Regardless of the recent New York Post headline soccer isn't just for five year-olds and suburban high school girls, in fact, soccer is the World's Game. Take that baseball ball... The WORLD Cup actually has teams from all around the WORLD... odd how that makes sense... Team America had an awesome showing this year, making it out of the Group level for the first time- sadly they are out, but hopefully this game has sparked some soccer fever. I know I have a fever, and the only prescription: more soccer!
Everywhere I've been in Jordan in the past weeks has been filled with all kinds of sport-pride, and Jordan doesn't even have a team in tournament. Each night the cafes are filled with groups of friends smoking shiisha and yelling at TV's. When I was in Amman there was a whole group of international strangers huddled around a set soaking it all in. Millions upon millions of people are joined together in fandom- and just as appropriately in rivalry. Sure there is a lot of violence associated with some soccer fans and in large sporting events in general, but you have to agree- there is something strange in how competition can bring so many people together.
The lovely students of the UVA-Yarmouk Program recently found this out... We had been gathering together slowly- first three, then five, then six, just to kick the ball around so to say. We finally got enough to form a little team and play against each other. One night out on the pitch there was a group of guys playing on the other half of the field, so they came over and offered a game- Americans vs. The Gulf National Team (plus Syria and Palestine). We all spoke a little English and a little Arabic- but we all knew that one common language: GOAL!!! Of course, they beat us- but they didn't cream us, only 6-2 (whad up Korea!). We did get a, "you are not bad for girls," which made me wonder if any of those guys, who had been playing soccer all their lives, had played against girls- or at least American girls who are used to playing hard. All we had was a field, some nets, and a crappy ball- but we managed to break the language barrier, the gender barrier, cultural barriers, and in some way, a political barrier. Those boys came from places our country has bombed the shit out of or helped someone else bomb the shit out of it- but we were not enemies- just opponents in a game. We lost, but I had a GREAT time.
Competition isn't always a bad thing and it doesn't always have to split people apart. Sometimes, like in our case, it can bring people together like no act I have ever seen before. I have decided to love soccer, not because of any particular team, but because of all of them- and what they can give this world in terms of hope and joy, and yes, even competition.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
Holy Weekend Batman! Ker-POW!
This weekend our hero, Arabic Girl, fought all of the forces of Eeeevil in not one, but six sites of ancient-city-Holy-God-salty kind of places!! We last left our caped crusader (not such a good term around here, doh!) diligently scribbling away at hours of Arabic homework. Yet, alas, the call for adventure rang and our hero valiantly answered that call by taking a long nap on the tour bus.
Friday... wa-wa-wa....
The first stop for historical ass-kicking took place at Umm Qais, also known as the place Jesus cast out a legion of demons an sent them into flying pigs... or something like that. Not wanting to be stood up by Jesus, Arabic Girl tried to cast some demons out of her fellow travelers but only ended up taking some really awesome pictures of columns and the view of the Sea of Galilee with Israel and Syria int he background.
Off to Ajloun next, a medieval fortification of Crusader-Castle-in-the-Desert-Goodenss, where our hero felt what it would be like to fend off the Holy Land from the likes of the Joker, Magneto, and the Tea Party (or read "BP") all at once! Never Fear! Ajloun is on the high ground with a moat and archer's windows, it was a lovely place but could probably use some Martha Stewart K-mart Collection.
After feasting on plates of roast beast and critter with breads galore, Arabic Girl met her biggest match of the day: Jaresh. This towering monster of thousands of years holds the One Ring and the necklace from Titanic (or you could read "unobtain-ium"), or at least the best Roman ruins outside of Italy. Colossal pillars, theaters, and temples to Zeus cover this site. Luckily Arabic Girl is in fact faster than a speeding bullet and had no problem wining all of the races in the Hippodrome.
Back to the Bat-Cave for the night complete with an Arabic training montage.
Saturday... BAM!
Not wanting to be one of those boring, heathen types Arabic Girl abandons her studies to run off to save the Holy Land from tourists in matching neon t-shirts and Micky Mouse Hats.
First Stop: Mount Nebo. The place that God took Moses to see the Promised Land, but Moses had a bad habit of cutting people off in traffic with his camel so God didn't let Moses actually go to the Promised Land. Good thing Arabic Girl doesn't have road rage.
