MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Merry Christmas from Jerusalem!!!

Snow in Jordan

Snow in Amman

Jordan gets cold in the winter. Really cold. Which is a struggle because the buildings are designed to be cool on the inside, since it's blazing hot for most parts of the year. Most winters, I've been told, it snows once or twice, normally in January, and because it's only one or two snows the country has not invested in snow removal equipment. This partically explains why schools have a month long holiday spanning from the first or second week in January until early Febuary. This year though, the snow came early. Snow covered much of the Middle East, including parts of Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Israel/Palestine, and even (briefly) Egypt.

Starting early last week, everyone kept talking about how it was going to snow. It was cold, but I wasn't sure I believed them. Then, on Wednesday, it was pouring rain. None of the nursery aged students came to school, and only about half of the kingergarten and first grade classes showed up. It was a cold, wet miserable day. Around noon, the Headmistress announced that the school would have a three hour delay the next day, and would be opening at 11 because the news was calling for the weather to get worse. The news was calling for snow. I was excited for the chance to sleep in, but I was worried about getting transportation to Amman after school on Thursday- one of the other SALTers, Christine, was coming to visit me and I needed to meet her.

"Snow" in Husn

I woke up the next morning to my phone ringing. It was the teacher I car pool to school with, letting me know that school was canceled for the day because of snow. Snow? I looked out the window of my bedroom- nothing. I walked down to the big window down the hall, that has a beautiful view from it- ok there was a little bit on snow on some metal. Ok, fine with me. I needed to go to Amman anyway, so I called the bus service that I normally take, they told me that they had buses going at 12 and 2. I rushed to get packed and convinced a friend with a car to drive me to the bus station. I just missed the noon bus, so I used the time to check out the brand new Carrefour grocery/department store. Soon enough I was on the bus, on my way to Amman. I still hadn't seen very much snow, just a bit on cars or in deep shadows; I found it funny that it was a snow day.

Upon stepping out of the bus in Amman though I found that it was much colder in Amman than in Irbid, and it was snowing. The snow wasn't sticking to the ground, but it was falling. I caught a cab and met up with my Reps. We had dinner and then headed off to the airport, which is about 45 minutes, on a normal day, outside of the city. The farther we got out from the center of Amman, the more snow I saw on the ground, I felt a small amount of cognitive dissonance because the last time I had gone to the airport it was been at least 90F degrees outside, at the time I would never have imagined that there would be snow in just a few short months.

The morning snow/slush

We successfully received Christine from the airport, and had a relaxing evening in at the Rep Flat. It continued to snow throughout most of the night. The next morning, there was a blanket of snow on the road and sidewalks outside. I called the school Priest and found out that they had already canceled school for Saturday even though there wasn't any snow in Irbid. I decided to just stay in Amman for another day, even though I had originally planned to return to Irbid on Friday evening. Christine and I took the morning slow and had a relaxing brunch with the Reps before we trekked out into the weather, hoping that something would be open since the snow was melting. We made our way to downtown, and ended up in the Roman Ampitheater, then made our way to Rainbow Street and had a late lunch at an American style Waffle House (no relationship to the chain), since it was the only thing open. After that we headed back to the Rep Flat, where we spent some more quality time with the Reps before heading out to have dinner at a reasurant with some traditional Jordanian foods. It had started snowing again, and the roads were getting icy so we were one of the few cars on the roads, and earned some "are you crazy" looks from the locals as we climbed some hills.

The next day there was even more snow outside. We talked to some locals and found out that the roads were closed, and the government was encouraging everyone to stay inside. So that's exactly what we did. The Reps, Christine, and I spent the day playing card games, talking, and drinking delicious homemade hot chocolate in the apartment. The school Priest called me to encourage me to return to Irbid so I could attend the teacher's Christmas party, but there were no buses running. On Sunday, I finally caught a bus back to Irbid, with a little bit of rushing and panic since it was the only bus leaving. When I left, there was still snow in Amman but there wasn't any in Irbid still. Christine stayed another day, then took a bus to Israel/Palestine.

Playing in the evening snow

The snow effected schools and businesses all week; schools across the country could not open until 9. There is still snow in Amman and other places with high altitudes. It was in the news that one town up in the mountains needed food to be airlifted to it because of the roads were so impassible.

There is still no snow in Irbid. I'm praying that the weather stays like this, because I'm hoping to have a safe, easy trip on Tuesday, aka Christmas Eve. I will be following in Christine's foot steps and meeting up with her and another SALTer in Jerusalem where we are all going to spend Christmas together.

How Big is Your Life?

How big is the radius of your life? I mean it, think about that question. How far do you travel for work? For School? How far do you live from your parents and other family members? How far do you travel to go grocery or clothes shopping? How far are the other places that you go regularly? You got that mapped out in your head? Great! Now, how many people are involved in that life? How many people do you work with? Are these different from your friends? How about the people you go to Church with? Next question for you: What does the size of your life mean?

