.

I then made plans with three of the French teachers, Elaine, Katrine, and Mary.  We went to a nearby shisha bar called Jafra.  I ordered a strawberry banana fruit drink and it tasted amazing!  The four of us talked for almost two hours about our different lives in our home countries.  I asked them why they wanted to teach French as a foreign language, and they each gave different answers.  Elaine, who is very open and friendly, said that she wanted to travel the world with her work.  Katrine, who has light blonde hair and who is also half American, said that she had to hurry and decide on a job and that both of her parents are teachers.  Mary, who is quiet but nice, loves learning new things about her mother tongue and teaching foreigners in France.  We all got along well and decided that we would have to hang out again soon.  I stayed home for about an hour and then I was off again to hang out with Sara.  We walked and picked up one of her friends, Michael, who is from Jerusalem but is studying to be a dentist in Irbid.  We went to this cafe that was located in this run down mall in the middle of town.  Michael, Sara, and I spoke for a while and then Gideon and Ed joined us after their dinner.  It was another eventful night in Irbid. 

Wednesday was a busy day, because we were scheduled to leave at noon for our Petra, Aqaba (Red Sea), and Wadi Rum trip.  We had a few hours of class before we left, but it was difficult for me to focus because I was already in vacation mode.  Everyone from Ole Miss, Ayham (the man who takes us on all of our trips), his son, and the bus driver all left Yarmouk University at noon on a Yarmouk University bus with squeaky brakes.  Our first stop was Petra!  We arrived to Wadi Musa, the city surrounding Petra, around four in the afternoon.  We stayed in the Crowne Plaza, and the first thing I did was jump into the swimming pool.  I went out to dinner with Qua, Bobby Joe, and Iskander.  We walked around town and picked a random restaurant.  There were no customers, but we had faith that the food would be good nonetheless.  Iskander and I both got this interesting dish that tasted like strange spaghetti sauce with lamb in it.  At least I can say that I tried something new!  After dinner, it was time to go to the Cave Bar which is a 2000 year old Nabatean tomb that has been transferred into a restaurant and bar.  I spent an hour or so there and then decided it was time for bed, since I had to be up and ready early in the morning.  My group left at seven Thursday morning to go see the ancient city of Petra. 

Petra is one of the world's wonders and an ancient city built into rock faces by the Nabateans in 6th century BC.  The Nabateans were a nomadic tribe that settled and built Petra for over 500 years, making it one of the biggest trading cites in the Middle East.  Today, Petra is visited by tourists and admired for its beauty and sheer amazingness.  The Siq is the main entrance into Petra, and when I walked in, I saw many Nabatean carvings and different colors in the rocks.  The Siq slowly opened up and revealed the Treasury, which is truly amazing.  It stands fourty-three meters high and thirty meters wide, has six columns in the front of it and carved figures at the top.  Walking up to the Treasury for the second time, I was amazed.  It is so difficult to give this city justice with words.  My pictures do not even give the city justice.  The only way to truly understand how amazing and inspiring Petra is, is to see it in person.  After the Treasury, I walked along and saw tombs and houses that were also built into the rocks.  I continued walking down the Street of Facades, and passed the Theatre that could originally hold 3000 people in it!  Next was the Colonnaded Street, which marks Petra's city center, and from there, I found my way to the steps leading up to the Monastery.  There are 800 stairs leading up the Monastery which is similar to the Treasury, but much bigger.  The walk up took about fourty minutes and was extremely tiring; I forgot how tired I was walking up the stairs when I made it to the top and saw the Monastery for the first time.  It is breathtaking and just makes you wonder how something like that could have been built.  It was originally built to be a tomb, but there are cross carvings that suggest it was used as a church during the Byzantine times.  There was a path to continue walking up a small rock to see a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains and area.  The walk down was much easier than the walk up!  My favorite part of Petra is the color of the stones.  I find it amazing how there will be a pattern of pinks and purples on the carved rock.  It is also obvious, upon seeing the city, why they call it the "rose-red city." 