Nest Stop: B-B-Bethany B-B-Beyond the Jordan. Where Jesus was thrown into the Jordan river by a crazy man in a bear suit who ate bugs and lived in the caves (really not making that one up). Arabic Girl was ready and willing and definitely laid some knowledge of the Biblios on some fellow hajj-ers (hajj = pilgrimage).
Stop Three: The Sea of Dead. Watch out, if you have a cut you WILL find it. Immediately. Arabic Girl's kryptonite is not salt, or else she would have died by merely looking at the Sea of Dead (in fact it is actual kryptonite). Jesus might have walked on water, but everyone in the Sea of Dead can float on water- just try and drown, try it! Buoyancy is one of Arabic Girl's super powers. Fact. Vanquishing evil at the Sea of Dead was very difficult: after the swimming and mud bath and exfoliation and more swimming and eating ice cream there wasn't very much evil to vanquish.
Alas, join us next time for Arabic Girl's adventures in international soccer games!!!
Friday... wa-wa-wa....
The first stop for historical ass-kicking took place at Umm Qais, also known as the place Jesus cast out a legion of demons an sent them into flying pigs... or something like that. Not wanting to be stood up by Jesus, Arabic Girl tried to cast some demons out of her fellow travelers but only ended up taking some really awesome pictures of columns and the view of the Sea of Galilee with Israel and Syria int he background.
Off to Ajloun next, a medieval fortification of Crusader-Castle-in-the-Desert-Goodenss, where our hero felt what it would be like to fend off the Holy Land from the likes of the Joker, Magneto, and the Tea Party (or read "BP") all at once! Never Fear! Ajloun is on the high ground with a moat and archer's windows, it was a lovely place but could probably use some Martha Stewart K-mart Collection.
After feasting on plates of roast beast and critter with breads galore, Arabic Girl met her biggest match of the day: Jaresh. This towering monster of thousands of years holds the One Ring and the necklace from Titanic (or you could read "unobtain-ium"), or at least the best Roman ruins outside of Italy. Colossal pillars, theaters, and temples to Zeus cover this site. Luckily Arabic Girl is in fact faster than a speeding bullet and had no problem wining all of the races in the Hippodrome.
Back to the Bat-Cave for the night complete with an Arabic training montage.
Saturday... BAM!
Not wanting to be one of those boring, heathen types Arabic Girl abandons her studies to run off to save the Holy Land from tourists in matching neon t-shirts and Micky Mouse Hats.
First Stop: Mount Nebo. The place that God took Moses to see the Promised Land, but Moses had a bad habit of cutting people off in traffic with his camel so God didn't let Moses actually go to the Promised Land. Good thing Arabic Girl doesn't have road rage.
Nest Stop: B-B-Bethany B-B-Beyond the Jordan. Where Jesus was thrown into the Jordan river by a crazy man in a bear suit who ate bugs and lived in the caves (really not making that one up). Arabic Girl was ready and willing and definitely laid some knowledge of the Biblios on some fellow hajj-ers (hajj = pilgrimage).
Stop Three: The Sea of Dead. Watch out, if you have a cut you WILL find it. Immediately. Arabic Girl's kryptonite is not salt, or else she would have died by merely looking at the Sea of Dead (in fact it is actual kryptonite). Jesus might have walked on water, but everyone in the Sea of Dead can float on water- just try and drown, try it! Buoyancy is one of Arabic Girl's super powers. Fact. Vanquishing evil at the Sea of Dead was very difficult: after the swimming and mud bath and exfoliation and more swimming and eating ice cream there wasn't very much evil to vanquish.
Alas, join us next time for Arabic Girl's adventures in international soccer games!!!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
AAAAmman!
Ah dear friends it seems that I have left you in a bout of suspense as to my whereabouts last weekend... No more! Me and my 10 closest friends (or so) traveled to Amman. We began early in the morning on Friday (the new Saturday) and walked down to the bus stop- sun already beating overhead, and sweat already beading down. Luckily there was a big sign for the bus tickets and a large label for Amman that even my limited Arabic skills could figure out the tickets. A couple of dinars and two hours of air-conditioned bus ride later and we were dropped off on the edge of Amman.
