This week was pretty busy. We had off on Tuesday in honor of the Prophet’s birthday. I also had shawarma for the first time--it was pretty good. They cook meat and then shave it off of the skewer and wrap it up in a piece of Arabic bread with some vegetables and heat it up--delicious! I also had an Oreo, which was absolutely AMAZING!! I forgot how much I like certain foods, until they are not readily accessible any more--it was like a little piece of home!
We also had to go to the police station to get fingerprinted in order to extend our visas. Though I was never planning on getting arrested, this only cemented my desire to abide by the law--no jail for me!
It is interesting to see some of the buildings being constructed in the city, because they still put the buildings together brick by brick--so they pretty much use the same technique that was used centuries ago!
Valentine’s Day here was interesting. I thought that it was only a Hallmark holiday, and while it was not celebrated nearly to the extent that it is in the states, there were still a good number of people who did things. Our cab driver had an entire conversation with us about the fact that Sarah and I don’t have Valentine’s, and how love should be shown every day, not just once a year. It was a pretty in depth conversation, and since it was in Arabic, I only understood tiny parts of it. It was mostly between Sarah and the cab driver, and then she filled me in on the things I didn’t understand once we made it back!
Thursday after classes a group of people met up with our professor at a coffee shop just to have casual conversation. It was a lot of fun; not only did we get to talk to the professor outside of the classroom, but we were able to talk to each other. I was able to finally get to meet a lot of the people in the program that I never really had a chance to talk to before, so that was really nice.
In the high school’s here, the students in their senior year have to take a huge exam (tawjihi), which is essentially like the SAT, but with more pressure and a greater effect. Friday morning they posted the results of the exams, so starting at 9 am, people began to celebrate. Celebrating here involves shooting guns in the air, honking more than usual, dancing in the street and driving around in cars while hanging outside the car window. It was very interesting (and a little unsettling) to witness all of these festivities. They are so much different than celebrations back in the states! You start to get a little used to the gun shots, though it is not the best thing to wake up to at 9 in the morning--since I’m usually a little disheveled to begin with, but it was definitely worth it. The ended in the evening with people setting off fireworks and the likes as well as really loud parties and more driving around in cars!
A bunch of CIEE people signed up to do a bike tour around the Dead Sea on Friday. It was a lot of fun--we drove to an area near the Dead Sea and then biked around there, we didn’t really get to see the sea, but we were near it. We biked about 30 kilometers, which is about 18 miles!! I have not biked in so long, and never at such a long distance--it was quite interesting. It was really neat to see the different areas. So far I have only seen the city, so this was completely different. We went through areas with a lot of greenery, and then other areas that were completely brown. There were sporadic “houses” that were placed all over the place--mostly where there were people picking vegetables. There were people who had camels that were like pets. They were tethered up where the people were working and there were other camels that were just hanging out the in the open areas. It was interesting to see camels around, much like I would see cows on the thruway at home! The little kids were so cute! There was only one little boy who was throwing rocks at us as we passed (I guess the guide book was correct on that one!) though he missed me--which was really good! I didn’t get to take too many pictures, since we only stopped three times the whole ride--but, Sarah and I are planning on going back to the Dead Sea to spend a weekend, so I will have to make up for it then!
Saturday we spent the day looking at Eastern Desert Castles. It was really interesting to see the difference between the city and the actual desert. It was completely flat for miles on end, without anything but brown sand. I also had my first taste of desert heat--it was a little brutal, and it’s only February, so I can only imagine how hot it will be in the spring. We also saw the “wetlands” of Jordan, which at one time had water that would come up to one’s neck, though now there are only a couple of little ponds, and a lot of dry dead grass.
(I was going to try and add a couple of pictures, but the internet was too slow to load them--maybe another time!)
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