Bedouin Time

So, tomorrow morning I'm heading out to live with a Bedouin family in the Badia for four days. I guess it's going to be pretty rustic but I'm pumped to wear my whole Bedouin get up, found out a cool way to tie my kafia too so hopefully my host family will be impressed by that.

I haven't posted many pics lately but I promise I will next week (no internet at my house right now and I can't seem to upload photos at SIT, lot of stuff working against me but I'll figure it out). After the Badia, we'll all be going to the Dead Sea to debrief, I heard we'll be at a really nice part with pools and hookah and a great beach by the Dead Sea so I'm really excited for that too. Today was our Fus-Ha midterm, Fus-Ha is the Arabic in the media and in novels but it is not what is spoken by the people. We study both Fus-Ha and 3meia at SIT, our 3meia test was this last Sunday which was pretty easy but the Fus-Ha test destroyed everyone in the class. It's an extremely difficult part of the language and because the entire class is in Arabic, it's tough sometimes to follow what's going on. Bums me out but my Fus-Ha grade will be nicely balanced out by my 3meia grade so I'm not too worried, just looking forward to roughing it in the Badia for a few days - no showers, no European toilets, lots of animals and outdoors, lots of mansaaf (the traditional dish of Jordan), oh yeah, this is gonna' be fun. You probably won't hear from me until after the Bedouin homestay since there's no real internet connection but no worries, no news is good news.

Soccer and Smokin'

So last night was a great time. A student in the program's host brother arranged a soccer game with the SIT kids and some Arab folk. It was an amazing game; my team won and I scored four of the goals. By no means am I any good at soccer (my goals were either because of an amazing assist by Nick or because the goalie was out of the goal at the time), but I still played pretty well most of the time and it was a blast. After the game, Aamar wanted me to invite all my friends over for hookah. We had about 15 people over at my house smoking and hanging out and everyone who came over said they loved my family and my house. After most people left, Aamar made me put on my dish-desh, kafia, sirwal, and egal, and some of the kids took pictures. I'll be posting some of those up later. If I wasn't so blindingly white, I think I would look like a true Bedouin.

My Arabic is getting a lot better too. I can hold pretty decent conversations with taxi drivers about why I'm here and why I'm learning the Arabic language among other things. I'm also pretty confident with bargaining. Classes are pretty tough, we have midterms this week so that's not going to be very fun but then on Thursday, we head off to our Bedouin homestays. That's going to be about a week (each student with their own family) living in different parts of Jordan in Bedouin villages. Women are going to be doing mainly indoor work and serving the men while the men get to do outdoor work like herding and maybe riding horses and junk. I'm extremely pumped for that and I can't wait to show them my traditional Bedouin garb and my khunjar (the traditional Bedouin knife). The one I bought is really beautiful with a goat horn handle and the artist's signature on the blade itself. I'll be posting once or twice more before I head out but they don't really have internet connection in the desert so you won't be hearing from me for a week or so, just a head's up. All for now, ma salaama.

Friday Market

Alright, I haven't posted in a while so this is gonna be a quick update of the happenings here in Amman. School's going well, I have a whole lot of work this weekend which is not going to be fun but this morning, my host dad and I are gonna meet up with some friends of mine at the Friday Market. While there, we are going to purchase the entire Bedouin get-up for our homestays in the Badia in a week. This will include the kafia and egal (the thing on the head and the band that goes around the thing on the head), the dish-desh, pants, and jacket combo, the special shoes they wear, and if we can find one, a Bedouin knife, just because. All of this will probably cost me about 10 to 20 JD or about 15 to 30 dollars. Unbelievable deals at the markets. Things can be expensive here but that's why I prefer shopping at the markets or sketch parts of town, prices are already really low and you can barter your little heart out. Last night, we went out to a bar and club, danced and had a great time. A guy from a magazine even took our picture at the bar, the name of the magazine translates to "Our Night" so we'll be looking for that issue next month. I'll update you guys again before heading out to the Badia.