Amman is the capitol of Jordan, the home of the King and Queen, and an ancient city to boot. This modern city of 2.5 million was once the ancient Roman city of Philadelphia. Leaving the bus station behind, three taxied carried our team into the old City Center a buzzing hubbub of shops, people, and food. We walked our way around to the Roman Amphitheater: a giant three-tiered stadium of seats rising into the rock-face of the hills with all attention focused on the center stage. This was the ancient place of theater, of tragedy and comedy, politics and culture, people of status and no status. This is the modern place of tourism and culture, of discovery and adventure, and of some really awesome pictures. From the top of the Amphitheater one can look out into the City Center and watch the modern world turn from an ancient step. It makes me wonder how much humans have changed. We could also glimpse some of the ruins from atop the Citadel and decided to go there next.
Grabbing some falafal sandwiches (should have named the blog falafal instead of shawarma!) we marched up the switched-back roads and paths to make it to the top of the Citadel. Amman is a city of hills and the whole city is spread out among dips and rises, rolling into the Jordanian desert. After what felt like climbing a mountain we managed to reach the back entrance of the site. We passed along a group of men bunched beneath a tree to have lunch in the shade. As soon as they saw us coming they began handing out large pieces of bread and hummus and would certainly not take no for an answer. After they were satisfied that everyone had something to eat they sat some of us down and began talking to us for a bit. There must have been at least 7 of them and were 11 in number- a small army to feed on the fly! Such hospitality I have never seen before- sudden and with gusto!
The Citadel preserves bits of all the ancient and modern history of this region. Being the highest place in Amman, the Citadel has housed fortifications for thousands of years from the Bronze Age to include a Roman temple to Hercules and a Umayyad Palace. From this vantage point we could see the whole city, and even the whole world. There were people and buildings as far as the eye could see from King Hussein Mosque to the Royal complexes to office buildings and rows upon rows of low income housing. All of this heat and dust have been a part of the human condition for a long time.
Exhausted, we climbed back down and moved our way through the shops and the jewelry district to our little hostel/hotel. I snuck in a bit of a nap before we began wandering around the shops again (I'm searching for scarves!). Everything was sold on the streets and the only thing that stopped the streets was the noon prayer. When we were in the square earlier in the day it was filled with men and prayer mats submitting themselves to the Will of God for Friday noon prayer. After the prayer as the crowd was dispersing we got swept up into a crowd moving through the fresh produce market. It was a bee-hive of shouting, moving, the bright colors of the the fruits and vegetables, and the sweet smell of cherries and peaches. Needing a snack we found ourselves nothing short of what was the best Kunafa and Baklava stand in the neighborhood and we definitely put back the platefuls!
Another break before a night on the town had us back in the hostel watching the US team in the World Cup. Eventually the little lobby room was filled with tourists and travels from all over cheering and jeering (the US *totally* had that third goal!)- and that's when I realized the globalism of the World Cup. A crowded room in a hobble in Amman, Jordan. Sweaty Americans, Brits, and Arabs. One universal language: GOAL!!!
Our night in Amman began at he Iraqi Embassy, and luckily didn't end up in jail. We roamed around and after almost killing each other over where to eat we ended up in a mediocre Italian restaurant in a hotel. It was followed up with a nice little bar behind the Iraqi Embassy. Drink of choice for my first week in the Middle East and in Islamic culture? Long Island Ice Tea. Mumtaz! We continued to enjoy each others company laughing and talking. The night ended with blissful sleep and maybe a little sunburn. The next morning we jumped a bus back to Irbid and back to laundry and homework.
Amman is the capitol of Jordan, the home of the King and Queen, and an ancient city to boot. This modern city of 2.5 million was once the ancient Roman city of Philadelphia. Leaving the bus station behind, three taxied carried our team into the old City Center a buzzing hubbub of shops, people, and food. We walked our way around to the Roman Amphitheater: a giant three-tiered stadium of seats rising into the rock-face of the hills with all attention focused on the center stage. This was the ancient place of theater, of tragedy and comedy, politics and culture, people of status and no status. This is the modern place of tourism and culture, of discovery and adventure, and of some really awesome pictures. From the top of the Amphitheater one can look out into the City Center and watch the modern world turn from an ancient step. It makes me wonder how much humans have changed. We could also glimpse some of the ruins from atop the Citadel and decided to go there next.
