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?