Last day in Jordan. I definitely have mixed feelings, because I'm way excited to see my family and friends back home again (and my dogs!!!), and I do miss a lot of things in America. Like the ability to walk down the street without notice from every sketchy guy in the area. But today I definitely got a little sad about leaving the program- I had some fabulous professors and even more fabulous friends here. And regardless of any negatives here, I definitely love Jordan enough to come back in the near future for a longer stay (not in Irbid, though).
So today we had our little graduation ceremony (I passed! Yay!), I did my last-minute packing and shopping errands, and then one of our Advanced-level professors invited the girls from our level to a girls-only party thrown by his daughter and wife at his apartment. The girls-only deal is pretty important in Arab parties, because it means that the girls who normally wear hijabs and abayyas can remove all of that and just dress in what we would consider "normal" clothing. So it was really cool, we arrived, the girls took off their hijabs and abayyas and were all wearing cute party dresses or similar clothing underneath, and almost immediately there was dancing. Like literally, we walked in, sat down, drank coffee (also an important part of visiting an Arab home), and then the music started and people started dancing around the sitting room.
I am very afraid of dancing. I feel like I am the world's WORST dancer, and any dancing I've done this summer has only come after a tequila shot or something similar. However, sitting on the couch and clapping along was only an option for so long, because everyone there really wanted us to dance with them. So I was peer-pressured into a dabke first (a Jordanian folk dance), and then later was pulled onto the living room dance floor by my professor's nine-year old daughter, who was an amazingly good dancer. That's the thing, though, ALL Arab women are good dancers. It's in the blood or something. I've very rarely felt so white as when I was dancing in a living room with a bunch of Arab women and trying very hard to not look like the Tin Man. My friends assured me that it was just in my head and I really wasn't the world's worst dancer.
Aside from dancing there was also really delicious cake, and a little after the cake we were like "Okay, we need to go back and finish packing", but the professor's wife was like "Oh, no, just wait for a tiny bit longer!" So we waited, and danced, and then pistachio ice cream was brought out for everyone and we were glad we had stayed for that. And then after the pistachio ice cream was conversation, and then tea, and then conversation...this is definitely a typical Arab home visit- it's hard to escape! And I really didn't WANT to escape, it's just that we are leaving the country tomorrow and it's kind of necessary to prepare. It was SUCH a nice evening with the girl party, though- it's a one-of-a-kind cultural experience here, and I wouldn't have missed it for the world!
And now I'm really leaving. It's bittersweet, for sure. I don't even want to think about saying goodbye to my friends tomorrow. Ma'a salaama, al-Urdun. It's been an interesting summer.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Friday, August 7, 2009
Doing cultural things in my last week here.
If there's one thing I've learned in Jordan it's that doing seemingly strange and/or sketchy activities usually turn out for the best. In America, for example, I would rarely go to a wedding with a large group in which none of us knew the bride or groom, or go with the same group to eat dinner at the groom's brother's house the following day, or let off fireworks in a construction site. And to think this all started (except the fireworks part) because we went to a dance club above a McDonalds in Aqaba (yet another seemingly sketchy but actually fun decision).
So. My friend Genevieve, along with a couple of the program people that were with her at the time, met this guy in Aqaba at the dance club I just mentioned, and it turned out that he had family living here in Irbid. I showed up to the club with a different group a little later and met this guy briefly (particularly when he dragged me and couple of the guys forcibly onto the dance floor). At some point he was telling Genevieve that his brother was getting married in Irbid and she should totally come to the wedding, yadda yadda yadda.
And then this week arrives, and it turns out that his brother is getting married on Wednesday and this guy actually wants us to come to the wedding reception. In America, this is not a usual occurence, to invite a large group of strange foreigners to a wedding party, right? This is why I love Jordan! So we had to go to a big fancy dinner party on Wednesday given by the university in our honor, but after that a group of like 16 of us ended up going to this wedding. A lot of things are pretty familiar to American wedding guests- the bride was the pretty girl in white, the reception was in a large hotel, there was dancing and such, etc.
And then there were new things: men and women guests were separated for the bulk of the reception in completely different rooms (except for the groom, who was with the bride in the women's reception area), the bride had to look all stoic for most of the time, the dancing music was much cooler than the Macarena and everyone there could actually dance without the help of alcohol, and the wedding cake was cut with a SWORD!!!! That was probably the best part. There was also a crazy old man with a cane that turned into a sword, which was both strange and awesome. He apparently pointed the cane at our guys in a threatening/joking/insane kind of way when they were in the men's reception area. Nice.
After the reception, there's always a parade of cars that drives around the city honking (I know this much from living in Irbid for so long and hearing it every night), and then at some point they go let off fireworks. Most of us chose to go back to the campus after the reception because we had our last day of class and some tests the next day, but several from our group did go on the ride-along and had some adventures getting to know the family, and they apparently had a really good time.
So this guy from Aqaba (brother of the groom) also invited us to come eat mansef with him and his family yesterday. In order to get to his brother's house, we had to take some sketchy unmarked van-bus deal, which is apparently a normal thing to do here. We all had a fun time- the Aqaba guy was really the only one who spoke much English, so we had a lot of awkward and funny experiences trying to talk to all of them. And by "all of them", I mean Aqaba guy plus 4 of his brothers and his cousin. The youngest brother was 10 years old and so adorable! The rest of the guys were very funny and incredibly nice to have invited the whole crowd of us over for dinner. All in all, I was glad that I went and finally got to experience some of the Jordanian home life.
Oh, and after we had all returned from the Jordanian home experience, the guys of our program decided it was finally time to let off the rest of their fireworks (some of which had been let off in Petra a couple weeks ago). So we trekked out to a sketchy construction site and enjoyed some much better fireworks than are legally available in America. Nobody was arrested, nobody was exploded, so all was well.
My time in Jordan is very quickly coming to an end! Oh, and my Jerusalem pictures are still not posted. If anything, I'll get everything up when I get back to the States and then post links here for you non-Facebook users. Off to Amman tomorrow for one final shopping trip, and hopefully all my gifting will be finished. Until next time...
--K
So. My friend Genevieve, along with a couple of the program people that were with her at the time, met this guy in Aqaba at the dance club I just mentioned, and it turned out that he had family living here in Irbid. I showed up to the club with a different group a little later and met this guy briefly (particularly when he dragged me and couple of the guys forcibly onto the dance floor). At some point he was telling Genevieve that his brother was getting married in Irbid and she should totally come to the wedding, yadda yadda yadda.
And then this week arrives, and it turns out that his brother is getting married on Wednesday and this guy actually wants us to come to the wedding reception. In America, this is not a usual occurence, to invite a large group of strange foreigners to a wedding party, right? This is why I love Jordan! So we had to go to a big fancy dinner party on Wednesday given by the university in our honor, but after that a group of like 16 of us ended up going to this wedding. A lot of things are pretty familiar to American wedding guests- the bride was the pretty girl in white, the reception was in a large hotel, there was dancing and such, etc.
