Homesick...

Not sure which country, though. My countdown for coming home is getting less and less. I'm excited, sad, anxious, patient, and other polar feelings. I look back at the "Al-Manar days" where orientation at the beginning of the program was held and it was so long ago, but this semester has gone by so fast. Riding on camels, dining with Bedouins, exploring the pyramids, trekking the deserts, being offered tea at mosques...to say the least. I can't wait to get on that plane bound for home, but I realize the life I made in Amman, Jordan: the route I walk to get to the bus and back, the same people I pass on that route, the call to prayer I hear everywhere a few times a day, the security guards in front of campus who recognize me so they just let me through, saying fun Arabic phrases that really don't make sense in its literal English translation, and yes...taxi drivers that just say something awkward.

I've been going to bed and waking up in the same room and I'll miss the little humble abode I made. My host mom and sister are tight-knit so I fit right in. I'll miss having movie nights with my sister and I'll miss her doing my hair, linking arms downtown, cheering her on at basketball games, and taking crazy pictures together, etc. Yay, for homestays!

Even though I've had it up to my neck with schoolwork and cultural struggles, especially as my time here is ending, I'll miss the little quirks I've seen and developed. Amman is a pretty big city in a country made mostly of desert, so it's seems small and suffocating at times, but most of the people are very hospitable, which is rare to find in America. There's no such thing as personal space here, so it'll be weird going back home where everyone is kept at an arm's length unless you're real good friends with them, but even that takes a while. Social experiment: stand real close to someone and see how they react.

Well, before I keep rambling, I'll include pictures about some of my highlights while I was in Jordan:

Finding internet comes down to a science.

Christmas time!

Celebrating Thanksgiving is always a must.

Gotta love the camel jokes: "Jordanian limousine."

What I hear everyday, 5 times a day.

Shrines

Seeing as much of the country where you're studying abroad in is worth it, even if it means waking up early on the weekend to attend an optional class field trip. Last weekend, our Contemporary Thought in the Islamic World professor took us to about 7 different mosques to see Islamic shrines aka tombs of prophets and their companions. What may have seemed like another boring lecture with the only difference that it would be on a bus this time, turned into adventure in an area of Jordan I didn't know existed.

The first mosque we saw was not too far from Amman. I believe the city was called Salt. I'm not sure if it was because it was the first day of the weekend and everyone was sleeping in, but this city was quiet and peaceful. And the mosque we went to was on a hill that overlooked Jordan's agricultural lands, Israel/Palestine, and the Jordan River. It was like a map was taken out of the Bible and put to life in front of me. The tomb or shrine of Joshua was there.

After that, we were off to another mosque. The mosques we went to were located in picturesque areas in the Valley of Jordan. There were green trees and grass and blooming colorful flowers. You don't realize how much you miss a patch of green grass until you've been in a country that's mostly desert. :) Anyway, we saw the shrine of Jethro. This was Moses' wife, Zipporah, father. Honestly, the only mental image I had of him was from the Prince of Egypt as that jolly cartoon dancing and singing "Through Heaven's Eyes" around a campfire. Yes, my friend and I listened to that song on her iPod back on the bus. So it was quite a site to see a solemn tomb in the middle of a prayer room. Like the first mosque, we got a little tour of the view they had of the Valley of Jordan. It was a great break to see the countryside after living in a densely-populated city for a few months. At this point, it took my breath away even though CA has more-or-less the same scenery...but they don't have random goats grazing in the hills.

Even though both mosques, so far, were beautiful, I assumed that this was what it was going to be like throughout the day--bus, mosque, shrine; bus, mosque, shrine...They all blended together after the fourth stop. But I realized that I learned more than just about mosques and shrines. People--Imams and locals--were a part of this trip.

We arrived at the third mosque during Friday prayer. So we had to wait about 20 minutes. Several of us decided to see the farmer's market across the way. Talk about crazy, especially for tourists who stick out. Assuming that every whistle or word a person says is harassment, my friend and I tried ignoring the little posse of boys following us. Thank goodness, I had my sunglasses on. If you remember, they were my invisible shield in Egypt (earlier blog). HaHa. But they caught up with us and were motioning us to take a picture. I figured what they heck. They're little boys who want pictures and they weren't doing anything to us. Then one older boy took my sunglasses. My invisible shield! I'm like, "Heck no!" But he said, "Don't worry." Yeah right. HaHa. I figured I got them for $2, anyway, across the university so I could always get another. Then as my friend was taking out her camera everyone was crowding around to get in the picture. I thought I would just be in the back to avoid this excited-ness, but the boy with my sunglasses took my arm and put me in front of the group so we could all take a picture. We took a couple then he said thank you and gave back my sunglasses. I didn't know sunglasses I bought in his own country would amuse him. But they turned out to be a fun bunch who sees little diversity and when they do, they get excited by it. We finally made it back to the mosque and when we went in, there were fountains and palm trees. CA? HaHa. this was the most nice mosque we went into where we even sat on over-sized chairs in a VIP room. They treated us very politely...not as an average tourist. They even served us juice. :) It's hard saying goodbye to people who treat you so nicely and are excited to show off their mosque.