Allah and Your Hands

Sorry, I know I just posted but I have to do another one after finding out what I did tonight. I saw this artwork in my family's house and they said it was the 99 different names of Allah. They then explained to me how it's in all in our hands. Let me explain.

Look at your left hand, if you have younger hands, you'll have to look closer since the lines aren't as defined but you should see (with your thumb up) an upside-down "V" and a single line, "I." The symbols should look like this: ٨١. This is the number 81 in Arabic numerals. Now look at your right hand, thumb up, and you should see a single line "I" followed by the upside-down "V" again (just the opposite of the left hand, clearly). The symbols should look like this: ١٨. This is the number 18 in Arabic numerals. If you add up 81 and 18, the number you come up with is 99, the 99 names of Allah. I thought this was so cool, remarkable how somebody connected Islam with human hands so closely. But wait, there's more. Each of your fingers and your thumb has two lines splitting them into three sections each. With 15 sections on each hand, you get 30, and then you add three onto the 30 (because that's how many sections are on each finger) and you get 33. On the Islamic equivalent of rosary beads, there are 33 beads on the band. I'm not sure if you'll be as surprised and amazed by this as I was and I hope I explained it well but I just thought that was very interesting, it got me very excited and I had to share it.

Salt

So I haven't posted in a while and I just want to let you all know, if you don't see a post for a while, it's OK; it just means nothing new or crazy has happened. Because I'm studying abroad, it's not really a vacation, I mean I take trips every now and then but not everyday. I promise, whenever something sweet or harmful happens or I feel like venting about something, you'll find a post.
Anyway, today a bunch of the SIT kids took a trip up to Salt. Salt is the oldest city in Jordan and one of the oldest in the Middle East region as a whole (probably making it one of the oldest in the world). Very cool city; we went to a few museums and junk and just explored the town. I took an obtrusive amount of photos because it was so beautiful. I'll put a few up in this post for you guys. After exploring a little bit, we visited the first school of Jordan, then we bumped into some kids playing soccer and we joined in. We didn't do too shabby but by "kids", I mean grown men who've probably been playing soccer since they were in the womb, quick buggers, really tough to play with them but we scored a goal or two. We then watched the sunset over the border of West Bank and Jordan while sipping on some tea. We got back around 6:30 or so and then I took a taxi back to my homestay. I tried a dish tonight that was phenomenal; it's called faseekh. Basically, it's really old fish that has just been sitting in salt for one year, then they take it out and put it in warm water until the majority of salt is washed away. That stuff wakes you up, it was delicious. All for now, thanks for reading.

Hijabs and Hospitality

This post is gonna' be a little longer, just a heads up. I'm going to talk a little bit about my family and the majority of Arabic people in general. I had a great time with my family tonight. We talked about a bunch of different things over hookah, I'm getting a lot better at Arabic with this family. We spoke about religion and I told them how much I respect them for being devout Muslims and what that means. I found out the mother is 5 months pregnant as well, she'll find out the sex of the kid this weekend (I told her if it's a boy, they should name it Luke, they thought I was joking, I think it's a strong name, whatever, I'm not bitter). Also, Siwar dressed in traditional Arab clothing and recited some of the Quran for me, could be the cutest thing I've ever seen.

The picture you see is her in her outfit, she's too young to wear a hijab all the time, women usually choose to start wearing them at the age of 10 or so. And yes, it's actually the woman's choice in most Arab countries whether to wear a hijab or not, that's a misinterpretation by most people in America - many Americans believe that it's seen as unequal treatment towards women but usually they just choose to do it because they respect themselves and don't want to be harassed by men. I learned that wearing a hijab doesn't make you any more or less of a devout Muslim either, many times there will be members of the same immediate family with some women wearing a hijab and some not. Interesting stuff.

