You can't be my liability

Today I woke up at 7 am to get ready for my overnight trip to Petra with the CIEE group. Najeh, the local director of CIEE in Amman said that he would arrange for me to join the group. I was excited to explore Wadi Ram and revisit my experience in Petra when I visited six years ago. Most importantly, I was excited to explore Jordan with friends.

Of course, we are on Jordan time so instead of boarding the bus at 8:10, as we were told, we started getting on the bus at 8:45. As I was about to get on the bus, someone came up to me and said, "Hi my name is Abu Yazan a friend of Najeh's, you aren't allowed to sleep in the same camp as the others but you can still go on the trip to Petra today....when I obviously got upset he told me to talk to Stephen (the American director with no heart or soul apparently). I talked to Stephen, clearly upset, and he told me I was absolutely not going on this trip with them and that he would cancel the trip all together if I got on that bus. When I asked him why, and begged for an exception, he responded I am a liability for him and he can't have that. I had no choice, spirit broken I walked away and asked Abu Yazan if I could go to Jeresh and Ajlon today instead.

He said yes, and you'll go to the Roman ruins in Amman as well. So I did and it was fantastic, but I was in fact alone. My driver didn't even come into the various sites with me because he didn't want to pay for a ticket. Nevertheless, I tried to make the most of things and took so many pictures, my camera died.

This picture is from the Citadel in Amman, it was a

beautiful clear day. And below is a picture from Ajlon in the castle.

It was an exhausting day, but I got to see some beautiful ruins, practice my Arabic with my driver, and eat a delicious lunch in a Syrian style restaurant. I was 30 minutes away from the Syrian border today. People in Jeresh listen for the noise of bombs going off just north of them every day. This is the reality of the Middle East right now, shocking to me how safe I felt when I was 30 minutes away from the most dangerous country in the region. 

Tonight I am going to meet up with a friend of a friend in Paris Circle to discover some night life and tomorrow I hope to go to the real "Souk Jara" now that I know where it is, and an organic fruit and vegetable market in the first circle. 

Generally, Jordanians are generous and have a cultural of hospitality and overwhelming warmth. Unfortunately, that culture is not widespread in America, and this morning I was presented with the antithesis of warmth. Regardless, no one claiming me as a liability will stop me from exploring and living in Jordan. 

Souk Jara...I mean Joura

I confidently got in a taxi this morning, heading to Souk Jara to meet up with the InterNations group. I said to the driver, Marhaba, Bedi Aroh Ala Souk Jara. He answered back, Sho? What?? and I said in Arabic, the market in the city? Again he said, Sho? and then it clicked, ooo You mean Souk Jooora....okay, sure. Online it was written Ja-ra not Joo-ra, o well. Ana Asef, I'm sorry, I said, I'm new here. And we were off. When we got to the entrance, it looked like a big intersection with a great deal of traffic. My driver, said not good for cars, so I got out and crossed the street. I realized that there was no clear entrance, which was where I was supposed to meet the group. I waited for 10 minutes and after being stared at a million times over, I was tired of waiting, realizing it would

be impossible to find someone who's number I don't have anywhere here.

 As I meandered around the souk, I thought that it looked like a place for people to just sell their junk on the side of the street. There were a million buses, taxis and cars driving straight through, so it was hard to maneuver through and look around.

 But when I got further in, I saw an area with fruits, vegetables,  and meats. it started to look more like the market I knew in Jerusalem. But to be honest, I've never seen anything like this before. It was more foreign and dirty than any Arab shook I

went to in Israel. 

While I didn't buy a great deal, I bought a hairdryer with a diffuser (because wet hair is not acceptable here), a Jordanian (red) kefiya, and some other essentials. I got a taxi and made it back to my house safely. There was very little traffic today because it is Al-Jomaa, the Muslim Sabbath so a lot of people are at the mosque.

So my quest for friends continues. I met up with some CIEE students last night, it has been difficult however, since they all live together and we live 20 minutes apart, so there is a bit of a disconnect. We met up on Rainbow Street, but when I got there I just waited around for an hour to go to another place. Rainbow Street is where all the westerners hang out and is a pretty good time, I got there too late to really get a seat with everyone at the table and instead hung out outside with some other people from the program I knew. 

When we got to the other cafe, Nas wa Nas on Wakalat St., it had a great Middle Eastern vibe. It was filled with hookah and a classical Arabic singer. We learned the dabka and and smoked shisha. 

I am exploring this city slowly and my Arabic is improving. Thinks are getting better...

First days in Amman

I arrived in Amman at 8 pm on Wednesday evening and slept an adequate amount on the plane and in the Paris airport, so when my teacher came to pick me up from the airport, I was more than willing to grab falafel and kinefa my first night in Jordan. I had never tasted anything so delicious as the kinefa I ate that night at Habibti. Melty cheese suggary topping with crumbled pistachios, it was heaven, and I was sad that my stomach was too full from the hummus and falafel sandwich I had earlier to finish it.

I came back home took a shower and crawled into my king size bed to feel the springs through my mattress, ahlan wa sahlan ala amman!

Since being here I've been on a virtual mission to find friends. When I went to Books@Cafe, a recommended spot for Americans seeking other Americans to hang out with, I was intimidated by the large groups of American students who seemed so cohesive and content in their mega-groups. So I returned to the internet and asked Najeh (my teacher) about meeting up with his other group of students at the CIEE.

Things are looking up, InterNations is having an event this Friday afternoon from 11-1 in the souk and in the evening at a club that I might go to. If i don't do that I'm going to J'lm this weekend to see Dan and then when I come back I will be meeting up with people from the other program which will be very exciting.

Looking forward for things to get more exciting and new friends to come.