The next several mosques we went to were little ones in random areas of the country side. I don't know if this is a good comparison, but their locations were like where a cute cottage would be--green farmlands surrounded by hills. We arrived at the last mosque in the late afternoon and they waited for us all morning. We thought they were upset when we finally arrived since they waited that long, but after being showed the shrine, they asked if we wanted to stay for tea. At this point, the majority of the group just wanted to go home, but I'm glad we stayed. We were huddled in a little office where extra chairs had to be squeezed in. There was awkward silence, but the Imams (caretakers of the mosque) just smiled and were glad to serve us. Once we all started to break the ice, we had to leave since it was getting late.

It was a refreshing experience from being in the city of Amman the past couple consecutive months and not leaving it. The Imams were so helpful and excited to show us their mosque, it was cute. Earlier in the semester, our class visited a mosque that wasn't really welcoming. So this first experience sort of stuck with the view that the rest will be like that. But that wasn't true. Every mosque we visited in Jordan, thus far, on class trips treated every single one of us with respect and attention.

The Turkish Bath Experience

The semester is coming to a close, papers and presentations have been submitted, last-minute trips are planned, and finals are creeping up. A must-have break, especially in the Middle East, is going to a Turkish bath. Because winter is here, the weather is very cold in Jordan. A Turkish bath around this time was perfect. Entering a place so different and warm from the outside was a trip in itself. After changing into a swimsuit and rinsing off in the showers, we were lead to a steam room to exfoliate our skin. The ladies gave us ice-cold cloths to put over our heads and served us slushy-like hibiscus tea to keep us cool from the hot condensation drops that kept falling on us from the ceiling. Afterward, we sat in a spa under a pretty dome ceiling until more ladies called us up to give us a good hard scrub. It was like all the pollution from taxi smog and cigarette smoke from the past couple of months were being scrubbed away. After an exhausting scrub, we were lathered in oil ready for a massage. Right before falling asleep, we were lead to a sauna where we each claimed a bench, lied down, and wished time would stop before heading back out to the city of Amman. But were were refreshed and ready.
This blog isn't as long as my other experiences, probably because my brain was asleep half the time, but if you ever have a chance, a Turkish bath should be on your to-do list. And if you happen to be in Amman, go to Al Pasha. :)

Wadi Hasa

So I was wearing my bathing suit, had my backpack on, life jacket secured, and water shoes ready for the wet hike of Wadi Hasa. But something was wrong with this picture...We were standing in the desert. No water was in sight. From where we were standing, the landscape was just yellow hills of sand. Of course, we had to joke about this. As we were making our way down the hill, greenery began appearing, but it was just little tomato gardens. Then we heard the sound of rushing water. One by one, our guides prepared us to slide down a natural water slide made of rock. It was angled in a way that we couldn't see what it was like when we made it down, but once we did, the beginning of our adventure began. We ended up in a pool surrounded by large rocks. So it was like a big tub. All we could see when we looked up was blue sky. Once everyone slid down, we swam to another pool where the current was calm. There was a big rock that everyone was jumping off. Probably about 20 feet before hitting the water. After having our fix of the wonderful adventure we were about to embark we continued our 5-hour hike of swimming and walking.

We did some more jumping off rocks in a couple places, walked under a little water fall, and floated under rock tunnels. It reminded me of a Disney land ride coming to life. Other places felt like we were in a jungle...I do believe the reference to Vietnam was used a lot since we had to walk chest-deep in water brushing away long leaves from our faces. And trampling on bushes when we were on dry land. No joke, it felt like a jungle in the middle of the desert. Also, there were goats grazing as their Bedouin owners were near by getting a kick out of us. I remember finally reaching an open spot after walking through tall plants with long leaves and a Bedouin was right above me chilling on a rock watching us American students laugh every time we tripped coming out from the plants.

