So the Transition Begins

Amman's skyline at sunset.

Adjusting to a new place is always rough, even moving to a new town. When you move to a new town you don't really know where things are, you aren't always sure of the best way to get around, you don't really know anyone, and you have to figure out how the community functions. Now, imagine doing that when you don't speak the language and are functionally illiterate. That's been my last week, and will probably be my life for most of the year. It'll be smoother at some points than others, but that's okay.

Caleb and I at the Roman Amphitheater.

My first week was more rough than I'd like to admit. Back home, I enjoy being independent, I love going places by myself or making plans with friends and going where ever I chose, especially in the evening. That's a little more difficult here for many reasons. One: I don't really know where anything is or how to get there. And it's really hot during the day so I try to avoid long walks during that time. Two: it's not all that common to see young, unmarried women out alone, so I feel like I awkwardly stand out. Three: I really do standout when I go places because I'm so obviously a Westerner. (I'm trying to get used to thinking of myself as White in this context, even though I would never identify myself that way.)

The Temple of Hercules.

Last Monday, I started taking Arabic lessons. I've had a lot of mixed feelings about them. While I'm in class I feel really stupid, and mildly defeated. Arabic's really hard, the structure is different and there are many sounds that we don't use in English, or at least that we don't distinguish as separate sounds. And I'm only taking it for 4 weeks (3 to go!) so I often feel like there's no point when I'm struggling to remember or pronounce words. But then I go out and I hear people talking and I can recognize words. Or like last night, I had a taxi driver who didn't speak English, and I was able to understand a little bit of what he was telling me about where we were and where we were going. In these moments, I feel encouraged. My struggles in class aren't in vain. I am learning something.

In the Umayyad governor's palace.

Arabic lessons have dominated my life for the past week. They take up the whole morning, and are exhausting. Afterwards, Caleb and I either head to the MCC office or back to Reps apartment, where we hang out, relax a bit, and study. My life can't be all work and no play though, so I have been trying to do fun things when I'm not studying. Before classes started, I had some time to get to know the city. The MCC Reps took Caleb and I to the Royal Automobile Museum last Friday. And on Saturday they introduced us to an American student, Clara, who is doing an internship and studying Arabic here in Amman. That day we walked around the hill she lives on, saw the old Roman Amphitheater, and hung out on Rainbow Street, which has a lot of cafes and is a popular hang out spot for young people and expats. Tuesday was a holiday for municipal elections (yes, after one day of class I had a day off!), so Caleb and I went to the Citadel. The Citadel is a historic site in Amman, with artifacts dating back to the Neolithic Period (which began around 10,200 BC and ended around 2,000 BC). The excavated architecture includes a Roman Temple of Hercules, a Byzantine Church, and early Islamic Mosque, and a Umayyad governor's palace. It is absolutely amazing to see. Caleb and I spent most of the day exploring the Citadel and taking pictures. While there we were, we ran into a group of young boys. The moment they saw my camera they asked me if I could take a picture of them, so I did! They looked at the picture after and were excited and went on their way. It seems that that's a thing here, the kids want you to take a picture of them because they like posing for pictures and the idea that you have a picture of them.

The concert we stumbled upon.

Thursday nights are the Jordanian equivalent to Friday nights in America, and the big thing that people do it just hang out. One popular spot to this is outside of the Abu Darwish Mosque. So Clara, Caleb, and I hung out there. We had ice cream and some sweets, and listened to a concert that we stumbled upon. I think the concert had something to do with a Islamic theology class that some boys just finished, but I'm not really sure. It was a great time. We attracted a lot of attention as a mix gender group of Westerners though. Some of the attention was from adorable little kids. There was a group of little girls who really wanted to talk to us, but were really nervous and didn't know much English. When they finally built up the courage they came over and told us hello, ran back giggling to who I think was their Dad. They came back and asked our names, and ran away giggling. They returned and told us their names, then ran back to their Dad. They asked where we were from, ran away, came over and told us they are Palestinian, and ran back. After that they had to leave so they came back one last time to tell us "Welcome to Jordan!" before heading home. Some of the attention is from random weird people. One guy was talking to Caleb for a long time, and slowly a circle of teenage boys joined the conversation, Clara and I were commenting that he had a fan club. When the original man left one of the boys told us, "He's crazy," so really they were just trying to save him. And some of the attention is from young men. There were several groups floating around us, who seemed to be trying to get the courage up to talk to us for most the night. It was all very fun though.

I'm excited to have more adventures this week, and my goal is to face the awkwardness and culture shock. I'm going to find a coffee shop to study at in the afternoons, and I want to try to go to the market at least once by myself. I'm trying not to retreat from the roughness of transitioning, and hopefully that will make it smoother in the end- especially when I move to Irbid where I really will be on my own.

Safe and Sound in Jordan!

MCC's Meeting Place.

Honestly going in to SALT Orientation last week I didn't really see the point. I was especially not into how everyone seemed so excited to become best friends with people that they weren't going to see for 11 months. But it truly was worth it, and I've so glad that I did it. Orientation was a time and space of transition, after we'd already said our goodbyes to our families and friends, where we were in fellowship with people going through the same thing as us. We were able to talk about our fears and our hopes. Over the week the SALTers serving in the Middle East (Jessy, Caleb, Christine, and I) became very close. We are so excited to see each other at regional retreats, and are hoping that we are able to schedule our vacations together.

The Middle East SALTers.