Back in the US, I was always working to give my life a bigger radius. When I stayed with my parents, my life wasn't very small. I went grocery shopping at the Walmart that was a 10 minute car ride from my house. The mall and movie theater were 45 minutes away in one direction, the place where I worked 45 minutes in another. My church happened to only be a minute or so drive from my parents' house, but the people who attend come from all over the area. But the town with my high school and favorite coffee shop and my friend's barn was a 20 minute drive away. And most my friends lived even farther. I went to college 3 hours away from my parents house and made my life there for 4 years. The daily life I had there had a physically smaller radius, I slept, studied, went to class, ate, hung out with my friends, and worked on campus. But I had ways of extending that radius. I took babysitting jobs off campus- one involved a 30 minute walk. I went to mall 20 minutes away. I took trains into Philadelphia. I rode horses at a barn 20 minutes away. I took summer jobs in different locations, one in Akron, PA another in Philadelphia, PA. In Akron, I walked around town, and took my car to a coffee shop in the next town over, and met up with friends 20 minutes away in Lancaster. In Philly, my job involved traveling all over the city and when I needed it I escaped to Swarthmore, to my college in the suburbs. I always wanted my life to involve more and new places. I tried to know people in a variety of places.

My life in Jordan is much smaller. I do most of my grocery shopping on the street next to the YWCA. I go to church a little farther up the street. School's farther away, 20 minutes by car, about 40 minutes if I'm walking and taking the bus. But, I do very little in between those two. I sometimes go to Church events at AES. Sometimes I go to University Street for coffee. When it feels too small, I run away to Amman, which is about an hour and a half away. But, all of this is augmented by the fact that I have family and friends that I keep in close contact with back in the US.

For me, the size of my life meant, and still means, that I didn't see my parents very often. Even when I was living with them there were days that we didn't see each other. Seeing my sisters was rarer. It meant that I spent a lot of time along commuting. It meant that I maintained friendships where I wouldn't see or sometimes ever speak to person in weeks, or months. Despite that, I always felt close to people.

In America, I always felt like I had a normal sized life. A lot of people commute to work and live far from their parents and go to school away from home. Sometimes, thinking about it makes my life in Jordan feel extremely small. But, in the Jordanian context my life is actually pretty big. Most Jordanians live with their parents until they get married. It's common for Jordanian young adults to tell their parents everywhere that they go. Often, young, unmarried women need their father or brother to drive them places. It's normal to shop in only a few stores, because customers are intensely loyal. Many of my students when asked about their dream vacation talk about going to Aqaba, which is about the same distance from Irbid as from my hometown to New York City. After spending my life in a culture that appreciates bigness, it's not always comfortable to step into one where smaller lives are common. It can feel like you're being watched and judged. But culturally, it means that people are much closer to their families. Decisions are made by the family. Friendships are made by the family. The people in your life are involved with everything. It means that people are more interdependent- as evidenced by the fact that people always assume that I'm lonely since I don't live with family.

So, I ask you again: How big is your life? And what does that size mean?

Holiday Season Abroad

Judith and I with the Christmas Tree at Church

This holiday season marks my second holiday season abroad. The first time, I was in Belfast, Northern Ireland on my semester abroad.  For Thanksgiving weekend a friend who was studying in London flew over to visit. I didn't have class that day so just hung out for most the day, then we joined my classmates and Professors (a mix of Americans, Northern Irish, and Internationals) for Thanksgiving dinner. We had a wonderfully eclectic dinner on that rainy, cold evening. The whole city was decorated for Christmas by mid-November. I would wander the streets looking at the Christmas lights. I'd hang out outside of City Hall with a cup of tea just so I could look at how beautifully decorated it was. I attempted to not spend money at the Christmas market, which was one of my favorite places in the city.

This Holiday season is a bit different. Thanksgiving was a long, hectic school day. Afterwards, Judith, Ina (the German volunteers at AES), and I hopped on a bus to Amman, where we had dinner with the (Canadian) MCC Reps and another American friend of theirs. We spent the even chatting, with a large focus on cultural differences between the three nationalities represented as well as the one we are all living in. The next day Ina, Judith, and I explored the Roman Ampitheatre then headed back to Irbid. We spent the week leading up to, and after Thanksgiving, making handmade Christmas cards for the school. Slowly over the past few weeks, Christmas decorations have started popping up in a few store windows, especially in Husn which has a relatively high Christian population. Last Friday, Ina and I helped the Headmistress and Pastor's children start decorating their apartment by putting together their tree and getting out the decorations. Last night, the Church in Irbid had it's first Christmas event- the decorative lights were turned on and the children's chorus (lead by the talented Judith) performed.

The Christmas traditions here feel a little different than back home, or in Northern Ireland. There is still lots of Santa, and trees, and lights and ornaments. The children sing Christmas Carols about sleigh rides, and snow, and other things that make me wonder if they even understand what they're singing. But, they're mixed in with palm leaves and sand and other things that feel more locally appropriate.

The biggest difference between this holiday season is that I know that I'm not going home. This will be the first year that I won't be at my parents' house for Christmas, waking my sister up earlier than she wants to open presents, hanging out in pjs with my cousins, and avoiding kitchen so that I don't have to help my mom with dinner. I'm going to miss it terribly, I know. But, I also know that I have some absolutely amazing Christmas plans in the works, something that I few people ever get the chance to experience. I'm not going to talk about it just yet, because things are not set in stone. But for now, just know that I will not be sulking alone on Christmas, dear reader.