June 15, 2005
My Last Adventures
Only 1.5 days left in Jordan! Now that I don't have to pretend I am studying, I have been using this week to enjoy the rest of Jordan before I am forced to return to the States.
Saturday and Sunday I went to Tamara's university and got to see where she goes to school. It was kind of boreing because she had tests so I basically sat around for 2 hours waiting for her. However, the nicest thing was being able to sit by myself without the family around! I also met some of her friends and realized she hangs out with some pretty sketchy boys. Although the way men have been acting around me lately makes me think that maybe I do look like JLO and just haven't realized it yet. I just wish they would leave me alone for once.
On Monday Annie's Aunt Besma took me to their olive farm outside of Jeresh. It is basically just a field full of olive trees but it was nice. There is one family that they have hired to tend the trees and we got to see their cute little girl and their goat. It was nice. After the farm we went to Jeresh (the city) and ate in a restaurant there. We also tracked down the store I bought some earings from earlier this year but then lost one. Now I have 3 just in case. :)
Yesterday (Tuesday), Annie, her brothers Laith and Omar, her cousin Quise, and I went to the Belad (downtown) for the last time. In just over an hour I purchased a thobe (a traditional dress), a present for my mother, a dishdasha (the man-dress), and a present for Sean. Oh, and a new suitcase! My little suitcase is within the carry-on limits so I got a new big one so I can take all of my other stuff home. Why not when they cost under 10JD! The thobe I got is pretty cool although it is machine made. It is pretty traditional with just a red and black design with some lighter pink thread to accent it. It was pretty much the only one that fit me well because they come one-size fits all and that one size is an XXXXL. Now I just need to find somewhere to wear it. . .
After the belad, Tamara and I went to Lebnani Snack in Swafiyah. We then proceded to walk around looking at all the clothes and Tamara trying them on even though she knows she only has 2JD to her name. It's definitly annoying and I know I am up for more today, so wish me luck.
Tonight I have a going away party at Mike's house (the program director). It should be fun to see everyone that is left once last time. And there will be lots of good food! Mmmmm, ba'lawa!
Posted by rcollins at 6:36 AM | TrackBack
June 12, 2005
More Photos from Jordan (And the Surrounding Areas)
My second set of pictures has finally arrived and been captioned! Make sure you take a look, although there are 131 of them so make sure you have a few minutes. :) Just click the link below:
Enjoy!
Sent from: terbium
Posted by rcollins at 1:05 PM | TrackBack
Learning to Cook
In these last few days, my family has finally decided to teach me how to cook some Jordanian food. Friday I learned how to make Ozi, which is a rice and meat dish baked inside phyllo dough. Yesterday my host brother taught me how to make Eaggeh which is an egg dish and today Tamara promised me she would teach me how to make Lazy Cake and Yelengi which are vegitarian stuffed grape leaves.
Hopefully, I will be a masterfull chef and can bring all the recipies back with me. I would post them here but it might ruin some family secret or something so you will just have to wait unitl I get home and have me cook for you. :)
Posted by rcollins at 1:03 PM | TrackBack
June 9, 2005
Khullus!
That aweful transliteration means "finished" in Arabic. I just got out of my final Arabic exam and am sooo happy to be done. It has been a long semester of trying to fill my brain with more information that I ever thought it could hold. I can honestly say I have learned more Arabic than I thought possible. It is funny because I used to think I knew so much Arabic but now I see that I must have been crazy! I know now that I will probably never master this language, but for now I am ok with that.
It is funny because one of the concearns we talked about in Exit Orientation was dealing with people who expect us to now be fluent in our new language. When people go to France or Spain for 5 months they come back able to speak the language but Arabic is not French or Spanish. It is hard to explain why I am not fluent to other people because it just seems like a rediculous idea to me. Arabic is such a unique language that it is almost impossible to become fluent without years of intensive studying.
I have an article at home that I clipped out of Time magazine when I started Arabic that said it takes something like 100 weeks to become fluent in Arabic. With only about 15-20 weeks in a semester and long breaks in between that is almost 3 years of studying. So please, don't expect me to translate Al-Jazeera any time soon!
Posted by rcollins at 5:29 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
June 8, 2005
Provocative Dancing?
Karl sent me an article called "Islamists Call for Ban on Coed Trips" this morning from the Washington Times. I found it quite funny because recently I have learned how to dance like Jordanians and it is a lot of fun but definitely not any worse than what happens in the States. And for goodness sake, don't you think university students can take care of themselves? If they want to have a party, I say go right ahead! But I guess those are the limitations of living in an Islamic society.
Posted by rcollins at 6:58 AM | TrackBack
June 6, 2005
Free Falafal!
Ok, ok, so I haven't gotten any free falafal yet, however, I'm still trying. One of the things that I knew would make my time here easier and safer is to find some people who I would see everyday to kind of watch out for me. They can be a store clerk, a bus driver, a security guard, or even a falafal cook. :) Well, it was kind of hard to find someone here that I didn't think was sketchy but I finally found some people that I thought would look out for my best interests.
