It's been a long time coming...

Alas my trusty friends! IT has been far too long since the last post- my apologies. I really think it is that jet lag kicking around, or whatever the equivalent may be of homework: study lag? mumkin... It has been about two weeks so there is a lot of catching up to do, that being said let's start off with some wonderful Jordanian culture: Mansaf.

A couple of Mondays ago, right after getting back from Beirut our program hosted a Mansaf feast. Mansaf is the traditional meal of Jordan and it comes from the Bedouins. Mansaf is a big community style meal that some Jordanians eat every week, think of it as Grandma's Sunday Lunch. It is a big pile of rice with lamb on top that they cover in a sauce made of yogurt. Everyone stands around and you eat it with your hands, which basically consists of crafting little rice balls and then popping them into your mouth. Needless to say the less graceful of us ended up with rice everywhere and a huge mess. Being a whole 5 foot nothing my other problem was standing next to my tall friend Patrick who was really good at elbowing me in the face as he tried to manage the rice eating. The food was really tasty but what made the event was definitely the food handling.

Jump ahead a to the next Sunday and we come to the epicness that was, was, and will be, the WORLD CUP FINAL!! whoop! This was an epic battle of brawn, brain, hot guys in futbol uniforms, and grown men who cry. I of course, the soccer expert, was going for the Netherlands team, because really, why Spain? So what if a magical octopus said they were going to win? Oh wait, they did win, annnnd I was bested by an octopus... Whatever, soccer genius he may be, but Paul didn't get to watch the game in a lovely little Arab cafe with his friends smoking shisha. We went clad as fan warriors with funny glasses and vevuzelas in hand. Now, there may be a fatwa against vevuzelas, but I know something fun to do with them: blowing shisha smoke through them! It was hilarious and photo is definitely forthcoming. I'm not sure what was more fun- me yelling in Arabic at the match, my Puerto Rican friend getting so excited he could only speak in Spanish, or the sports announcer repeating "World Cup" about a million times in one second. Oh language, how it beats us all... Alas Spain did win, but I'm not bitter... No, what was worse was the vevuzela, car horn, and yelling party that moved through the streets of Irbid, complete with fireworks, for the next several hours. America: you really need to step up your celebration frenzy! Jordanians have this down!

More to come on Aqaba and Petra!