Off to Amman

Nothing too exciting over the last couple of days, except that I moved up from the Upper Intermediate to the Advanced class. This means more homework. On the plus side, my Arabic will most certainly improve, and that is why I'm paying thousands of dollars to be here, right? I think I can keep up with the work.

I'm off to Amman in an hour and a half, so hopefully I'll have some fun stories and pictures when I return! The pictures depend on my getting fast wireless access with my laptop somewhere, though, so we'll see if I can actually post those. But I'll be seeing a bunch of historical places, in addition to the obvious cultural exploration and fun stuff, so I'm looking forward to that. The downside is that I have to take my homework with me, because I don't really think it's wise to leave it all for Saturday night. That's right, our class week starts on Sunday. This is an Islamic country, remember?

Speaking of that, one of the things I like most about being in an Islamic country is hearing the call to prayer at its specific intervals throughout the day and night. I admit that my first few days here I was not a fan of the call to prayer at 3:48 AM and 5:29 AM (yes, I just looked that up), for obvious reasons. Now, however, that I can sleep through those early early calls, I can definitely see the beauty in them. It's especially nice in the evening, when everything else is so quiet outside and then you hear the call ringing out through the campus. I'm sure any of you that have seen any news report or documentary or really anything related to Islam or the Middle East have heard the call to prayer on one of those things, but television doesn't really do it justice, in my opinion. For me, the call to prayer is one of the biggest reminders that I am in a different culture, and I think it's so amazing to know that all through the campus (and through the city, from another mosque) we are all connected for a brief period in hearing the call to prayer. I know it's one of the things I'll miss in August when I leave.

And now, off to Amman! Those of you who email me/Facebook me regularly