neglect

Pardon my abscence from this blog, I promise I have not been purposefully neglecting it. Things have been so crazy since I arrived in Jordan and I haven't had much time to really quantify my time here just yet. So I am going to try my best to update all of you (mainly my family) about all the initial Jordan ish. To the scarce reader, don't feel in any way obligated to read my quite possibly boring rants about the basics. Away we go...

Jordan is...amazing, for lack of a better word. I have a two-bedroom apartment with my good friend, Sarah. Yes, the one from Morocco. (Sidenote: I never imagined I would be living in Jordan with a friend I met in Morocco. Can you say lifelong friends?) The apartment is so much bigger and nicer than either of us imagined before coming here. We have a living room, dining room, half bath, kitchen, Sarah's bedroom that has a full bath attached, and my room that has a balcony.

Here's one of Sarah in our kitchen.

I have my standard Arabic classes every day from 8-11a, and then on Mondays and Wednesdays I have an afternoon Ammiya (dialect) class from 430-630p. Weekends are Fri-Sat here instead of Sat-Sun, so we have school Sundays through Thursdays. Thus, the TGIT phrase that is currently bombarding my twitter. I have already begun to learn an immense amount of Arabic and I cannot wait for a time when I can say I am fluent. My goal in coming here was to truly learn the language and that is exactly what I intend on doing; it is beyond exciting to say that in just a year I will have hopefully finished the program at Qasid and can uphold a legitimate conversation in Arabic. I also still have my job in the States that I am working for over the internet. So besides class my days are spent studying, working, hanging out with friends, or napping (a lot -- per usual).

The weather here is much like desert weather even though it's not really desert terrain. From when I got here until now it has been about in the 90s everyday but it will get fairly cool at night, usually in the 70s. If it rains (twice since i've been here), the weather will pick up sand/dust. It is super interesting to see a semi-sand storm. The first time it happened Sarah and I did not know to close our windows, and EVERYTHING was covered in dust/sand. Fantastic.

Amman is actually fairly western, more than I was expecting. Everyone drives/cabs everywhere, there a lot of chain stores, huge malls, living accomodations are mainly what you would consider western, etc. However, once you get outside of the capital city is where you really see the culture and a more stereotypical Arab country. As a woman, there are still quite a few restrictions: it is considered forward to talk to an Arab man or to even ride in the front of a cab. So much of my time is spent allowing my male friends to speak for me or give a cabbie directions, unless I am alone. Clothing is also moderate; I wouldn't wear anything shorter than something that covers my knees, and a tshirt that covers my shoulders/upper arms. Most days I wear a sweater over a tank despite the weather being incredibly hot.

Eric, Nadja and I walking in Amman. Photocredit: Sarah.

The best part of Amman so far is definitely the people I have met. I have made some truly great friendships and have met really amazing people. It is so interesting to learn about all the different walks of life people are coming from and why we all chose to study Arabic. There are people from all over the world: London, Switzerland, Sweden, Australia, etc.

The people I have met here are the reason I had such a good birthday. It was my first time to celebrate my birthday outside of the States, but because of them I can honestly say that I didn't necessarily feel like I was missing out on anything. On thursday (2days before my actual birthday), a bunch of us went out for drinks and dancing. It was ridiculous to say the least, but lots of fun! Then on Friday Nadja, Eric, Sarah and I went to the Dead Sea to relax and get some time in the sun. It was ridiculously amazing to get out of Amman for the first time for a day and to just relax with good friends on the beach. On Saturday Sarah took me out for a really nice brunch, I spent the afternoon napping and watching a movie, and then some of us went to dinner for my birthday. It was so nice to be surrounded by people I may have just met but can truly call genuine friends. They even brought a cake to the restaurant and sang to me =)

Sarah, Nadja and I at the Dead Sea.

Ok, I think that is all I have for you now. I promise to try and update more often so as to not get so far behind.