The Perfect Souvenir.

I have an exam in less than an hour but I don't think I'll have another opportunity to post before I go back to America! So, quickly:

-Two days ago I decided to get a haircut because they're cheaper here and Patricia recommended this salon (or saloon, as they call them here). I noticed that the stylist was cutting off a lot of hair but I decided to trust him, and thought that even if it turned out badly it would just be funny and I could somehow salvage it, so I didn't intervene. Well, after all the styling and blowdrying, there is no better way to describe my new coif than by calling it a mullet. It's hilarious. I won't be including photos, but look forward to seeing it upon my return to America. I can disguise it pretty well, but I think it's the perfect souvenir.

- Over the weekend some friends and I went to some hot springs that are pretty famous in Jordan. Upon arrival we noticed that all of the women were in the water fully clothed. I had to borrow my friend's swim trunks and wear my shirt in the water... I don't know why I haven't come to expect these things. After the springs we went to the Roman bath, which is just a swimming pool of hot water, hair, sweat, and general body odor. The baths are separated between men and women and I was the only girl in our group, so I got to enjoy it alone. After that we stopped by a panoramic view of the Dead Sea where, on a clear day, you can supposedly see Jerusalem, Ramallah, Bethlehem, and other cities nearby. Then we stopped by Mount Nebo which was nice but sort of unremarkable. I then proceeded to accidentally delete my photos from the entire day, so I won't be including any here...

-Last week the ladies gave me a traditional Arab dress and necklace. They then forced me to do a photoshoot with Farah and Deena. Photo included. The design is beautifully hand-stitched, I'm still in disbelief that they gave me such a nice gift.

-Tomorrow the program is officially over! I don't leave until Monday night, so from Friday to Monday I'll be traveling around Palestine with my friend Santiago. We will definitely visit Jerusalem and Bethlehem, and hope to have time for Hebron, Ramallah, and Nablus. I'm so excited! I think it will be the perfect end to my semester here.

-I have also included photos of my three Arabic teachers. Dr. Najeh was our colloquial Arabic teacher and the boss of the CIEE Arabic program. He is hilarious and by far one of the best teachers I have ever had in my life. Rabia'a (on the left) was our listening teacher, so we only had her twice a week for about an hour. We would listen to stories and answer questions. She was also wonderful and funny. Hala (on the right) was our Modern Standard Arabic teacher and we spent A LOT of time with her, about 7 hours per week. She was so patient, kind, and helpful, and she also had a great sense of humor. I will miss them all.

Water Hike, the Pope, Avoiding Studying

This blog has proved to be an excellent means of avoiding my studies... So here goes, another update!

Last weekend we went on a hike in one of the many wadis (valleys) here in Jordan. The one we were in is filled with water, so it was basically a river/creek with tall rock walls on either side. It was really deep in some places, so a few of us chose to wear life jackets... Okay, just Patricia, one other boy and I decided to wear life jackets and I am now sporting awesome tan lines as a result. It was a really fun and active day, and a welcome change from yet another trip to see ruins. Unfortunately we spent the entire day in water and we couldn't bring cameras, so I don't have any photos to post.

As some of you may know or have read about, the Pope came to Jordan this weekend. I didn't really plan on going since I saw him a few years ago at the Vatican and I thought I clearly expressed this to the ladies. When I came home from school one day to find them excitedly waving tickets in my face I knew that communication had failed somewhere along the way, and that I had no choice but to attend. So I arose this morning at 4:40 am to walk to the stadium and arrive by 5:30. There I met Chris and we went in and got seats, realizing that arriving at such an hour was completely unnecessary. The ladies had told me that phones and cameras weren't allowed so I didn't bring mine, but of course everyone had them. The whole affair really didn't feel like a religious ceremony or church service at all, as people waved flags, chanted and cheered the entire time. The service itself was interesting and half in English, half in Arabic. After the communion we tried to leave but no one was allowed to leave until ol' Benny left, so we were stuck in a large mass of sweaty people in the sun for about twenty minutes. Then there were no taxis so I walked the whole way home, which was exhausting. Luckily when I arrived home the ladies had cooked my favorite meal of stuffed squash and eggplant and then I took a most excellent nap. For a more informative description of the purpose of his visit, see: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/09/world/middleeast/09pope.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=pope&st=cse

This week all of our final papers are due, of which I have two. I also have my Arabic take-home exam due and my speaking, listening, and colloquial exams. That, of course, does not include the FINAL final exam which is next week. It's pretty cool having five exams for one language.

