ArianneW
Arianne Winston Joined: June 21st 2008
Logged in: October 13th 2010
Logged in: October 13th 2010
Travel Blog Posts
shower curtain success!
The past 2 weeks have certainly been interesting! Ramadan began, although it has been a lot easier than last year - not going through culture shock at the same time really helps! I also started back at school, it's been good to have a schedule again. The classes are challenging, and I'm enjoying them, for the most part. I have to study a lot more, but I'm finally beginning to understand classical grammar. And being a 3rd semester student, I only have school 4 days a week - I have a proper weekend again! Bethany and I are getting along very well - we have a lot in common. She's a great roommate. We also installed a rod and a shower curtain recently, which was quite an accomplishment for people who usually have their dad take ... read more
at the dead sea marriot
By now, you have read about many of my adventures in Jordan. Between broken washing machines and getting locked in taxis, I've certainly had my fair share. My mum came out to visit me for 10 days during my spring break, and those 10 days were packed with all sorts of interesting events. We visited the Dead Sea, rappelled down a waterfall in Wadi Mujib, had a backyard barbecue, drove a rinky-dinky car down to Petra for a candlelit tour, rode donkeys up to the monestary, saw a beautiful sunset in Wadi Rum, rode camels through the desert, and spent a day in Aqaba, just 5km from the Saudi border. I loved having my mum here to experience a bit of my life and meet my friends. Fortunately, my head chilled out and didn't give me ... read more
my cactus, earl
As most of you already know, I have had a migraine since Sept. '07. It has been a tough 18 months, filled with doctors, medications, and all sorts of unpleasantness. However, last May I decided to come out here and study Arabic, something I've wanted to do for several years. For the most part, I've been able to do so without my pain interfering too much. I got a wonderful new doctor over winter break,Sa he changed my meds, and they've been helping a lot since then. Until March 27th, a Friday. My pain basically got out of control, and I had to go to the hospital. This has happened before, although the past couple times I had my mother with me, and I was also at Duke, where they speak English. At first, I was ... read more
border crossing into israel
First of all, sorry it's been a while. Not much has happened here since my trip to Jerash (which is actually Greek, as I was made aware of, but it's not my fault the Ministry of Antiquities messed up...). We successfully got internet in our apartment, so I no longer have to fight the sound of the coffee grinder when I Skype my family. We had a Valentine's party, all singles of course, complete with chili, chocolate, strawberries, and cherry tarts. Other than that, my life has just about revolved around school. Oh, and I've finished all the seasons of the Unit, and am caught up to where it is currently in the States (that's 3 and a half seasons...). Anyways, we had a long weekend this past weekend. Kelsey gave us Saturday off, and Monday ... read more
the entrance
Let me start by saying that Roman ruins are pretty cool. Walking through them is always interesting, seeing how people lived thousands of years ago. Very cool. So I went to Jerash, one of largest sites of Roman ruins in Jordan, with my friend Amanda on my first day off after school started. I have wanted to take this trip since I got here, but haven't been able to up until now. We took a public bus, which took about a hour. Amanda had residency, so she got in for dirt cheap, while I got to pay through the nose. Being a foreigner is not always a good thing, especially when it comes to tourist sites. It was a beautiful day, and it was chilly, so there were hardly any people there. The first thing you ... read more
xmas present?
Almost two weeks ago, I arrived back in Amman, ready for the new experiences this semester would bring me. A quick overview of my somewhat eventful holiday: I spent a week up North visiting family and friends, then jetted home to my family and my car, both of which I missed very much. (Obviously I missed my family a whole lot more, but I hadn't driven in 7 months at that point, a real tragedy...) We flew out to Utah for a week of snow, mountains, skiing, and of course, more awesome family. I got sick, spent some time in the hospital after my tonsils got ridiculously swollen and blocked off most of my throat, and found out that I had mono. This definitely dampened my mood, it meant that I would be tired all the ... read more
the choir
A little more than 4 months ago, I arrived in Jordan, excited for whatever life would throw at me. In that time, I've had my fair share of ups and downs, awesome experiences, and a few disappointments. But overall, it's been a pretty awesome four months. Don't take this the wrong way, but I am so excited to leave. I miss my family. And Trader Joe's. This last week has been a whirlwind of activity, I've barely had time to relax. Mainly because I sang in the YWCA Christmas concert. We had a lot of practices before the concert. We got Sunday off, thankfully, but then it was two intensive dress rehearsals before the concert on Wednesday. A lot of my friends from school and small group showed up on Wednesday, which made me more nervous ... read more
pumpkin pie!!!
Thanksgiving. It's one of my favorite holidays - pumpkin pie, loads of family, more food than you can imagine, the best leftovers, and because when it's all over, I can officially start listening to my favorite Christmas cds EVER. But this year was very different. First of all, you don't get pumpkin pie filling until the week after Thanksgiving. And I happen to not have any family with me. The past couple weeks, I've been almost dreading this holiday. It would be my first without family, and that's a really lonely and depressing thought. But I figured I would try to make the best of it, since I'd be heading back to family soon after. The week before, my roommate told me we'd be getting together with some friends late afternoon for Thanksgiving dinner. We'd also ... read more
the mothers and their kids
Not so much has happened since my last post. I'm enjoying quieter days, although they're only that way because I have to study so much more... I would like to take a moment to congratulate Bob and Ruth, on the birth of Anders, Liv and Rich, on the birth of Wyatt, and send my best wishes to John and Debbie, whose wedding I am sadly missing. Now, in my last entry, I wrote about Ajiin and the medical screening. Ajiin got cleared for her surgery, as did at least 6 other children. One of those children left to get his surgery this past week. I was lucky enough to find out that a group of them, including Ajiin, were staying about a block away, so I have been able to visit them. A few of us ... read more
![Ajiin :]](http://photos.travelblog.org/Photos/78054/347800/s/3143059-Ajiin-0.jpg "Ajiin :]")
Susie
Hey all, sorry its been a while. For starters, my long weekend was one of those times when nothing ever goes right. All my plans fell through, including my plans to learn how to cook, which is being rescheduled. But it made for a quiet weekend that allowed me to relax and do all sorts of other things that were nowhere near productive. Election Day. Yes, it was huge here too. We all sent in absentee ballots. Christina and Emily stayed up the whole night watching the results come in, and we left at 5 am to go to a friend's house to watch the final results and speeches, accompanied by Swedish pancakes and lots of coffee. We watched Obama win!!!! And then I proceeded to call my parents and let them know that we were ... read more
