Today I Was Kidnapped and Held Hostage by Bedouins

So last night I really didn't sleep at all as a result of Turkish coffee + jet lag, which made today exponentially more exhausting.

We had breakfast and got on the buses at 8:30 am (by the way there are 71 of us... Again, ordeal) to go to the Hijaz Railway. It was built during the Ottoman Empire from Damascus to Mecca, and somehow still operates within Jordan. We rode the train through the desert which was really cool. Obviously I have photos. Then some Bedouins on horseback started riding alongside the train, and the people working for CIEE told us they were dangerous and not to talk to them. And we saw that they had taken a girl off one of the other cars, and then they started taking us one by one off the train and onto their horses. We rode to this tent/campsite and sat for awhile. 

Of course all of this was planned to scare us I guess, but it was kind of fun. Except that I hate/am afraid of horses. We met the sheikh and a guy explained how Bedouins live as a nomadic tribe out in the desert. They gave us cookies, dates and tea. After that we got back on the train and went to the train station, got on our buses, and went to a stable that was built during the Ottoman Empire and has now been converted to a restaurant... Weird but awesome. Again, delicious food. I could write a blog exclusively about how much I love Jordanian food. 

Then we had to do some ice breakers and orientation stuff which wouldn't have been so bad except that my lack of sleep was really catching up to me. When we got back to the hotel I napped, and woke up to a text from my new friend Patricia that Ahmad told her about a bar that had happy hour from 6-8. So a large group of us went there, where we met some of the students who have been here since the fall. That was probably my favorite part of the evening, since they were able to tell us what to expect in the program. We went to the third floor of the bar, which had a really nice balcony and a beautiful view of Amman. It was sort of a perfect night. 

It turns out that there is actually a pretty active bar scene here, which shocked me. Except alcohol is really expensive if you don't go to happy hour. I was really surprised at this, especially when the students said that they didn't think they had really learned much Arabic last semester because they just partied and had fun most of the time. But they did say that they kind of regretted that and they plan to study a lot more this semester.

Anyhow, that's basically what's been going on up until now. Tomorrow I have to get a blood test so that I'm allowed to stay here for the next four months... I guess our visas expire in a month so we have to apply for residency. 

Some general observations: 

-Our hotel smells like cigarette smoke and body odor

-All food is fresher and more flavorful than in the U.S. I can't get enough of the cucumbers and tomatoes

-It's cold (46 degrees) and probably will get colder and snow. At night it's freezing, good thing my roommate discovered extra blankets in the closet today

-It is currently RAINING. Whoever said that the desert was hot and dry is a filthy liar.

-I need to get used to being stared at.

-I need to get used to people smoking EVERYWHERE. Literally. Yesterday I heard Jordan described as "the ashtray of the Middle East"

-I need to remember to stop looking men in the eye... CIEE told us they'll think we're interested in them. 

-Everyone in the program seems really excited to be here and learn, but not everyone is quite as conscious of the cultural differences, so sometimes I'm embarrassed to be in public with them.

-Oddly enough, I enjoy listening to the call to prayer around 5 am. 

Okay now that I've gone nuts with my first stretch of solid internet access, I'm going to bed to rest up for the blood test in the morning... Plus all of the other scheduled activities tomorrow.

A Confusing and Terrifying Journey...

Well, I made it to Amman with only one near death experience... And that was before I had even arrived in the Middle East. I got on my flight from Indy to JFK as planned, but after about twenty minutes in the air we felt the plane sort of drop down a little bit and all of a sudden it got really loud... Well turns out, the landing gear had dropped, so we had to turn around and go back to Indy. Terrifying. When we got back, I waited in line for about 45 minutes to figure out how to get to JFK, and ended up having to run to catch a flight to Atlanta, then to JFK, then on to Jordan. Confusing.

Luckily once I got to JFK it was pretty smooth sailing, and I was able to meet up with people in my program. There were few people on our flight so we each got our own row, which made sleeping much more comfortable. We were picked up by the program director assistant, Ahmad, and went to the hotel. There were maybe 40 of us... So that was kind of an ordeal. At the hotel we bought our cell phones and awkwardly milled around and met other students as more people continued to arrive throughout the evening. We had a delicious buffet meal at the hotel, where I met 5 new friends who I have continued to spend time with.

So after dinner we wanted to continue hanging out, and decided to go to a tea or coffee shop. We just sort of walked around and noticed that it was all men in all the shops (I was with one other girl and four guys), so we obviously bypassed those. As we walked by one, we were waved inside by someone who worked there and we could see a few women through the window so we decided to sit down... They showed us to a table at the back, and as we walked we were definitely stared at which was really uncomfortable. The Turkish coffee was incredible and we had a nice time until the bill came and we saw all these extra charges, so it was clear they were just trying to take our money. All but one of us speaks a decent amount of Arabic so we halfheartedly tried to straighten it out, knowing that it was futile in the end. We left shortly thereafter and were once again the objects of many stares as we made our way out. 

One of the guys we were with, Chris, had discovered a delightful establishment called Sultan Snacks (which, by the way, is across the street from KFC, or dejaj kentucky... Haha) where a shawarma sandwich is 85 qirsh (less than a dollar!). So delicious. We were still stared at and maybe mocked a little by the servers there, but it wasn't quite as bad as the coffee shop. I have never felt so out of place in my life, but I guess it's something I'll have to get used to

So that's it for my first day in Amman! I'm going to make a different post for my second day, just for the sake of organization.