July 26, 2008

Today was a fun and exciting day that we've been anticipating for awhile. My friends Stephanie, Sophia, JJ, and I went to Petra!

Petra was built by the Nabateans, an ancient Arab tribe who settled in southern Jordan more than 2200 years ago. They became "the undisputed masters  of the region's trade routes, levying tolls, protecting caravans laden with Arabian frankincense and myrrh, Indian spices and silks, African ivory and animal hides." They established a powerful kingdom, ruling the greater part of Arabia until they were annexed to the Roman Empire in 106 A.D.

Petra displays both local and external cultural influences, with paved roads, agricultural terraces, water harvesting systems, artwork, temples, and theatres.

We only made it about half way through because it is so huge, tiring, and hot, but everything we did see was so beautiful and amazing! We woke up at 5:30 to catch a tourist bus at 7 AM, but when we got there we found out it was full, so we had to take a cab to a different bus station and took a public bus (which actually turned out to be better in a way because it was cheaper). Unfortunately, that meant we couldn't buy a round trip ticket and had to rush back in order to ensure that we could get seats on the bus coming back to Amman (or we would have had to get a cab for around 80 J.D.) But we went to Petra and back for less than 20 J.D. a person and had a great time! I'm really happy we got the chance to go and may get the chance to go again.

July 22, 2008

I apologize if this is very long or if I leave a lot of details out, but the past few days have been packed full of interesting, amazing events. We took advantage of this past weekend to rest and take a break from the non-stop running around and school, and spent time with our teacher and his brother because he left on Sunday for America. Sunday morning my friend Sophia and I woke up at 5 AM and took a cab to the main bus station in Amman. We caught the 7 AM bus to the King Hussein bridge/Israeli border, which was about an hour ride. It took us about four hours of waiting at the various checkpoints, especially the main one, and then we caught another bus to Jerusalem (Al-Quds), which was another hour's drive. 

We checked into our hostel, which was only $10 a night per person and very close to most of the attractions in the city. We then began to plan our trip, and met some really cool people who had been staying at the same hostel for awhile and gave us some tips about the city and were very nice people. We woke up at 6 AM on Monday and went to a wonderful bakery/bagel shop called Sam Booki with one of the people we met the night before who's living in Jerusalem for the summer to study Hebrew, and lived in Palestine last summer studying Arabic. 

We then walked to the Mount of Olives (which is mentioned in the Bible in relation to David and Solomon, is thought to be the place Jesus wept over Jerusalem, and is mentioned in other places in the Bible as well). We walked through a Jewish cemetery on the way, which was very interesting to see, and we also walked past the Gethsemane Basilica of Agony, next to the Garden of Gethsemane (which is where Jesus is believed to have prayed on the night he was arrested before his crucifixion).  We then saw Dominus Flevit (Latin for "The Lord Wept"), which is a church fashioned in the shape of a teardrop where Jesus is believed to have wept about the future destruction of the Second Temple and Jerusalem (in Luke). Next we went into Church of the Pater Noster, which had beautiful plaques of the Lord's Prayer in 62 languages- from Cherokee to French to Aramic to Swahili- and was built on the site believed to be where Jesus taught his disciples the Lord's Prayer. After that we went to the Dome of the Ascension, also known as the Chapel of the Ascension because it was originally built as a church and was converted into a church by Saladin in 1187 and remains a mosque today. I wish I could get the pictures to upload, because the view of the city from the Mount of Olives and the sites of the mountain itself were absolutely beautiful and amazing to see. We went down the mountain to see Mary's Tomb, which was absolutely amazing and beautiful and had some great artwork, such as on one wall where they had a succession of paintings depicting major events from Jesus' life, from the angel telling Mary she is pregnant with Jesus to His crucifixion. 

After that we entered the Old City and saw the Western Wall, which is the most holy Jewish site accessible to people because it is the last remaining wall of the Great Temple and Jewish people believe that the Divine Presence has never departed from it. Not only is the Western Wall sacred and holy to Judaism, but many Jewish people see it as a cultural and historical Jewish symbol. It was beautiful, and interesting to see. 

After the Western Wall we ate lunch at a really good restaurant overlooking part of the Old City in the Jewish Quarter, and then we planned on going to see the Dome of the Rock immediately, but found out it was closed for an hour. My friend Sophia was really tired by this point and decided to go back to the hostel, so I continued sightseeing on my own. I made my way to the Christian Quarter down Via Dolorosa, thought to be the path Jesus walked to his crucifixion and visited the Church of the Flagellation and the Church of the Condemnation and imposition of the Cross, the spot believed to be where Jesus was flogged by Roman soldiers. Both were beautiful and awe-inspiring, for obvious reasons. The artwork was beautiful and it was amazing to think of the acts performed there thousands of years ago and their effects on us today (as with the other sites). (I did not make it to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, unfortunately, which is the place thought to be where Jesus was crucified, but I will definitely go there if I get the chance to go back to Jerusalem).