When I heard "water hike" I didn't know that it meant being fully emersed in water most of the time. It's hard to imagine such a place existing in the valley of a desert. It was a 360 degree view of a natural oasis. We took a break sun bathing on a rock while people enjoyed the thrill of jumping off from it into the water. Isolated in the desert in this environment was not all half bad. It was hard coming back to the city of Amman later that night. But the best part before leaving, was hanging out in the hot springs for an hour. The sun was setting and we were getting chilly from the cold water so resting in a natural spa was a perfecting ending to the day.

Obviously, I couldn't take my camera so I found some pictures on google that can show you what Wadi Hasa is like. I hope you can imagine this random oasis running along the valleys between sandy hills in the desert.

Jordan: Jesus and Moses Style

It was a fun day walking in Jesus' and Moses' footsteps in my Biblical Jordan tour with CIEE. We began with Bethany to visit Jesus' baptism site. His exact place is controversial since both Israel and Jordan claim he was baptized on their side of the river, but as long as I touched the same water he did, I'm happy. Our tour guide did give several Bible verses that supported Jordan's claim of having the baptismal site on their side. Unfortunately, the river was more like a little stream. It used to be 60 meters in width, I believe, but it's much more narrow now. I could've swam across to the other side (where Israel was) in less than a minute. But it was still a calm and beautiful place to meditate about what took place there.

After the Jordan River, we made our way to Mount Nebo where we saw the Promised Land through Moses' eyes. The sky was hazy and dusty so we couldn't see that far, but it's still a fantastic site to see the vast deserts of Jordan, Israel, Palestine, the Dead Sea, and the West Bank (to name a few). There was also a structure of a serpent around a stick that represented the story when the Israelites sinned so they were bit by snakes. Then Moses put one on a stick for the people who were bitten to look at and get healed. I don't know about you, but I just learned that this structure is the same as the medical symbol due to its healing story.

After Mount Nebo, we went down to Madaba to visit St. George's church. It was a cute little town much more quiet and less crowded than Amman. Inside the church is the famous floor mosaic of a map of Jordan and it's neighbors. After that short visit, we had a nice Jordanian lunch before visiting the mountain in Mkawir where John the Baptist's head was served on a platter due to King Herod Antipus' promise to his stepdaughter's, Salome's, request after performing a dance. We had a little hike up to the top of this mountain where some columns of the king's palace were still standing. Biblical stories are vivid when you're actually at the sites it took place.

Post Office...or Interrogation Building?

So mom and dad mailed me a package containing a MacBook battery about a month ago. I finally received a notice in my CIEE mailbox this week about this package and that I had to go to the downtown post office. But I had to go quickly so the post office wouldn’t open my package thinking it was a bomb just sitting on their shelves. I was so happy that my Jordanian peer tutor offered to meet me in downtown so she can accompany me to the post office and so we can do some shopping afterwards. Too bad receiving my package took up the majority of our time…enough to blog about it.

When we walked in the Jordan post office, it looked like what a normal post office would. There was a nice long counter with different lines for stamps, letters, etc. So I showed the man my notice and he said that I had to go upstairs. My peer tutor greatly helped with the language barrier. We went upstairs and found a “post office-looking” counter. Again, I showed the man my notice and he said that I had to go to the room at the end of the hall around the corner. So off we went. Again, I handed my notice to a man sitting at a desk. He looked at it, saw my CA driver’s license as identification, and had my package received. It was nice to see the familiar handwriting of my dad’s. I thought I would be on my way, but oh no--this was only the beginning of my post office experience.

