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...