We all met in the hotel lobby around lunchtime to leave Petra and go to Aqaba.  Before we got too far on the road, we stopped in the outskirts of Wadi Musa to have lunch.  I went to this random restaurant and ordered Beruni rice and an Arabic salad.  It was the perfect meal after such a long day of exploring.  I slept the whole drive to Aqaba and we arrived around 4 PM; we stayed in the InterContinental Hotel, which is just amazing.  There is a great pool area and a beach right behind that, leading to the wonderful waters of the Red Sea.  The first thing that I did was go out to the beach!  I stayed there for about thirty minutes before exploring the city with Gideon.  Aqaba is Jordan's only seaport, and because of this, it has a rich history of Islamic conquests and governance by different Caliphates.  The inner-city was bustling with people trying to sell their goods, anything from electronics to fresh fruit.  After exploring for a while, I decided that it was time for dinner.  Gideon and I found this amazing pasta restaurant and I had the best shrimp fettucine alfredo.  I could not leave Aqaba without eating seafood.  The shrimp was delicious!  Once back at the hotel, I went back to the beach.  The moonlight sparkled in the water's reflection, and the sea was the perfect temperature to cool off my feet.

I woke up early on Friday morning so that I could go snorkeling.  Our bus driver picked some of us up, and we went to The Royal Diving Club.  This was the second time that I was able to snorkel in the Red Sea, and it was just as amazing the second time as it was the first.  There were a lot of reefs, which housed many different kinds of fish.  I saw parrot fish, minnows, some fish that looked like eels and much more.  I was a little scared at first to be so close to fish, but I quickly got over that.  After snorkeling, I spent the rest of the afternoon on the InterContinental Hotel's beach.  There were some fish in that water there as well, but not many.  The hotel blasted music on the beach, and some of the song selections made me laugh such as "YMCA" and "The Macarena."

The group left Aqaba around 5 PM, and we arrived in Wadi Rum about an hour before sunset.  The minute that we arrived at our campsite, Jabal Rum Camp, we were whisked away into the back of two trucks to go exploring in the desert and see the sunset.  Wadi Rum is a great desert that has a mountainous landscape.  It is now well known because of TE Lawrence who helped in the Arab Revolt and wrote about Wadi Rum in Seven Pillars of Wisdom.  The desert was filled with mountains, and our first stop was to this interesting rock formation.  We all took pictures and then hopped back into the trucks and drove to a spot where we saw the Seven Pillars of Islam.  After that, we climbed up a sand hill on all fours.  Getting up the hill was tough, but running down made it all worth it!  The next stop was to watch the sun set behind mountains.  It was beautiful how the sun's rays hit the mountains and sand changing the colors all around us.  Our camp site that we stayed at is made for tourists; it is set up with lots of tents, two beds in a tent, and at the end of it, there is a big circle of seats and a fire pit in the middle.  There were men dressed in traditional white clothing with kiffayes on their heads.  Our meal of chicken was cooked under the ground, and we got to watch the men take it out.  Our dinner consisted of hummus, pita bread, rice, lamb, kous kous, and chicken.  Afer the food was served, there was a little show of dubka dancing.  I, along with some others, joined in the dubka dancing, and after that, there was a reinactment of a traditional Bedoin wedding.  Some tourists were picked for this, and they were all dressed up and makeup was put on their faces.  The community walked the couple to their seats next to the fire pit to the sound of chants and drum beats.  After that, there was dancing around the couple and then the couple had to dance alone.  Before the dinner began, Ayham came up to us and said that there were female relatives and/or wives of a Sheikh sitting next to us and that we were not to take pictures of them.  Sheikh is an honory work in Arabic and means leader and/or governer.  These women had about six bodyguards and were dressed very fashionably and looked to be in their early twenties with one older mother figure.  They had on hijabs, but you could see their bangs.  They seemed interested in our group, because we were having fun and dancing.  These women also did not eat with us, they waited until the majority of the tourists were gone and their dinner was placed on a different table with a fancy tablecloth.  I left the campsite as the women from Dubai went to eat their food.  I walked out into the desert, my path lit up by the full moon.  It was nice to walk for a bit and think about life in such a peaceful place.  I slept well that night, except for the mosquitos buzzing in my ear.  I woke up just in time to catch the sun rise.  After I saw that, I ate a breakfast of boiled eggs, jelly, butter, pita bread and tea.  Once everyone was done eating, it was time to go back to Irbid.