There was another man in a uniform sitting across the room smoking his cigarette. He told me to see him with my package and a piece of paper that he gave me, so I’m all like, “Oookay.” I gave him the paper, he looked at it, then asked me to open my package. I’m thinking in my head as I’m opening it, “What the heck, is this a freakin’ interrogation room or post office? I just want my non-dangerous battery.” While I was having difficulty opening my package with a knife, the man just leaned back in his chair and kept puffing his cigarette. I strongly dislike the smell, so this didn’t help the situation with smoke all up in my face. My peer tutor offered to help, so I held the package while she tried opening it. I don’t like sharp objects slicing towards me, either. We finally got it open and he asked me to take out the contents. I took out the battery and he asked me how much it cost. I said, “I don’t know, I didn’t buy it, my parents did.” So I said a random number in Arabic, khamsiin ($50). He showed me the customs paper my dad filled out and said that it cost $130. Then I said, “Ya, that sounds right.” I continued my thoughts of why waste his time asking me how much it cost while he had the amount written on the customs form in front of him. He signed another piece of paper, gave it to me, told me to put the battery back in the box, and place it on the shelf next to him. I had my package, opened it, and now he wanted me to leave it in the room while I get another signature in order to take it home. My peer tutor and her little sister led me to the room I had to get the signature from. Another man in uniform (I’m guessing they were customs) signed it and sent me to another room for another signature…long story short, we went through 10 (maybe I’m exaggerating) different rooms different men to sign different papers. At this point, it definitely did not feel like I was in a post office anymore. We were even sent to go up another floor for another signature. My peer tutor and I had to laugh at how many times we were going to be repeating this process. I even had to fork up a 24 dinar fee since my package was sent through regular mail instead of through FedEx or something. We went back down to the 2^nd floor where I had to pay another 5 dinar, get a piece of paper stamped and signed before going back to the original room where my package was waiting for me. I gave the man sitting at his desk my paper and after some more signing, he gave me the okay to take my package.

What would probably take 10 minutes in America, took close to an hour, here in Jordan along with visiting rooms and asking for signatures that all blurred together. Thank you, parents…I said I didn’t need a new battery, but I guess without you, I wouldn’t have written this blog…

Just one of those Traveler's Days...

What was supposed to be a laid-back day turned out to be a little frustrating. One thing I'm still getting used to is that most of my plans have the opposite outcome. All I had for the day was Arabic in the morning. After chatting with my Jordanian peer tutor for an hour, I ran around the track--my sanctuary. Then I took a nice cold shower ready to go home early to relax before shopping with friends. Since Thursday is the beginning of the weekend, a lot of my friends were off doing their own thing already. I didn't feel like hailing down a taxi by myself so I figured that I should try the bus and figure out the route to take home. In the mornings, I take the #52 bus to the university so the driver told me to look for the same one to take home.

Getting on the bus is difficult. There is no concept of waiting in line here so it's basically first come, first serve with a lot of pushing and shoving involved. I kept telling myself that this is the weekend and I will be home soon to relax. I claimed my seat and took a sigh of relief. "I will be home soon." We were across the street from where I usually wait for the bus in the morning to take to the university. I wasn't in the mood to cross 2 streets crowded with cars so I figured that the bus will turn around up the hill and make it back down on the other side where I can walk through quiet side streets. Because in the mornings as I wait, I see a #52 bus on the other side of the street and a couple minutes later, a #52 bus comes down my street. I assumed wrong about the bus turning up the hill. I learned the hard and long way that #52 buses are several minutes apart from each other on their route so the bus I see across the street and the one that shortly appears down my road are not the same buses.

What was supposed to be a 3o-minute ride, turned out to be 2 hours. We never turned around to go back down my street, but just kept making turns taking me further and further from the place I live. At this point, I was freaking out inside. I got a good dose of Amman that day. Eventually, I was the last one on the bus and there was no way I was going to get off in an area I didn't know existed. Alhamdo lellah that my bus driver was nice and said my situation was not a problem. So I just chilled out in the front seat and talked a little with him about American and Jordan waiting for the bus to fill up.

As extremely annoyed as I was with this turn of events, it's important as a traveler in a foreign country to have a sense of humor and go ahead and be that awkward tourist roaming the streets.

For fun, I'll add some pictures about my daily walking routine to the bus stop:

The street I live on...

Then I make a left on this street...

And another left...

A right on this street...

Straight here...

And this is where I wait for my bus. :)

"Walk Like an Egyptian"

Night 1: We arrived in Egypt around 10PM and the customs line was a nightmare. Us confused tourists didn’t get our visa, first, so after waiting 45 minutes in a freaking long line that took forever, we got turned back. Who knew that you get the visa at the Bank of Alexandria? Anyway, we were a couple hours late for our driver to take us back to the hostel. Alhamdo Llelah (Thanks be to God) that he was patiently waiting for us with his sign. Since we were traveling during a Muslim holiday (Eid al-Fitr), celebrating the end of Ramadan and fasting during the day, the streets were crowded with cars and people. Talk about a nightlife. A ride that should have taken 30 minutes turned into an hour. I’m sure if people actually followed the concept of staying in lanes, using traffic lights, and having crosswalks for pedestrians, traffic would’ve flowed more smoothly.

