Jubilation!

Too much good news for one post, but I must be brief. First, the internet is back! HUZZAH! Second, tomorrow I will be camping in the desert and riding camels. That promises to be hilarious and terrifying since my experience with camels thus far has been less than pleasant. Look forward to photos.

Third: I came home today to "Happy Birthday" on tape playing on repeat. I thought to myself, "I hope that doesn't continue all night" but did not really consider that it might actually be someone's birthday. So I had lunch and was basking in my renewed stolen internet access when I heard guests arriving. I continued putzing around online and I heard more guests coming, which is when I decided that it would be extremely socially unacceptable to remain in my room. Okay fine, the real reason I emerged was because I heard people singing happy birthday and came to investigate the possibility of cake. Well I was right: it was the ladies' niece's birthday and a bunch of family had gathered to celebrate. And there was cake. 

So after cake and such we had Turkish/Arabic coffee, and for those of you who don't know, it's an Arabic tradition to read fortunes in the stuff left at the bottom of coffee cups. Ojou gathered the following from my cup:

-"You have friend, but she is not friend. She hate you. She talk a lot."

-"You know someone old? They are very sick."

-"You are good for love." (I don't know if she meant to be cryptic or if what she saw was just lost in translation)

-"You will get good news from America soon."

I think there was probably more but I don't remember. I will let you know if this all plays out. I have decided that fortune telling is a skill I intend to master before I leave. 

Fourth: In culture club on Wednesday we learned how to belly dance. Let's just say I have a far more promising future in fortune telling.

 

Lebanon: A Long Way From Amman

As my previous post indicated, my internet access is extremely limited as is my time. So I will give an abridged summary of my recent journey to Lebanon and embellish with better descriptions and photos at a later time.

For those of you who don't live in an Islamic kingdom, you may not know that Monday was the Prophet Mohammad's birthday and a national holiday here in Jordan. The weekend here is Friday to Saturday, leaving us only one option: to travel to Lebanon and skip Sunday classes. My friends Patricia and Amani and I left Thursday after classes and got into Beirut around 7pm. I didn't realize how accustomed I had become to Jordan until I visited a completely different place. It's funny to me that I was so culture shocked by a more Western country.

Anyhow, during our stay we chose to experience other parts of Lebanon than just Beirut. Our first full day we went to the American University in Beirut and all three of us fell head over heels in love with the sea-side campus (grad school option?). Not that I don't love Amman, but it made me realize how much I have dearly missed lush greenery. After that we just walked around and had a snack at one a cafe literally right on the water.

The next two days we decided to take day trips to Byblos and the Jeita Grotto, which was apparently almost a wonder of the world, and the Baalbek ruins, located northeast of Beirut in the homeland of Hezbollah. Baalbek actually has two of the largest temples in the Roman Empire (bigger than the ones in Rome), and upon arrival we were offered Hezbollah t-shirts by street vendors. We travelled by bus, and I was shocked to find that the Lebanese bus system is actually less organized than the Jordanian one. They don't even really have stops, you just stand by the side of the road and buses stop for you. We found our way around by asking the extremely kind and friendly locals for directions. It was convenient and easy for the most part, and I really enjoyed seeing the country.

I had assumed that since Beirut is more liberal and Western than Jordan we would blend in more easily, but I was sadly mistaken. If anything, we actually stuck out MORE, and men were more bold in approaching us. On the other hand, people also seemed friendlier and more willing to assist in helping us. And luckily my French skills haven't gone to waste here as I made use of them when Arabic failed (which was often). Most people also seemed to have a decent grasp of English.

Another thing I thought impossible: traffic in Beirut was slightly worse than in Amman. There are somehow less traffic laws and more cars.

I really loved the diversity of architecture in Beirut, which was where the European influence was most evident to me. Our hostel was located within easy walking distance of beautiful downtown and major streets containing the legendary nightlife of Beirut, which we were lucky enough to experience to its fullest. Unfortunately our hostel had recently moved buildings and had not had time to sound proof, and the club directly underneath blasted music until about 9am. Needless to say, it was anything but a restful weekend.

At the moment I must go meet my peer tutor, but I will add photos and perhaps more lengthy descriptions at a later time!