And then there were new things: men and women guests were separated for the bulk of the reception in completely different rooms (except for the groom, who was with the bride in the women's reception area), the bride had to look all stoic for most of the time, the dancing music was much cooler than the Macarena and everyone there could actually dance without the help of alcohol, and the wedding cake was cut with a SWORD!!!! That was probably the best part. There was also a crazy old man with a cane that turned into a sword, which was both strange and awesome. He apparently pointed the cane at our guys in a threatening/joking/insane kind of way when they were in the men's reception area. Nice.
After the reception, there's always a parade of cars that drives around the city honking (I know this much from living in Irbid for so long and hearing it every night), and then at some point they go let off fireworks. Most of us chose to go back to the campus after the reception because we had our last day of class and some tests the next day, but several from our group did go on the ride-along and had some adventures getting to know the family, and they apparently had a really good time.
So this guy from Aqaba (brother of the groom) also invited us to come eat mansef with him and his family yesterday. In order to get to his brother's house, we had to take some sketchy unmarked van-bus deal, which is apparently a normal thing to do here. We all had a fun time- the Aqaba guy was really the only one who spoke much English, so we had a lot of awkward and funny experiences trying to talk to all of them. And by "all of them", I mean Aqaba guy plus 4 of his brothers and his cousin. The youngest brother was 10 years old and so adorable! The rest of the guys were very funny and incredibly nice to have invited the whole crowd of us over for dinner. All in all, I was glad that I went and finally got to experience some of the Jordanian home life.
Oh, and after we had all returned from the Jordanian home experience, the guys of our program decided it was finally time to let off the rest of their fireworks (some of which had been let off in Petra a couple weeks ago). So we trekked out to a sketchy construction site and enjoyed some much better fireworks than are legally available in America. Nobody was arrested, nobody was exploded, so all was well.
My time in Jordan is very quickly coming to an end! Oh, and my Jerusalem pictures are still not posted. If anything, I'll get everything up when I get back to the States and then post links here for you non-Facebook users. Off to Amman tomorrow for one final shopping trip, and hopefully all my gifting will be finished. Until next time...
--K
Monday, August 3, 2009
Jerusalem and Crankiness
I'm way cranky right now. Which is terrible, because I'm trying to blog about my really cool trip to al-Quds (AKA Jerusalem), and I'm afraid that all of this pessimism will just seep into my descriptions. The crankiness is totally stemming from the fact that this is my last week of classes in Jordan, I have no will to keep studying, and I'm finally homesick. I have to force myself to put the slightest effort into my homework and classes, and it makes me very not happy.
However, I had a fabulous weekend trip to Jerusalem! I went with a small group- just me, Alice, Stephanie, and Kevin. We stayed in East Jerusalem, which is an Arab section of the city, and our hostel was right outside the Damascus Gate, which is one of the gates leading into the walled-in Old City. Yes, we did stay in a hostel. No, it was not like the horror film (which I did not see because I'm afraid of horror films). It was actually kind of cool to be there with a bunch of other young travelers, and also with a big parrot that suddenly appeared on Saturday morning.
Getting to Israel was an adventure in itself. It involved shouting at a bunch of people in Arabic and asking them about the bus to the border, to which they all responded that there was no bus (clearly not true, since some of the other students had taken a bus to the border the previous weekend). After a lot of confusion, and being swarmed at the bus station by a horde of service taxi drivers who had no idea where we were going but wanted to take lots of our money to drive us there, we finally just decided to take the service to save time rather than search for the bus. So we did a lot more shouting about "THE NORTHERN CROSSING!!!!!", which was the border that we needed to go through, and picked a driver who assured us that he could take us there. As it turned out, he was absolutely not sure where we were going, asked us if we spoke Arabic (after we had negotiated with him in Arabic), and generally seemed to be a big mistake. Oh, and then when we got to the border, he got a ticket because he was only licensed to drive to Amman, when we had specifically told him beforehand "No, we are NOT going to Amman" multiple times, and he wanted us to pay his 10 dinar ticket.
I could go on and on about this story, which involved about 10 more minutes of confused shouting in Arabic and refusal to pay 10 extra dinar (although somehow he still kept referring to me as a "bint quayyis" and Kevin as a "rajul quayyis, which roughly means a "good girl" and a "good guy", so he still liked us), but then you'd miss the part where we got detained at the Israeli border for like an hour and a half. Because 4 American students are way more suspicious than EVERY OTHER PERSON that traveled to the border that day. And then there's the part where I asked that they NOT stamp my passport so that I could freely travel to Syria, Lebanon, and other such countries in the future, but they mixed up my passport with someone else's and decided to go ahead and stamp me. Thanks, Israel.
However, we did eventually get through, got a taxi to Jerusalem, and arrived at our hostel safe and sound. We had no actual plans for the next day, so we pretty much just woke up and started wandering. We made our way into the Old City fairly early, and it's really a great place to just wander aimlessly because you will inevitably stumble upon something important. The Old City is like a labyrinth, with all of these tunnels and twists, and it's divided into the Christian Quarter, Arab Quarter, Jewish Quarter, and Armenian Quarter. We spent the morning between the Christian and Arab Quarters, did some shopping in the tunnel stores, and accidentally came across the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which was pretty fabulous.
After this we went out to the New City, which involved a failed trip to find a specific waffle restaurant and then settling for waffles at a cafe on the way (because we got lost). When we made it to the New City, we basically just walked down Ben Yehuda St, which is closed off to cars and is just lined with a bunch of cute shops. After the walking fiasco, we elected to take a taxi back to the Old City, and by some twist of fate we ended up hailing the guy who had driven us TO Jerusalem (Sifian, the most amazing/hilarious driver on Earth), and he took us back to East Jerusalem for free!
When we returned to the Old City we decided to do the Via Dolorosa (Stations of the Cross), which ended up being really cool. We got to see all of these interesting churches that were built around some of the most famous sites in Christendom (depending on if you ask the Catholics or the Orthodox, who disagree on some locations). So we saw the place where Jesus healed the paralytic, the prison where he may have been kept, the places where he fell carrying the cross, etc. The end of the Via Dolorosa is in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (which we hadn't known earlier), so we did the Stations a little out-of-order, but it was no problem. Oh, and we also got to take pictures of the Dome of the Rock because we randomly wandered into the entrance. The Dome of the Rock plaza (AKA Temple Mount area) was closed to non-Muslims on Friday, but the guard let us take pics from the gate, so that was nice.
In the evening we ventured to the Jewish Quarter and down to the Western Wall (or Wailing Wall, but I think that's really the less polite term). It was really interesting to be there right before the start of Shabbat (the Sabbath), and there was a pretty decent-sized crowd. It was a pretty awesome experience to be at such an old and important site, surrounded by praying and crying people. Even though I'm not Jewish, I could still feel the power of the place, and it was really not something that I had expected.