The guys I found just happen to be the owners of the falafal stand across from the main gate of UJ. Every day, Haley, Rob, and I go get some falafal and sodas and just chat about the day. Well, we became such regulars that they guys now recognize us and even laugh as we try to use our broken Arabic! The best part is that they have even started giving us free food. Every day we get some fresh french fries and some pita chips to go along with our sandwiches. I feel like I have become so attached that I should warn them I am leaving in a few days but I think that might just make the whole situation weird.
Anyways, it works great for me so I think I will just enjoy my last week of $.60 lunches. As long as I don't end up with a marrige proposal from one of my new found friends. . . ;)
Posted by rcollins at 7:21 AM | TrackBack
June 2, 2005
Comedic Interlude
The other day I was sitting in the kitchen with my host brother eating and he started in on the "Do you know. . .?" game. He asked me if I knew some random Arabic movie and I told him no because I had never heard of it before. He began to tell me that it was a very old movie and was made when he great-great-great-great-great. . . . grandma was alive. I think I counted around 20 greats in there so I proceded to tell him that they didn't have televisions then and ask how they made the movie if there were no tvs?
His response, with a smug look on his face: "Yes, but there was a donkey."
Definitely the best punch line ever.
Posted by rcollins at 6:10 AM | TrackBack
June 1, 2005
Happy Birthday!
This time it isn’t happy birthday to Jordan; it is happy birthday to me! Sunday was my 21st birthday. My family demanded that I have a party so Sunday evening Haley and Annie came over to my house and we learned how to dance Arabic style and had a good time hanging out. Before the party my host sister and I made choclolate chip cookies for the party because she had never eaten any before. Actually, the entire family made them because they were all so interested in what we were doing that they couldn't stay out of the kitchen! They ended up turning out really well and they added to the piles of food that my host mom prepared for us.
For my birthday, my family bought me a pair of pink pjs that are really fun. They are one-size-fits-everyone and made out of the stretchiest material I have ever seen. They are very typically arabic. The shirt says 'enjoy life' on it whith a giant H in the background and has a string tie up at the neck. Also, the pants go down to just below my knees which is the style here because women don't wear shorts. I don't know how much I will wear the entire outfit but I do look a lot more Jordanian when i wear them.
For my birthday I also found something here in Jordan that does not exist in the US. Small headed toothbrush with medium strength bristles! I am pretty obsessive about my toothbrush and when I dropped my old one on the floor the other day it gave me an excuse to buy a new one. I went to Safeway to pick up stuff for the chocolate chip cookies and found the coveted item so I had to buy two of them. I have no idea why they don't exist in the US but I do know that it was a very unexpected birthday present.
Posted by rcollins at 7:35 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
My Trip to Irbid
My family has been bugging me to go with them to Irbid since I got here in January and my schedule finally let me go last weekend. My family goes to Irbid quite often because they are originally from there and still have a lot of family left in the area.
We left Thursday morning and arrived at my Aunt’s house just in time for lunch. I had met her family before because they come to Amman quite regularly and stay with us so I was glad that I at least knew the people we were staying with. I spent the weekend eating, sleeping, sitting around, and going to café’s with my sister. It was a good time, although I ate way too much.
The striking thing, however, was that my family is the most well off out of any of the people I met. I thought that at least the grandparents would be moderately well off but they didn’t even have a western toilet! It was really intimidating to see all of this and how normal it is to people in Jordan. I know that people live much worse than my family in Irbid but I didn’t think that my middle class family would have relatives that lived like that. I guess there is opportunity for upward movement to people who work hard.
The highlight of my trip was definitely my stroll down University Street, which is in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the most Internet cafes in the smallest amount of space. It really does have a lot of cafes but it also has shops and food and lots of other stuff to look at. It was like being in Amman except not as crowded. I don’t think I’m going to get a chance to go back but I definitely am glad I went.
Posted by rcollins at 7:33 AM | TrackBack
Eid Al-Isticlal
Alright, I'm a week behind with posting and have no excuse. However, these next few stories are good ones so please bear with me. :)
Last Wednesday was Independance Day here in Jordan (also know as Eid Al-Isticlal). I didn't think anything exciting was going to happen because the King moved the holiday to Thursday and most people were heading out of town without much thought as to why they had time off. When I got home from school on Wednesday, however, Mohammed told me that we were going to see fireworks! I thought that this was pretty cool because I didn't even know they had big firework displays in Jordan and I also thought that fireworks displays were only an American independance thing.
At about sunset, my family and I got in the car and headed to Abdoun circle to see the display. When we got in the area, there were tons of people all celebrating Jordan. My host brother insisted that we buy a Jordanian flag from the man on the corner and my sis brought her Jordanian Kefiya and my host dad turned up the Jordanian music so loud that I thought I would lose my hearing! When the fireworks started, we were closer to them than you are ever allowed to get in the US and they exploded directly over our heads. The display was pretty normal but impressive none the less.
Afterwards we drove around Abdoun with the music blaring and Mohammed hanging out the window singing Jordanian songs. It was cool so see everybody partying and celebrating their country. People like to claim that there is no nationalism or patriatism but this was proof that it exists in Jordan. Although the country oftentimes seems weighed down by its Palestinian populating, it still manages to have pride in itself and its accomplisments.
I know that I had a really good time so I can only imagine how cool it is to be Jordanian on a day like Eid Al-Isticlal. And of course fireworks are always welcome.