On my own laptop!

At a wireless cafe with my laptop! That makes me very happy. I'm just sitting here, drinking tea and catching up on all my emails along with like 6 other girls from my program. We're all internet-deprived.

On the plus side, we all figured out how to take the block off our satellite TVs in our apartments, so we now get like 200+ Arabic/other channels! There are also some English movie/TV channels with Arabic subtitles, so we've watched Austin Powers 2 and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban with subtitles (lot of interesting words in Austin Powers...). I also spent the latter part of the afternoon falling asleep on the floor while watching some possibly Moroccan (definitely Arab) soap operas and music videos. Let me tell you, there is nothing quite so dramatic as an Arabic drama. The music and everything is just so over-the-top! I love it. But, really, it's so hot in the afternoon that there was nothing better to do than watch Arabic TV and sleep. I also obtained my new(used) Jordanian cell phone, so now I can actually call people as soon as I buy some minutes.

So the earlier part of today was spent shopping in downtown Irbid. Irbid is very crowded and busy, and it's definitely kind of unkempt in general. However, it kind of adds to the charm. I'm still getting an uncomfortable amount of attention for being a very conspicuous ajnabiyya (foreigner) with my obviously blonde hair, no matter that I'm wearing modest clothing and sunglasses. After my roommate and I walked around various stores (she was looking for some traditional clothing) and maneuvered around the crowded streets, I found a cute blue scarf/hijab that I decided to buy. As we looked at the scarves (which were out on the street), the shopowner kept talking to us in rapidfire Jordanian colloquial, of which I understood "Are you German?" "Are you married?" and "Do you speak Arabic?" (to the latter I replied "A little little bit", but he kept talking anyway). He then poured me some very strong coffee (it comes in little shot-glass sized cups here, like espresso), and I unsuccessfully tried to pay my 1.50 and walk away. He made us come into the actual store so that he could "put my scarf in a bag" (he just wanted us to look at more merch), and we finally kept saying "No, thank you" until we could escape.

After that, we took a taxi back to the apartment. Riding in a taxi is another great experience here. If I drove here, I would fear for my life on a regular basis. Everybody is trying to get into the same small street area at once, and there's a LOT of beeping. As a woman, you have to sit in the back of a taxi and it's polite to be pretty quiet (guys are supposed to sit up front, because I guess sitting in back is kind of pretentious for them. I don't know, it's just custom.). So we got charged a dollar for the taxi ride, which was probably the inflated ajnabi price, but whatever.

The food situation has been pretty good, but people eat late dinner here, which is weird for me. I actually got some fabulous ice cream last night, though! The guys in the program have been really good about walking around with us. I especially like this because I stick out like a sore thumb, and at night time there are a lot of guys congregating on the streets, which is already uncomfortable and would be doubly so without one of the American guys walking around with me. I hope I get used to the attention. I hope even more that I make some Jordanian friends quickly so I can find out how to shop well here!

I've only taken a few pictures in the arrival rush, but I'll post them periodically (slow internet):
http://s683.photobucket.com/albums/vv191/kcarson147/
EDIT: Having mushkilat katheera (many problems) with my picture posting. Be patient! I promise to take more pictures this week and afterward. Until then, ma'a salaama!

-K