On our way back to Irbid, I thought of all the wonderful experiences that I was able to have and how the last few days were such a whirlwind of adventures.  We arrived back in Irbid in the early afternoon, which gave everone just enough time to prepare for class the next day.  We've only had two days of class this week, but they have been really fun.  I really enjoy my teachers and their enthusiasm for teaching.  It is hard to believe that I only have a few weeks left here in Jordan.

July 4th and Daily Life

It has only been a week since my last blog, but so much has happened.  July 4th seems like it was ages ago when instead it's been less than a week.  Of course we did not get a day off for our Independence Day, but there was a celebration nonetheless.  Two guys from my class decided to make cheese burgers and cajun shrimp.  Alex and I added to that meal with a peach cobbler, and some of the other guys bought fireworks!  Making the cobbler was an interesting experience.  It was my first time ever attempting a dish like this, and Alex and I were not sure what we would find in the store, ingredients wise.  We googled some recipes and picked the easiest ones that required a minimal amount of ingredients.  We used: cake batter, fresh peaches from a street vendor, cinnamon, and simple syrup.  The dessert was a success!  The whole group from Ole Miss got together in one of the apartments where all the cooking was going on.  Some of the French girls that are here teaching French as a foreign language also joined us for the celebration.  I thought that it was fitting since they did help us win our independence.  After a while, we all went up to the roof of the building to watch the fireworks!  It was such a fun night being with the whole group and expanding on new friendships. 

My classes here have been going very well.  I've been enjoying every day; all of my teachers offer me something different and they are so nice.  This week in media class our teacher, Salim, tried to lighten the mood, since we were watching something about violence against women, and made a funny joke about one of us (students).  After his joke he wanted to make sure that we all knew he was kidding and he said he was trying "to make a funny and refresh the atmosphere!"  It was such a funny moment for the class.  Probably a "you had to be there" moment.  I like his class because even though he is goofy, he will not move on until he knows that everyone understands what is being discussed.  Also, our dialect teacher, Rijan, brought in two Yarmouk University students, Asam and Sara, so that we could truly practice speaking in dialect.  Asam and Sara are really nice and eager to help us with speaking.  Asam is Arabic but has light hair and blue eyes while Sara has wild curly hair (she doesn't wear a hijab because she is Christian) and a friendly face.  Sara and I exchanged numbers so I think we will try to go out sometime this week!  All of my other classes are also going well!  We have tests this week.  It shouldn't be too difficult...

I have also been pushing myself to think more in Arabic.  Dr. Clark, my Arabic teacher at Ole Miss, says that is "the key to language learning."  I think it might be working on some level because I have already had one dream in Arabic! 

Daily life seems to be going well.  Alex and I have been cooking up a storm.  This weekend we made teriyaki chicken with fresh vegatables, from our vegatable man across the street, and rice.  We also made fried rice the next day with the leftover rice and bell peppers.  When we don't cook we go to great restaurants like the Yemeni restaurant.  The owner of the place remembered us from last year and when a group of us went this past week he gave us a free dessert, which consisted of some white cheese melted in pieces of their special bread with honey drizzled all over it.  It had an interesting flavor.  Yemeni food seems to be a mix between, Mexican, Indian, and stew.  It has a lot of flavor.  On another note, I hope that everyone is having a great summer!!  Next weekend we go to Petra, Wadi Rum, and Aqaba (Red Sea)!