We finally arrived at our hostel. Of course, our room looked nothing like the picture. But our room was very clean and contained 3 bunk beds with cartoon bed sheets. I thought it was cute. The hostel owner was nice, which was important. But the bathroom was another story. When I first turned on the faucet, the water was brown. So I’m thinking, “We definitely got our $4 worth.” Then the faucet wouldn’t turn off. So brown water was quickly filling a clogged sink. After having a hard time opening the door, I managed to get out and get some help. Even the owner had a hard time, and had to stop the pipeline or something. I just walked away wondering how I was going to survive the week.

Day 1: We decided to venture Cairo for the day and do souvenir shopping. It was me, 2 other girls and one of their host brothers. Since he’s Jordanian, he knew Arabic. So he haggled for us since Egyptians think that all Americans are rich and bump up the prices. The freakin’ camel guys probably earn more money than I did over the summer in America by cleaning an office. We would show him what we liked, walk away so the shop owners didn’t associate him with us “rich Americans”, and he would do his haggling. Alhamdo Llelah (Thanks be to God) for him, especially, when it came to taxi drivers and boys who harassed us. At night, we hung out at a restaurant right on the Nile while refreshments. Egypt was off to a good start.

Day 2: Giza meant hanging out with the pyramids and the Sphinx. It was quite a site to see the pyramids peek out behind the city building of Cairo. It’s amazing to see these ancient (and I mean ancient) structures stand beside modern-day buildings. As I walked closer to the pyramids, they seemed to grow. From a distance, their sides look smooth and I found it crazy every time someone said they wanted to climb the pyramids. But the blocks were so huge and different-shaped, that they made natural steps.

We definitely trekked the desert around the pyramids Moses style looking for the Sphinx. We were hot, whiny, wanted water, and looking for something we couldn’t see for about an hour. Only Moses had to deal with thousands of people. The Sphinx wasn’t as big as I expected, but still worth it. I love the feeling of being in the same presence as something that’s been around for thousands of years. If only they had eyes, they could’ve seen the changes of Cairo. After dealing with annoying camel owners begging us to ride their camels at a ridiculous rate and punk kids almost run us over on their horses, the pyramids is a must-have experience, along with the Sphinx.

Day 2: This day was another fun day of just hanging out. First we went to Al-Ahzar Park where a bunch of children, teenagers, and families spent the day since it was Eid al-Fitr holiday. There was a delicious French café we ate at that overlooked the park and Cairo. We sat and talked for a couple of hours. It wasn’t really fun trying to get out since Egyptian kids are rude about keeping their fascination of foreigners to themselves. They seriously were punks, but I guess Cairo wouldn’t be Cairo without them…

We arrived at Al-Ahzar mosque during prayer so we had to wait outside for a little bit. While we did, our Muslim friend, Sa’ad, went inside to pray and I found some souvenirs in the meantime. When we went inside, it was my safe-haven—quietness and no harassment from the locals. Sa’ad led us into a room where people pray in. We sat and talked about Jordanian customs, religion, movies, and just had a nice time getting to know each other. Who knew, as a Christian, I’d be chillin’ in a mosque with people of different faiths and have a fun conversation. It was pretty cool.

Day 3: Alexandria was a beautiful break from Cairo. It was much cleaner, less crowded in the streets, and had the view of the Mediterranean Sea. In order to avoid harassment from the young locals, we walked around to ask a few hotels if we could pay to use their marked-off beaches. But they decided to be booked up, even though we saw no one was on the beach. I’m thinking if they really want tourists to come back, at least help them aka us! After walking around finding a hotel, we decided to eat at a wonderful American restaurant known as Chiles. Yesss…American food in an American atmosphere with football and country music playing in the background. Good times. Afterwards, we walked a little ways from Chiles and, again, found a similar American name—The Sheraton. Right when when we walked inside, we were immediately helped by workers with friendly smiles. The best part was that they were more than happy to let us know that we could use their beach for 200 Egyptian pounds with 50 pounds included for a meal. Pretty good deal. They even walked us across the street and made sure we found a good spot. I knew we could count on a Western hotel to help us. The water was perfect, we had fun soaking up some sun, hangin’ out until dinner that was perfectly timed by being served at sunset. Who could ask for a better day? Well, the train ride back to Cairo was freakin’ crazy, it wasn’t even funny. Of course, this would be the train back to crazy Cairo.

Day 4: This was our last day in Egypt and we spent it at the Egyptian Museum. It was very interesting, except it seemed the artifacts seemed a bit repetitive and the mummy was extra even though we were already in the museum. In the evening, we finally went to a restaurant that served Egyptian food. So now I could say that I’ve tasted food from Egypt. Afterwards, we visited another Sheraton and chilled in a restaurant until it closed. Then we decided to stay up all night talking and enjoying our last hours of Egypt before heading back to the airport.

