Whew, it's been a really long time since I've written last! I apologize for that. I don't really know what else I've been busy with other than everyday life. I guess life here is beginning to seem ordinary. Maybe that's a good thing! Anyways, last Friday was a very lazy day. I hung around the house and did basically nothing. It was so nice! Saturday, however, was a little more eventful. It was a bit sad though, because it was the day we took the kittens to the humane society. The Humane Center for Animal Welfare is pretty far from where [View Full Entry]

---

---

Yesterday was a pretty full day, although it didn't seem like it at the time. I headed out to the post office in Wast al-Balad to pick up the camera my parents had sent me. I tried reading the signs as I stepped inside and, well, I could obviously sound out the words but they were all unfamiliar to me. I asked someone behind the desk and he told me to go to the second floor. Well, there was a set of stairs as well as a mail room and it looked like the mail room had two floors too. A [View Full Entry]

---

---

I have pictures this time! My camera was very well-behaved. Haha! Anyways, today was my first optional CIEE-organized trip and as you probably guessed, it was to the Biblical sites in Jordan. I can't begin to say how excited I have been this whole week. I was the first person at the front gates and on the bus this morning at 7:30! Not so promptly after 8:00, we headed off to Bethany-beyond-the-Jordan, the baptismal site of Jesus himself. After a quick trip to the "water closet" (I can't get over how that's what they call bathrooms here!), we walked down a [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hm, it's been a while. I have to start out by saying that I feel a lot better now than I have over the past week. I think if I were given the option to get on a plane home, I would have seriously considered it. There are times when Amman just gets to me. Things I would take for granted, like getting home, just seem so much more difficult here. And I'm getting quite fed up with taxis. On Mondays I have choir practice at 7:30 and by then it's dark here, of course. And as the sun goes down, [View Full Entry]

---

---

No pictures to show, as usual, but I definitely wish that I did! Yesterday I went to the Diplomatic Bazaar put together by Princess Basma, who is the aunt of the current king Abdullah II. She had quite a show of security with her. It was a bit irritating to dodge around the crowds that tried to take pictures of her and the security guards who held them back. But people in suits didn't stop me from enjoying myself! All the proceeds went to Mubarrat Um Al-Hussein, which is a charity that benefits rural women and children in Jordan. I think [View Full Entry]

---

---

Things are starting to pick up, both in and outside of class, something I'm very grateful for! All the former free time was getting me a bit homesick... But no worries! I have lots of things to keep me from sitting at home. Monday night I went along with a pack of CIEE students to test out a choir at one of the YWCA's here. I still don't really know what exactly the choir is affiliated with, but I do know they have a Christmas concert on three nights in December. Most of the songs were spirituals and carols, but there [View Full Entry]

---

---

No pictures this time! I know better now to bring my camera whenever I go out. But this weekend has actually been really fun! This first week after Ramadan has been pretty draining, not really because of class or homework, but just getting around and getting used to how long our schedules are every day. Most days I have anywhere from an hour and a half to over two hours between my classes. It's not long enough to go to the gym, since you have to take a taxi there, then shower afterwards, etc. And everything at UJ is SO spread [View Full Entry]

---

---

I'm going to blog about three days all at once. Here goes! It was very nice to relax and lounge around the apartment for the remainder of the eid. I definitely had to recharge my batteries after Cairo! We thought that we should probably see a little bit of New Amman after it had woken up from Ramadan before school started back up. We met up with a friend of Soraya's who had studied with her at Tufts as an exchange student and she took us to Wast al-Balad (literally "the center of the country" although it just means downtown!). We [View Full Entry]

---

---

Amman... Amman, Amman, Amman! It might be strange to start out my entry with that, but I seriously couldn't be happier to be back in Jordan. I suppose further reading will explain why, and this entry is not supposed to be about Amman, so I'll start. First glances. I woke up last Friday morning extremely excited and tried to keep calm while we waited for some of our program-mates to meet us at our apartment. My roommate Soraya and I were taking an earlier flight with Zuliekha, Patrick, Rustin and Julia. My other roommates Alicia and Alison were taking a later [View Full Entry]

---

---

I guess this is my first just-because entry. I just feel like I awkwardly have so much free time on my hands. I hardly have any homework, especially when I compare it to my workload at Georgetown. Clubs and activities haven't started and so many shops and places in Amman are closed because of Ramadan. Hence, Van's at home with her laptop. Although I can't wait for the trip to Cairo! Three of my roommates and I will be flying over tomorrow morning and seeing all that we can until next Tuesday. They should be announcing the end of Ramadan and [View Full Entry]

---

---