Back at the internet cafe

Back here again. So when I said it was "hot" earlier, I meant it. It's way way hot. But, on the bright side, there is a fabulous breeze most of the day so you don't die! It's still pretty sweaty to walk around all day, though, and I did a lot of walking today.

Food here is SUPER cheap! Like between .50-1.00 for most food items, and I think I paid less than 2 dollars for 6 bottles of water- and I'm talking GIANT like 1.5 liter water bottles. This is good, because you need to drink like your weight in water to stay hydrated. The people are pretty friendly for the most part. At the airport, some random guy who was there with his family helped me get my suitcases out of this crowded section and wheeled them a few feet away to where my group was waiting, so that was really helpful. Lots of people on the street today were saying "Welcome to Jordan!" in English. We also got a few catcalls, though. This is a hazard of having such obviously Germanic features in a country like Jordan! A bunch of people like to stop in the street and beep and wave, but we aren't really supposed to respond to that type of greeting, I guess. There are a lot of things that I have to be careful of here, as an obviously non-Arab woman in Jordan! I'll get used to it sometime, I'm sure.

Irbid is a fairly bustling city. There's a lot of trash and stuff around, so I can't exactly call it "beautiful", but it IS interesting. There are American stores like KFC, Popeye's, Adidas, and several others- not as many chains as there are in Amman, but more than I expected. I might have to hit up Burger King when I get sick of cheap falafel, shawarma, hummus, shishtawook, etc...but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

I will hopefully be getting a cheap Jordanian cell phone tomorrow and calling cards so I can talk to my family and Ben sometime. It's rough being without internet most of the time AND without phone! But, this is part of the experience. And, now, back to my apartment. Pictures soon?

-K