In general, the whole trip was much more powerful than I had expected. I kind of envisioned having an exciting cultural experience, but not so much a religious one. I think I was subconsciously assuming that because I'm not Jewish, being in Jerusalem wouldn't be as meaningful in that way. However, my explorations around all of the holy sites left me with a much greater understanding of why everyone is fighting to keep a piece of Jerusalem for themselves.
In truth, Jerusalem really does belong to all of the religions and the people who claim it- I was only there for a short time, and even I could feel that. I think that anyone who's ever been to the city would have to sense that- and if you try to claim it solely for one group, you obviously haven't experienced Jerusalem in its entirety. I mean, I'm definitely not the world's best Christian all of the time, and I struggle with my faith just like a lot of people, but to be in the places where Jesus lived and died(regardless of the argument over the specific locations) was a shockingly meaningful experience for me. In some very small way, I had my own little tie to the land. And the tie that the residents, whether they are Arab or Jewish or otherwise, have to the land is so strong that it's nearly tangible. To ignore the multiple claims on Jerusalem is ignorance in the highest degree, as far as I'm concerned, and I think my visit made me understand more of why people are willing to put their lives and everything else on the line to fight for their place in Jerusalem.
But, yes, meaningful experience aside, it was also a very fun trip with very fun people. We didn't get to spend nearly enough time there (and it was a huge freaking hassle to cross borders. I hate borders.), but I think we spent our time pretty wisely for the most part and saw a lot of really cool sites. Oh, and Sifian ended up driving us from Jerusalem back to the border as well. He sang a lot, bought us popsicles, and made sure that we had pillows to sleep on. The only real hitch we had in getting back (which wasn't so much a hitch as a hilarious occurence) was at an Israeli checkpoint maybe 10-15 minutes from the border, where they searched our bags and pulled out Kevin's notebook (purchased in Jordan), which had a picture of Israel or something with the slogan "Palestine: We Will Return!" written above it (one of the many hilarious notebooks available in Irbid). Needless to say, he was cringing and the rest of us were almost peeing our pants from laughing at him. Yeah, other than that, travel back to Jordan was pretty simple.
Pictures are coming soon, whenever the internet cooperates. ALSO: I just figured out that people have been commenting me and I haven't gotten any notice of it via email or otherwise. So sorry! My ignoring you was very unintentional.
However, I had a fabulous weekend trip to Jerusalem! I went with a small group- just me, Alice, Stephanie, and Kevin. We stayed in East Jerusalem, which is an Arab section of the city, and our hostel was right outside the Damascus Gate, which is one of the gates leading into the walled-in Old City. Yes, we did stay in a hostel. No, it was not like the horror film (which I did not see because I'm afraid of horror films). It was actually kind of cool to be there with a bunch of other young travelers, and also with a big parrot that suddenly appeared on Saturday morning.
Getting to Israel was an adventure in itself. It involved shouting at a bunch of people in Arabic and asking them about the bus to the border, to which they all responded that there was no bus (clearly not true, since some of the other students had taken a bus to the border the previous weekend). After a lot of confusion, and being swarmed at the bus station by a horde of service taxi drivers who had no idea where we were going but wanted to take lots of our money to drive us there, we finally just decided to take the service to save time rather than search for the bus. So we did a lot more shouting about "THE NORTHERN CROSSING!!!!!", which was the border that we needed to go through, and picked a driver who assured us that he could take us there. As it turned out, he was absolutely not sure where we were going, asked us if we spoke Arabic (after we had negotiated with him in Arabic), and generally seemed to be a big mistake. Oh, and then when we got to the border, he got a ticket because he was only licensed to drive to Amman, when we had specifically told him beforehand "No, we are NOT going to Amman" multiple times, and he wanted us to pay his 10 dinar ticket.
I could go on and on about this story, which involved about 10 more minutes of confused shouting in Arabic and refusal to pay 10 extra dinar (although somehow he still kept referring to me as a "bint quayyis" and Kevin as a "rajul quayyis, which roughly means a "good girl" and a "good guy", so he still liked us), but then you'd miss the part where we got detained at the Israeli border for like an hour and a half. Because 4 American students are way more suspicious than EVERY OTHER PERSON that traveled to the border that day. And then there's the part where I asked that they NOT stamp my passport so that I could freely travel to Syria, Lebanon, and other such countries in the future, but they mixed up my passport with someone else's and decided to go ahead and stamp me. Thanks, Israel.
However, we did eventually get through, got a taxi to Jerusalem, and arrived at our hostel safe and sound. We had no actual plans for the next day, so we pretty much just woke up and started wandering. We made our way into the Old City fairly early, and it's really a great place to just wander aimlessly because you will inevitably stumble upon something important. The Old City is like a labyrinth, with all of these tunnels and twists, and it's divided into the Christian Quarter, Arab Quarter, Jewish Quarter, and Armenian Quarter. We spent the morning between the Christian and Arab Quarters, did some shopping in the tunnel stores, and accidentally came across the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which was pretty fabulous.
After this we went out to the New City, which involved a failed trip to find a specific waffle restaurant and then settling for waffles at a cafe on the way (because we got lost). When we made it to the New City, we basically just walked down Ben Yehuda St, which is closed off to cars and is just lined with a bunch of cute shops. After the walking fiasco, we elected to take a taxi back to the Old City, and by some twist of fate we ended up hailing the guy who had driven us TO Jerusalem (Sifian, the most amazing/hilarious driver on Earth), and he took us back to East Jerusalem for free!
When we returned to the Old City we decided to do the Via Dolorosa (Stations of the Cross), which ended up being really cool. We got to see all of these interesting churches that were built around some of the most famous sites in Christendom (depending on if you ask the Catholics or the Orthodox, who disagree on some locations). So we saw the place where Jesus healed the paralytic, the prison where he may have been kept, the places where he fell carrying the cross, etc. The end of the Via Dolorosa is in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (which we hadn't known earlier), so we did the Stations a little out-of-order, but it was no problem. Oh, and we also got to take pictures of the Dome of the Rock because we randomly wandered into the entrance. The Dome of the Rock plaza (AKA Temple Mount area) was closed to non-Muslims on Friday, but the guard let us take pics from the gate, so that was nice.
In the evening we ventured to the Jewish Quarter and down to the Western Wall (or Wailing Wall, but I think that's really the less polite term). It was really interesting to be there right before the start of Shabbat (the Sabbath), and there was a pretty decent-sized crowd. It was a pretty awesome experience to be at such an old and important site, surrounded by praying and crying people. Even though I'm not Jewish, I could still feel the power of the place, and it was really not something that I had expected.
In general, the whole trip was much more powerful than I had expected. I kind of envisioned having an exciting cultural experience, but not so much a religious one. I think I was subconsciously assuming that because I'm not Jewish, being in Jerusalem wouldn't be as meaningful in that way. However, my explorations around all of the holy sites left me with a much greater understanding of why everyone is fighting to keep a piece of Jerusalem for themselves.