Grabbing some falafal sandwiches (should have named the blog falafal instead of shawarma!) we marched up the switched-back roads and paths to make it to the top of the Citadel. Amman is a city of hills and the whole city is spread out among dips and rises, rolling into the Jordanian desert. After what felt like climbing a mountain we managed to reach the back entrance of the site. We passed along a group of men bunched beneath a tree to have lunch in the shade. As soon as they saw us coming they began handing out large pieces of bread and hummus and would certainly not take no for an answer. After they were satisfied that everyone had something to eat they sat some of us down and began talking to us for a bit. There must have been at least 7 of them and were 11 in number- a small army to feed on the fly! Such hospitality I have never seen before- sudden and with gusto!
The Citadel preserves bits of all the ancient and modern history of this region. Being the highest place in Amman, the Citadel has housed fortifications for thousands of years from the Bronze Age to include a Roman temple to Hercules and a Umayyad Palace. From this vantage point we could see the whole city, and even the whole world. There were people and buildings as far as the eye could see from King Hussein Mosque to the Royal complexes to office buildings and rows upon rows of low income housing. All of this heat and dust have been a part of the human condition for a long time.
Exhausted, we climbed back down and moved our way through the shops and the jewelry district to our little hostel/hotel. I snuck in a bit of a nap before we began wandering around the shops again (I'm searching for scarves!). Everything was sold on the streets and the only thing that stopped the streets was the noon prayer. When we were in the square earlier in the day it was filled with men and prayer mats submitting themselves to the Will of God for Friday noon prayer. After the prayer as the crowd was dispersing we got swept up into a crowd moving through the fresh produce market. It was a bee-hive of shouting, moving, the bright colors of the the fruits and vegetables, and the sweet smell of cherries and peaches. Needing a snack we found ourselves nothing short of what was the best Kunafa and Baklava stand in the neighborhood and we definitely put back the platefuls!
Another break before a night on the town had us back in the hostel watching the US team in the World Cup. Eventually the little lobby room was filled with tourists and travels from all over cheering and jeering (the US *totally* had that third goal!)- and that's when I realized the globalism of the World Cup. A crowded room in a hobble in Amman, Jordan. Sweaty Americans, Brits, and Arabs. One universal language: GOAL!!!
Our night in Amman began at he Iraqi Embassy, and luckily didn't end up in jail. We roamed around and after almost killing each other over where to eat we ended up in a mediocre Italian restaurant in a hotel. It was followed up with a nice little bar behind the Iraqi Embassy. Drink of choice for my first week in the Middle East and in Islamic culture? Long Island Ice Tea. Mumtaz! We continued to enjoy each others company laughing and talking. The night ended with blissful sleep and maybe a little sunburn. The next morning we jumped a bus back to Irbid and back to laundry and homework.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Thursday is the new Friday
Well folks, for those who don't know in the Islamic world the weekend is Friday and Saturday. Friday is the holy day and Muslims gather together at the local mosque (which literally means "gathering") or prayer center at noon for prayers and a hutbah, "sermon." In most settings the men pray at mosque and women pray at the household. In Islam, there are five ritual prayers a day: one just before sunrise, at noon, in the afternoon, at dusk, and at night. The ritual prayers involve sets of phrases and movements- a lot like the Rosary or Orthodox prayer rituals.
So you know what this means? Yup, Thursday is the new Friday, and Sunday is the new Monday, and Allison gets woken up at 4am by the call to prayer...
This Thursday (Hkamiis) was our first official weekend debut in Irbid, which was a much needed break from our grueling class schedule. I have 6 classes that meet on and off for 5 hours every day. 5 hours of Arabic class. a. day. Back at good 'ole Harvie we would take 5 hours of Arabic class a week. a. week. So I'm taking a week's worth of instruction in a single day, multiplied over the week, over the month, over the summer. Oh, yeah, and did I mention it is all taught in Arabic? haha, haha. Hello Arabic Boot Camp! Sir, yes, Sir! or rather: Saiid, nam, saiid!! Instead of giving us a full metal jacket and matching BDU's I have 5 new Arabic books and some awesome long skirts.