Yesterday was the big day! Well, yesterday according to when I slept, in reality it was Wednesday, so two days ago. Jessy, Caleb, and I had the same first flight to London. We were able to sit together on the plane, though I'm not a very good travel companion. As soon as the plane took off I found a movie and watched it, so I wasn't the most talkative. Caleb at least found my "random" laughter funny. I tired very hard to sleep, but I don't think did. Eventually we landed in London. Every other time I've flow to London I've flown to Gatwick, so this was my first time in Heathrow. It's HUGE. We had to take a train and bus to get from the terminal we landed in to the terminal our flights were leaving from. Once we got there we had to go through security again- I managed to forget that I filled up my water bottle in Philly so they had to check my bag, I spent the whole time apologizing to Jessy and Caleb about it. Caleb and I had a 2.5 hour layover, so we were able to sit and relax for a bit before finding our gate. Jessy had a longer layover, so she hung out with us until we boarded. Finding the gate was an adventure. According to the sign we read it's supposed to take about 20 minutes to get there from the main part of the terminal, so Caleb and I speed walked the whole way, with Jessy trailing behind us laughing. She was right, it did not take us nearly that long. But, we did have to go up and down, and around, and even took a sky walk at one point. From the gate Caleb and I said our final goodbyes to Jessy and left her to catch her own flight. I slept for most of the flight from London to Amman. I woke up just as we were flying over Israel. I didn't have a window seat so I didn't have the best view out the window, but it was still amazing to look at. I've never been to a desert before, so it was crazy for there to just be desert as far I could see. We landed, changed our money, and got our visas. The line took a while so we were able to people watch. There were a large number of people just sitting around, not in a line, which I still don't understand. And there didn't seem to be any women traveling alone, so I'm glad I was traveling with Caleb because it made me stand out less. The MCC Reps, Gordon and Carolyne, picked us up at the airport. It was great to actually met them after emailing back and forth for so long.

Parting is such sweet sorrow.

I'm staying at the MCC Reps apartment while I'm here in Amman. I can't remember the name of the hill we live on, but it's near the Blue Mosque, which is gorgeous. After dropping my stuff off at the flat, and changing out of my jeans (it's a bit too hot for those), we all went to dinner downtown. We had wonderful pita and hummus. Then we just walked around downtown for a while, including the market.

Caleb and I definitely dealt with adjusting in different ways. Caleb had question after question to ask the Reps about Jordan, MCC, and our schedule. I just wanted to observe. I felt like the most productive use of my evening would be to start figuring out the appropriate way to act as a young unmarried woman. So, I tried to note how many women I saw on the street, who they were with, what they were wearing, who they spoke to, and so on. Navigating gender roles here is definitely going to be an adjustment, but I knew that coming in.

Downtown Amman

Amman is so interesting, and I'm really excited to get to explore it. Arabic lessons start on Monday, so until them I'm going through in country Orientation with the MCC Reps. But for now it's the weekend, weekends are Friday and Saturday here, so we're taking a bit of time to relax and just take things slow.

Letter from my Father

Dear Hannah,

You are about to embark on an international career, with a year working in Jordan. You will be departing in the midst of terrorist threats and shut-downs of American and other embassies in many countries. Am I worried and concerned, and do I want you not to go? The answers are, “yes” and “no,” in that order.

How could I not be concerned? I love my daughters, and I even worry about the “safe” one in Charlottesville, VA. Do I want either of you to change your goals and choices in life because of my parental protectiveness? No!

Laughing at Graduation

Both of you are intelligent people, wise (I think) beyond your ages. You have made your own choices for years, and are following the paths you have chosen, for which you have taken very specific educational paths. You are going to do what you choose. That is a good thing.

Why should you not choose to work abroad? I did. For many years. In many places. In the midst of civil wars, droughts, and political unrest. In countries ruled by leftist and right-wing dictatorships, by the military, by (often oppressive) “Christian” and “Muslim” leaders. In extremely rigidly controlled societies, with privileged economic and political classes and extremely poor majorities.

How could I object? My first overseas assignment, 49 years ago this month, was in the Congo, in 1964. In the midst of a civil war. I flew there just days after a group of Americans were taken hostage in Stanleyville. That group included a friend from college (he was later rescued).

We make choices; we have options thrust upon us. We can’t always not choose risk if we want to impact those around us.

Bless you, Hannah. We pray the Lord’s safekeeping of you, and for those around you. Go in peace, and come home, at least for visits, once in a while.

Go change the world. Make it better. Amen.

Love, Dad

Traveling During a Travel Alert

I was going to wait until tomorrow to post, since then I'd be able to announce that I have one week until I leave for Jordan, but I figured I should probably address the embassy closures and travel alerts recently instated by the US Department of State. These events have not had an effect on my travel plans. I am still going to Lancaster for Orientation on the 14th, and I am flying to Jordan on the 21st. I received my ticket yesterday, I am officially flying from the Philadelphia Airport to Amman with a brief layover in London, England (Heathrow). I leave Philly at 6PM on the 21st, and will arrive in Jordan at 4PM Jordanian Time (9AM EDT time) on the 22nd.

In short, the US government issued a worldwide travel alert for all Americans and temporarily closed a number of embassies and consulates in response to threats of terrorist attacks. These actions were taken as a cautionary measure, in order to keep Americans traveling, working, and living abroad safe. The travel alert does not mean that Americans cannot travel internationally at this time. It just means that Americans need to take caution, and should register with the government, so that the government has a record of their travel and can contact them in case of emergency. The travel alert is set to last until August 31st, so I will be traveling during this alert. The US has temporarily closed at least 25 diplomatic posts throughout the Middle East and Africa. The embassy in Amman, Jordan is closed but is set to reopen on Saturday, August 10th, along with many others in the Middle East. The embassy should be open by the time I arrive in Amman on August 22nd.

I appreciate prayers and well wishes during this uncertain time, for my safety, for the safety of other travelers, and for the safety of all the civilians who are just trying to live their normal lives despite the turbulence around them. Pray for peace and understanding.