The Best of Both

The main gate of the University of Jordan

One month down, three to go. Life is really starting to pick up here after a fairly relaxed first two weeks. The material covered in classes is piling on, the projects are building up, and I want to do everything all at once since my time here is so short...talk with my host family, watch the news in Arabic, read my book of Arab short stories, keep up with my scrapbook, go to the gym, spend time with friends, visit museums, attend concerts, and the lists goes on. I'm happy to be busy and am thoroughly enjoying my classes at the University of Jordan (JU), and I feel incredibly fortunate to be here right now, and upon starting my fourth week of classes, I will try to contextualize what it means to be living here. 

\What I love most about Amman:

- Limestone-covered buildings. All buildings in Amman are required by law to be covered with limestone blocks, which creates quite a stunning view, especially at sunset with the city's hills are covered with white stones glowing under the fading light. 

Happy after purchasing several Arabic books at an international book fair in Amman. My birthday present to myself.

- Home-cooked meals. Jordanian food is incredibly delicious! It definitely beats out Morocco, and probably even beats Egypt, although nothing can top Egyptian mangos and fruit juice stands. I especially love tabbouleh, felafel, and ma'looba, which literally means "upside-down" because a huge pan of rice, chicken, eggplant, and cauliflower is baked and then turned upside down on an equally giant plate to serve. Yummmm. Every meal also must have some form of bread or rice. I am also spoiled even more with occasional Indian food because the maid who lives with my host family is from Bangladesh, and she is an amazing cook! Not to mention that my host mom teaches other women how to bake sweets and cakes... 

Birthday dinner and cake at my host family's

- My host family. I can sit and talk with them about anything from politics to religion to the events of my day, or I can study in my room and have time to myself if needed, without feeling obligated to do anything else. They are incredibly generous, easy-going, and have the patience to explain anything to me that I don't understand.

- Arabic. I have taken a language pledge to not speak any English for the entire semester. To be entirely honest, a few words slip here-and-there, but otherwise it is Arabic all day, every day, and I absolutely love it. A lot of people in Amman speak English (at varying levels), but that doesn't mean I have to respond in English :)

The intersection near my house where I wait for the bus, early on Friday morning with no traffic.

- Riding buses. I think I'd being lying if I said I loved commuting to JU by bus, but I will admit to enjoying it, mostly because it is so vastly superior than my other alternative of taking taxis. I stand on opposite the side of the main road, a short walk my host family's apartment, and wait anywhere from 20 seconds to 20 minutes for the bus to come. I have memorized the pattern of the traffic signals now at the intersection, and amuse myself by watching the newspaper man running in and out of cars at the stop light, handing drivers a newspaper in exchange for a coin. I wave at the bus to stop, and then usually have to push my way on board because for some reason all of the women like to stand directly in front of the door and are extremely hesitant to move for passengers getting on and off (the men are in the back, so I don't know what their bus-customs are like). I swipe my prepaid card, and then usually stand for the 30-ish minute ride (depending on traffic), trying not to hit too many people with my large backpack and cinch bag (with gym paraphernalia). Jordanian women all carry the more fashionable shoulder bags, so I totally feel like an unstylish American...same story in the U.S., though, so nothing every changes :) I stay on until the end of the route, which is the main gate of the university, get off, and go to class. Easy. Nearly the same story on the way back. (I'm currently in the process of writing an article for the Rice Standard on taking taxis, so I'll post that whenever it's published.)

One of the sites at Petra (not the main Treasury), Sept. 15

However, I also can't help but mention what I miss the most about the U.S.: 

- Clean bathrooms, with soap and toilet paper. The bathrooms at JU are pretty abominable. I'm lucky to find a "normal"-style toilet, so learning to squat is a much-need skill. Toilet paper and soap are a guaranteed "no," so it's byo style. Side note: Jordanians call toilet paper and tissues "Fine" because the first major company to sell these products in Jordan was "Fine," and the name has stuck (just like we call tissues "Kleenex" and bandage strips "Band-Aids").

- Jogging outside, or any form of exercise outside for that matter. I joined a female-only gym that is only a ten-minute walk from my house, so I am extremely thankful for this opportunity and convenience. However, it's on the second floor of an office building (next to Starbucks), and I really miss being outside, off of a treadmill and running on grass, and playing on a team. There are definitely benefits, though, because I am learning better techniques for arms weights and other new exercises, and I am honestly happy just to have this opportunity, since I didn't while I was in Egypt.

Signs at Wild Jordan in Amman, the official company in charge of organizing trips to Jordan's various nature preserves

- Water fountains. Jordan has a serious water-shortage problem and is one of the poorest countries in the world with regard to water scarcity. Each family receives a weekly water ration, stored on a rooftop tank, for everything from flushing toilets and taking showers to cooking. I have yet to come across a functional drinking water fountain - there are a few in some of the university buildings, but they must only be for decoration because none show any signs of every carrying water. So I fill up my Nalgene at home in the morning, and try to make it last all day, which is definitely less than ideal. I hate spending money on bottled water, but I may have to start making exceptions

- Oatmeal and cereal with milk. I doubt I will be having any of these for the next few months, since both are incredibly expensive here and therefore, very uncommon. I enjoy breakfast here for the most part, usually consisting of break, tomatoes, fuul (broad beans with oil and spices) if I'm lucky, cheese, cream, and zaatar (mix of dried thyme and sesame put on bread dipped in olive oil). At the beginning, it was only bread and cheese, but they've started replacing that with jam after realizing that I'm not a big cheese eater. Also, the milk here is horrendous.

- Smoke-free spaces. The number of smokers here is staggering, and I can hardly go anywhere without smelling smoke, whether it's inside the house, inside buildings and women's bathrooms at JU, or inside taxis. I tried to avoid inhaling as much as possible at first, but I found this virtually impossible to maintain for extended periods of time.

Riding camels in Wadi Rum (Sept. 14), heading for our desert campsite

- Lily and Abby. I am surprised with the lack of stray dogs and cats in Amman, especially compared to Morocco and Egypt, but most people also do not own domestic animals. Needless to say, I miss the pugs a lot!

- Family and friends. That's a given, although I am really thankful for my host family here (as I mentioned above). I also have a Jordanian language partner at JU, and we meet nearly every day to talk in Arabic. She is a junior, studying English and Spanish, and I thoroughly enjoy talking with her and meeting her friends. Even though our meetings are technically "required," I definitely do not have to "force" myself to meet and talk with her - far from that, in fact. I went with her to her cousin's wedding on the night of my birthday, and she invited me to her house this Friday for lunch, as well. She has really helped make me feel more connected to JU campus life, and I'm really looking forward to the rest of the semester.

The language center at JU. The CIEE office is here, but most of my classes are in other buildings.

These are the comments that first come to mind when thinking about my daily life in Amman. It has been a lot easier that I expected to adapt to life here, and although this city is admittedly not as exciting as Cairo, my experience so far has been mumtaz ('wonderful'). I hope all is well, from wherever in the world you may be reading this.