What does a group of haggard first year Arabic students do after absorbing 5 hours of instruction? Search for kunafa. Kunafa you say? What's that you say? Well, here in the West we call it "heaven," and in Jordan it is a doughy, sweet-cheesy, crunchy-pastry, covered-in-sweet-sweet-nothing syrup, all-on-one-plate GOODNESS. We went to a fancy sweets shop (Jordanians love their sweets) and just ordered up a whole mess of the stuff after class- not quite sure what were going to get, but greatly delighted when the little man brought Heaven-on-a-plate to our table. Somehow I feel this will be a regular occurrence...
The second pastime of Jordanians is gathering with friends and family, going out on the town, finding a nice cafe, throwing on some World Cup (K'as al-All'm), and smoking hashish. Walking down the streets in the cool evenings wafts of sweet peach or mint flavor smoke tumbles out of the cafes and fills the air like a perfume. It is the smell of relaxation, of friends, and of taking some time off. On Thursday night we joined this tradition and enjoyed an evening of friendship, and most importantly- no Arabic class!
Look in the new pictures for The Great Kunafa Adventure and The Great Amman Adventure (beta coming soon)!
So you know what this means? Yup, Thursday is the new Friday, and Sunday is the new Monday, and Allison gets woken up at 4am by the call to prayer...
This Thursday (Hkamiis) was our first official weekend debut in Irbid, which was a much needed break from our grueling class schedule. I have 6 classes that meet on and off for 5 hours every day. 5 hours of Arabic class. a. day. Back at good 'ole Harvie we would take 5 hours of Arabic class a week. a. week. So I'm taking a week's worth of instruction in a single day, multiplied over the week, over the month, over the summer. Oh, yeah, and did I mention it is all taught in Arabic? haha, haha. Hello Arabic Boot Camp! Sir, yes, Sir! or rather: Saiid, nam, saiid!! Instead of giving us a full metal jacket and matching BDU's I have 5 new Arabic books and some awesome long skirts.
What does a group of haggard first year Arabic students do after absorbing 5 hours of instruction? Search for kunafa. Kunafa you say? What's that you say? Well, here in the West we call it "heaven," and in Jordan it is a doughy, sweet-cheesy, crunchy-pastry, covered-in-sweet-sweet-nothing syrup, all-on-one-plate GOODNESS. We went to a fancy sweets shop (Jordanians love their sweets) and just ordered up a whole mess of the stuff after class- not quite sure what were going to get, but greatly delighted when the little man brought Heaven-on-a-plate to our table. Somehow I feel this will be a regular occurrence...
The second pastime of Jordanians is gathering with friends and family, going out on the town, finding a nice cafe, throwing on some World Cup (K'as al-All'm), and smoking hashish. Walking down the streets in the cool evenings wafts of sweet peach or mint flavor smoke tumbles out of the cafes and fills the air like a perfume. It is the smell of relaxation, of friends, and of taking some time off. On Thursday night we joined this tradition and enjoyed an evening of friendship, and most importantly- no Arabic class!
Look in the new pictures for The Great Kunafa Adventure and The Great Amman Adventure (beta coming soon)!
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
reflections on an opinion of someone else
.Israel
_______is
_________just
___________like
_____________Hitler
what?
Surely you cannot be saying that?
Hitler was
__________________evil.
The Holocaust was
__________________evil.
Israel...
such a small country
made of a people of past painful
Jordanians afraid?
Jordan is Palestine?
Palestine is Jordan?
more people jobless,__homeless,____lost,
__________________________________in pain.
Who's land?
Who's space?
Who's place?
_________is it to say who's is who's or where is where?
Where is the love for neighbor?
Where is the peace?
Is there a place for forgiveness?
______a nation is but a line in the sand.
__________forgiveness is just a word spoken.
but... just... these are the things that hate is made of.
what are the things that peace is made of?
________who is the one that peace will make?
______________________________________be made by, for, with
Is Israel evil?
Is Palestine evil?
Are you evil?
__when you lie to your children?
____when you gossip about the lady in the ugly hat at church?
_____when you swear in traffic?
the greater than the lesser of
we are the agents of war and peace
we
___are
______Hitler
_________but
we
___are
_______peace
too
a people of a past painful, too. lost, too. homeless, too. jobless, too.
angryupsetscaredconfusedworried, too.
don't forget your humanity
don't forget you're humanity
_______is
_________just
___________like
_____________Hitler
what?