A Feminist, Mount Nebo and the Dead Sea

This has definitely been a busy and interesting week.  To begin with, on Tuesday Dr. Rula Quawas, a professor at the University of Jordan in Amman, came to give everyone at the the language center a speech on the women's movement in Amman.  The talk was given in English and there were a lot of interesting points that she made that had never occured to me.  This speech was timed perfectly with what my class has been discussing with our teachers, women's role in society.   Dr. Quawas said that feminism is seen as an idea from the West, that it is imported, not homegrown.  Feminism is seen as something versus nationalism, not something that is one and the same.  Also, to understand the role of women in this society, it is extremely important to know that Sharia Law and the tribal system make it difficult for women to be seen as equals.  Sharia Law is governered by men, and women just have to follow the laws that are placed before them without participation.  The tribal system is strong and focuses on the group, not the individual.  Family honor is very important and women are the keepers of this honor through their virginity before marriage.  If virginity is not kept, there are sometimes honor killings (rare in Jordan) where a family member kills the woman for dishonoring the family and bringing shame.  Sometimes women who have dishonored their family are put in prison for their own protection knowing that if they leave,  they won't be able to live. 

It is a culture of religion that governs this society and growing up with a mindset that men are the protectors of women.  Women cannot be equal because they are seen as weak, thus needing the men for their protection.  I found that statement to be extremely true since one of my teachers said that he would not allow his wife (who is weak) to travel to Egypt with her friends because he would not be able to provide her with his protection.  Dr. Quawas said that protection is oppression because women have to learn how to take care of themselves.  She quoted Frederick Douglas, who once said that "If we cannot stand up, let us fall down!"  Dr. Quawas wants to raise awareness of what role women play, she cannot empower them because they have to learn how to do that for themselves.  To think to themselves, have respect for the family or for myself?  She wants the women in Jordan to learn new things and unlearn some of the old things that keep them back. 

Women in Jordan earned the right to vote in 1972 and there are even some women involved in politics.  Those that are involved in politics have some visibility but they are not allowed to make important decisions.  Though there is a new constitutional committee, there is not one woman who was invited to participate in it and help make changes for the country.  There are laws that have been ratified, but not implemented.  Though Dr. Quawas is very passionate about women being equal to men, she is also cautious about seeing it happen.  She recognizes that things are a bit better, but there are still stumbling blocks that must be overcome.  It is also difficult to keep the spark alive.  All in all, Dr. Quawas just wants women to make choices based on what they want for themselves.  It was such a touching and enlightening speach. 

We had to take our tests on Wednesday instead of Thursday, when the school week ends, which we all found interesting.  We were able to take our writing test at home, where we had to write about the "effects of religion in society."  Since that is such a broad subject I made it more specific and wrote about Christianity's effects on American society.  Media was one of the easier tests for me, but reading was extremely difficult, and I think that I'm slowly improving in listening class based on that test.  We are not given study guides for our tests, just told that we will have to take them.  I definitely had to unwind after having a day full of tests, so Iskander (Alex McLelland) and I went to go throw a frisbee.  Iskander called a French girl, Theri, that he met the other day who also likes throwing frisbees to join us.  Theri is very lively and friendly; she is here for about two months with three other friends teaching French as a foreign language here at Yarmouk.  Theri patiently taught me a new way to throw the frisbee.  Thursday was not a difficult day, thankfully because I was already in weekend mode. 

Thursday night Iskander and I made a mexican casserole for dinner.  It tasted amazing!  That night was filled with good food and interesting conversations about politics and society.  There were about seven of us just sharing our views on society and education.  The conversation lasted well into the night, and before I knew it, I needed to go to sleep so that I would be able to wake up for the next day's adventures.  Friday morning, we all woke up early and met outside of the university apartments.  Ayham, of course, was there along with Theri and her friends and a Turkish group who are also here to learn Arabic.  Riding in the Yarmouk University charter bus was comfortable enough.  I mostly looked out of the window and saw camels, donkeys and horses on the side of the road.  There were also a lot of fruit vendors and olive trees. 

