Thursday, January 21, 2010

!اهلاً وسهلاً

ahalan wa sahalan! (translation: welcome!)

Since I've arrived in Jordan I've found nothing but hospitality and welcoming people. Everyone--from the president of the Hashemite University, to the manager of our new apartment building, to the poor bell boy who carried our giant suitcases four times from the van to our rooms and back again--is excited to help us, and bend over backwards to make our impression of Jordan a good one. However, at times this hospitality can be a bit overwhelming, and feels overprotective...like we are always being watched, and that we will never be able to leave our little bubble of America while here, and that we won't actually be able to practice our arabic.

And this hospitality (or overprotection, iza bidik), has caused us a few problems...and its only been three days! First of all, we are not allowed to live in Zarqa, and we will no longer have Jordanian roommates. This is really upsetting! It was one of the great things about this program, that we would live in a place that was sort of off the beaten track, that we would live with Jordanians, and not speak English at all! But, they (i mean, the president and the top officials of the Hashemite University) want us to have a good impression of Jordan, and Zarqa will not give us a good impression because there is not much to do--no malls, not as many restaurants, clubs, or shops as Amman. But there is Arabic! Additionally, the president is worried about our security there. Zarqa has been in the news in Jordan a lot recently because it is so conservative, and there is a bigger chance for problems there than in Amman. We all understand and appreciate this concern, but we want to see what Jordanian life is like! It isn't in the sports complex of the university (where the president wanted us to live, and where there was no private shower--but he would "put one in" in two days), and its not having taxis hired for us from our hotel.

But Munther and Muhammad al-Masri, the head of our program here, found us a beautiful apartment in the "collegetown" of Amman. It is just across the street from the Jordanian University, close to ACOR, the location of the US Government's Critical Language Scholarship, and much nicer than any apartment I've ever lived in! And it is very very cheap, even cheaper than the place in Zarqa, and the landlord is willing to do anything for us: add more routers so we can get wifi in our rooms, put washing machines in our apartments, and hire a cleaning lady twice a week! It is very comfortable, but I almost feel a bit uncomfortable how comfortable it is! But I'm not complaining, of course, as long as I can make friends at both universities and speak arabic always!

And speaking of speaking arabic, I'm finding that I'm remembering more words than I thought I would, and that words are flowing better than I expected. Its easier to speak in the morning than at night, of course. Its really exhausting! But...I can't understand almost anything people say!!! Especially if they are just on the street. I had a few conversations with taxi drivers, and I've understood most of what they've said, but they typically speak a little slower and clearer than workers on the bus or in service taxis with a lot of people around. But its getting better, and we start classes on Sunday, and things will come back, and I will soak up a lot more, inshallah (if god wills).

I've taken over 200 pictures, but the internet is pretty slow. I will try to post some soon, and inshallah I will find some hospitality at a nice little coffee shop in Amman, or at the library at the University of Jordan (which is the largest in the country!).

مع سلامة مع الحب (goodbye with love).




Saturday, January 9, 2010

first post

here it is. the first blog post we've all been waiting for!

...or not. but here goes:

i'm getting ready to head to jordan for six months (well, 5 and a half). that will be the longest time i've spent away from my friends and family, and certainly the longest i've spent out of the country.

i'm so so so so so so so so so excited to go (did i put enough 'so's?) i want to learn arabic and live in the middle east. i want to speak arabic with the people who live in it and think in it, and hopefully i will be able to think in it after living in it for so long. i'm excited to see new places, to try new things, to eat new foods, to hear new sounds, to meet to people. i want to see this infamous 'conflict' from a new perspective, and to understand what it means to appreciate the ever-valuable resource of water. i can't wait for the olives and dates, zeit waa zataar, kahoua aswad (shukran, abu yosef).

but i'm scared. not about cultural differences or seemingly uncomfortable standards of living--i can't wait for those things! i am so excited for new things, for awkward moments of cultural ignorance, for crazy cab drivers, for greasy street food, for trying to explain 'vegetarianism' to people who love lamb (yes, i will be eating meat. yes, that is one thing i am not overly excited about), and for using 'arabian' toilets in public places and running out of my personal stash of toilet paper.

what i'm afraid of being away from friends, especially those that i've come to be so close with this semester. i'm afraid of being too nervous to speak. i'm afraid of not being able to speak with men because i'm a girl (a young lady, as they say). i'm afraid that i will have waisted this year if i don't become fluent.

so that being said, i'm going to use this blog talk about everything, from how often i can shower to how long the ferry from aqaba to nuweiba takes, so that all of my far away friends and family can read my ideas (fikrat) and listen to me talk about how many falafel sandwiches i eat in a day.