Surely you cannot be saying that?
Hitler was
__________________evil.
The Holocaust was
__________________evil.
Israel...
such a small country
made of a people of past painful
Jordanians afraid?
Jordan is Palestine?
Palestine is Jordan?
more people jobless,__homeless,____lost,
__________________________________in pain.
Who's land?
Who's space?
Who's place?
_________is it to say who's is who's or where is where?
Where is the love for neighbor?
Where is the peace?
Is there a place for forgiveness?
______a nation is but a line in the sand.
__________forgiveness is just a word spoken.
but... just... these are the things that hate is made of.
what are the things that peace is made of?
________who is the one that peace will make?
______________________________________be made by, for, with
Is Israel evil?
Is Palestine evil?
Are you evil?
__when you lie to your children?
____when you gossip about the lady in the ugly hat at church?
_____when you swear in traffic?
the greater than the lesser of
we are the agents of war and peace
we
___are
______Hitler
_________but
we
___are
_______peace
too
a people of a past painful, too. lost, too. homeless, too. jobless, too.
angryupsetscaredconfusedworried, too.
don't forget your humanity
don't forget you're humanity
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Oh man, I'm behind!
Oh boy, I have some catching up to do!
On Friday afternoon I finally met the other participants of the UVA-Yarmouk program in NYC- 32 in all from universities all across America with large groups from Harvard and UVA. I am one of two graduate students, and everyone is very nice and we all seem to get along great. After a few hours of orientation and a lovely dinner we hopped on Royal Jordanian and buckled up for the next 11 hours. Take off was a bit sketch, I didn't think we would get the bird in the air! After that though the flight was good, well, as good as sitting through the night in a little chair throttling through the sky can be.
Anddd TOUCHDOWN!! Complete with game-winning applause we graced the land of Jordan at the Amman airport. Coming down my face was glued to the window to watch the parch desert unfold into in patches of watered groves and orchards, small villages, and larger communities surviving in the land of the ancients. Thankfully the airport was on the modern side (complete with a Starbucks!) and we were welcomed by a 55 passenger bus that took us the 2 hours to Irbid. We stopped off at a Cozmo grocery store to grab some things and change money, which means I now own Arabic shampoo. We rolled into Irbid at about 9:00 in the evening on Saturday and right into our assigned apartments. I share a nice sized apartment with a junior at UNC Chapel Hill. We have a big living room, a small kitchen, a small bedroom, and a bathroom with a washer(!). WE began to set up residence...
A few power converters and plug adapters later Hana, my roommate, and I realized we didn't have the right set up to get all of our electronics working. We went off with a couple of other folks basically going from shop to shop in about a mile distance asking every clerk in our broken Arabic/English for the correct plug we need. Alas! We did not give up and the fruit of our victory is what is allowing me update the blag!
Buying groceries has been fun- the stores are filled with strange things and with strange labels. Canned meat next to the Nutela with 8 different kinds of tomato paste but only one kind of cheese with "American style" cookies and Indian spice boxes. Needless to say we've managed to feed ourselves, in part to the sandwich shop across the street that sells falafal or dejaj (chicken) for .5 JD and operated by a very friendly guy, Saiid, who has quickly become everyone's friend.
I haven't spent much time in the restaurants around here, but I did go to a Western-style place to watch the World Cup Italy match. I was surprised to see on University St. a McDonalds, Popeye's, Papa John's, and Pizza Hut.
On Sunday we took a tour of Irbid and also went to a Museum downtown on the archeological finds of the area- from ancient settlers, to Rome, to Islamic Dynasties, to the Ottomans. We also had a tour of the campus which is modern, yet simple. On Monday we had our placement exam, which was basically 2 hours of staring at the test and wondering if I had actually taken Arabic the year before if all of this was my imagination. Luckily, everyone felt the same way so we will all be going through Arabic Boot-Camp clueless. Ahh, and today (Tuesday) was the first day of classes... but enough of that for now!
I have to get back to the grind- so much Arabic so little time!
Ma Salama!