In truth, Jerusalem really does belong to all of the religions and the people who claim it- I was only there for a short time, and even I could feel that. I think that anyone who's ever been to the city would have to sense that- and if you try to claim it solely for one group, you obviously haven't experienced Jerusalem in its entirety. I mean, I'm definitely not the world's best Christian all of the time, and I struggle with my faith just like a lot of people, but to be in the places where Jesus lived and died(regardless of the argument over the specific locations) was a shockingly meaningful experience for me. In some very small way, I had my own little tie to the land. And the tie that the residents, whether they are Arab or Jewish or otherwise, have to the land is so strong that it's nearly tangible. To ignore the multiple claims on Jerusalem is ignorance in the highest degree, as far as I'm concerned, and I think my visit made me understand more of why people are willing to put their lives and everything else on the line to fight for their place in Jerusalem.
But, yes, meaningful experience aside, it was also a very fun trip with very fun people. We didn't get to spend nearly enough time there (and it was a huge freaking hassle to cross borders. I hate borders.), but I think we spent our time pretty wisely for the most part and saw a lot of really cool sites. Oh, and Sifian ended up driving us from Jerusalem back to the border as well. He sang a lot, bought us popsicles, and made sure that we had pillows to sleep on. The only real hitch we had in getting back (which wasn't so much a hitch as a hilarious occurence) was at an Israeli checkpoint maybe 10-15 minutes from the border, where they searched our bags and pulled out Kevin's notebook (purchased in Jordan), which had a picture of Israel or something with the slogan "Palestine: We Will Return!" written above it (one of the many hilarious notebooks available in Irbid). Needless to say, he was cringing and the rest of us were almost peeing our pants from laughing at him. Yeah, other than that, travel back to Jordan was pretty simple.
Pictures are coming soon, whenever the internet cooperates. ALSO: I just figured out that people have been commenting me and I haven't gotten any notice of it via email or otherwise. So sorry! My ignoring you was very unintentional.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Beirut!
So I just returned from a 4-day excursion to Beirut with a large group of students from the program. We had a "mid-semester break" here that doesn't really seem so much "mid" as "close to the end", but whatever. We were free to do whatever we wanted for those few days, and it was nice to get a break from studying because I am uber-burnt out. We took a plane to get to Beirut, in order to avoid the hassle of Syrian transit visas, and somehow had a nicer plane for our 1-hour flight that we had for our 11-hour (or so) flight from America to Jordan. Go figure.
Beirut is a very beautiful city, but it's really a strange kind of beauty that can only come from the uniquely conflict-ridden past and cultural heritage of Lebanon. The civil war tore Beirut apart from 1975-1990, but it somehow didn't entirely lose its cosmopolitan character after so much destruction. The renovations are stunning, particularly in the downtown area, but for every elegant French-style restoration and charming garden there are also bombed-out buildings and piles of rubble elsewhere. Wherever you go, it is nearly impossible to forget that the beauty of Beirut is built on the scars of the past.
French influence is EVERYWHERE- and nearly everyone in the city speaks at least 3 languages (usually French, Arabic, and English), from what I can tell. I really didn't feel like I was in "The Middle East" the whole time I was there- there were malls, bars, clubs, cafes, and lots of Euro-style all over the place. Also, I got to wear sundresses during the day and fancy club clothing at night, which made me SO happy. I've been dressing like I'm freaking Amish most of the summer because Irbid is so conservative, and I didn't realize how much I missed dressing in fun things. It was amazing how much more I felt like me when I put on my ridiculous pink sunglasses. It brought to my attention the fact that I don't ever really feel pretty in Irbid. Which, of course, made it all the more difficult to return here on Saturday and put on my loose linen pants and elbow-length sleeves. And the kicker is that a lot of the Muslim girls here are actually very fashionable, with jeans and flats and cute (but modest) shirts, but because I'm an American I would likely attract even more unwanted attention if I wore similar clothing in Irbid. Damn the American media for projecting this whorish image of American women!
Okay, rant over. Yes, I got to wear pretty things and feel like pretty Katelyn in Beirut, so that was fabulous. Although the pretty heels I bought for nighttime were actually better to look at than to wear. We did a lot of walking, and my feet were very much unhappy with me. On the plus side, if you have enough drinks then you can't even feel the pain! Hahaha- I'm just kidding, Mom and Dad, I couldn't resist :) But there was a good selection of bars and clubs on the same street as our hotel, so that was convenient. The one bar was owned by a guy from L.A. and he gave us some free shots one night. I enjoy things that are free, especially because Beirut is so expensive. Honestly, though- for a number of reasons that I don't need to detail- the daytime wandering ended up being more fun than the nights out, in my opinion.
Really, in the daytime we didn't do much that was special. The first day we went to the American University in Beirut's "beach" (which was less of a beach and more of a large rocky area), and dd some sunning. I got out of the water after the revelation that it was teeming with jellyfish. I hate jellyfish. But the Mediterranean was pretty to look at. The other days were literally just spent wandering to random places around the city, and I really had a good time with that. I will admit, though, that one of my favorite things that I did in Beirut was something that I could have done anywhere in America: seeing Harry Potter 6!
The last night we were in the city, Anne and I were at a cafe discussing how we had no desire to go "out" that night and were really just wanting a chill activity. I almost did a happy dance when we came back to the hotel and were intercepted by Alice, who invited us to meet up with a couple of the others at the ABC Mall to see Harry Potter. BEST DECISION EVER. I had assumed that I wouldn't be able to see it until I got back to the States (and I still plan on going with you in the States after you finish Book 6, Benjammin'), so it was extremely exciting. And the subtitles were in French AND Arabic!
All in all, it was a good trip, but I didn't really do a lot of touristy things and I will need to get back to Lebanon in the near future. My next destination is Jerusalem from Thursday-Saturday, and I'm looking forward to seeing the Dome of the Rock there especially.
Oh, and pictures can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2617577&id=12458491&l=6ff8863b91
Beirut is a very beautiful city, but it's really a strange kind of beauty that can only come from the uniquely conflict-ridden past and cultural heritage of Lebanon. The civil war tore Beirut apart from 1975-1990, but it somehow didn't entirely lose its cosmopolitan character after so much destruction. The renovations are stunning, particularly in the downtown area, but for every elegant French-style restoration and charming garden there are also bombed-out buildings and piles of rubble elsewhere. Wherever you go, it is nearly impossible to forget that the beauty of Beirut is built on the scars of the past.
French influence is EVERYWHERE- and nearly everyone in the city speaks at least 3 languages (usually French, Arabic, and English), from what I can tell. I really didn't feel like I was in "The Middle East" the whole time I was there- there were malls, bars, clubs, cafes, and lots of Euro-style all over the place. Also, I got to wear sundresses during the day and fancy club clothing at night, which made me SO happy. I've been dressing like I'm freaking Amish most of the summer because Irbid is so conservative, and I didn't realize how much I missed dressing in fun things. It was amazing how much more I felt like me when I put on my ridiculous pink sunglasses. It brought to my attention the fact that I don't ever really feel pretty in Irbid. Which, of course, made it all the more difficult to return here on Saturday and put on my loose linen pants and elbow-length sleeves. And the kicker is that a lot of the Muslim girls here are actually very fashionable, with jeans and flats and cute (but modest) shirts, but because I'm an American I would likely attract even more unwanted attention if I wore similar clothing in Irbid. Damn the American media for projecting this whorish image of American women!
