This past weekend was pretty eventful. A lot of people on our program went traveling to such exotic places as Aqaba, Beirut, and Damascus because Monday is the Prophet’s birthday, giving themselves a four-day weekend (though there is class Sunday). I was not feeling that and stayed around Amman.
Friday morning I went to the Friday market (“sook”) in Abdali bus station with the Year-long student across the hall. We were both looking for new shoes, though I ended up not finding anything. There was an interesting array of items for sale there. The shoes were for the most part slightly soiled, but they had some really interesting pairs that would sell for a lot of money new back in America. The same can be said for the rows upon rows of clothing that were available, though there were a lot of really cheap things and knockoffs drowning it out. In addition to clothes, there was also a lot of random housewares for sale, and for some reason a lot of stuffed animals as well.
After leaving the market I went to a soccer match. We met up at this Jordanian's house where we took taxis to the game. There were seven of us in all. The game was being played in Amman International Stadium, which is the biggest in the country. Unfortunately, we got split up and ended up sitting on opposite sides of the field.
The match was being played between Faisaly and Wahdat, the Celtics and Lakers of Jordanian soccer. Also, Faisaly is considered to be a Jordanian team, while Wahdat is considered Palestinian, though both teams are based in Amman. Our group was in the Faisaly cheering section. I’m pretty sure this was part of the Middle Eastern version of Europe’s Champions League, but I never got a clear answer on that. Anyway, Faisaly needed a win to continue on and had just apparently come off of a bad loss. They came out playing pretty badly though, and all the fans in our section were pretty bummed out.
Towards the end though, things started to get more exciting. In extra time one of the Faisaly players managed to weave through the defense and score. The crowd in our section went nuts. People started running around and hugging each other. Unfortunately I didn’t bring my camera, but this Youtube video of another Philadelphia team (fun fact: Amman was called Philadelphia during Roman and Byzantine times) pulling out an important victory in the final seconds sort of sums up what happened: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk8onB6Lm64.
Afterwards we went to a hookah place and played a game called “Turnab”, which is like a simpler version of bridge. I left early though, since I had signed up for a CIEE trip early the next day. We were going to Lake Ziglab, which isn’t really much of a lake, more of a small reservoir. It was about a two-hour drive through the Jordan Valley to get there. Once we arrived we paddled across in inflatable boats. Then we followed the stream that fed the reservoir up through the mountains. We ate lunch at this waterfall and then hiked back.
Sunday wasn’t quite as interesting. I went to classes in the morning and then did some work in the afternoon. On the holiday I went to Jerash, the best-preserved Roman city in the Middle East. While there, I got to watch the show at the hippodrome that they put on. It included a demonstration of Roman military and gladiatorial techniques, as well as a chariot race. The city itself was really cool. It was nice to see actual Roman ruins after reading and studying so much about them in school. I got back in the evening and ended up going to bed pretty early since I had an 8:00 class Tuesday morning. That was my weekend.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
Snow Day
Sorry it's been so long since the last entry. Ironically enough, classes were canceled yesterday because of snow. The weather this weekend has been really bad: cold, wet, and windy. It didn’t really snow today aside for briefly in the morning, and there was no accumulation at our apartment, but I guess the threat was enough to close things down.
On Saturday I went to the Dead Sea with my roommates and a few other people. Because of the weather, it may not have been the best day to go. It was cold and rainy in Amman and cloudy and very windy at the Dead Sea, though probably about five or so degrees warmer. Nevertheless, it was still a good experience.
We left at around one in the afternoon and took a cab to a bus station near downtown. We then boarded a bus bound for the Dead Sea. It was only about a forty-five minute ride, and that was with several stops. We were dropped off along the side of the road near the Dead Sea. There we met a Japanese student named Kira who was traveling across Asia. He decided to join up with us. After walking for a bit we came across this empty playground. We decided at that point to turn off the road and go toward the sea.
