New Semester, New Adventures

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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 much trouble for those 10 days. A couple days after my mum left, however, it started acting up again, so I changed my ticket and left 5 days later.

Leaving early was a blessing in disguise. I was going to miss the last month or so of school and giving up valuable time with friends who would not be returning in the fall. But I got to fly out to L.A. to spend a week with my sister and see her graduate from USC. We flew back to NC, and Aisling and I then drove out to Ohio - her ultimate frisbee team (the Hellions) had made the Nationals tournament! We spent most of the summer playing ultimate just about every day of the week, hanging out with family, as well as a week down at Emerald Isle. Aisling and I flew out to Scotland in mid-July. We stayed with good friends and my granddad before Aisling left to go on a cruise, and I left to return to Jordan.

While I was at home, I had 2 procedures done to help my head. For the first procedure, the doctor injected steroids and anesthesia into my neck to help with the inflammation, with the hopes that it would lower or get rid of my pain. After the pain of the procedure wore off and the steroids kicked in, my pain was dramatically reduced. It wore off after about 2 weeks though, so we went back for a similar procedure that would last longer. The doctor injected the same thing, but also inserted a probe and fried the nerve. It's been about a month and a half since the second procedure, and my pain has continued to stay much lower. Most of the time now my pain stays between a 2 and a 6, which is a huge improvement that I'm incredibly thankful for.

Because I missed so much school, I came back early to make up the work. I was also invited to the wedding of the kids of two of my teachers. I've been back almost 3 weeks now, and am completely caught up and ready for third semester. I got a new roommate who arrived this past Saturday - her name is Bethany. She's older than me, but I'm used to that. She's really great - it should be a fun semester for both of us!

Coming up: Ramadan starts in 2 days, college applications, and school starts on Monday! It will definitely be an interesting week.

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Photos

the Hellions at Nationals
they won the spirit award!

deep fried mars bar!
it is amazing.

Comments

[Jonathan]

Great news!
Arianne, What a summer! It's great to hear how things are going, and I'm so happy you've found a solution for the headaches, even if it's only a partial one! What colleges are on your short list? I hope you have a great semester! Jonathan

[Daddy]

It's your last year!
What a terrific summer! I hope you enjoy your 3rd semester. Think I'll pass on the DFMB.

[Mummy]

Sniff......
Missing you :(

[Aunt Sarah]

nice pix!
Thanks for the update and awesome pictures! I'm sorry we got as close as Israel and couldn't make it to Jordan. I hope the headaches stay at bay and you have a great semester. We'll look forward to hearing about it.

[Uncle Mark]

Nice Update
I give you a ton of credit for striking out on your own particularly in a non-women friendly part of the world. Stay safe, be well and keep up the blog. Thanks.