We all arrived to Mount Nebo ready to stretch our legs.  Mount Nebo is the sight where Moses was shown the Holy Land before he died.  Some people think that he is buried somewhere on that mountain.  From the mountain, I saw amazing views and I also saw some great mosaics.  We stayed on the mountain for about 30-40 minutes so that everyone could look around before we headed to Jesus' baptism site.  Since I went to the baptism site last year, I, along with some other people, decided to opt out of seeing it again.  We had to wait on the others under an awning with ambitious flies trying to land all over us without getting swatted away.  The wait was not bad at all because I brought a book to entertain me.  Once that part of the trip was over, we were off to the main event,  the Dead Sea! 

We went to the Amman Beach Tourism Resort where there is a pool area beside the Dead Sea.  The Dead Sea is the lowest place on earth, and all of the salt comes from its intense evaporation rate.  The first thing that I did when we arrived was jump into the Dead Sea.  The water felt warm and smooth, maybe even a little slimy.  It was an amazing sensation to just float there, with nothing but the salty water holding me up!  After I had enough of the extreme salt, I went and swam in the pool for a bit.  It was a great relaxing trip.  We stayed there for a few hours, and then it was time to head back to Irbid.  The ride back was anything but dull.  Somewhere outside of Amman our bus driver pulled the bus over and got out.  Aparently we ran out of gas...  It just happened to be the perfect time to see the sunset.  Most of us walked accross the highway where there was an amazing view over a random small town.  The sunset was beautiful and relaxing and just as it was about to get really dark, the bus driver just happened to get a little bit of gas so that we could make it to a gas station in Amman and really fill up the charter bus.  It was a long, but amazingly fun day!  Now, it's time for homework...

Ajloun Castle and Camping

Thursday after class, eight classmates and I decided to go to the city of Ajloun and visit the castle.  We went to the south bus station here in Irbid and waited for about 15-20 minutes.  The bus station was filled with other students from Yarmouk and vendors selling food.  Four of us were finally able to to sqeeze on the third Ajloun-Irbid bus that we saw.  I noticed that some people would put their personal items on the seats in the bus through the window to save their seat before they got on the bus, so that those that actually made it on the bus first did not have a seat.  I personally think that's a cheeky move.  20 or 30 minutes later I was getting off the bus in Ajloun.  We weren't sure if we were in the right place, even though we asked where we were, because we did not have a view of the castle right away.  We walked through this market with vendors selling anything from clothes to fresh fruit.  Once we got through the market we saw the castle in the distance up on a hill, which was very reassuring.  After flagging down a taxi we drove for about 5-10 minutes up to the castle.  The ticket for the castle was only JD 1 for all four of us together because we had our Yarmouk ID cards with us. 

Ajloun Castle was built in 1184 AD by Saladin's generals to control the iron mines and protect the country from the Crusaders.  It was full of passages that led to many rooms and everywhere I turned there was an amazing view!  It was nice wandering around and taking lots of pictures of everything.  It also wasn't crowded with people which made the experience more enjoyable.  The other four, those that had to wait for the next bus to Ajloun from Irbid, met us at the castle.  Once the castle started to close, we called our taxi driver, fakhry, to come pick us up.  He did, and called another cab driver friend of his to pick up the other four.  Fakhry took us to a local restaurant in Ajloun to eat dinner.  The owner of the restaurant came out and greeted us, he hoped that we would remember our trip forever.  I had a delicious chicken meal with mango juice.  After we were all done eating, our cab drivers were there to pick us up and take us to the Ajloun Nature Reserve.  Gideon called the day before to see if there were empty rooms for us to stay in, but no one answered.  When we got there they said that they were all booked, but that we could stay at a camping site about 15 minutes away.  The sun was beginning to set at this point so we took some pictures and hopped back into our cabs.  The drive to the campsite was pleasant and interesting.  We drove through some small towns and I saw a few donkeys on the side of the road, we also had to make it up a steep hill with a drop on the side of us.  It felt longer than 15 minutes, but we made it there safely. 

