Secrets of the Valleyyyyyyy...

Well well... here we are again. Last week was pretty interesting. It didn't get off to the greatest start, since I have been stressed with co op and summer plans, school and just feeling anxious to get home in general. At the beginning of the week an unfortunate event occurred which will go down in history as "Kala's Medina Riyadiya Freakout." Medina Riyadiya (Sports City) is the area of Amman where my gym is. After a particularly cranky morning, I went there to work out and blow off some steam. I was waiting to cross a busy road and noticed a van trying to pull out of a parking spot. I moved far from the van and continued to look in the opposite direction to see a break in traffic. Suddenly I feel myself being knocked off my feet. I stumbled and caught myself before falling... that jerk in the van backed straight into me! It wasn't serious and I wasn't hurt, but on top of having a bad day and worrying about a lot of things, I lost my mind and started screaming things at the top of my lungs that would make a sailor cringe. I even threw some chips. The worst part was that the manchild that hit me got out and could barely apologise because he was laughing. He then proceeded to go to his friends up the street at the coffee stand who were also laughing. This was legendary... all of Medina Riyadiya heard and saw the ezhnebiyya (foreign girl) freak out.

At least it is humorous in hindsight. I guess. :)

That weekend, a classmate and I went to Aqaba, Jordan's only port and beach town in the south. It is very close to Eilat, Israel and Saudi Arabia. Aqaba was actually very cool. It is extremely touristy, therefore it is nice and well-kept. Normally I despise tourist traps and any place that is overloaded with old British people and Asians with funny hats and face masks, but tourist sites in Jordan have an element of freedom that is not present in other places. What I mean by this is that you can relax a bit more and get away with doing more things that wouldn't go over as well in parts of Amman or villages. For example, wear a tank top out, stay out late, etc. I'm sure they don't like it, but the locals in these places generally seem to be used to tourists coming in without regard to certain cultural sensitivities. I think it is just a more relaxed place in general; even Jordanians that were there seemed less rigid than in other areas. Aqaba still has an element of weirdness to it because it is in Jordan, but it seemed more normal to me than where I live in Amman. Women and families were out late at night in the streets and souqs loading up on nuts and bedding because it is very cheap there. There just seemed to be much more street life later at night, whereas Amman seems to die after a certain time. It is a really beautiful place, though. The sight of the Red Sea with a backdrop of sandstone mountains almost looked too picturesque to be real. I think the Red Sea is my second favorite body of water, after the Mediterranean. The water was cool and a perfect, clear blue. You could see tropical fish swimming and even some small coral reefs.

The Red Sea

The Sea and mountains

Palm treeees!

Our hotel was in a sketchy little alley, but I tend to like that sort of thing. It was no Movenpick, but it was fine for one night. It was clean and had no bugs or mysterious stains on the sheets and blankets, which is all I ask for. My classmate and I were basically huge bums for 2 days. On the first day we went to a beach that was cheap (and consequently rather crappy) and just stayed all day; swimming, reading, sleeping, etc. Despite the creepy drunk man who kept trying to talk to me and touch me, it was a good day. That evening we just walked around for a bit, had dinner and went out for a drink. The next day, we decided that we were going to stop being so cheap and pay a bit more to use a nice beach at one of the fancy hotels. We went to the Intercontinental and discovered that using the beach for the day is 25 JD (about $35) PER PERSON. I laughed in the guy's face when he said this and we started to walk away. He called us back and said he was going to make a "top-secret deal" and let us both in for 25 JD. We agreed, and entered the resort area. Generally, really over the top fancy stuff is just not my aesthetic, but doing the beach at a 5 star hotel was awesome and was a nice treat. They had beautiful swimming pools, spacious and comfortable picnic and sitting areas, an outdoor restaurant and bar and plenty of cushioned lounge chairs, umbrellas and tables on the beach. There was even a waiter walking around the people on the beach and taking orders while classical and world music was playing. Everything was just really nice and relaxing, especially since there were only old rich Europeans and no Arab men to harass us! The best part was that on the way out when we went to pay, the guy told us to forget about it and let us go. Talk about being extremely lucky.