We then proceeded to walk down the coast for a few kilometers. It was slow going because the mud was really thick. It ended up caked all over my shoes. Along the way we came across a guy on a horse who offered us rides. Unfortunately, it ended up costing ten dinar. After a bit longer we came across some guys in a truck who offered to take us to Amman Beach, which was our initial destination but it would have cost an extra dinar each to get there on the bus.
There was a long and fruitless discussion with them about logistics, but we ended up going to the road and hitchhiking. We wound up in the back of a mostly empty delivery truck, but the driver apparently didn’t understand where we wanted to go and dropped us off about 10 kilometers too far. Another van took us to Amman Beach, but by that time we were all really tired and weren’t going to swim so one of the shuttles took us back to Amman.
Amman Beach felt like it has a similar atmosphere to the beach in America. There were resorts, hotels, and restaurants. It was empty, however, either because of the weather or maybe it’s out of season. It really felt just like the ocean, not the lowest point in the world or the Holy Land. This also marked the first time I had been outside of Amman since arrival. It was fun just improvising. That’s not really something I’ve had a chance to do in my limited past travels. Hopefully this is the last weekend that is rained out and from now on we'll be able to enjoy all that this country has to offer.
On Saturday I went to the Dead Sea with my roommates and a few other people. Because of the weather, it may not have been the best day to go. It was cold and rainy in Amman and cloudy and very windy at the Dead Sea, though probably about five or so degrees warmer. Nevertheless, it was still a good experience.
We left at around one in the afternoon and took a cab to a bus station near downtown. We then boarded a bus bound for the Dead Sea. It was only about a forty-five minute ride, and that was with several stops. We were dropped off along the side of the road near the Dead Sea. There we met a Japanese student named Kira who was traveling across Asia. He decided to join up with us. After walking for a bit we came across this empty playground. We decided at that point to turn off the road and go toward the sea.
We then proceeded to walk down the coast for a few kilometers. It was slow going because the mud was really thick. It ended up caked all over my shoes. Along the way we came across a guy on a horse who offered us rides. Unfortunately, it ended up costing ten dinar. After a bit longer we came across some guys in a truck who offered to take us to Amman Beach, which was our initial destination but it would have cost an extra dinar each to get there on the bus.
There was a long and fruitless discussion with them about logistics, but we ended up going to the road and hitchhiking. We wound up in the back of a mostly empty delivery truck, but the driver apparently didn’t understand where we wanted to go and dropped us off about 10 kilometers too far. Another van took us to Amman Beach, but by that time we were all really tired and weren’t going to swim so one of the shuttles took us back to Amman.
Amman Beach felt like it has a similar atmosphere to the beach in America. There were resorts, hotels, and restaurants. It was empty, however, either because of the weather or maybe it’s out of season. It really felt just like the ocean, not the lowest point in the world or the Holy Land. This also marked the first time I had been outside of Amman since arrival. It was fun just improvising. That’s not really something I’ve had a chance to do in my limited past travels. Hopefully this is the last weekend that is rained out and from now on we'll be able to enjoy all that this country has to offer.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
The Rain
Today it’s raining. Dealing with rain here is a major hassle. Drainage is not very good, which is forgivable considering it only rains a few inches every year in the winter. The uneven terrain doesn’t help either and some of the stairways and streets can turn into rivers. Even our street, which is in a relatively flat area, has a foot of standing water in it. The streets and sidewalks here are also paved differently, so they get really slippery when wet, like when it’s slushy back home. Just last week I fell down a small flight of stairs in the rain. Thus getting around is not fun. Even though it might not be good for us, there has been very little rain this winter. They’ve been praying for the rain at mosques and so all the locals are pretty happy about this.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Happy Birthday
This week was my birthday, among other things. I’m not sure if it was because of that, or if it was a coincidence, but on Wednesday one of the students who works for CIEE and her home-stay came over to our apartment to cook dinner. They made something called “Upside Down”, which is thus named because it gets flipped over before serving. The dish was basically chicken and rice, with cinnamon and some other spices mixed in. There was also an eggplant and tomato salad, and a chocolate cake. It was nice to have a home cooked meal, as most of the stuff I have been eating is either at restaurants or involves putting things on pita bread.
