A Weekend in Irbid, Jordan

---

Well, I am sitting in my room, which I share with my host sister, Tamara, in the dark, because the electricity is out, and it is night. This means that we are both huddled around the portable gas heater for warmth, and everybody else is sleeping to pass the time, even though it is only 7:00 pm.

Tomorrow is my last day of colloquial Arabic, which I’ve had 3 hours a day for the past two weeks. I also have a test in that class tomorrow, but studying will have to wait until the lights come back on, if they come back on.

Last Thursday night, around 7:00, my host family and I headed up to Irbid, a city north-west of Amman. It took us about 1 ½, with me crammed in the middle of the backseat. Surprisingly, it went by really quickly. That evening we “made the rounds” at about 5 houses, relatives of my host mom and dad (who happen to be cousins). I drank a lot of tea and Arabic coffee. At my host dad’s youngest brother’s house (wow, that would be a fun sentence to write in Arabic), we stayed the night. As everyone sat up late talking, the wife brought out fruit, oranges, apples, bananas, all nicely arranged on plates. I thought I’d eat an orange. It turned out to be the most difficult orange I have ever tried to peel. I actually shot a piece of peel across the room, to the horror of most present, myself included. Um, social no-no, anyone? (I mean, at this house, you take your shoes off outside, before entering. You also have a special pair of slippers that you wear into the bathroom, and only the bathroom. The floor is pretty much pristine).

That night I went to bed in a room where I could clearly see my breath, it was so cold. The next day, we got up at 10:30, and once again “made the rounds” to about 3 houses, then back to the original house, where we ate a lunch of “BBQ” chicken, kebabs, and beef. It was quite good, but they kept heaping food on my plate, and I felt obliged to keep eating it. I was so full.

Saturday, the group went to the new King Hussein mosque, the Royal Automobile Museum (a collection of the late King Hussein’s various cars and motorcycles), and the Martyr’s Memorial. The mosque was really pretty, made of white stone, and a colorful carpet inside. The car museum was cool: that man owned a lot of nice cars. Ferraris, Mercedes, Rolls Royce, an aqua-car (like the blue one the guy in Tulsa owns), Porches, Cadillacs, and every other nice car that a king should own.

So, I joined this really nice gym near the university, and so far, two friends and I have managed to work out everyday after class. And enjoy the wonderfully hot, large, and water-pressured showers. It’s funny because about 7 or 8 of us girls from the program work-out there, and I don’t think we quite fit the ‘norm’ of working out here in Jordan. There are some Jordanian women who work up a sweat, but most simply come to walk and talk on their cell phones. Let’s just say, we get some looks.

LIGHT! Yea, moving on…

Today I went to Safeway, and bought a jar of the wonderful thing called Peanut Butter.

What else? Saturday we have a full day trip to Madaba (awesome mosaics, including a map of the Holy Land), Mt. Nebo, and the Baptism Site. So, I’m looking forward to that. I’ll definitely post some pictures.

---