Since I don't have any really entertaining news, feast your eyes on this:


She's not ACTUALLY drinking the beer, the bag was sitting there (yes, the ladies enjoy a cold brew every now and again) and she started messing around in it and acting like she was drinking it. Yet another reason why Farrah is the baby of my dreams. She can barely talk but knows my name now and always smiles and laughs at me (just like everyone else in this country, but it's cuter when she does it). Apparently when I'm at school she says my name and tries to go into my room. I always look forward to cuddling with her when I come home from a long day in class.

ALSO: last week there was a "thank you" dinner for all the host families. It was at a really beautiful nice restaurant, and Margo and Marina came with me. Here's a nice photo from it:

I was also informed that the ladies told someone who works for CIEE that I'm their favorite girl they've ever hosted. Lately I've been sort of homesick and spending less time in the house (partly due to the lack of internet) so I was delighted surprised to hear this news! I daresay I will miss them when I come home.

Well that's all the time I can waste, but I hope everyone has a happy Mother's Day!!! Especially mine!

An Eastern Easter (and some Damascus)

I meant to make this post two weeks ago, but a sudden trip to Damascus got in the way so I'm not sorry...

Anyway, Eastern Orthodox Easter is celebrated a week after everyone else's Easter. The ladies informed me that Easter is more important here than Christmas, which would have been good to know prior to the day of. They gave me a really pretty necklace and earrings, which made me glad I brought them back some Turkish Delight from my spring break trip.

So Easter day was pretty much the same as Deena's birthday party, but everyone was more dressed up and there were more people. We ate the traditional Jordanian dish mansaf, which is lamb, rice, and jameed, a kind of milk. Traditionally you eat it with your hands, but only the men opted for that.

Last weekend my friends Patricia, Brad, and I decided to journey to Damascus. We decided to go on Tuesday and left on Thursday, so we didn't have time to get visas beforehand. I had heard of Americans waiting for visas at the border between two and ten hours, but miraculously we made it through in under three hours and the border police were really nice.

When we got to our hostel we dropped our things off and got tea in the old city. The following day was Friday so things were pretty dead, but we managed to entertain ourselves by wandering around the old city. Food was cheap and delicious and spent most of our time just exploring. We decided to hit the National Museum which I would not recommend visiting if you're on a limited time schedule. Afterwards we got ice cream at a place in the old city we had seen crowded earlier that day and it was delicious, though the men taking photos and videos of us sort of put a damper on the experience.

We had a really delicious dinner and then looked into the nightlife that we had heard about from others. At the second bar we went to, I noticed that water was pouring out of a light fixture. After calling this to the bartender's attention, all the lights went out and we drank by candle light, chatting and joking with the bartender.

Our second full day we went to the Ummayad mosque. Not that it wasn't impressive, but it was a little outshined by the Blue Mosque which I had seen in Istanbul the previous week. However, Patricia and I enjoyed the mandatory robes that all women wore, especially after I noted that we resembled dementors (Harry Potter fans? Anyone?). It seemed like a lot of people just went to the mosque to nap, sit, and hang out. So we were sitting and enjoying the sights when a large group of young girls ran up to us. They asked us questions about where we were from and if we were friends with Brad (as though platonic male and female relationships were unfamiliar to them). Then they asked us to take off our sunglasses so they could look at our eyes, proclaiming us all beautiful. They left, but came back in small groups periodically asking to take photos with us. We obliged the first few times because we thought it was so funny, but declined when the frequency and numbers in which they came began to increase. It was especially strange because they wouldn't let us take photos of them (but Patricia slyly snapped a few shots of them taking my picture). We spent the rest of the day shopping in the old open-air souqs (markets) and enjoying Damascus.



All-in-all Damascus was probably my favorite city I've seen so far. I partly liked it better than Istanbul because all the people seemed genuinely kind and welcoming, not because they wanted our money. We sat in a scarf store for almost an hour having tea and chatting with the owner. He said to call any time we ever needed anything or happened to be back in Damascus. No offense to Jordanians, but I daresay that Syrians were the most hospitable people I've come across, save the weirdos taking photos and videos of us everywhere we went. Also as we were walking, men would pass us and say things like "so beautiful" and "give me a kiss". Though I could never get used to that, it was something I've come to expect.