The campsite, Rasoun Tourist Camp, looks over the small village of Rasoun.  We were greeted by the owner and his three sons, and were immediately given water to drink.  We scheduled a time with our taxi drivers for them to pick us up the next day and then started settlling in.  The tents were a good size with mattresses, blankets, and pillows, there was also a carpet.  Once I put my bag down, I saw that there were small paths around the campsite outlined by big rocks.  We all found the most important path amongst the terrain of rocks, weeds, and trees, that led down to the rock ledge that looked over the town of Rasoun and the surrounding area.  There was a slightly steep ledge surrouded by rocks that we all sat on and enjoyed the beautiful view.  The night time noises or kiew playing in the streat were easy to hear and I could see the stars perfectly, along with a few satellites.  We were all down there for about an hour and a half when one of the owner's sons brought us some sage tea, which added to the great experience of star gazing and relaxing.

The night was a bit chilly, but two blankets were provided.  The next morning I woke up at 5 so I would be able to see the sunrise.  It was a beautiful  site.  I also walked back down to the viewpoint from the other night so that I could see the town during the day.  The morning was relaxing and slow going, which was just what I needed after a busy school week.  A breakfast of flat bread, hummus, honey,  tea was provided by the owner, along with a cup of coffee once eveyone was done eating.  Our taxi drivers picked us up at the designated time, and once they had a small chat with the owner of the campsite, we were on our way.  Since it was Friday, there was not going to be a bus to Irbid, so the taxi drivers drove us back to Yarmouk.  On our way back to Irbid, I saw donkeys, horses, and one camel.  I also realized how important it is for me to know dialect, that was all that our taxi driver spoke.  I understood the majority of what he said, but the experience made me appreciate learning it even more.  Once we were back in Irbid I read a little and relaxed for the rest of the day.  Today has been filled with homework, so it's safe to say that the exciting part of the weekend is over. 

Dinner and Dabke

A lot has happened since I've last written.  Sunday was a casual school day where we talked about the difference between American and Islamic marriages.  Monday was where things got busy and interesting.  After class, I ran into an American friend that I met here last year, Mo.  He studied here at Yarmouk for about a year and is now living in Amman for about six weeks.  He was visiting the language center and was about to go tour the textile factory that is located here in Irbid with some other students from the language center.  I, along with my other classmates, was invited to go tour the factory.  In the end, only three of us from Ole Miss took the tour.  The textile factory is located on the second floor of a building in the middle of the city, and is essentially two huge rooms filled with sewing machines, surgers and different work stations.  Upon arrival, we were greeted and taken to the general manager's office, Mohammad Abo Abduh.  Water and juice was available for us while we had the opportunity to learn about the factory before we took the actual tour.  The factory was established after the peace treaty between Israel and Jordan; they partner up with another factory in Israel.  The factory makes different clothing items for various companies, and at this moment they are only making items for one company, Victoria's Secret.  Our tour began after we were told that 90% of the workers are female and that regulations such as working hours are followed.  The first room that we toured was filled with surgers that had lime green thread on them, and heating machines that put the "PINK" label on the underwear.  There was also a station that put stickers on the finished product and finished packaging it all up to be sent to the client.  The other room was just like the first, but there were a few machines that had plastic trash bags over them because they must have been broken.  After that we went back into the general manager's office and were offered some candy and goody bags.  It was very interesting for me to be there and see how textiles are mass produced. 

After I got back from the factory, I joined some of the guys from my class to throw a frisbee.  We threw it behind some of the soccer courts that are here on campus.  I'm not great at throwing frisbees, but I was given a few lessons and have greatly improved!  It was a great Monday.

