All Settled in!

Good morning from Amman! I am currently the only roommate up so I thought I would take a few pictures of my new apartment and update my blog!

Our apartment is located in the SAFEST district of Amman, in Al-rahbiya, directly across from the Israeli Embassy. Needless to say, there is a ton of "secret police" and armed gunman all around. We have a gated apartment that is on a huge hill, with a beautiful view of the city, esp at night. We also have a garden with a lemon tree, so once the fall progresses, we will have fresh lemons all the time! The apartment is HUGE, it basically is three apartments connected, 2 of which are for me and my 4 roommates. The third is our landlord's, an elderly couple originaly from Canada, who have already adopted us as "their daughters" for the semester. It's honestly the best of both worlds, we have the ability to interact with a family, like a homestay, but also the independence of living alone and shutting the connecting door. The female landlord has already driven us to the supermarket, made us tea, and baked us sweets!

The apartments are very big, with a ton of space ( 2 kitchens, 3 baths, 2 living rooms, 5 bedrooms) the five of us are leaving the connecting door open and treating it more like one big apartment rather than two smaller ones. This way we have to clean half as much! My roommates are all very sweet, and from great US schools. Lina is actually arab, shes from UC San Fran. but honestly fits right in here because of her family heritage. It has already helped a lot in terms of communicating with the outside world. Our first night she got on the phone and ordered us all Chinese Food using her fluent arabic skills. Shes here to learn how to read and write formally. Alison is from NYC but attends Johns Hopkins and is an International Relations major. Soraya is from Florida, but goes to Tufts and also is Persian, so shes very educated on the arab ways. Vanessa is from Washington State and attends Georgetown, she is an Arabic Language Major, so she's very, very brave, and will stay the whole year. All my roommates are different, but we have had a good few days together. Last night we cooked our first apartment meal, which consisted of salad, chicken and rice! It took us a bit to figure out how to use the stove and oven, but it was very tasty in the end!

I have already developed a HUGE appreciation for the American ways. Jordan is a landlocked country with a bigggg water problem, so conservation is a major part of life. All apartments and homes are delivered water once a week, the water is stored in tanks in the basement or on the roof. If you run out, you pay a hefty fee. So that means, laundry is done once or twice a week (if lucky), showers are limited to 3 or 4 minutes , and toilet paper is NOT flushed and typically not even used in most places. You must throw it out in a waste basket next to the toilet or there is a small hose provided to clean yourself off. This makes small everyday jobs a lot harder, washing the dishes, or even your hands is a process. Americans really REALLY take water for granted.

Surprisingly, oil is also sparse. Everything runs on gas, which is delivered once a week, if you run out, you pay extra. This means cars are very very expensive and usually jam packed with 6 or 7 people, with small kids on the laps of adults. The typical Arab culture has no "formal" time schedule, it is very laid back, you arrive when you arrive and if your late it's the norm. However, once you get into a taxi or car, mass chaos breaks lose. The driving here is insane, its no wonder my program forbids us from renting cars. There are no street lines and yield signs, people just drive like crazys. They say 10 people die each day in Amman from trying to cross the street, SCARY huh? The statistic for car accidents is even worse. Driving is an interesting experience each and every time.Walking is also an experience, esp. if your an American girl who is not covered. We were told not to make eye contact or smile at men, because that is seen as an open invitation for sex. It's very hard not to look at men when they are constantly beeping their horns, or cat-calling at you. It makes me almost wish I was back in America where only the real scum-bags forwardly hit on you. We also must cover up our legs and arms to the elbows, or else it is considered "haram" or shame. It's tough to dress modestly when its warm outside and when in America girls can walk around half naked, and it's the norm. It really makes you respect yourself and the female form ALOT more. It's hard to feel like I'm below a man, but culturally I have to respect the norms and keep my head bowed and try not to draw attention to myself. I think we've all gotten use to the stares, yells and beeps while walking down the street.


My classes start tomorrow, so I will def update again sometime soon. The university is very pretty and my schedule seems pretty lax, I'm keeping my fingers crossed thats the truth. It will def. be nice to get back into a schedule. I think today, my roommates and I are going to try and get internet in our apartment, since we are currently mooching off of some unsecured network in the area. Alison and I are also going to also try and join a local all female gym. I hope everyone is doing well in America! Ma'salaama!