Tragedy Strikes

I returned from Lebanon to find that the stolen internet access in the corner of my room appears to be gone forever. The proportion of this tragedy is such that I felt it deserved its own blogpost. Needless to say, future emails, Skype sessions, photo uploads and posts will be far fewer and further between. Sincerest apologies.

Phamily Photos!

Okay, here are some photos of the ladies and the little girls they look after during the day. I haven't mentioned them much here, but they are at the apartment pretty much all the time. 

Top to bottom: Marina (left) and Margot singing to baby Farah, their niece's daughter and the cutest baby I have ever seen; Deena, the daughter of the ladies' other niece, looking out at the snow this morning; Deena again striking a pose; Deena again striking an emo Myspace pose with Ojou looking on in the background; I just tagged on the last one so you can see Marina a little better and because Farah is so precious.

This video is of Deena busting a move. She was going nuts tonight and never passes up the opportunity to be the center of attention.

Snow Day in the Desert

Oh yes, it happened. Last night all schools in the area were cancelled except UJ. This morning as I sat down for breakfast around 7:15 I saw approximately two snowflakes hit the ground, and I received a phone call informing me that classes were cancelled. None of the snow stuck and seems to have turned into rain. Now I'm spending the afternoon at a restaurant/bookstore/coffee shop/internet cafe with Patricia, Amani and Jeremiah... Clearly preferable to classes.

So as you might have guessed, once again we failed to make the journey to Jerash due to foul weather. It was freezing/pouring rain/hailing all weekend. It feels like we've been cooped up in Amman for the last two weekends and we are itching to get out, so next weekend we're planning on going to Beirut for the 3 day weekend.

Classes are going alright, but the Arabic "test" that I had on Thursday ended up just being an activity. It turns out that our teacher tricked us into studying... Very sly.

One thing I forgot to mention in my last post was the first meeting of culture club. We had a discussion about traditional marriage and Christian and Muslim Jordanian students were there to share their family traditions. It was shocking to me how common arranged marriages are. There was one girl there who was already married, and she was engaged to her husband before they even saw each other. A couple of other girls said that that is exactly how they plan on getting married, too. Marriage here seems more like a business transaction between families. One girl who talked to us works for CIEE and we all know her, and she almost got married last year. She met the guy and they got along pretty well and so he proposed. They were going to get married but his family wouldn't accept it because she's Syrian and his family would only let him marry a Jordanian or Palestinian. Dowries are also expected for Muslims in an average sum of around 10,000JD. I think arranged marriages are also kind of common for Christians, but not as much. Christians also don't expect dowries. It is also really shameful for Christians and Muslims to marry, because it's seen as leaving the family. One girl there is an American in CIEE and she's been here since last semester and actually met a guy and fell in love, but they can never marry because he's from a very well-known Muslim family. Whenever they go out they have to be really careful to make it look like they're not dating because if anyone who knows his family sees them, it's a big scandal. Note to self: don't fall in love with a Jordanian man. What a bummer, I hope I can resist...

Another thing I've been meaning to mention is the really obvious racism here. A lot of it is directed toward Egyptians who have a lot of service type jobs. I know I've heard comments from my own homestay family about them. People are also pretty racist toward anyone with darker skin. For example, my family gave me a dessert one night with a picture of an African-looking boy on the wrapper. I asked Ojou what it was, and she said it's called "head of a negro". It was basically a marshmallow on a graham cracker covered in chocolate... Delicious and offensive.

Most importantly, in my last post I neglected to mention my mother's birthday. Sincerest apologies!

I have a few photos of the ladies that I will add soon, for those of you who are curious.

"To the Arabs, dinosaurs are like Cornflakes..."

-A quote from Najeh, my colloquial Jordanian Arabic teacher, in reference to the fact that Arabs call all varieties of dinosaurs "dinosaurs", and all varieties of cereal "cornflakes". They also do not acknowledge Antarctica as a continent.

-I have an Arabic test tomorrow and I don't have a whole lot of news, so this post may or may not be a vehicle for procrastination. 

-In my last post, I expressed feelings of pride and triumph at mastering the morning bus to school. The deities probably had a laugh this morning when I got off the bus too early and had to walk almost a mile to the university.