I also wanted to talk a little bit about the hospitality here. I've traveled a good amount, Jordan is my 16th country, and I've stayed with multiple host families in different countries and if I've noticed any one trend among them, it's the kindness shown to complete strangers unmatched in the States. My host family and the host families of the SIT students almost seem to be too nice and too polite, almost militaristic kindness, but it's genuine. If the world truly acted like their religions teach, we'd be perfect. I don't even mean relying on religion to figure out how to act, but just doing what is right. People laugh at the "Golden Rule" but they don't understand what it can truly do for the world. Americans have so much to learn from a lot of Middle Eastern people in showing others just the basics in kindness to one's fellow man. It saddens me sometimes to be American in foreign countries because of how we're perceived, it makes me even sadder to realize that a lot of the time, they're spot on. The cliche American is rude and self-indulged and to tell you the truth, a lot of Americans fit that stereotype. Kindness, basic kindness, that's what people need to work on in the world. America isn't the greatest country in the world, in all honesty, the people in the States aren't any different or better than others elsewhere (actually, I'm not that big a fan of a lot of them). Once we get that thought out of our heads, I think maybe, we'll be able to work our way to a more peaceful and hospitable future. Sorry about my little rant but it's hard to avoid the hospitality here and it gets me a little riled up. I promise the next post will be a little more light-hearted.

Arabic Names

Probably one of the cooler things I've noticed while here is the names. Every single Arabic name means something. It's interesting to figure out what people's names mean, Khoolud for example means eternity or something like that. I have two host siblings as well, one is the prettiest little 5-year old girl named Siwar and the other is a young boy named Nayef. Nayef means tall; when the mother was trying to explain it to me, she just pointed at me and then pointed up, I got the picture. Siwar means bracelet which fits so well, easily the cutest little Arab girl in the world. Also, Lukes (close enough to my name) means flashlight so I got that going for me. Everything is still going swankily so nothing too much to report here, ma salaama.

Good Day

Alright, yesterday was a long day but it was a good one. I moved to my new host family yesterday and they're very cool. Susan didn't seem too happy with me but I don't really mind because this new family is more what I was looking for. They are a Muslim family and they have a pretty nice home, it's about 15 minutes away from the SIT building but that's not bad at all. The dad is a cop who works at the king's palace so we only live a few blocks away from there and we can see the massive Jordanian flag from our house. Also, the dad smokes like a chimney, no joke. I counted between 17 and 20 cigarettes and an entire hookah on his own from the time I met him, to when I went to bed; he just always has one in his hand. That's a little ridiculous. The family is all around fun too, they hardly speak any English but we all laughed and joked around multiple times last night; with Susan, it was just so awkward and all we watched was cartoons, not the greatest experience. The lack of English is perfect for me though, I'm going to learn a lot more now, I'm whipping out my English-Arabic dictionary at least twice every few minutes. Amaar, my new host dad, took me to an wedding after-party last night as well. It was insane. So much smoke and food and dancing (more just the women dancing and the men staring on creepily, but dancing nonetheless). It was great to hear the live Arabic music blasting and watch the bride and groom dance in a traditional style, very cool.

I had my first day of real school yesterday as well. It went well and I got into level 3 of 4 for Arabic which is what I was shooting for so I'm happy about that. A lot of yesterday was telling us about what we are going to be doing this year and I am just all around excited to get started - papers that actually interest me, lectures (that actually interest me), and a whole lot of Arabic.

Gas Trucks and Gun Shots

Today is Saturday and according to an email we received a few days ago, this is the day the Jordanian Ministry of Education releases interim results of the high-school exam. "Families throughout Amman often celebrate when the results are announced, and for some the celebration is exuberant. Groups of young adults may drive around in cars blowing horns, and some individuals may shoot into the air. The direct threat is minimal, but traffic can be congested. Please do not be surprised if you hear shooting." I was woken up by the shooting and honking and that's when I realized, Jordanians have a little different way of celebrating - Americans have a nice, quiet meal at the local Olive Garden, and Jordanians honk and shoot into the air. I don't mind it at all, it's kind of fun to see how the guns are being used in a more celebratory way.
Another interesting sound I hear every morning is the Gas Truck. Similar to an ice cream truck in the US, the Gas Truck drives around playing obnoxious music until men and women run out to buy some fuel. The Gas Trucks slowly, with their emergency lights on and the music blaring, drive around different neighborhoods until they make their sales. It's an interesting concept but people need their gas.