Okay, rant over. Yes, I got to wear pretty things and feel like pretty Katelyn in Beirut, so that was fabulous. Although the pretty heels I bought for nighttime were actually better to look at than to wear. We did a lot of walking, and my feet were very much unhappy with me. On the plus side, if you have enough drinks then you can't even feel the pain! Hahaha- I'm just kidding, Mom and Dad, I couldn't resist :) But there was a good selection of bars and clubs on the same street as our hotel, so that was convenient. The one bar was owned by a guy from L.A. and he gave us some free shots one night. I enjoy things that are free, especially because Beirut is so expensive. Honestly, though- for a number of reasons that I don't need to detail- the daytime wandering ended up being more fun than the nights out, in my opinion.
Really, in the daytime we didn't do much that was special. The first day we went to the American University in Beirut's "beach" (which was less of a beach and more of a large rocky area), and dd some sunning. I got out of the water after the revelation that it was teeming with jellyfish. I hate jellyfish. But the Mediterranean was pretty to look at. The other days were literally just spent wandering to random places around the city, and I really had a good time with that. I will admit, though, that one of my favorite things that I did in Beirut was something that I could have done anywhere in America: seeing Harry Potter 6!
The last night we were in the city, Anne and I were at a cafe discussing how we had no desire to go "out" that night and were really just wanting a chill activity. I almost did a happy dance when we came back to the hotel and were intercepted by Alice, who invited us to meet up with a couple of the others at the ABC Mall to see Harry Potter. BEST DECISION EVER. I had assumed that I wouldn't be able to see it until I got back to the States (and I still plan on going with you in the States after you finish Book 6, Benjammin'), so it was extremely exciting. And the subtitles were in French AND Arabic!
All in all, it was a good trip, but I didn't really do a lot of touristy things and I will need to get back to Lebanon in the near future. My next destination is Jerusalem from Thursday-Saturday, and I'm looking forward to seeing the Dome of the Rock there especially.
Oh, and pictures can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2617577&id=12458491&l=6ff8863b91
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Petra, Aqaba, etc.
I could continue to apologize for slacking on my blog, but you probably won't believe me. I legitimately have had homework issues since the last post! And I don't have time to catch up on weekends because I'm always traveling. However, I opted to stay a little closer to home this weekend, with a small shopping trip to Amman tomorrow with Anne to break the monotony and buy a few important clothing items.
Why do I need important clothing items, you might ask? I am happy to report that our semester break begins next Tuesday afternoon, and I will be spending the entirety of it in Beirut!!! I bought my plane ticket today (along with several others of our Beirut travel group) and now I need to go buy some Beirut-appropriate clothing/cute bathing suit. If I dressed in my conservative clothing while in Beirut, I would be the object of much ridicule. An excuse for shopping is always appreciated, of course, so Anne and I will be spending part of tomorrow at the Mecca Mall in Amman (yes! mall!), and then some more traditional shopping downtown.
So last weekend we traveled to Petra and Aqaba with the whole program, which was AMAZING. Petra, if you don't know about it, is an ancient Nabatean city (later also Roman) entirely carved into the stone cliffs in the area. It's super old and also is one of the new wonders of the world, so it was great to go see it. We left on Thursday morning, because it's a several hour drive down from Irbid to Petra. Our hotel was definitely nice, and I think all of us went directly into the pool area as soon as we dropped our stuff in the rooms. Honestly, the first night was pretty uneventful for me (not so much for others, I think)- I went to bed at like 10:30 because we had to leave the hotel at 6:00 AM in order to beat the heat at Petra.
When you enter into the city, you walk for a little ways until you reach the first real building- the Treasury. It's very large and imposing, which you can vaguely see from my pictures. Khaled suggested that those of us who wanted to see the monastery should go directly there after the treasury, because it's like an hour's hike up to the top, and we only had so much time to be in Petra. So I went with a group and trekked up the mountain, which was much worse than the scrambling I did in Wadi Rum, I must say. However, the view from the top WAS pretty stellar, and I didn't regret the excessively tiring climb. It was good that we climbed in the morning, but it was already really hot. I tried wearing my kuffiyeh Tupac-style to keep the sun off, but I was even getting too sweaty to do that, and it was quickly abandoned.
After the monastery climb, we went to look at some really cool mosaics, but then I and two of the guys decided that we were tired, hungry and disgusting and wanted to head back to the hotel in order to eat/shower before going to Aqaba. Remember how I said you walk for "a little ways" before you hit the Treasury? So it doesn't seem like such a short walk when it's 100000 degrees outside and you've just hiked all morning. Everytime I thought we were almost out, it was a false alarm. I told the guys "Listen, we're going to actually die in Petra." and I was only very slightly kidding.
Nonetheless, we made it out. I showered. I ate a burger the size of my face at the hotel bar. We left the hotel in the afternoon, arrived to Aqaba 2 hours or so afterward, and upon seeing our Aqaba hotel I no longer thought that the Petra hotel looked quite as nice. We were living in total luxury at this new hotel. Oh my goodness. The hotel has its own lazy river-style pool that wraps winds around the whole back of the building, private beach access, room balconies, large beds, hi-tech bathrooms (and nice robes!), and is for sure the nicest place I've ever stayed. As we did in Petra, we dropped our stuff, paused to be amazed by our very nice hotel rooms, then hit the pool/beach area.
And if you don't know Aqaba, it's a resort city at the bottom of Jordan on the Red Sea, and it's right across the water from Eilat in Israel. It was wonderful to hit the beach- I'm definitely an ocean kind of girl, and I haven't been in salt water for so long! Also, it was totally over 100 degrees outside, so being in the ocean was so so so nice. I also tested out the pool and hot tub, with similarly relaxing results. We didn't spend too much time frolicking in the water because there was much to be done during the nighttime in Aqaba. Khaled and Allison (our program leaders) had arranged with the hotel bar for our group to get a 25% discount from 8:00-9:00, so Anne and I went to join the two of them there after dinner to get some fun fancy drinks.
And of course, a bunch of the others in the program decided to go out and experience Aqaba nightlife after that. I somehow always get sucked into these things. Nobody ever listens to me here when I repeatedly tell them "I can't dance!". So my bad influence friends found a way to bring me with them to various locations throughout the night. I had fun watching some of them have progressively more alcohol-influenced fun as the night went on. The night was capped off at a bar/club which was above a McDonalds. If that's not one of the shadiest things you've ever heard... But it was not actually a shady place. Some of my friends danced themselves silly while I just sat and had some good conversation. We ended up meeting up with two of the other members of the large going-out group which had split up earlier in the night. Genevieve had made a new Jordanian friend, who forcibly dragged me and the rest of the guys out of our seats and onto the dance floor around 3:00 AM, but we ended up leaving not long afterward.