Overall, Egypt was a good experience. I definitely learned some street smarts and feel much more comfortable walking the streets of Amman. If you could survive Egypt, anything else will be easy to deal with. The punk teenage guys were probably the worst part of the trip. The way they dressed was like going back to the 50’s, but in technicolor because of their extremely gelled hair and bright-colored clothing with some sort of bling bling on it. My friend compared them to a pack of wolves because they walked around in groups with arms around each other. I compared them to ants because they would appear out of EVERY nook and cranny. Great descriptions, huh? HaHa. At times, we were tempted to buy a burka so all they could see is our eyes and not know that we’re Westerners. But we put up with them. Our hostel owner was very nice and down-to-earth. He even fixed up the bathroom so it greatly improved from my first night’s experience. But Chuck and Larry will be missed (cocoroaches).

In Egypt, I got a little taste of the importance an Arab community. At the pyramids, us Western tourists had to pay 30 Egyptian pounds ($6) to get in, while our friend Sa’ad paid 1 dinar (.75) since he’s Arab and/or Jordanian. Arabs share the same sense of history and struggles, so the Arab community seems to be big on being providing ways to unite with each other, which is pretty cool. I'm beginning to learn about all this in my classes, which is interesting.

Oh, here's a funny story...one time our cab driver took us to some 5 star hotel called The Four Seasons since it was a place to use an ATM. When we walked in, we were in awe because it was clean, beautiful, quiet, and did I mention beautiful? Our inside joke was that we would go to that hotel just to hang out in the bathroom. Heck, we would even sleep in it if we could get away. HaHa. The best part is that it turns out one of the girls' dad's best friend is the owner of The Four Season chain in the Middle East so we could have totally gotten a room there. Good times.

Isolated in the Desert

Entering the desert lands of the Bedouins in Wadi Rum was the start of experiencing the Jordan I knew. Fresh air never smelled so good until I was away from city smells. If it’s not smog, it’s cigarette smoke. If it’s not cigarette smoke, it’s perfume. This Jordanian experience began with a 3-hour camel ride in Wadi Rum. I had a nice camel so I was able to enjoy the majestic and endless desert scenery. The only way I can easily describe it is comparing it to Yosemite National Park, but without the greenery. Instead there was sand that ranged from yellow to red. Merely illustrating it doesn’t seem to do justice. Neither do pictures. There’s a difference between seeing it and actually being a part of it where where the grandeur mountains of rock are embracing. Apparently, Wadi Rum used to be under water; hence, the unique fossils and intricately carved mountains of rock that made it easy to climb. The mountains are flat on top, like plateaus, because of heavy rain and snow that press it. Once arriving to our Bedouin campsite, dinner was served. The food is not like any other. When people said that the food here was really good, they weren’t joking. It’s the absolute truth. I have tried and eaten everything I put on my plate without disappointment. During dinner, the Bedouins entertained us with music and afterwards, started a dance around the campfire. It was like Moses’ wedding scene in The Prince of Egypt. Funny reference, but it’s true. Also, it was no surprise how clear the sky was and how many stars shown. Reclining on big Bedouin couches below the night sky gets you thinking.

In the morning, we boarded on the back of Toyota trucks to basically go off-roading in the desert before reaching a paved road. It was fun to race through the red desert sand, pass Bedouin campsites, and random wild camels. But the smog and sand dust in my face agitated my allergies. It was still worth it, though. Once we reached the highway, we boarded the buses to go to Aqaba. Since this is a tourist city, it looked a lot like San Diego. No joke. Our time in Aqaba was spent snorkeling in the Red Sea. Yes, the same sea that Moses parted to cross with the Israelites in order to escape the Egyptians. Who knew it would be a tourist attraction in the future with CIEE students jumping off boats into it. Good times. The water was blue and clear, which made snorkeling an amazing site. Colorful corals and schools of fish were swimming right beneath me. It was a stunning, yet weird, knowing what was beneath. HaHa. I could only imagine what it was like to be walking on the ocean floor with Moses.