-Awkward moment with the ladies: "there would be peace in the Middle East if the Americans did not support Israel" -Ojou. Between my limited Arabic and her limited English, where does the conversation really go from there?

-Watching the news with the ladies is an experience, since it is dominated by Gaza footage and they are Palestinian. They just shake their heads and mutter "haram" (shame). 

-I still have not gotten used to the Sunday-Thursday school week and I never know what day it is. I think it's a little late to blame it on jet lag.

-I really miss my iPod.

-Last weekend our trip to Jerash was spoiled by rain and this weekend it's supposed to snow... Maybe I'm just not meant to go there?

-New favorite dish: cucumbers stuffed with wheat-like rice and meat, covered in some kind of red sauce with more wheat-rice and meat. Eat the cucumbers, and then dip pita bread in the sauce. Luckily food has only been normal and delicious since the brain incident. 

-I have learned not to do my Arabic homework in front of the ladies because they take it from me, "help" me, and we finish four hours later than if I had done it myself. But it is really cute how eager they are to help, so sometimes I sit and study something I already know just to see how excited they get at teaching me.

-I met my peer tutor earlier this week and she's really sweet. She usually brings a friend along. I've met with her three times and it's kind of awkward because she helps me with my homework and we chat for a little bit, and I don't know what else to do. I was hoping she would take me to The Village where all the cool Jordanians hang out... Maybe next week. 

-I need to study now.

More Culinary Adventures

Since classes have started up and I'm feeling more settled in every day, I don't have quite as many post-worthy experiences to share. However, in the last week there have certainly been a few worth noting. 

First, I came home from school one day last week to be served what looked like two chicken nuggets for lunch (among the usual spread of cheeses, vegetables, pita, etc.). I suppose in a way they were, but nothing here is ever that simple. Upon inquiry, the oldest lady I live with informed me that they were chicken brains. They were also served with some other darker meat that I could not identify and she said it was chicken, but I didn't catch which part. That's probably for the best since it didn't look like any chicken meat I've ever seen. Yes, I ate all of it. I guess it tasted like chicken.

Second, on Thursday I rode the bus to school! This may be the greatest achievement in my life thus far. The buses here don't have schedules, they just sit at each stop until they're full. They may or may not be numbered and I have yet to see a map of routes. On each bus there's a guy called the controller, and he tells you where it's going and takes your money. So to figure out which one you need to be on you basically just ask the controller and he'll tell you. It was not as scary as I thought it would be, and it only costs .15 JD to get to school as opposed to the 1 JD taxi ride. 

Third, one day this week my Introduction to Islam class was cancelled because my professor "didn't want to work today", according to his assistant. Welcome to the Middle East?

Fourth, I was assigned a peer tutor. These are students at the university who are assigned to each one of us to help us with Arabic and to assimilate us into the culture. Basically they are paid to be our friend. My Arabic is improving, but I've found that I speak way too much English here, especially when spending time with the other Americans in the program (which is always). I have been doing an okay job speaking Arabic in my homestay, but I am there early in the morning and at the end of the day when it's hardest to make the effort. So hopefully this will be a really good way to improve my speaking skills... And make lots of cool Jordanian friends.

Fifth, and most importantly, I hear Celine Dion everywhere I go. Usually it's "My Heart Will Go On", and I have heard it at restaurants, the rest stop on the way to Petra, our hotel in Petra, stores, and other public places. At the Petra rest stop it was the flute-only instrumental version. I have been meaning to make note of this ever since my first blog post. It is all at once hilarious and disturbing.

Something also hilarious: Star Academy, the Arab version of American Idol. The ladies were watching it tonight when I tore myself away to Skype and it is absurd. The introductions of each contestant include background music of mostly American songs (everything from Josh Groban to U2 to Beyonce). It's hard to describe the rest, but I recommend searching for it on Youtube. Also, hearing the ladies sing/hum along with the songs significantly improved my viewing experience.

Tomorrow we might be going to a football (soccer) game and next weekend a few of us are venturing up to Jerash. I also might be teaching English at a Palestinian refugee camp this semester.