Oh, and then we went to McDonalds. What? The club was kind of above McDonalds and you expect people to not pick up some fries on the way out? As I said before, it was very entertaining to hang out with my drunk friends and have some very interesting conversations. And even though I went to bed so late, I got my butt out of bed at 9:30 so I could have several good beach hours before we had to leave in the afternoon. So I enjoyed some delightful sunbathing and swimming, ate another ridiculously large burger, and then before I was ready it was time to go. I was never so sad to get back to Irbid.
The one negative aspect was the severe sunburn that finally caught me. You know that movie "Final Destination" where Death follows those kids who avoided dying? I think that's what went down with the sunburn. I avoided getting burnt in the rest of my Jordan trip (including a day in the freaking desert), so the sunburn finally caught me in Aqaba. I was pretty uncomfortable. At the first rest stop we hit, I changed out of my shirt and asked Anne "Oh, is my back red at all?", to which she only replied "OH." That, as you can imagine, is not a good response. Small price to pay for an extremely fun weekend, but still painful.
The ride back was very long. We went by the Dead Sea to see the sunset (gorgeous!), and then stopped at McDonalds in Amman for a late dinner. I've never been so excited for chicken nuggets in my whole life. It sucked that we didn't get back to the university until like 11:30, because we had class the next day (for which none of us had done any homework, obviously). Needless to say, the next day was LONG. But, all in all, the weekend was by far the most fun I've had here, and I've had some pretty good trips in general! I only wish we could have spent several days in Aqaba rather than just 1-ish. Ah well.
I will make an effort to do more posting, but homework calls during most days of the week. Trying not to fail, you know.
Pictures are on Facebook and can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2609410&id=12458491&l=95594a6531
Why do I need important clothing items, you might ask? I am happy to report that our semester break begins next Tuesday afternoon, and I will be spending the entirety of it in Beirut!!! I bought my plane ticket today (along with several others of our Beirut travel group) and now I need to go buy some Beirut-appropriate clothing/cute bathing suit. If I dressed in my conservative clothing while in Beirut, I would be the object of much ridicule. An excuse for shopping is always appreciated, of course, so Anne and I will be spending part of tomorrow at the Mecca Mall in Amman (yes! mall!), and then some more traditional shopping downtown.
So last weekend we traveled to Petra and Aqaba with the whole program, which was AMAZING. Petra, if you don't know about it, is an ancient Nabatean city (later also Roman) entirely carved into the stone cliffs in the area. It's super old and also is one of the new wonders of the world, so it was great to go see it. We left on Thursday morning, because it's a several hour drive down from Irbid to Petra. Our hotel was definitely nice, and I think all of us went directly into the pool area as soon as we dropped our stuff in the rooms. Honestly, the first night was pretty uneventful for me (not so much for others, I think)- I went to bed at like 10:30 because we had to leave the hotel at 6:00 AM in order to beat the heat at Petra.
When you enter into the city, you walk for a little ways until you reach the first real building- the Treasury. It's very large and imposing, which you can vaguely see from my pictures. Khaled suggested that those of us who wanted to see the monastery should go directly there after the treasury, because it's like an hour's hike up to the top, and we only had so much time to be in Petra. So I went with a group and trekked up the mountain, which was much worse than the scrambling I did in Wadi Rum, I must say. However, the view from the top WAS pretty stellar, and I didn't regret the excessively tiring climb. It was good that we climbed in the morning, but it was already really hot. I tried wearing my kuffiyeh Tupac-style to keep the sun off, but I was even getting too sweaty to do that, and it was quickly abandoned.
After the monastery climb, we went to look at some really cool mosaics, but then I and two of the guys decided that we were tired, hungry and disgusting and wanted to head back to the hotel in order to eat/shower before going to Aqaba. Remember how I said you walk for "a little ways" before you hit the Treasury? So it doesn't seem like such a short walk when it's 100000 degrees outside and you've just hiked all morning. Everytime I thought we were almost out, it was a false alarm. I told the guys "Listen, we're going to actually die in Petra." and I was only very slightly kidding.
Nonetheless, we made it out. I showered. I ate a burger the size of my face at the hotel bar. We left the hotel in the afternoon, arrived to Aqaba 2 hours or so afterward, and upon seeing our Aqaba hotel I no longer thought that the Petra hotel looked quite as nice. We were living in total luxury at this new hotel. Oh my goodness. The hotel has its own lazy river-style pool that wraps winds around the whole back of the building, private beach access, room balconies, large beds, hi-tech bathrooms (and nice robes!), and is for sure the nicest place I've ever stayed. As we did in Petra, we dropped our stuff, paused to be amazed by our very nice hotel rooms, then hit the pool/beach area.
And if you don't know Aqaba, it's a resort city at the bottom of Jordan on the Red Sea, and it's right across the water from Eilat in Israel. It was wonderful to hit the beach- I'm definitely an ocean kind of girl, and I haven't been in salt water for so long! Also, it was totally over 100 degrees outside, so being in the ocean was so so so nice. I also tested out the pool and hot tub, with similarly relaxing results. We didn't spend too much time frolicking in the water because there was much to be done during the nighttime in Aqaba. Khaled and Allison (our program leaders) had arranged with the hotel bar for our group to get a 25% discount from 8:00-9:00, so Anne and I went to join the two of them there after dinner to get some fun fancy drinks.
And of course, a bunch of the others in the program decided to go out and experience Aqaba nightlife after that. I somehow always get sucked into these things. Nobody ever listens to me here when I repeatedly tell them "I can't dance!". So my bad influence friends found a way to bring me with them to various locations throughout the night. I had fun watching some of them have progressively more alcohol-influenced fun as the night went on. The night was capped off at a bar/club which was above a McDonalds. If that's not one of the shadiest things you've ever heard... But it was not actually a shady place. Some of my friends danced themselves silly while I just sat and had some good conversation. We ended up meeting up with two of the other members of the large going-out group which had split up earlier in the night. Genevieve had made a new Jordanian friend, who forcibly dragged me and the rest of the guys out of our seats and onto the dance floor around 3:00 AM, but we ended up leaving not long afterward.
Oh, and then we went to McDonalds. What? The club was kind of above McDonalds and you expect people to not pick up some fries on the way out? As I said before, it was very entertaining to hang out with my drunk friends and have some very interesting conversations. And even though I went to bed so late, I got my butt out of bed at 9:30 so I could have several good beach hours before we had to leave in the afternoon. So I enjoyed some delightful sunbathing and swimming, ate another ridiculously large burger, and then before I was ready it was time to go. I was never so sad to get back to Irbid.