Now I have to run to class but I will add photos later! Unfortunately I think the internet in my homestay is really gone forever this time, so I have fewer opportunities to update.

Note: The photos of Damascus were taken by my talented friend Brad Olson!

Funeral for Jesus (and some Istanbul)

I arrived safely back in Amman yesterday after six days in Istanbul! What an incredible city. We visited such sights as the Ayasofia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, and the Cistern... and that was just the first day. We also went on a ferry cruise on the Bosphorous, ventured over to the Asian side for an afternoon, ate fish sandwiches right off the boat, saw a whirling Dervishes show, enjoyed a Turkish bath, and wandered aimlessly through the Grand Bazaar almost every day. We had multiple groups of friends come and go during our stay so we were never bored. Our hostel was located within walking distance of the Ayasofia and the Blue Mosque which was convenient, but everything was pretty expensive because it's such a touristy area. However I really enjoyed the fresh fish and kabob. Also, I loved that no matter where you are in Istanbul there are always at least six gigantic ancient mosques, thirty Turkish flags, and some body of water within your line of sight.


Advice to future travelers:
-Expect extreme nakedness in the Turkish bath. I think that's all I need to say about that.
-Be selective about which whirling Dervishes show you choose to attend. Ours was expensive and not that cool. I recommend consulting a guidebook rather than taking advice from your "friend" at the hostel who just happens to be selling tickets.
-Save Topkapi Palace for a day when you feel fully energized and prepared to get excited over a lot of old stuff... not after you've already been to the Ayasofia, Blue Mosque, and Cistern. You will also feel like your money is going further if you don't pay four different entrance fees in one day.

The only thing I hated about the trip was when my wallet was stolen. I had just purchased some bread and put my wallet back in my bag when a fight broke out nearby. Distracted, I failed to zip my bag. A couple of hours later when it came time to pay for lunch I discovered it missing. My wallet contained a decent sum of cash, my debit card, and my Jordanian residency card. Luckily superhero parents came to the rescue and took care of the money issue, but the residency card is going to be a bit more of a hassle. I can get the money replaced by travel insurance, which requires a police report which I obtained after an awkward and embarrassing trip to the police station. After I wasted about half an hour of their time, they gave me a book about Istanbul as a gift. I guess that's Turkish hospitality.

Something that surprised us was how little Arabic is spoken in Turkey. It's written all over every mosque, and according to our guidebook 98% of Turkey is Muslim. However we saw many fewer women in hijab and the bars were always crawling. I should also take into account that we were in the hottest tourist destination in the country, so Istanbul is certainly not an accurate reflection of the rest of Turkey.

Meanwhile, this Sunday is Easter according to the Eastern Orthodox calendar. The ladies wanted me to attend a "funeral for Jesus" on Friday evening, but unfortunately I was unable to due to a previous commitment. I was less upset when they said that it would last from 5:30 until 9pm. Today I helped/watched the ladies dye Easter eggs. I tried to explain how in the US we buy plastic ones, put candy and treasures inside, and hide them for children to find, but I don't think they really got it. On Sunday I think they are having a lot of family over, so that will be fun for about ten minutes before everyone starts ignoring me.

I will probably come back and modify this post later, but I am trying to step up my blogging and give more frequent updates. Also, I managed to upload some photos to this website today: http://s573.photobucket.com/albums/ss177/anna_in_amman/Wadi%20Rum/

Vacation Weekend

I realize that I am officially the worst blogger ever. Hopefully what I lack in frequency I make up for in length and wit. Hopefully.