After this I went back to the area of the Western Wall, which I then realized was the place designated for non-Muslims to enter the area of the Dome of the Rock. I saw the Dome of the Rock (from the outside, non-Muslims are not allowed inside), which was absolutely amazing and beautiful. (The Dome of the Rock is the place believed by Muslims to be where the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven, consulted with Moses, and was given the Islamic prayers before returning to Earth). I also saw the Al-Aqsa Mosque ("the farthest mosque" where the Prophet Muhammadis believed by Muslims to have gone to from Mecca on "The Night Journey"), which was much smaller and plainer but still beautiful.

One of the people we met at the hostel knew about this really cool Palestinian art gallery, so we went with a couple friends to see an exhibit (unfortunately they were in the process of taking it down, but it was still really cool), and then they took us to a really nice shop in the Armenian Quarter of Old City that sells historical photos of Jerusalem.

As you can imagine, I was exhausted after that day of sightseeing, so after that I went back to the hostel and went to sleep. The next morning Sophia and I woke up early again and went to Sam Booki for bagels, then went to the Garden Tomb, which is believed to be where Joseph of Arimathea's garden was and where Jesus was buried and rose from (some believe he was also crucified closer to this garden). It was so inspirational and beautiful!

We then got a bus and came back to Amman by taxi after we crossed the border (we happened to run into a girl from my class and the three of us found a driver who would give us the same price it would have been to take a bus).

Seeing Jerusalem was one of the best experiences of my life and I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who made it possible for me to come here and do all of these wonderful things!!!!!!!

July 18, 2008

I woke up early today to come to one of the only stores/restaurants that opens early on Friday mornings (Gloria Jean's) to update my blog (since I promised you last night, Mom). We've had a fairly busy week this week, so I haven't had much time to talk to anybody from home or update this.

Tuesday I had my midterm exams (two of them), which was stressful on its own because there really wasn't a way to study for either of them, one was listening comprehension and the other was reading comprehension. I got the listening part back and did pretty well on that one, but I didn't get the reading one back yet so I'm still not sure how I did on that.

After class on Tuesday we went to the American Embassy. We thought we were getting a tour of the place (which is basically a huge fort here) but instead we were talked to by 3 1/2 (one of the women only talked to us for about 5 minutes and really didn't have too much to say, especially since she's only been here for about the same amount of time we have) government workers, which was a very disappointing experience (for me and a couple of my friends, at least). I guess I should take this opportunity to say that this is my own personal opinion and there were people there who had very different opinions of the experience because some problems have arisen (a couple people here don't seem to understand how to agree to disagree or accept other people's opinions in a respectful and mature manner) within our group because of this trip. Anyways, the people were doing their job and pretty much told us what I would expect to hear from people working for the U.S. government here, but it was still disappointing to hear people who are supposed to both represent us and our government here and send reports back to the U.S. about things here make somewhat ignorant and prejudiced comments and show a clear lack of understanding of the people and culture here. It is unfortunate to know that in our short month here so far we have done more to understand people here than these government officials have in the years they have spent here.

But on to a much better note. Last night we had the opportunity to attend a wedding party, which was an amazing experience (and one that most tourists would never have the opportunity to experience). It was basically just a celebration of the nuptials that are to take place today. First we went to the house of the father of the man who invited us (he is good friends with our teacher Saleh and works at the University Language Center). The house was very nice and we found out then that the man's father was the leader (sheik) of the family (or tribe) in which the man getting married belongs to. We were served Turkish coffee first, then the best tea I've ever had, then Pepsi and orange soda. We sat and drank and talked with the people for a while, then the women in the group were given an escort from the family who speaks French, English, and Arabic and was to show us around and explain things to us. The women were separated from the men in a tent, and there was music and candy and tea and a lot of dancing- first traditional then "oriental-" which was a much more seductive dance, and one of the Lebanese Americans here with us said that the "oriental" dances are what the Lebanese people do. The men also danced a traditional dance, but they did not have a tent, and the women could watch them from a distance if they chose to do so, which we did for a little while. There were also fireworks at random times (I think I mentioned earlier that there are no laws or regulations here concerning fireworks) and some of the men would occasionally fire their guns into the air to celebrate the marriage and the joining of the two families. It was amazing to see the women in their most comfortable state (with no men present) dancing, laughing, and having a great time. There were children running around playing, (one even tried to take my friend Sophia's camera and she had to pick him up and bring him to our escort, who made him give it back- it was very funny) and just a very pleasant general atmosphere of fun and happiness. The dress varied from very Western (younger women in short dresses with spaghetti straps and men in khakis and polos)  to very traditional (most of the older women and some of the younger ones wore the hijab and ubiyyas and some men wore dish dashes). The people were very excited and happy to see Americans there- we were honored guests. There was a group of middle-school girls that immediately flocked to the girls of our group and wanted to sit and talk with us. They wanted to know our ages, what we were studying, where we were from- everything an American middle school girl would ask of us. As much as the media and other people try to emphasize the differences between Westerners and people of this region, there are way more similarities in cultures and in people.