Our sketchy little dive hotel


Aqaba street and souq

The beach front at the Intercontinental

This week and next week are all exams, and then I will be coming home on Friday. I am beyond excited, but nervous about how I am going to make visits and convince my new co op to lie about my start date so I don't get in more trouble with Drexel. Returning will be chaotic, but everything will be okay afterwards. There are some things I am going to miss from here... the wonderful tea, flying down the road in minibuses blaring Arabic music, the kind Jordanians I met who actually made me feel welcome, the cheap DVDs and my professors. I will also miss my family, even though they annoyed me sometimes. I never knew it before, but there can be something oddly comforting in the everyday chaos and tribulations of typical family life. It was definately a good experience living with them, even though I'm certain they think I am really weird and boring.

Expect one more entry from me before my return. I have been trying to figure out a way to accurately explain how I feel about Jordan and my time here. I am not really sure at this point and I need to reflect in order to prepare for the bombardment of questions that will soon be upon me. I have been sugarcoating a lot of things here for the sake of some peoples' feelings, but the truth will come out soon enough.

Take care and see you all soon, insha'allah.

4 months too late... :)

So it occurred to me that I haven't really posted any photos or information concerning my daily life. Some have asked, so here are a few. Generally, my daily routine involves going to school at either 8am or 10am, and going until 12pm or 5pm. I usually ride the bus or ride with my host brother, but sometimes I get lazy and just take a cab. After class, I usually go to the gym for about 2 hours. Then I come home, eat... then do homework or go out for a bit with friends or the family. I generally watch approximately half (I can never make it the whole way through) of a bad TV movie with my family once per week. I don't go out a whole lot; mainly because of money. Also because I don't feel safe being out late because I generally have to take a taxi alone or walk alone. It can be a bit scary, especially since I get harassed all day every day. On weekends I like to take trips around Amman and Jordan, go to the gym, hang out in the apartments of other students if they bother to call, lay around and read, and walk around Swefieh (local area with a bunch of shops and cafes) and people watch. One thing that is really getting to me is all of the travel bans. We were all so excited to come here because we are so close Judeastan (our new name for Israel... :P), Lebanon, Syria.... but we can't go!!!!!!! These places are close enough to take good weekend trips and it would be really cool. But, c'est la vie, I guess. There must be a reason.

Our apartment building... :P


My host sister Najwan, host brother Nimer and their friend Zaid


My second home at the University. I was tacky and stole this photo from google because I always forget to take a picture of it when I bring my camera to school... oopsa!


My fabulous Arabic teacher Ghadeer got to meet Felix. It was something special.


Looky! Another one of my professors, Dr. Shteiwi also got to meet Felix. Tres bien.

Today a schoolmate and I went to the Hammamat Ma'in-- natural hot springs located near the Dead Sea. It was a relaxing day and a lot of fun, thought we didn't really need to stay as long as we did. There are 3 waterfalls in the place, nice picnic areas and saunas and closed in baths for women and men. I had never been to natural hot springs before, but it was really cool. The water in the main area was a perfect temperature and the waterfall cooled everything down a bit. There was also a small, hallowed-out terrace with a flow of really hot water and created a kind of natural steam room. Despite the lovely scent of sulfur, this was a really nice little alcove to hide in for a little while. The second waterfall was smaller and the water was extremely hot- around 150 degrees Fahrenheit. We only stuck our feet in, but ended up hanging around this area for awhile because it was quiet and not crowded. The last waterfall and spring was just for women, though being a foreigner it was fine for us to be in the main waterfall. It was nice lounging around in hot mineral water for the day, trying not to worry about school and life too much. I ended up playing with a 10 year old Jordanian girl for quite awhile and it was a lot of fun. My paleness astounded her... :)

Main waterfall in Ma'in. I didn't repell down this one.

Next weekend I might go to Aqaba for the night since I haven't been there yet. It's a beach resort in the south of Jordan on the Red Sea and seems like it could make for a good overnight trip, depending on my finances.

I also need to say that I NEVER want to see a pita again. NEVER. I feel the same about pita as I did about porridge upon departure from Mother Russia...

Other than this, same old same old. We are just wrapping up the end of the semester. I am getting REALLY anxious to come home. I desperately need some Guitar Hero, salad and my bike Doris B. Anthony. My stomach is also begging for mercy, but that is another story for another day. Of course, I miss you all as well and can't wait to see you and regain a modicum of normalcy in my life (temporarily).

See you all in a few weeks. Wooooo!