This past weekend some friends and I went to Aqaba, which is a beach town about a 4.5 hour bus ride south of Amman. We left on Thursday because we had reservations at a large party on the beach, something that I guess is pretty common there. The party was at a really nice hotel literally right on the beach and we had a lot of fun. Friday we wandered around the city in the morning and went to the beach in the afternoon. If girls want to wear bathing suits, they have to go to a private beach, and the one we went to was nice. It was interesting to see the fully-covered Muslim women swimming in the water or sitting in the sun, usually just wearing normal clothes like jeans. It was also interesting to see the European tourists wearing... much less. After our day at the beach we went back to our hotel and got ready for dinner. We ate on the rooftop terrace of a delicious restaurant. After that we walked around and found a cafe right on the beach where we smoked hookah. People would put their chairs in the water and just sit. I thought that would have been too cold but they seemed to enjoy it. We stayed chatting and people watching until pretty late that night.
Saturday we had made reservations to go scuba diving. I had never been before and have an intense fear of drowning, but I thought maybe this would be a good day to overcome it. We went out on a boat in the morning and stayed out until maybe 5pm. Each person only dove for about twenty minutes total, and the rest of the time was spent relaxing and sun bathing on the boat which was wonderful. I went diving with Chris and at first when we got in the water I had a very minor panic attack, but our instructor was patient with me and held my hand as we went down. The most incredible thing about the experience was not so much the scenery as it was being able to breathe underwater. I would definitely do it again and recommend it to anyone, I had so much fun. All-in-all it was a perfect weekend, and when we missed our bus we all momentarily considered staying just one more day.

Sidenote: after all that time in the sun I developed a pretty decent tan, which I had hoped would help me fit in better with the Jordanians... Unfortunately at the same time my hair seems to have lightened. One step forward, two steps back. Then I realized that maybe it's sad that after two months I still haven't resigned myself to the fact that I will never fit in here.
In other news, we fly out to Istanbul on Friday morning! Unfortunately I have an imtihan kabeer (large exam) on Thursday plus cover letters and resumes to send out for internships this summer, so I can't get too excited just yet. We don't have much of an itinerary laid out other than the obvious tourist attractions, but something tells me we will find a way to pass six days in Turkey. I can't wait!

Yet Another Culinary Adventure

I have noticed a theme during my time here in Jordan: just when I think I know exactly what to expect or begin to think I've settled into a routine, something happens to disrupt any feeling of confidence I have developed. 

Two days ago when I left to go to the gym, Ojou told me to be back soon because we were having fresh fish for lunch. I'm not the biggest fan of seafood to begin with, but you loyal readers know that I have done my best to keep an open mind thus far. So I returned to be served an entire grilled fish. Eyes, fins, tail, teeth... All of it. I looked at it and it looked back at me, and finally I mustered a "How do I...?" and the ladies answered in unison, "With your hands!". The fish and I continued the staring contest when finally Ojou took control of the situation and started pulling out the bones for me. We ate it with some kind of tahini, lemon and tomato sauce and baba ghanoush, which was really good. I have to admit, it was completely delicious and I may have finally overcome my slight aversion to seafood. I also provided quality lunch time entertainment for the ladies.

Also, last Saturday was Mother's Day. Here in Jordan it's a pretty big deal, which I did not anticipate. I had planned on getting chocolate or flowers for the ladies, but I did not plan on entertaining visitors all day (perfect timing right before midterms week). It's hard to get anything past the them, so I had to be very sly about getting their gift. I told them I was going to the gym because that's the one place they never question me about. I went through quite an ordeal and ended up getting them some really nice Lebanese chocolate wrapped up with pink bows. However when I returned 45 minutes later looking exactly the same as when I left, carrying a bag from the sweets section of the grocery store, they figured me out. But I think they thought it was hilarious that: a. I lied to get them a present and b. my lie was so transparent, because I heard them cackling as they recounted the story multiple times to family and friends.

The following day was their great niece's 3rd birthday party, once again perfectly timed during midterms week. The ladies said I could bring a friend, so I coerced my unsuspecting friend Amani into attending the affair. I didn't know the names of more than half the people there nor did I know their relation to the birthday girl. The adults didn't speak much English or really have an interest in talking to me and the teens were too cool to talk to me. The younger children ran around raising hell, so I was glad to have the company of a fellow American. Things really got weird when one of the teenaged girls started belly dancing on the table. I wish I was joking. I have photos to prove this. Not only did no one else seem to think it was strange, but the adults were cheering her on. This girl and one of her cousins also appeared to have some kind of incestuous flirtation going on, which Amani and I observed with great fascination.

In other news, I had four different Arabic tests this week and I have a take-home exam due Sunday. I also had to give a presentation for my International Relations and Diplomacy in the Middle East class and I have an Intro to Islam exam on Sunday. No one warned me that studying abroad actually involved studying. It's so hard to focus here because there are constantly children in my house and/or the tv is on. There is no desk in my room and there is no other good place to study. And whenever I study Arabic in front of the ladies they hijack it and insist on "helping". 

