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Published: September 18th 2007
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Amman
More on my Picasa site at http://picasaweb.google.com/luke.bolton514/AmmanAndAjloun03 Al-Salam Alaykum from Jordan everyone! I have been here for a week now and I thought that it was about time to fill you in the happenings here as I sit in my apartment awaiting the first day of classes tomorrow. Starting from the beginning...
My flight was great as flights go. I was one of the nine of so white people on the plane, the rest were Arabs and most from Jordan. I got to sit next to a sweet little lady going to Damascus and we chatted in Arabic on and off the whole flight which was a great warm up for getting into Jordan itself. After a 10 hour flight, fitful sleep and two meals, we landed in Amman. The majority of the young English speakers on the plane quickly grouped up and found that most of us were going to Qasid (my language Institute) so we wend through customs together and were picked up by employees of Qasid. From this point on the day got confusing and turned into somewhat of a mystical kidnapping scenario. We were informed that Qasid did not infact start the next day like we all had thought (hence planning the flights to arrive on the 12th) but in 6 days so we would have to fend for ourselves for a while. There were five or so of us in the group and we were split up into three cars which then sped away from the airport down the highway where there is no differentiation between lanes. They didn't talk to us too much except to ask how our flight was and then pulled over at what seemed to be a random line of shops on the side of the road. The drivers got out and discussed a couple of things and then went into the shop coming out with a bag filled with juice and a bottle of water for me and the person next to me. It was the scene in the movie where the person who is kidnapped is put in the back of the car and waits for their assailant to get food for some long journey and is then thrown provisions for the next few days. We were then handed cell phone is white envelopes which in my tired mind was reminiscent of the envelopes that are used to carry illegal cash and passes stealthily from one person to another. We were then quickly driven to our apartments and dropped off in a matter of minutes after they checked to make sure we had internet and a couple of lights worked. I was then left alone with my roommate for the moment who I had just met at the airport and were we in a daze and the speed of everything that had just happened.
We woke up the next day with no real idea what to do but we knew that Ramadan had started the previous day so we couldn't get any food during the day or at least not at restaurants because they are all closed (there is no good business when you main customers are not eating or drinking for the entire day). We managed to pick up some food at a corner store like Ramen (amazingly better here) and cereal with something we thought was milk and turned out to be sour which does not go well with frosted flakes. We stayed in the whole first day and recovered from the flight and waking up at about 3am (7 hour time changes are hard to work out, I am still not over it).
The third day my temporary roommate Roger and I took a cab to Suk sukr (Sugar Market) which was a very small and not so amazing version of the Suk in the Old Medina of Fez so having lived in Fez I was disappointed. There is still a great amount of food all over the street and almost everything you need at bargainable prices. We then visited an old Roman half-amphitheater that was restored pretty well and there was one spot in the center where you could stand and your voice would be amplified so that people at the top could hear you although you were speaking normally. When we were sitting at the top of the theater trying to surreptitiously eat dates two twelve year old boys wandered over and I had a 15 minute conversation with them in Arabic which was by far the highlight of my day. I have never sustained a conversation that long and although they asked some awkward questions I was proud to have spoken and been understood for so long. This was the end of our expedition and we took a cab back to our apartment and collapsed.
Shortly after that Roger found another apartment with a Fulbright student and I was left alone to study for the placement exam in two days and cook my own meals in the meantime. I found out that the lights in the bathroom and my bedroom were broken so I tried to get them fixed which happened 3 days after they said it would which is apparently Ramadan schedule. Ramadan is a weird experience for the non-Muslim. I have never felt guilty eating or drinking before but I have to do all my consuming in the privacy of my room. Also the schedule of the day seems to be on a much more relaxed pace as stores are closed and everyone tries to make it to sundown when they can again eat and drink (the taxi drivers even pull over on the side of the street and take naps in their cars with the doors open for ventilation). People are also a little more irritable for the most part for understandable reasons, not drinking and living in the desert are not a good mix. Once the sun sets everyone comes out of their shells and eats with friends and family staying up late and then often waking up at 4:40 am for the morning prayer and last chance to eat and drink before the sun rises. I have no idea how people get serious work done during this month. I could not imagine doing construction without water everyone I have seen is working at a much slower pace than I would expect so that they can conserve energy. I have another 20+ days of this funny schedule before life here gets back to normal.
After sitting around for 2 days I was able to go to Qasid for an orientation and a three and a half hour placement test. I have never taken such a hard Arabic test in my life...ugh. But it is over and I was just informed that I placed into level three which is what I was shooting for because I should start right around where I left off in Morocco. Classes are 3 hours a day (mine are from 8-11) and 5 days a week, but our break days are Monday and Friday which is going to take some getting used to. I also get to start conversation classes in Jordanian dialect and a Media and newspaper reading class in two weeks which I am really excited for. I hear that this is sort of an Arabic boot camp in terms of difficulty so I am getting ready for a huge workload. But I really like all of the people who are my fellows at Qasid. Everyone is from a different background including many Muslims, and grad student Fulbrighters. There are numerous students form all over the world including South Africa, Italy, Pakistan and I think it is about 60-70 percent female which I was not expecting beforehand. But they are all great people who get along easily and I think I will make some great friends and learn a lot here. I am really glad I came.
I also went on a field trip today to Castle Ajloun which was Saladin's headquarters during his battles in the Crusades. It has some amazing history which was explained to us by an old archaeologist who you could tell had poured his whole life into the building and loved what he did. It was a great trip and I have pictures of it and the rest of my time here posted online at http://picasaweb.google.com/luke.bolton514/AmmanAndAjloun03 . I am going to put captions up now and feel free to comments or questions on this entry or on the pictures and I will try and answer them if I have time. I will try to post once a week or so. I know that I write a lot and I am happy if you just finished this letter. You don't have to read every entry but the pictures should also update every week or so and there will be captions there so enjoy. I hope everyone is doing well and I would love emails from you filling me in on the joys of your life.
Ma-Salama
Luqa
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Crystal
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Um Ya
That sounds soooo cool! I want to know the awkward questions that the kids asked you. You never extrapolate in the correct places. Post lots of pictures! Do it! How are the keyboards over there? We had some fun with those in Spain, France, and SCOTLAND! I could not survive Rammadan. Ever. I'd shrivel up and die. Blow away in the dust, as it were....