The one negative aspect was the severe sunburn that finally caught me. You know that movie "Final Destination" where Death follows those kids who avoided dying? I think that's what went down with the sunburn. I avoided getting burnt in the rest of my Jordan trip (including a day in the freaking desert), so the sunburn finally caught me in Aqaba. I was pretty uncomfortable. At the first rest stop we hit, I changed out of my shirt and asked Anne "Oh, is my back red at all?", to which she only replied "OH." That, as you can imagine, is not a good response. Small price to pay for an extremely fun weekend, but still painful.
The ride back was very long. We went by the Dead Sea to see the sunset (gorgeous!), and then stopped at McDonalds in Amman for a late dinner. I've never been so excited for chicken nuggets in my whole life. It sucked that we didn't get back to the university until like 11:30, because we had class the next day (for which none of us had done any homework, obviously). Needless to say, the next day was LONG. But, all in all, the weekend was by far the most fun I've had here, and I've had some pretty good trips in general! I only wish we could have spent several days in Aqaba rather than just 1-ish. Ah well.
I will make an effort to do more posting, but homework calls during most days of the week. Trying not to fail, you know.
Pictures are on Facebook and can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2609410&id=12458491&l=95594a6531
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Wadi Rum
Just returned from Wadi Rum (which is this place: http://www.wadirum.jo/About_Wadi_Rum.htm) and had an amazing time! The views were absolutely stunning- red sand dunes and giant rock formations everywhere. It was funny, when we got to the entrance to the Wadi Rum protected area we were still on a legitimate road, and the visitor's center is this nice, modern building. So when our bus dropped us off in Rum Village (which has homes and stores and stuff), I was thinking "This is my desert experience? I thought we would be in the middle of nowhere!". It was at this point that we piled into two old SUVs that promptly left the road and drove 15 km or so (I forget) out into the desert.
We (the 10 of us from the group who went) arrived past 9:00 on Thursday night, so really all we had time to do was eat, drink some tea by the fire, and go to bed. By bed, I mean mattress inside a cloth tent with an oddly hard pillow. Some of us tried to get up to see the sunrise at 5:30, but as it turns out the sunrise is blocked by one of the aforementioned giant rock formations. Failure.
No matter- after our sunrise failure we ate a good breakfast and piled back into the SUVs to go on our desert tour for the day. We basically went around to a bunch of interesting sites spread throughout the area, like Lawrence's Spring (where Lawrence of Arabia supposedly bathed), some giant sand dunes, rock bridges, and one other big rock that one of the guides told us "looks like a big chicken". The day was spent mostly "scrambling", which is essentially rock-climbing without any gear. If you think this sounds unsafe (for me especially), it probably is. There were several times that I was pretty sure I wasn't going to make it up or down some of the mountains, but I escaped mostly unharmed, with the exception of some rock-burned hands and scrapes from a small fall. Even though I am generally a chicken (much like that rock) about heights, it was pretty worth it to get the views from on top.
Also, have you ever attempted to climb a giant sand dune? Here's what it's like: you run and run and don't go anywhere for a long time. As if walking in sand isn't difficult enough, climbing it is freakin ridiculous. The dune we climbed had a rock wall beside it, so after attempting to do the dune properly I (and most everyone else) gave up and just pulled myself up with some rock assistance. Lawrence's Spring was probably the most tiring climb for me (I broke out the inhaler after that one), but it was not unbearable. I was expecting the heat to be a lot worse than it actually was! Don't get me wrong, it was hot, and I was sweaty after climbing around stuff, but for some reason I expected desert heat to be more ridiculous than it really was. So that was a positive thing. After about 3 sites, we ended up meeting up with 4 other guys from our program who chose to come separately from the larger group. It was kind of funny to see a vehicle driving towards us in the middle of the desert and then see that it was full of people that we knew.
After our long day of touring, we came back to the camp to veg out for a bit. I didn't actually sit for too long, because I went to do some further hiking/scrambling in the area surrounding our campsite with a couple of people. After that came the most stereotypical (and awesome) desert experience: camel riding! Our guide just kind of took us around in a circle, so it's not like we really travelled a great distance, but it was cool nonetheless. Camels sound like Wookies (just for you, Dad).
All in all, the Wadi Rum trip was one of the coolest things I've ever done. In addition to the views and the scrambling, staying at the camp with our Bedouin buddies was pretty cool, too. The food was some of the best (if not THE best) I've eaten since my arrival in Jordan. The tea was especially delicious, too- more like the kind of tea I was expecting to drink in Jordan, with some kind of great spices in it. The bathroom situation was less stellar than the food, but I would prefer not to dwell on it. Also, can we just marvel at the fact that I A) did not die by falling off one of many cliffs I was on and B) did not receive any sort of sunburn from hiking in the DESERT?! Two very successful things.
Pictures will be forthcoming, but I need to do my homework now. Oh, and happy July 4 to all of you back home :)!!
--K
We (the 10 of us from the group who went) arrived past 9:00 on Thursday night, so really all we had time to do was eat, drink some tea by the fire, and go to bed. By bed, I mean mattress inside a cloth tent with an oddly hard pillow. Some of us tried to get up to see the sunrise at 5:30, but as it turns out the sunrise is blocked by one of the aforementioned giant rock formations. Failure.
No matter- after our sunrise failure we ate a good breakfast and piled back into the SUVs to go on our desert tour for the day. We basically went around to a bunch of interesting sites spread throughout the area, like Lawrence's Spring (where Lawrence of Arabia supposedly bathed), some giant sand dunes, rock bridges, and one other big rock that one of the guides told us "looks like a big chicken". The day was spent mostly "scrambling", which is essentially rock-climbing without any gear. If you think this sounds unsafe (for me especially), it probably is. There were several times that I was pretty sure I wasn't going to make it up or down some of the mountains, but I escaped mostly unharmed, with the exception of some rock-burned hands and scrapes from a small fall. Even though I am generally a chicken (much like that rock) about heights, it was pretty worth it to get the views from on top.
Also, have you ever attempted to climb a giant sand dune? Here's what it's like: you run and run and don't go anywhere for a long time. As if walking in sand isn't difficult enough, climbing it is freakin ridiculous. The dune we climbed had a rock wall beside it, so after attempting to do the dune properly I (and most everyone else) gave up and just pulled myself up with some rock assistance. Lawrence's Spring was probably the most tiring climb for me (I broke out the inhaler after that one), but it was not unbearable. I was expecting the heat to be a lot worse than it actually was! Don't get me wrong, it was hot, and I was sweaty after climbing around stuff, but for some reason I expected desert heat to be more ridiculous than it really was. So that was a positive thing. After about 3 sites, we ended up meeting up with 4 other guys from our program who chose to come separately from the larger group. It was kind of funny to see a vehicle driving towards us in the middle of the desert and then see that it was full of people that we knew.