July 12, 2008

As promised, I'm updating this right after we got back from the school trip today. Unfortunately, we had to wake up early and be at the school at 7:30 this morning, and the bus didn't even show up until 8:30, but it's kind of what we have come to expect from this country's conception of time and being on time, so we weren't surprised. Mount Nebo (جبل نيبو) was even more beautiful than I had imagined from other people's descriptions. I tried to take a lot of pictures, and they came out very beautiful, but they couldn't begin to capture the natural beauty of being there in person. Other than the beauty, it was amazing to stand there and think of the history of that mountain.

{According to the Bible, Mount Nebo is where Moses was given a view of the promised land God was giving to the Jews and was buried, although his final resting place is not known.}

The next portion of the trip was a mini-tour of the city Madaba, in which we ate at a Christian restaurant (so pork and alcohol were served) and visited the St. George church, which contains a mosaic map of the region dating from the sixth century C.E., the oldest known map of the Middle East. Madaba was an interesting city, both touristy and not in different ways, and is also rich in history- not only because of the map but also because it is mentioned a couple of times in the Bible. 

July 11, 2008

Sorry it's taken me so long to get on here and update this blog but we still don't have internet in our apartments and I don't think we're going to get it. So much has happened since my last post I hardly know where to start! Since my last post I've been to the citadel here (breathtakingly beautiful), the Dead Sea, a music festival in Jerash, and the first palace in modern Jordanian history! The citadel was beautiful and it was amazing to learn about some of the ancient history of the area we're leaving in (it was less than a 2 JD cab ride to get there). I've been trying to put pictures up of all the places we've been, but I don't seem to be able to for some reason, I don't know if it's me or the quality of internet at this cafe.

The Dead Sea was extremely beautiful and an adventure all its own. My friends Stephanie, Sophia, and I decided to take a bus even though some people were taking cabs (because they were very expensive- 10 JD per person there and 10 JD per person back- and because we wanted more of a cultural/fun experience) but ended up getting dropped off at a town at least 6 km away from the Dead Sea (we didn't know this at the time). A cab driver wanted to take us from there to the Dead Sea but wanted to charge us like 6 JD, so we decided to walk (a man told us the walk was only 3 km). We walked for about an hour along the Dead Sea highway in the heat (luckily it was 8 AM, so it was bearable), which was quite an experience, because we get to see many Bedouins herding sheep, riding donkeys and camels, etc. and many people tried to pick us up, but we said no until a man pulled over (he was alone and there were three of us so we felt like we were probably pretty safe and we had been walking an hour and had just passed a sign that said it was three km from where we were). He took us free of charge, so we ended up getting to the Dead Sea for .75 JD each! The Dead Sea was an amazing experience in itself, because it was so beautiful. It was kind of hard to swim in because all you could really do was float there, and we didn't want to splash each other too much because it was so salty that it hurt very badly if it got in your eyes or any cuts you may have not even been aware of. They had a wonderful buffet at the beach we went to that had mansef (a delicious lamb dish with creamy sauce and rice), chicken, and many other  dishes. We even met an amazing Australian man who works as a paramedic in Ghana, so he works two months, then gets two months off to travel, and has been to over 40 countries and has spent the last two months traveling around the Middle East in Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and other countries. He gave us some great tips about where to go here and how to get around the Middle East more easily. Then we decided to come home after a long day, but the bus driver we found wanted to overcharge us, so we found a taxi driver who would drive us back to a nearby town for 6 JD, but not Amman. Luckily an American who works at the Embassy here overheard us negotiating with the man and offered to drive us back to Amman for free! He also shared some wisdom and some things he had learned from living here the past couple months. We had a great time, saved a lot of money, and met some great people at the Dead Sea!

A few days ago our teacher Saleh took some of us to a music festival in the actual Jerash ruins, which only cost 20 JD, and we got to see three very famous singers here. It was a great experience, especially since we were pretty much the only Westerners there, and everything was in Arabic. It was crazy there and very crowded, but Saleh (he's hilarious) told security we were from the American Embassy, so we managed to get through security and the crowds pretty quickly, especially since we were mostly women, so we got searched in separate tents from the men by women guards. The music was great, and so were the interactions with the people there. There were only one or two bad interactions with the men there, but that's to be expected in any large crowd of mostly men at night. It was a wonderful way to see the culture at its best.