After spending one last night in a Bedouin camp, the last day of our excursion was an intense hike to Petra. The best aspect of this trip was being a part of nature and its history…away from the hustle and bustle of city life. It was like going back in time as we walked by homes carved in rocks with children coming out of these dwellings and following us with their goats. We got a first-hand experience of what traveling might have been like in ancient times. I’ve walked on and climbed on things I wouldn’t have dared if I was back home. Apparently, CIEE hiking means some intense rock climbing, as well. Speaking of ancient times, it was like stepping into some type of Biblical movie when we entered a narrow, dirt path between rock crevices that contained little handicraft tents on the sides. Just imagine a movie scene of Jesus walking in a market scene drawing in crowds. Bedouin women reclined against rocks watching out for possible customers while children were energized with getting our attention. Along with this image tied-up donkeys were making their lovely noises while men riding donkeys weaved in and around us. Talk about an ancient street scene.

Before reaching the Treasury, we toured some ancient tombs that were carved high in the rock mountains. It’s amazing how they just let us tourists go in and out of these ancient dwellings. In the U.S. and probably Europe, it wouldbe roped off, especially since climbing up there can be treacherous. But we were all over the place like it was a playground. Also, there were more Bedouin women and children selling handicrafts and I had my first successful haggle. Bumped 5 dinar down to 3. :)

We approached the Treasury of Petra from behind, so unfortunately, I didn’t get the dramatic entrance from the Siq. But it is still a great piece of work that must’ve been quite a site when it was first discovered. It was carved in a multicolored stone and the details and symbolism are intricate. There were little steps carved into the wall on the sides of the treasury that workers used instead of ladders. So they somehow positioned themselves not to fall off?! Pretty scary since it’s high up there, but that was the beauty of this place.

I'm at the bottom right!

Globalization at Work

I never thought that the first time I would see “Pimp My Ride” would be here, in Jordan. As well as watching Bow Wow’s "21^st birthday in Vegas." Other than MTV, my host mom and sister enjoy CSI, Bones, ER, A Walk To Remember, Friends, Biggest Loser, Super Sweet 16, NCIS along with other movies and shows I don’t even watch in America. I do admit that hearing Gibbs, McGee, DiNozo, Abby, Ducky, and Zeeva were quite refreshing. I thought I would have to live without NCIS for 4 months. Globalization seemed like a blessing in this case. As I was getting to know my host sister more, she enjoys listening to Akon, Beyoncé, Rihanna, etc. Jokingly, I told her that I thought I got away from all these American icons and that I need to listen to some Arabic entertainment. So we did.

My host family is just a mother and daughter. A cute tight-knit family so I fit just right in. I quickly became comfortable with them, which is surprising since I'm really shy. But my little "sister" talks talks talks so there is never an awkward silence. That definitely helped break the ice my first night. Also, they're Christian so I don't have to worry about covering my shoulders and knees in the house nor wear slippers. And we get to eat during Ramadan…inside the house, of course. At orientation, I was taught to cover up, wear slippers, not to cross my legs having the soles of my feet facing someone (that's an insult), and have my feet on the furniture. Then when I arrived at my new home, all those rules were broken. I'm thinking, "Rewind! Wasn't I just told not do these things?" Then I remembered that they're Christian. Opposite behavior from a Muslim home. Definitely more relaxed.

Anyway, my "sister" helps me with the little Arabic I know. I posted a video of me trying to say the letters "haa" and "khaa." The former is pronounced in the throat, which is very difficult for me to do even though it comes naturally to the people here. (Not fair!) In class, everyone has the same problem so it sounds like we were all having a coughing attack. But our teacher is very nice and funny about it. Patience is very important when learning Arabic or any other language.

Birthday in Jordan

I turned 20 in Jordan! Which is a birthday gift in itself. I thought it would be hard being away from home and all, but my host family did what a family would do by making it a family event. (Emphasis on the “family” much?) Anyway, when I got home my host sister, Lara, showed me my gift on my bed from her and her mom. I knew they were planning something else since I kept hearing my name among their Arabic while I was in the other room (minding my own business) checking e-mails. Then my host mom wanted one of my friend’s cell phone number. I'm thinking, "Okayyy..." My friend, Kelly, lives with my host mom’s sister so I guess that makes us “cousins”. Because of our families visit each other so much we get to hang out a lot. Anyway, my host mom wanted me to come go on a walk with her to pick up Kelly in front of the Palestinian Embassy. It’s right behind our apartment so it’s a good landmark to go by. Then when we came back home everyone sang “Happy Birthday” and a chocolate cake was served.

Thank you, all, for your birthday wishes from home! <3

Spanish in Jordan?!