Really, aside from that the rest of the week was not particularly interesting. Classes are pretty intense, especially Arabic, and I’ve spent most of my free time studying or reading. On Sunday and Tuesday my class has four straight hours, which is completely exhausting. I’m usually in bed by 10:00, which is a sharp change from home. We did get internet in our apartment last weekend, however, so that has made things a bit easier. Anyway, things have been going pretty well.
Really, aside from that the rest of the week was not particularly interesting. Classes are pretty intense, especially Arabic, and I’ve spent most of my free time studying or reading. On Sunday and Tuesday my class has four straight hours, which is completely exhausting. I’m usually in bed by 10:00, which is a sharp change from home. We did get internet in our apartment last weekend, however, so that has made things a bit easier. Anyway, things have been going pretty well.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Classes
I feel that the quality of the last two posts wasn’t that great, since I had written them almost a week before I posted them and then retroactively tried to update them. I’ll be sure to do better in the future.
Anyway…today marks the end of the first week of classes. Everyday I have at least an hour and a half of Arabic, and four on Sundays and Tuesdays (on those days there’s an hour of lab, and on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday we have a one hour colloquial Jordanian lesson). It can be intense and a bit overwhelming at times, and it’s hard to keep up with the huge amount of new vocabulary, but our teacher is really good and keeps the class engaged.
In addition to Arabic, I’m also taking two area studies classes. One is Intro to Islamic Civilization, a history class. The other is titled “Archaeological and Historical Survey of Jordan and Palestine”. So far we’ve only really been going over background stuff and introductions, but both have been really interesting and have good professors.
The University of Jordan is where we’re taking classes. I’m definitely surprised by how big it is. There are about 30,000 students there, so it’s a bit smaller than Penn State. It seems really big in terms of acreage, but that may be because there aren’t a lot of good sight lines. The university is built on the side of a hill in an old forest, so there are lots of trees everywhere. The buildings are also a lot more spread out than in University Park.
My classes are in the Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Engineering, which are pretty much on opposite ends of the campus. Both buildings are labyrinthine and difficult to get around. They’re also not in the best shape. There are roof tiles missing, stickers and graffiti on the walls and the chairs, chunks of stuff missing, lockers with no doors on them, etc. They’re basically reminiscent of a stereotypical ghetto high school. The bathrooms are really bad, too. I’m not really sure how often they clean them, if ever, and there’s no soap or toilets available, just holes in the floor. I made the mistake of using one a couple days ago, one that I’ll be sure not to repeat.
That being said, the students there are known to really take pride in the university. At first, this seemed kind of surprising, but then I thought about what aspects of Penn State I’m proud of. It’s not the impressive new construction, the sleek landscaping, or the bridge in the IT building; it’s things like Schreyer’s, the graduation rate of our athletes, and the high quality of my professors. The University of Jordan is one of the best universities in the Middle East, and even though there’s not a smart board or a computer in every room, the facilities get the job done. It would be nice to have toilets and soap in the bathrooms, though.
Anyway…today marks the end of the first week of classes. Everyday I have at least an hour and a half of Arabic, and four on Sundays and Tuesdays (on those days there’s an hour of lab, and on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday we have a one hour colloquial Jordanian lesson). It can be intense and a bit overwhelming at times, and it’s hard to keep up with the huge amount of new vocabulary, but our teacher is really good and keeps the class engaged.
In addition to Arabic, I’m also taking two area studies classes. One is Intro to Islamic Civilization, a history class. The other is titled “Archaeological and Historical Survey of Jordan and Palestine”. So far we’ve only really been going over background stuff and introductions, but both have been really interesting and have good professors.