We were able to get out of class yesterday because Saleh arranged a once-in-a-lifetime experience for us- we got to take a tour of the palace established here by the first King of Jordan, built in the 1920s (which most Jordanians don't even get to do). It was beautiful yet simple, with almost as much security as the White House. We also got to learn from two history teachers here about the modern history of Jordan while exploring the palace- which is only open to the public on Wednesdays and Thursdays and is still used for official meetings and press conferences. We even got to sit in the traditional seat of the King and his guests- which Bill Clinton himself sat in and Barack Obama will most likely sit in when he visits here! Then we ate at a delicious restaurant called Jabri that's famous for its desserts (I got mansef, and a raspberry dessert, plus a tin of baklava and some other traditional desserts to go- they're delicious!)

Classes are going pretty well for me, one of my teachers is pretty frustrating because he's kind of disorganized, but Saleh is working with him and trying to teach him what American students want/expect, so he's improving. Midterms are coming up already next week, so I'm pretty nervous but I think I'll do okay because I plan on studying for the rest of the day (there's not much else to do here on Fridays anyways). Tomorrow the school is going on a trip to Madaba and Mount Nebo, so I'll try to update you on that as soon as possible.

Lauren

June 29, 2008

Today was the first day of the second week of classes (the weekends are Fridays and Saturdays instead of Saturdays and Sundays). I'm in Level 4 (it ranges from 1-6) and I like it so far. The classes are still somewhat disorganized, but I'm learning a lot already and I think I will continue to. We spent Sunday and Monday getting accustomed to classes and making sure we were in the right ones (challenging and not too easy but not too hard either) and my friend Sophia and I went to the mall Tuesday. We got a couple cheap, cute things that we knew we could wear now that we've gotten a feel for what's appropriate at most places here. Wednesday we went to a cafe around the block from our apartment and watched a "football" (soccer game), which was very interesting because they take their football very seriously here. Whenever there's a football game we can hear the men cheering very loudly in our apartments, and sometimes we even hear fireworks (apparently they don't have laws concerning fireworks so they set them off almost every night- for weddings or any other celebration). All the tables and chairs at most cafes fill up with men who watch the game and smoke hookah (which is called argeelah, hubbly bubbly, or sheesha here). It was also nice because we ran into a few of our fellow students at the language center, (it's cool because we've been meeting people from all over the world who share an interest with us in learning Arabic) and found out about an apartment building we could possibly move into next month that may be nicer than ours and may even save us some money. Thursday a few of the other girls and I bought a 12-day-a-month pool pass at a local women's gym/pool, which is amazing to see. We get to see these women walk in in hijabs and burqas and strip down to their bikinis and act just like any American women would at a pool. We've only been there twice but we've already made some Jordanian friends we can talk to about culture. It's great to hear the perspective of a Jordanian woman, rather than what the American media tells us. We just kinda chilled this weekend because we were still getting used to being here and everything and the school trips haven't started yet, but our teacher Saleh took us to a great restaurant downtown. I got a dish called Ras Asfoor, which literally translated means bird head but actually just means lean meat (lamb) and it was delicious and very filling.

I'm still kinda getting used to things here, because they're very different from home, but I love it here so far and it's fascinating to see the similarities and differences in cultures. It seems that both cultures have a misunderstanding of each other based on perceptions of media both in America and the Middle East.

June 22, 2008

Today was supposed to be the first day of classes, but our group got here later than most people so we took our placement exam today and will find out which level we're all in tomorrow. The levels range from 1-6, and most of us are hoping/planning to be in either 3 or 4. I went to breakfast with a couple friends at the university dining hall, so we each ate for under a dollar. The food was good, but unfortunately they don't really have breakfasts foods here, so we ate things like hummus and falafel.

Yesterday I woke up early to get breakfast, but the only place I could find that was open was a Lebanese fast food restaurant called Lebnani Snack (لعبناني سناك), so I ended up eating a chicken sandwich value meal much like fast food meals in America. Unfortunately, because we're so close to the university it's not as easy to find authentic Jordanian food. Then we went to Mecca Mall, which was fun but the mall was very Westernized. There were four floors, and many restaurants and stores, but most were pretty expensive, especially for here. Three of the girls in our group have family members here, including their grandmother, so their family had us come over for a huge, delicious Jordanian meal, with hummus, chicken, grape leaves, shwarma, and many other kinds of really good foods.

Friday we got the opportunity to go to the Roman theater nearby, which was beautiful. It was kinda wierd for us because the Jordanians seemed to be very nonchalante about the theater, but because we don't have as rich of a history as many other countries, we were very impressed. (pictures included). After that we walked to a huge nearby local market, which was a great experience. There were people, clothes, electronics, and other merchandise everywhere, and no Westerners (and hardly any women) because it was a Friday.