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.