Tomorrow we are going on a trip called Eastern Desert Castles which should be fun. I had a relaxing day at home today, but I'm ready to get back out and see more of Jordan. Also, for Easter Break I am going to Istanbul with my friends Chris and Santiago, where we will meet up with other friends in our program. Chris also has another friend who lives there who can show us around. We bought our plane tickets this week, so I'm really excited.

P.S. I will never get tired of the trend of shirts with nonsense/inappropriate English words on them. Favorites: 

-(a girl wearing a hijab) You know you want me

-(a guy) Effective 99% of the time when used properly

-(a muscle shirt that my friend Chris bought downtown) Comfortable captain power

-(a guy) Equestrian

-(a guy) Negro (I did a quadruple take when I saw this one)

-(bus driver in Beirut) Man, fashion, power

-(a girl who I know for a fact speaks perfect English, which makes this even weirder) I'm smiling because they haven't found the bodies yet

-(a guy) Gyeorgetown University, plus some random numbers and letters

One final note:I joined one of those websites where you upload photos, but it takes such a long time to add them because all internet here is pretty weak. When I succeed in adding some, I will post the link.

"Americans love being tan, like Barack Obama..."

-Direct quote from Ojou. 

I'm a bad blogger and have yet to post about our excursion to Wadi Rum last weekend, so here goes. We left early Friday morning and after a four hour bus ride, we arrived in Wadi Rum. For those of you who don't know, it's a valley (wadi means valley in Arabic) in sandstone and the biggest one in Jordan. Lawrence of Arabia based his operations there during the Arab Revolt and one of the rocks is called the Seven Pillars of Wisdom after his book (see the photo of me sitting with it in the background). A lot of Bedouin tribes live there also. We then had a four hour tour in the backs of pickup trucks and made stops along the way so that we could climb the rocks. It was pretty warm during the day, but as soon as the sun went down it was freezing. After the tour we went to the Bedouin camp where we had a delicious dinner and spent the night. Don't be impressed, it was very comfortable and touristy, but fun nonetheless.

The next day we went on a three hour long camel ride... It was quite a sight since there were over 90 of us. I was really nervous at first but it ended up being a lot of fun and I enjoyed all but about the last half hour. Three hours is maybe too long to ride a camel. After that we had lunch and went home.

This week has been extremely busy. On Tuesday CIEE held a talk about GBLT life in Jordan. The man who spoke is an openly gay advocate for GBLT rights. It was a really cool opportunity to listen and ask questions about something that few people address here. Tuesday was also St. Patrick's Day, so some of us went to an Irish pub and had green beer to celebrate.

This weekend a few of us decided to go to the Dead Sea. It's only about a forty minute bus ride from Amman. We went to a resort and somehow got in for free, minus the cost to rent a towel and locker. We floated around for awhile and then three of us decided to get the mud on our bodies. It's supposed to be really good for your skin, but we did it because it looked cool. You pay some guy with a bucket of mud one dinar and he rubs you down, which, looking back on it, is pretty weird especially for Jordan. I told the ladies about it tonight and they found it wildly inappropriate that a man would touch women like that. Anyway, we had a lot of fun. 

Tonight the ladies and I watched Star Academy, the Arab version of American Idol. The whole cast was singing a song together and I thought the tune was really familiar... Turns out it was "What A Feeling" from Flashdance, translated into Arabic plus hilarious choreography. If it can be found on YouTube, I highly recommend viewing this.

On Sunday the ladies are hosting a birthday party for their great niece, Deena (see photos in a previous post). They have been preparing food for this affair all week long, forced Deena to invite me at least four times per week for the last month, and asked me when my classes finish approximately thirty times. From the sounds of it, this promises to be an epic event. I don't doubt that it will be entertaining with lots of delicious food, but these events are always awkward because I just kind of sit there quietly while no one talks to me. Although at the last one, one of the ladies' other great nieces drew pictures with me which I appreciated.

In other news, my friends and I have decided to go to Istanbul for our ten day long Easter break. I'm SO excited. We might also hit Egypt or Greece, depending on cost and travel time. So this week will be consumed with mid terms and Easter break planning. Next weekend we are going on an excursion entitled "Desert Castles". I have to be honest, I have no idea what it will entail but I'm a sucker for castles of any kind so I signed up.

Okay I tried to add photos but it didn't work... I am going to try and put all my photos on a website so that it is easier to access, because I don't think the Facebook thing worked very well.