Yesterday, Tuesday, was also exciting and interesting.  Everyone one at the language center was invited to a fancy dinner hosted by the University.  We all dressed up and went to a place outside on campus that was set up with tables, a few band instruments, and a long buffet table.  The president of the University was there and shook everyone's hand that was there with a camera man recording all of it.  Speeches were given and then there was a performance from the campus dabke group.  Dabke is the national dance of Jordan and some other countries here in the Middle East.  It is where men, women, or both stomp there feet in certain rythms to the music all while holding hands.  The group performing was very good, they were dressed in traditional folk clothes with the girls wearing all black dresses with some designs on the bottom of the sleeves and the bottom of the dress.  The guys wore khaki shirts with keffiyeh's (traditional headdress or scarf) around their necks.  I took a short video of the dance so I would not have to take a lot of pictures.  Once the first performance of the night was completed, it was time to get food!  The beginning of the buffet line was filled with different appetizers such a hummus, some vegetables, and potatoes.  There wwere also three main courses offered.  One was rice with lamb, the second was something similar to kous kous with chicken and then the third was an onion, pepper, chicken mix that was amazing!  Everything tasted amazing.  After I was finished eating, my speaking teacher came and got some of us so that we could dabke to the music that was being played.  Last year the dance seemed a little difficult, but I caught on really quickly and had fun with it!  After I danced the whole song through, it was about 10pm and time for me to head back to my apartment.  It was a very fun night, and I'm glad that I was able to dance!

For the past few days my apartment has not had running water.  Everytime it was "fixed" there was only water for about an hour and would then go out again.  I took showers at my friend's apartments after class when I would find out that the water was out again.  The other day I called the maintenance people myself and spoke on the phone for the first time in ALL Arabic.  I was very proud of myself.  Once again, the problem was fixed for only a short time.  It has been a frustrating thing to deal with, but today the water is on, and I'm sure/hoping that it is here to stay!!  Tomorrow is my last day of class for the week and I'm still trying to decide what I want to do this weekend.  Whatever I decide, I know that it's going to be a lot of fun! 

Watching the Lunar Eclipse in Jordan

The weather here has slowly gotten warmer; the first few days were cloudy, which is unusual in comparison with last summer.  Even though the sky is clear now, the heat is not overwhelming and there is no humidity either!  Wednesday, before one of our classes, the secretary of the building came in with some friends and gave us some cake, and Jordanian pastries with cheese in them, along with some water to wash it all down.  One of the girls had just gotten engaged and the food was left over from celebrating her good news.  Later that night, I decided to go smoke some shisha in my favorite coffee place, jafra, with Bobby Joe.  Jafra is great because I can sit outside on the balcony and watch what happens on the street.  Before I went to pick up Bobby Joe, I saw the moon full and bright, and decided to take a picture of it.  While talking to Bobby Joe on the balcony, we saw the moon again, but this time it was smaller, and we both realized that we were watching a lunar eclipse.  It was so amazing, sitting there watching the world turn.  Everyone on the street was minding their business and walking around, continuing with the plans they had for that night while the whole time the moon was also continuing its plans.  So many people didn't even notice the moon!  I took some more pictures of the moon, but of course they don't do the eclipse any justice.  It was just an interesting and moving experience for me.

Class went well the next day.  My roommate and I had to kill a centipede in our room earlier that morning.  I'm not sure how it got there, but it was definitely on a mission to roam around the whole apartment!  After class, my neighbor friends (Maria and Sarah) that I met the first night, came over to see if they could use our shower, their apartment had no water.  Sarah was taking a shower and I spoke with Maria.  It was nice practicing my Arabic with her and learning about her, she is very sweet.  It was slightly difficult for me to understand the way she pronounced words, but the more we chatted, the easier it was to understand.  After Maria and Sarah left, Alex and I went to the store to buy some more ingredients for the dinner that we were going to make last night.  Everyone who is here from Ole Miss was invited to eat dinner at Alex, Cullen, and Matt's apartment.  Alex and I made spaghetti with onions, garlic, and fresh tomatoes that we added into the sauce.  We also had homemade garlic bread with butter.  The kitchen is very small, but everything worked well.  We now know how quickly propane stoves cook food!  Everyone came over and we sat in the living room in a makeshift circle on various chairs and talked to each other.  The whole group doesn't hang out together all of the time, we all break off into smaller groups and have our own expereiences, so having the "family" dinner was a great way to see everyone at once and talk about what we've been doing this week, etc.  After dinner, some of us decided to play some card games, and the night went on from there.  Today has been a relaxing day for us since today is a weekend.  My apartment is now out of water, but I luckily took a shower before that happened.  Someone is working on it now, so the problem should quickly be fixed, inshallah!

