First Days....First Impressions

Ahlan wa Sahlan!!! (or Welcome bil Arabiya)

So, I’ve finally made it. Yes, I’m here, safe and sound all in one piece. Granted, I almost missed all my connections (weather in San Francisco blows), but Amman couldn’t hold me back. This place is…incredible! Talk about different, talk about similar, talk about completely new and exciting. I arrived nervous about spending four months in a country that was completely different from anywhere I had ever been. But I am now settled (somewhat) in a city where traffic sucks, TV is the national past time, and people live to enjoy life…and yes eat at the local McDonalds, Burger King, Subway, or Popeyes and go to the gym at Curves. I think I’m going to learn to like this place.

A rundown of what I’ve been through the past few days. This past week has been orientation, so basically the 70 students who are in my program had been living out of a hotel trying to acclimate to a 10 hour jetlag. I've gotten to know quite a lot of them, and its really a great group of people. We had all the typical orientation meetings… health/ safety/ academics/yadda yadda yadda. Had some ice breakers to try to get to know one another. Got hijacked by Bedouins on horses during our train ride through the city. You know, all the normal stuff, right? (The Bedouin part…just a tourist attraction where Bedouins ride up to the train, “kidnap” some of the people, and then we have to “barter” to get them back while learning about Bedouin culture). One of the best parts had to have been during this past Monday during our “scavenger hunt,” an attempt to force us to get acquainted with the campus, learn the city, use its public transportation system, and meet some of the locals. A pair of students were each assigned a “guide,” a local student, to help us along our trip. Well, our guide decided to give his friend a call. We thereby jumped into his friend’s car and proceeded to tour all 23 of Amman’s hills…and by tour I mean get completely lost. We were supposed to arrive at a hotel with a set of 5 tasks completed, a power point presentation of our journey, and a set of 5 “tips” about the city. Well… our group only completed 3 tasks (one of which turned out to be incorrect), showed up an hour late, and were making our power-point in the back of the room as other groups were presenting. It was ridiculous and hilarious all at the same time… you should have been there.

Well, orientation had to finally come to a close this past Thursday, at which point we all found out our living arrangements. About half the people live in gorgeous apartments (when I say gorgeous I really mean it...these places are huge) and the other half in homestays. Turns out, me and another guy in the program are living with a host family (which I am EXTREMELY excited about)!! The family consists of a Mom, whom I now call Mama B (no Mom, she won’t replace you, don’t worry), and one of her sons who lives in the home. It turns out this woman has been hosting students for the past 5 years through this program and has subsequently brought in most of her family and friends as host families. Therefore, I have host-nieces, host-cousins, and host-friends. Just one big happy family! But this woman is great. The orientation tried to scare us with huge culture shock and completely different cultural norms. But these people are very willing to make it as easy and smooth a transition as possible. I have a midnight curfew (which is awesome compared to the 10pm curfew of most families), am allowed to bring guests over (a no-no for most Muslim homes), and can drink and smoke as much as I want….just kidding Mom! But this family is really willing to put in the time and effort to make my experience here the best it can possibly be. I’m extremely excited, Monday night is my “nephew’s” first birthday party, and we’re having it at my house. This kid is adorable. The hugest eyes you’ve ever seen. (pictures of the family are coming…don’t worry). And my Mom is apparently one of the best cooks! She’s making us this great meal tomorrow night… not exactly sure what it is, but I’ll let you know.

So, I guess the real work starts today: class. 4 hours of Arabic today. Fun, I know. During the week we have 16 hours of Arabic. If I don't know this language by the end of this semester, then there's no hope… But we also have Colloquial, which turns out to be completely different from formal Arabic. Fun… right? So basically I’m learning two languages this semester. Cross your fingers guys. But I start the rest of my classes tomorrow (the ones in English – political science-y stuff).

A couple things I’ve learned since I came here:

1) toilet paper…doesn’t belong in the toilet, but in the trash can right next to the toilet. The sewage system isn’t all that great. I think this one’ll take a little time to get used to.

2) Traffic SUCKS! For those of you who thought that I was a bad driver – which is a small minority I know – I dare you to come to Amman. There are no street lights, no lanes, no rules. It’s more of a game of natural selection. And for pedestrians attempting to cross the street, Good Luck!

3) ‘Arguileh (or hookah for those of you in the states) is more a way of life. One of the cool things for us young folk to do here is hang out for a couple hours at a café, playing backgammon, smoking ‘Arguileh, and just kinda hanging.

4) Watching TV counts as family time. The longer you watch, the closer the family. Needless to say, my family and I were REALLY close after Friday.

5) There are a lot of underlying tensions here. Palestinian/Jordanian (over 60% of the people here are Palestinian), Catholic/Muslim (hijabs are more the rule than the exception). It’s really interesting to see the interaction between cultures.

6) Hummus, falafel and shwarma really are eaten at about half the meals. We went to the best Falafel place in town...this dirty place downtown called Hashems. It's rumored that the King

frequents this place around midnight sometimes. It was pretty amazing!

7) Pictures of the king are EVERYWHERE! You can't walk into a building without seeing his eyes staring at you. Kinda Big Brother-ish, but he seems to be a good guy.

Here are the Bedouins that were supposedly "kidnapping" our train.

My attempt at riding one of the horses... as you can tell, very successful.

The city of Amman. From this picture, all the buildings seem like they look exactly the same. Well...they actually do. White stone is definitely in here.

Hashem's restaurant, best falafel in town. The falafel is served on sheets of paper on plastic tables.

The front of school. Biggest university in Jordan... 40,000 students!

A view of the city from downtown.

A couple of buds at a local cafe.

Well, I hope this provided you with a little entertainment out there. Or at least helped your procrastinate somewhat from the work you’re supposed to be doing. I miss you all, but I’m having an awesome time out here! Keep in touch, let me know what your lives are like!

Ma Sallemah (good bye)

Andrew