So here's a quick update on the family situation. Dema came over and had to talk to Susan about me leaving, they gave me the choice of whether I wanted to stay or not and Dema and I both agree it would be best if I left. I figured out the reason Susan took in two students is because they get paid to host, so Susan was trying to get more money for hosting two. She's very kind but it's kind of weird to figure out your being used to earn some money. So, I'll be moving out tomorrow to my new host family, Dema will be calling me later today to tell me about them, I'm hoping these ones have wireless too. I'm also hoping my new host family has heat, I had to buy a jacket last night, I thought this was the Middle East, what's that all about? The picture is the view from my room in Susan's apartment.

First Photos

Here are a couple photos, as promised. One is the SIT building where we have our classes and the others are just some photos of Amman. I haven't been taking a lot of photos since I'm trying to figure out the city a little bit but I'll be taking more and more as I go.

Sketch

I just got to my host family today and they're really cool. Bashar and Susan are the parents and they have two daughters, Hala and Sarah; Hala is six and Sarah is four. When Dema (the host family coordinator in the program) told me about my family, they told me Sarah was paralyzed. Once I got here, I realized she's not paralyzed because she can move around and make sounds; but she is just unable to crawl, walk, or speak. There is another student here (I'll get to that later) who told me that Sarah most likely didn't get enough oxygen as a baby, therefore, her development was severely stunted. It's a very nice apartment but we're all crowded into one room right now with a space heater because it's so cold. We're pretty high up so I have a great view from my room, they also have wireless internet which is simply fantastic.
The reason I named this post "Sketch" is because my host family didn't tell SIT that they were hosting another student from a different program. His name is Casey and he's a cool guy but I am supposed to be with a host family on my own. Sarah and Bashar told me not to tell SIT but I called the director and told him what was going on,; they were disappointed with the family and said they would move me to a different family on Saturday or Sunday. I'm bummed that I'm going to be leaving but I feel like I would get a more immersed and realistic experience if it was just me and an Arabic family.
The picture I posted is a panorama I created of a little bit of downtown Amman, it turned out really well so click on the photo to see it a little better.

First Days

These first couple days have been great. I've eaten a lot of good food and experienced a lot of culture already. Last night, a few of us went to the "Rouge Pup," pretty sure it was supposed to be "Rouge Pub" but I don't judge. The hookah was fantastic but the beer was 8 JD for one can (roughly $12) so I'm not going to be drinking a lot while I'm here. Since its an Islam culture, the alcohol is pretty sparse and therefore, expensive.

Today, we had our first drop off. That's where we get an assignment to find a couple things in town and figure out what they do. Our team was in charge of finding JARA which is a residential association with a photo gallery of old Amman and a cafe, and Wild Jordan, an organization in charge of eco-tourism and nature reserves in Jordan. It was really cool to talk to people and take taxis on our own, it's a rough but useful way to learn Arabic and the layout of Amman. After we did our assignment, my team went to an Egyptian restaurant and had some fateer, a phenomenal dish that kind of reminded me of an Arabic pizza. We also met two Peace Corps volunteers at the restaurant and got their information so they can tell us about some hot spots in Amman.

Amman is basically a massive clump of buildings on a bunch of hills but it's beautiful from the right angles. I'll be posting some pictures soon, no worries. Tomorrow's the day we're moving to our host family; I'll let you know how they are, I'm pretty sure their in a wealthier part of town so maybe I'll get some free wireless which would be sweeeeet. That's it for now.

Arrival

I made it safely to Jordan tonight and all the kids I've met are pretty cool. I guess I'm pretty much the only sophomore in the program other than a couple girls (but their graduating after their junior year so that doesn't really count). My flights were fairly uneventful other than a couple rude and chubby folks but what are ya gonna' do?

We'll be moving in with our host families Thursday afternoon so I'm pumped to meet them. I don't have too much to say I guess but I know we have a lot of really sweet things planned so I'm looking forward to those; I'll keep you guys updated as much as I can.