Sorry for the delay in this initial post from Jordan. I had it ready to go yesterday, but unfortunately our internet was acting weird so I couldn't access my blog until today. Also, I'm going to upload this post in parts because I don't have time to do it all at once and I don't want to wait until I've finished to post it because the internet might be down again...Anyways, here goes...
After an 11 hour flight and a 3 hour bus ride I arrived at the Yarmouk University campus in Irbid last night at around 9:00 pm local time. Even though I slept about 7 hours on the plane I was still exhausted when we got to our apartments. I paired up with a guy named Jim and we decided to share an apartment. Jim is an MA student in the Middle East Studies program at George Washington and he's from New York. Interestingly enough, Jim was also accepted to my program at NYU, but decided against it, so we could have been classmates there. So, when we got to our apartments, Jim and I unpacked our bags and by 11:30 I was fast asleep, despite the constant sound of honking and traffic outside. However, I work up at 3:30 am to the call to prayer emanating from a nearby mosque. I had mixed emotions in that moment. The call was actually quite beautiful and cool to hear, however I really would have liked to sleep. At least I fell back asleep eventually - I guess it's just something I'll have to get used to seeing as it will happen every morning.
This morning we took a short tour of Irbid and the University, changed our money from dollars into Jordanian Dinars, and did a bunch of other little errands that one needs to do when moving to another country for 2 months. Although I was with a small group of people most of the time, I did do one thing alone, which led to some interesting interactions with a few local people. I had to get a picture taken for a university ID card, so I needed to go to a private photography studio to get it done. In my trip to the studio, I had 3 interesting interactions.
First, while I was still walking through Yarmouk's campus, I was approached by a man who looked to be about 25-30 years old. He greeted me and asked me where I was from. It took me some time to choke out my greeting and tell him where I was from, but he was patient. We talked for about 5 minutes - me in broken Arabic and him alternating between Arabic and pretty good english. Yussef (this is his name), was eager to find an English-speaker to help him with his English and offered to meet and help me with my Arabic if I did the same for his English. So, insha 'allah (God willing) we will meet this afternoon and maybe we can work something out. Needless to say, I was not expecting such an interaction to happen so quickly, but Yussef was very friendly, so I ran with it.
(More to come later)
After an 11 hour flight and a 3 hour bus ride I arrived at the Yarmouk University campus in Irbid last night at around 9:00 pm local time. Even though I slept about 7 hours on the plane I was still exhausted when we got to our apartments. I paired up with a guy named Jim and we decided to share an apartment. Jim is an MA student in the Middle East Studies program at George Washington and he's from New York. Interestingly enough, Jim was also accepted to my program at NYU, but decided against it, so we could have been classmates there. So, when we got to our apartments, Jim and I unpacked our bags and by 11:30 I was fast asleep, despite the constant sound of honking and traffic outside. However, I work up at 3:30 am to the call to prayer emanating from a nearby mosque. I had mixed emotions in that moment. The call was actually quite beautiful and cool to hear, however I really would have liked to sleep. At least I fell back asleep eventually - I guess it's just something I'll have to get used to seeing as it will happen every morning.
This morning we took a short tour of Irbid and the University, changed our money from dollars into Jordanian Dinars, and did a bunch of other little errands that one needs to do when moving to another country for 2 months. Although I was with a small group of people most of the time, I did do one thing alone, which led to some interesting interactions with a few local people. I had to get a picture taken for a university ID card, so I needed to go to a private photography studio to get it done. In my trip to the studio, I had 3 interesting interactions.
First, while I was still walking through Yarmouk's campus, I was approached by a man who looked to be about 25-30 years old. He greeted me and asked me where I was from. It took me some time to choke out my greeting and tell him where I was from, but he was patient. We talked for about 5 minutes - me in broken Arabic and him alternating between Arabic and pretty good english. Yussef (this is his name), was eager to find an English-speaker to help him with his English and offered to meet and help me with my Arabic if I did the same for his English. So, insha 'allah (God willing) we will meet this afternoon and maybe we can work something out. Needless to say, I was not expecting such an interaction to happen so quickly, but Yussef was very friendly, so I ran with it.
(More to come later)
Glad you were able to get your blog up and running! :) I love reading it. I hope your classes are going well today. Miss and love you!
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed reading both of today's posts and images! I love to see what becomes interesting to people in a new place. I am glad that you experienced the call to prayer the way you did. When I first heard it last year in Dubai I was captured by it's beauty as well. I am praying for you and the friendships you're building in Jordan.
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