After our long day of touring, we came back to the camp to veg out for a bit. I didn't actually sit for too long, because I went to do some further hiking/scrambling in the area surrounding our campsite with a couple of people. After that came the most stereotypical (and awesome) desert experience: camel riding! Our guide just kind of took us around in a circle, so it's not like we really travelled a great distance, but it was cool nonetheless. Camels sound like Wookies (just for you, Dad).
All in all, the Wadi Rum trip was one of the coolest things I've ever done. In addition to the views and the scrambling, staying at the camp with our Bedouin buddies was pretty cool, too. The food was some of the best (if not THE best) I've eaten since my arrival in Jordan. The tea was especially delicious, too- more like the kind of tea I was expecting to drink in Jordan, with some kind of great spices in it. The bathroom situation was less stellar than the food, but I would prefer not to dwell on it. Also, can we just marvel at the fact that I A) did not die by falling off one of many cliffs I was on and B) did not receive any sort of sunburn from hiking in the DESERT?! Two very successful things.
Pictures will be forthcoming, but I need to do my homework now. Oh, and happy July 4 to all of you back home :)!!
--K
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Coffee, Friends, Cat
Cultural lesson of the day: "Black Coffee" is not, in fact, black coffee in the American style. Black coffee in Jordan is most definitely sweetened (everything here is sweetened). I found this out after visiting my new favorite 40 piastre coffee machine, where I can get various coffee drinks, including my new favorite mochaccino (or however you spell it). Before I found this, I had to get my caffeine fix from Turkish coffee in sit-down restaurants (no Starbucks, no Dunkin Donuts)- and if you've never had Turkish coffee....it's roughly the same consistency as mud, and it is impossible to finish the whole cup because once you get to the bottom of the cup it's entirely coffee bean sludge. It's not bad, once you get used to it. But, yeah, this sweet coffee machine has various options, including both "Sugarfree Coffee" and "Black Coffee". This was confusing. But, apparently, "black" just means that it doesn't have milk in it, as I discovered after drinking it. I wonder if Arabs who visit the U.S. are unpleasantly suprised when they try to order black coffee there.
I don't know what I'm going to do without A) Falafel stands and B) Fresh pita when I go back to America. I think my diet is like 90% fresh, amazing pita bread. And I have recently discovered the joys of a falafel stand near our apartment building, where 50 piastres gets me two very delicious falafel sandwiches (or one delicious chicken sandwich). Also, me and the falafel stand guy are probably going to be BFFs. The first time I went, he started smiling and laughing when I spoke to him in dialect, so I was like, "What? Am I funny?" (roughly, in Arabic), to which he said "No, no, your Arabic is good". And now I've gone back a couple more times so we're on a first-name basis (Apparently Katelyn is a hard name to pronounce for a lot of Arabic-speakers, so I shorten it to Kate a lot of the time). But, yes, I'll probably continue speaking hilarious Arabic to him and thus will cement our BFFness.
I also got a "language partner" today, which is definitely a good thing. The program sets us up with Arabic students who want to learn English, so we help each other out. My new friend's name is Nayra, and she's Egyptian but her family lives in Amman (and she commutes to Irbid for classes! It's a bit of a haul). I've assured her that my Arabic is not good, so today we just mutually struggled to talk correctly, and I think it will be REALLY helpful for my Arabic speaking. Nayra was helping me to correct my grammatical mistakes (and helping me find the right words to say) in my Arabic, and I helped her with her English mistakes, as well. Her friend Shireena is buddied up with my roomie Connie, so I got to talk to Shireena (who is from Turkey) as well. They are both super nice, and I think they're going to help Connie and me go shopping and not get ripped off sometime. Inshallah they can help me buy my kuffieyehs.
Last, but not least, our program gained guardianship of a very tiny kitten this week. I won't pretend to have had any responsibility for him, but my friend Anne essentially became a Mama Cat while I pretty much just was petting him and fawning over his adorableness. He was apparently abandoned outside our Language Center here, and is WAY too small to be on his own. He's probably like 4 weeks old, but is definitely a runt. And now he's going to live with a family, which is good because he'll get more attention than any of us can provide while doing our studies. Let me just repeat, though, this baby kitty (named "Shuks", like in "Shoukran", which means "Thank you") is absolutely adorable in every way. It will be sad when he leaves tomorrow :(
On the bright side, I am off to camp in Wadi Rum tomorrow. Hanging out with some Bedouins, falling over some rocks, attempting to stave off dehydration in the desert...it's going to be a blast. Inshallah there will be pictures katheer. My English skills AND my Arabic skills are failing, but my Arablish speaking is only getting better.
--K
I don't know what I'm going to do without A) Falafel stands and B) Fresh pita when I go back to America. I think my diet is like 90% fresh, amazing pita bread. And I have recently discovered the joys of a falafel stand near our apartment building, where 50 piastres gets me two very delicious falafel sandwiches (or one delicious chicken sandwich). Also, me and the falafel stand guy are probably going to be BFFs. The first time I went, he started smiling and laughing when I spoke to him in dialect, so I was like, "What? Am I funny?" (roughly, in Arabic), to which he said "No, no, your Arabic is good". And now I've gone back a couple more times so we're on a first-name basis (Apparently Katelyn is a hard name to pronounce for a lot of Arabic-speakers, so I shorten it to Kate a lot of the time). But, yes, I'll probably continue speaking hilarious Arabic to him and thus will cement our BFFness.
I also got a "language partner" today, which is definitely a good thing. The program sets us up with Arabic students who want to learn English, so we help each other out. My new friend's name is Nayra, and she's Egyptian but her family lives in Amman (and she commutes to Irbid for classes! It's a bit of a haul). I've assured her that my Arabic is not good, so today we just mutually struggled to talk correctly, and I think it will be REALLY helpful for my Arabic speaking. Nayra was helping me to correct my grammatical mistakes (and helping me find the right words to say) in my Arabic, and I helped her with her English mistakes, as well. Her friend Shireena is buddied up with my roomie Connie, so I got to talk to Shireena (who is from Turkey) as well. They are both super nice, and I think they're going to help Connie and me go shopping and not get ripped off sometime. Inshallah they can help me buy my kuffieyehs.
Last, but not least, our program gained guardianship of a very tiny kitten this week. I won't pretend to have had any responsibility for him, but my friend Anne essentially became a Mama Cat while I pretty much just was petting him and fawning over his adorableness. He was apparently abandoned outside our Language Center here, and is WAY too small to be on his own. He's probably like 4 weeks old, but is definitely a runt. And now he's going to live with a family, which is good because he'll get more attention than any of us can provide while doing our studies. Let me just repeat, though, this baby kitty (named "Shuks", like in "Shoukran", which means "Thank you") is absolutely adorable in every way. It will be sad when he leaves tomorrow :(
On the bright side, I am off to camp in Wadi Rum tomorrow. Hanging out with some Bedouins, falling over some rocks, attempting to stave off dehydration in the desert...it's going to be a blast. Inshallah there will be pictures katheer. My English skills AND my Arabic skills are failing, but my Arablish speaking is only getting better.
--K
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