Marhaba!
What a week it has been! I have traveled thousands of miles, gone through the program orientation, and moved in with my host family in the past seven days. It has been a bit stressful and I haven't had much down time, but I'm learning new things every minute.
My first flight was cancelled due to thunderstorms in Atlanta, but my dad helped me figure everything out so I left only two hours late, and instead of getting in at 7pm, I landed at about 1130. I ended up being the last one to arrive, but my roommate for the hotel was still awake when I got there, which was nice. The next day we woke up early and spent the whole day on a tour of the city including the American Center of Oriental Research, the Royal Automobile Musuem, and the Citadel. I was so tired that first night that the call to prayer didn't wake me up, so I was up on top of one of the many huge hills at the Citadel, in the middle of the ruins of an ancient mosque when I first heard it. If it hadn't already been bitterly cold and windy, I would have definitely had goosebumps. The next day (Tues) we went on a tour of the University and took the gruelingly long Arabic placement exam. That night, some of the students who had already been there a semester tok the new students out for a fun night. The next morning (Weds) we had several information sessions and then packed up and got ready to meet our host families.
My family is wonderful! My host parents have me call them by the first name and I have a little three year old brother who is a real character. He is incredibly smart, but doesn't really listen to anybody. He only speaks colloquial, so I will have to practice talking with him. My host dad's sister also lives in the apartment; she doesn't speak much English and seems to be shy, but when we do talk, she is very sweet. I have my own room, which is fantastic. There is no heat, so the house if freezing most of the time, but I have a heater to help. The other day I swear I could see my breath while I was in my room. Water is limited, so I have to take quick showers and always be aware of what water I use.
On Thursday, we had academic orientation and found out our schedules. I will have an intensive Modern Standard Arabic class, a colloquial Jordanian class, and two electives: Islam in the Modern Context and International Relations/Diplomacy in the Middle East. After a little trouble with finding my way back to my homestay, I went out to the huge City Mall with my family, where they met up with some other relatives and went to a Dave & Buster's type place for kids, where all the kids played. The mall was super crowded and everybody was pushy, so while I was glad I went out with the family, I was so tired and glad to get to sleep when we finally got home at about midnight (my little brother seems to never sleep!).
This morning everybody slept in and then we had brunch, which was delicious. Luckily, there are several CIEE students in my neighborhood, so four of us met up and explored the area a bit. In Amman, the weekend is on Friday and Saturday and most shops are closed on Friday for Friday Prayer at the mosques. The wind and rain forced us to retire to a coffee shop near the University, but it was nice to spend some time with them. As for now, my family seems to be taking another nap and I'm relaxing in my room by my heater. Language classes start on Sunday and my electives start on Wednesday. I'm not too worried and am looking foward to improving my language skills as much as possible. I've made many new friends so far and can't wait to find out who will be in my classes. Hope all is well in the States!
xoxo -O