The University of Jordan is where we’re taking classes. I’m definitely surprised by how big it is. There are about 30,000 students there, so it’s a bit smaller than Penn State. It seems really big in terms of acreage, but that may be because there aren’t a lot of good sight lines. The university is built on the side of a hill in an old forest, so there are lots of trees everywhere. The buildings are also a lot more spread out than in University Park.
My classes are in the Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Engineering, which are pretty much on opposite ends of the campus. Both buildings are labyrinthine and difficult to get around. They’re also not in the best shape. There are roof tiles missing, stickers and graffiti on the walls and the chairs, chunks of stuff missing, lockers with no doors on them, etc. They’re basically reminiscent of a stereotypical ghetto high school. The bathrooms are really bad, too. I’m not really sure how often they clean them, if ever, and there’s no soap or toilets available, just holes in the floor. I made the mistake of using one a couple days ago, one that I’ll be sure not to repeat.
That being said, the students there are known to really take pride in the university. At first, this seemed kind of surprising, but then I thought about what aspects of Penn State I’m proud of. It’s not the impressive new construction, the sleek landscaping, or the bridge in the IT building; it’s things like Schreyer’s, the graduation rate of our athletes, and the high quality of my professors. The University of Jordan is one of the best universities in the Middle East, and even though there’s not a smart board or a computer in every room, the facilities get the job done. It would be nice to have toilets and soap in the bathrooms, though.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Let me upgrade you...
Last Friday we moved out of the Al Manar Hotel and into our apartments. I have two roommates. Our apartment is fairly close to the University of Jordan. It's within walking distance, though it certainly isn't a very fun walk with all of the traffic.
Our apartment is really, really nice. It’s nicer than any student housing I’ve ever seen. In fact, it’s nicer than my house. The rooms are really large and spacious. Everything is bright and the furniture is nice and new. We have a kitchen with all the necessary equipment. However, to remind us we’re in Jordan, we have a gas stove with the gas tank right next to it. Starting it up is kind of intimidating, especially the oven. We can only keep the heat on for a couple hours a day, since we only have a limited supply. Luckily it’s pretty warm here, so it’s not a very big deal.
The bathrooms are also really clean, and also a bit different than those back home. Water is an important commodity in Jordan, and the sewage system is apparently very antiquated. You don’t flush toilet paper, you throw it in the wastebasket. All the bathrooms, even a lot of public ones, have bidets (if you don’t know…wikipedia). The shower’s are also really low flow, but ours are very clean. Public bathrooms are another matter, however. They’re for the most part really disgusting and to be avoided, even the ones at the University of Jordan. We haven't figured out how to use the hot water yet, so showering has been unpleasant.
Our apartment is really, really nice. It’s nicer than any student housing I’ve ever seen. In fact, it’s nicer than my house. The rooms are really large and spacious. Everything is bright and the furniture is nice and new. We have a kitchen with all the necessary equipment. However, to remind us we’re in Jordan, we have a gas stove with the gas tank right next to it. Starting it up is kind of intimidating, especially the oven. We can only keep the heat on for a couple hours a day, since we only have a limited supply. Luckily it’s pretty warm here, so it’s not a very big deal.
The bathrooms are also really clean, and also a bit different than those back home. Water is an important commodity in Jordan, and the sewage system is apparently very antiquated. You don’t flush toilet paper, you throw it in the wastebasket. All the bathrooms, even a lot of public ones, have bidets (if you don’t know…wikipedia). The shower’s are also really low flow, but ours are very clean. Public bathrooms are another matter, however. They’re for the most part really disgusting and to be avoided, even the ones at the University of Jordan. We haven't figured out how to use the hot water yet, so showering has been unpleasant.
In Jordan
I know it’s been over a week since my first entry, but I have not forgotten about this. The hotel where everyone in our group stayed during orientation is the Al-Manar. They had wireless in the lobby, but it was excruciatingly slow and eventually stopped working with my computer. Also, this website is in Arabic so it was difficult to navigate. Most of last week was spent at orientation, nothing very exciting.