Oh be sure to check out the pictures I posted!!
On Friday afternoon I finally met the other participants of the UVA-Yarmouk program in NYC- 32 in all from universities all across America with large groups from Harvard and UVA. I am one of two graduate students, and everyone is very nice and we all seem to get along great. After a few hours of orientation and a lovely dinner we hopped on Royal Jordanian and buckled up for the next 11 hours. Take off was a bit sketch, I didn't think we would get the bird in the air! After that though the flight was good, well, as good as sitting through the night in a little chair throttling through the sky can be.
Anddd TOUCHDOWN!! Complete with game-winning applause we graced the land of Jordan at the Amman airport. Coming down my face was glued to the window to watch the parch desert unfold into in patches of watered groves and orchards, small villages, and larger communities surviving in the land of the ancients. Thankfully the airport was on the modern side (complete with a Starbucks!) and we were welcomed by a 55 passenger bus that took us the 2 hours to Irbid. We stopped off at a Cozmo grocery store to grab some things and change money, which means I now own Arabic shampoo. We rolled into Irbid at about 9:00 in the evening on Saturday and right into our assigned apartments. I share a nice sized apartment with a junior at UNC Chapel Hill. We have a big living room, a small kitchen, a small bedroom, and a bathroom with a washer(!). WE began to set up residence...
A few power converters and plug adapters later Hana, my roommate, and I realized we didn't have the right set up to get all of our electronics working. We went off with a couple of other folks basically going from shop to shop in about a mile distance asking every clerk in our broken Arabic/English for the correct plug we need. Alas! We did not give up and the fruit of our victory is what is allowing me update the blag!
Buying groceries has been fun- the stores are filled with strange things and with strange labels. Canned meat next to the Nutela with 8 different kinds of tomato paste but only one kind of cheese with "American style" cookies and Indian spice boxes. Needless to say we've managed to feed ourselves, in part to the sandwich shop across the street that sells falafal or dejaj (chicken) for .5 JD and operated by a very friendly guy, Saiid, who has quickly become everyone's friend.
I haven't spent much time in the restaurants around here, but I did go to a Western-style place to watch the World Cup Italy match. I was surprised to see on University St. a McDonalds, Popeye's, Papa John's, and Pizza Hut.
On Sunday we took a tour of Irbid and also went to a Museum downtown on the archeological finds of the area- from ancient settlers, to Rome, to Islamic Dynasties, to the Ottomans. We also had a tour of the campus which is modern, yet simple. On Monday we had our placement exam, which was basically 2 hours of staring at the test and wondering if I had actually taken Arabic the year before if all of this was my imagination. Luckily, everyone felt the same way so we will all be going through Arabic Boot-Camp clueless. Ahh, and today (Tuesday) was the first day of classes... but enough of that for now!
I have to get back to the grind- so much Arabic so little time!
Ma Salama!
Oh be sure to check out the pictures I posted!!
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Update!
Just to let everyone know, I survived Royal Jordanian and am now safe at home in my little apartment at Yarmouk University!
Just the beginning of the jet lag... more shawarma to come!
Just the beginning of the jet lag... more shawarma to come!
Friday, June 11, 2010
Pre-Departure
Good Morning!!
Well I have made it as far as New York City, and I am resting in the hotel before we have orientation. I am very excited! But, I am also wishing I had studied more Arabic!! Ahh summertime-laziness, you got the best of me again! I already have a few meetings lined up in Jordan- friends and colleagues from McMurry and Harvard and some friends-of-friends. I have by in-flight reading material lined up: "Leap of Faith" by Queen Noor. All I have to do now is hurry up and wait until I get there!
With Anticipation,
Allie
This isn't the greatest blog in the world, it's only a tribute.
Well I have made it as far as New York City, and I am resting in the hotel before we have orientation. I am very excited! But, I am also wishing I had studied more Arabic!! Ahh summertime-laziness, you got the best of me again! I already have a few meetings lined up in Jordan- friends and colleagues from McMurry and Harvard and some friends-of-friends. I have by in-flight reading material lined up: "Leap of Faith" by Queen Noor. All I have to do now is hurry up and wait until I get there!
With Anticipation,
Allie
This isn't the greatest blog in the world, it's only a tribute.
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