First Days Settled In

We took our placement test on Sunday, and I made it to the fourth level.  My whole class scored on the fourth level along with two guys from the lower level class.  Our subjects include dialect, reading, listening, speaking, media, and writing.  One of the teachers that we had last year is teaching us again this summer (listening), and we have three new teachers.  They are all great.  Our writing/reading/dialect teacher, Dr. Kimal, is very good at making sure that everyone in class participates at least once.  We also have listening everyday, which was my worst subject last year, so I’m looking forward to drastically improving in that!  Right now our classes are held in the English building on campus instead of the language center because there are so many students here at the same time, leaving the building with no empty classrooms.  We have our class in this new building for only two weeks, and will then be back in the language center.  Class is four hours a day with two hour long breaks making the day go by quickly.  As of yet we have not had too much homework, but it is only the first week! 

I did have an interesting experience with the bathroom in my apartment.  There was a leak in there somewhere and the floor had about an inch of water all over it!  There is a drain in the middle of the floor and I took a floor squeegee and tried to get the water in that, but it was no use.  It was like that for about two days and finally got fixed today!  On a better note, I’ve already gone and smoked shisha twice this week.  I like to go to this café near the University that has a great balcony that I can sit on and watch the people on the street.  I’ve forgotten how much the car horns are used and how there seem to be no rules for parking; two cars are sometimes parked parallel to each other.  I have also gotten very good being oblivious to all of the stares I get.  It doesn’t bother me because everyone here is very nice and they are just curious.  I’m looking forward to going on a few explorations this weekend with some of the people from my class.

Arriving in Jordan

I arrived safely in Amman, Jordan, after a very smooth airplane ride, yesterday afternoon (June 10).  I met up with my friend Alex in the airport, he got there earlier because he flew in from Cairo, Eygpt and we talked while we waited for everyone else to arrive.  This summer there will be eleven of us here from Ole Miss studying Arabic. Five people, including me, from my Arabic class, and six people, one other girl, from the class just below mine.  During our wait in the airport, I read a little bit and watched the people around me.  A lot of families with kids were there, so I watched all of their cute kids running and jumping around their parents while they waited.  The fire alarm went off at one point, but no one stood up to leave the building or seemed concerned, instead everyone continued sitting and waiting for people, so Alex and I stayed in our seats as well.  The alarm didn't stay on for very long, which was good!

Once everyone arrived, the man who takes care of us here, Ayhem, picked us up from the airport.  We got onto the big Yarmouk University charter bus and decided to find food in Amman before we drove to Irbid.  By this time it was 10pm, but there were still many food choices.  Ayhem took us to this really great restaurant where they served us delicious tea, hummus, ful (fava beans with olive oil and spices), chicken shwarama, falafel, and Egyption flat bread, that was fire baked.  It was the PERFECT first meal back.  We reached Irbid at about 1:30am and were dropped off at our respective living apartments.  We are living on campus this summer in their dorms, but each dorm is a miniture apartment.  There is a big living room that you walk into, with a small couch, coffee tabel, tv, and a small dining table with four chairs.  The bathroom is directly straight once you leave the living room, there is a kitchen to the left and the bedroom with two madeup beds in there and dressers to the right.  We also have a washing machine in our bathroom.  Two of our neighbors helped us (roommate and I) carry our bags up the three flights of stairs to our room.  We spoke with them for a little bit, Sarah and Maria.  They are both graduate students and very nice.  They said that our Arabic was good, but I was embarrassed because I was so tired and had difficulty remembering simple words!  Once we were speaking for five minutes or so most things I know came back to me.  Falling asleep was the easiest thing that I had done since my arrival, other than eating the amazing food, of course! 

Today we had to go to the language center, which is just a block away, for a short orientation with breakfast and juice; there were also some students there from Turkey.  Ayhem took them and half of our group (those that are here for the first time) around Iribid with the small Yarmouk University bus/van.  Those of us that were here last summer went grocery shopping, since we already know the city.  Now that I am getting settled in and am half way unpacked, I'm ready to take on the summer!