I arrived last Friday, January 30th after a ten hour flight from JFK. It’s only the second time I’ve ever flown and was not a great experience. It was hard to sleep and a bit bumpy. Luckily it was mostly empty so there was plenty of room. The Amman airport is surprisingly far from the city and is pretty much in the middle of the desert. It was about a forty-five minute drive to the hotel. Once we arrived we had dinner and then I went to bed.
Orientation week was generally not very noteworthy. We had a lot of information sessions, most of which were redundant and uninteresting. Some of the highlights included (on Saturday) a train ride where we ended up at a Bedouin tent where we got a presentation on the indigenous way of life. On Monday there was a scavenger hunt. Our group had to go find the South Bus Station and Bennigans (which apparently is pretty coutoure in Jordan, complete with valet). It was about an hour bus ride to get to South Station, which is located in a pretty shady part of Amman. From there it took another hour to find the Bennigans, since nobody knew where it was. When we finally returned to the hotel where we were having dinner and making presentations, we were over an hour and a half late. For our troubles my partner and I got a pocket Arabic dictionary.
On Tuesday we had our Arabic placement tests. Since they were for people from all levels and I had only had two semester, I was able to answer next to nothing. It was very distressing. Apparently I did well enough to place into Intermediate I, which was exactly where I wanted to be. Hopefully it’s where I belong. We generally spent a lot of time at the University of Jordan, which is the Harvard of Jordan and one of the best universities in the Middle East. The campus is pretty nice, though it looks a bit outdated compared to a lot of American universities.
The most striking thing about Amman so far is just how sprawling it is. Imagine being in the rolling hills of the northeast, except instead of trees, fields, and a few houses, it’s nothing but white, cube-shaped buildings as far as the eye can see. In reality, the city only has about 2,000,000 people living here and when you look on a map you realize that it isn’t all that big. In person, however, it’s discombobulating.
I arrived last Friday, January 30th after a ten hour flight from JFK. It’s only the second time I’ve ever flown and was not a great experience. It was hard to sleep and a bit bumpy. Luckily it was mostly empty so there was plenty of room. The Amman airport is surprisingly far from the city and is pretty much in the middle of the desert. It was about a forty-five minute drive to the hotel. Once we arrived we had dinner and then I went to bed.
Orientation week was generally not very noteworthy. We had a lot of information sessions, most of which were redundant and uninteresting. Some of the highlights included (on Saturday) a train ride where we ended up at a Bedouin tent where we got a presentation on the indigenous way of life. On Monday there was a scavenger hunt. Our group had to go find the South Bus Station and Bennigans (which apparently is pretty coutoure in Jordan, complete with valet). It was about an hour bus ride to get to South Station, which is located in a pretty shady part of Amman. From there it took another hour to find the Bennigans, since nobody knew where it was. When we finally returned to the hotel where we were having dinner and making presentations, we were over an hour and a half late. For our troubles my partner and I got a pocket Arabic dictionary.
On Tuesday we had our Arabic placement tests. Since they were for people from all levels and I had only had two semester, I was able to answer next to nothing. It was very distressing. Apparently I did well enough to place into Intermediate I, which was exactly where I wanted to be. Hopefully it’s where I belong. We generally spent a lot of time at the University of Jordan, which is the Harvard of Jordan and one of the best universities in the Middle East. The campus is pretty nice, though it looks a bit outdated compared to a lot of American universities.
The most striking thing about Amman so far is just how sprawling it is. Imagine being in the rolling hills of the northeast, except instead of trees, fields, and a few houses, it’s nothing but white, cube-shaped buildings as far as the eye can see. In reality, the city only has about 2,000,000 people living here and when you look on a map you realize that it isn’t all that big. In person, however, it’s discombobulating.
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