My first day of Arabic was okay. Of course, it was the first day and I have no experience whatsoever in Arabic. So this is going to be an intense semester. My teacher is Dr. Muna and she is Muslim so she wore her hijab (head covering, but still showed her face) and a longsleeve dress/overcoat. I’m used to seeing them in this outfit that it’s normal for me, unlike in America where they stick out. I’ve even seen women cover themselves completely, except for their eyes, and a man who was praying on his little rug outside of a store.

Coming to school was a nerve-wracking adventure. Instead of taking a taxi, my homestay mom suggested for me to take a city bus. She even came with me to the bus stop, along with her landlord, to make sure I get on a bus. Her landlord told the bus driver where to drop me off and I thought the driver was annoyed at me since I’m a foreigner new to this country and who doesn’t speak Arabic. Yeah, I came into this country knowing only 5 words. I’m not the only one, though. Once I got on the full bus, I remembered the rules on how men and women aren’t usually seen together. The bus only had 2 seats on each side and I quickly scanned it seeing that no man nor woman was sitting next to each other. I didn't want to sit next to a man just in case of the rules, even though it means nothing to me back in America, so I found a seat next to a woman who was reading the Qu’ran. I wasn’t sure if the driver would remember to drop me off at the university so I observed what people were doing to let him know when to stop. Since there aren’t really bus stops, people push a “stop” button over the windows. When I saw 2 seats become available I moved to them so I could see some landmarks out the window. I saw the university track and figured that my stop was coming up. The driver pulled aside and I asked if this was the University of Jordan and he quickly said yes waving his hand toward the door so I’m thinking, “Ok, ok, you’re probably annoyed with me.” So I got off and started walking toward the university gate. Then I figured I should remember what the bus looks like so I can take one back home. I was going to wait for it to pass me so I wouldn’t have to walk back and have him think that I was lost…again. I waited and waited, but then I gave up and decided to stalk the bus. I started walking back to it and took out my camera to take a picture of it. The bus driver pulled toward me and I thought, “Great. Now, he’s gonna get mad at me for thinking that he needed to pull over for me.” I said, “No, I’m fine.” But he kept waving at me so I’m all like what the heck and said, “I do have a quick question!” He motioned me forward and I asked if this was the same bus to take back home. He gave me a blank stare and there was a busload of people’s eyes on me. I don’t do well under pressure being a shy person and all. I asked if he spoke English and he said no. But he did speak Spanish. All at once, I’m thinking, “Where the heck am I?..How would I get home…I don’t know Arabic…why does he know Spanish…and I better think of something to say in Spanish since I had 5 years of it so be calm." I totally communicated with him in Spanish and he even got out of the bus to show me how to look for the right one. He turned out to be really nice and helpful, instead of annoyed. We laughed and smiled since we broke the language barrier. Who knew I’d speak Spanish in Jordan?

Dead Sea Spa

Hands down, the Dead Sea was amazing. First, we visited a beautiful panorama view of it along with a birds eye view of Israel. From above, the Dead Sea was the bluest blue I've ever seen other than in Hawaii. ;) Despite its name, I can't emphasize how gorgeous it is. The mountainous desert landscape added a unique beauty that takes your breath away when you are physically a part of it. Unfortunately, we learned that the Dead Sea will eventually disappear. Since water is very scarce, they had to dam water openings that lead into the Dead Sea in order to use more water. If you think going trayless is annoying, try using the bathroom with low water pressure. In Jordan, there are trash cans next to the toilets to dispose toilet paper instead of flushing it. So it can get smelly. Anyway, once we made it 492 meters below sea level (the lowest point on earth), the heat became intense. Before we headed down to the water, several of us went in the pool at the hotel to try to float. Obviously, it’s hard, but it makes you appreciate floating in the dead more because it is easy. I was in 3 feet of water and I was able to sit in the water with my legs crossed and even float on my stomach with my feet in the air. It was so much fun.

Since the salt content is extremely high, salt dust was drying on my skin and there were some white salt droplets dripping down my leg. I've heard that it's smart to only stay in the Dead Sea for 20 minutes, then rinse off in the shower because the salt will produce dry skin. Another enjoyable thing was a mud rub for 1 dinar. When it was put on, if felt nice and cool. Apparently, it's good for the skin. But all you could see when it was fully put on were your eyes and lips. Funny kodak moment.

As this was a Dead Sea SPA, clearly that meant a massage was close by. I took advantage of that since my shoulders were tense from sitting in airplanes traveling across the world and running to gates at airports with a heavy backpack. This day made me forget that I actually came here to go to school because classes don't start, yet, because of Ramadan.