Sightseeing

The city of Amman is constantly brimming with traffic.  The streets and highways are brimming with the swooshing and honking of cars.  Fun fact: I heard from somewhere that a person dies every nine hours in the country due to crashes.

Last week, our tour bus swerved through the busy city. First stop was the Citadel of Amman.  Dating back to the Ayyubid era, the Citadel was constructed while Amman was still under the rule of Babylon.  We walked around the Temple of Heracles and through the old ruins, looking throughout the tombs and deconstructed architecture. The view from the edge of the ruins onto the city was incredible, but by the time we rushed back onto the bus our teachers were already angry that we were late.

Next we bussed to the stadium, another part of the citadel. There were hundreds of steep stairs that led up from the stadium. The other students slowly trekked them way up to the top as I stayed at the bottom and peered up. Due to my paralyzing fear of heights, I was deathly scared to continue walking up. Instead, I wandered into a museum that showcased various aspects of Jordanian culture.  I took my time appreciating the traditional bracelets and clothing that were worn by shepards as well as the tile paintings underneath the museum. 

Besides the tour of the historic sites, our group walked around some parts of the city. The most frequented area for tourists is definitely "Rainbow Street".  This place is home to many cafes and hotspots, and I have already fallen in love with "Turtle Green," a lovely American-style café.  In typical hipster-style, there is a chalkboard where tourists can their names or messages for future travelers, as well as delicious coffees and sandwiches. There are multiple hookah lounges as well and small trinket shops.  Last years students advised towards going to bars and befriending the locals (I don't know how feasible this will be for me...) and we may check those out yet.

What I have not yet gotten used to is the constant barrage of staring, pointing, and comments that seem to follow me wherever I go. The lack of diversity within the country ensures that foreigners stand out, and especially given my Asian appearance I stand out quite a lot within the city.

Arabi

Despite receiving no prior training in Arabic, I was possessed with the idea of staying in the middle east.  Part of the notion was of me romanticizing the idea of the middle east as an exotic region with cultural facets radically different from Western ideals.  Part of it was my very legitimate desire to come to an area that is struck by political turmoil and experience the culture. Perhaps I was motivated by a sense of adventure.

That's certainly what I'm getting here. The city of Amman is not inviolably vast, but it is large enough that I puzzle over how to get from place to place.  There is also a struggle in that I am unable to wander the streets by myself, as a single American girl, without facing some sort of danger. "They're dogs." My host mother described men this way as we were walking back from her mother's house.  "They stare at you and hang their mouths open."

So far I have been getting along with the limited Arabic that I know. It's rather pathetic sometimes how little I can navigate the city without the help of written instructions and how little I know how to direct my taxi drivers. For the first time, I know how it feels to be so completely foreign.

 But I'm learning, and I'm studying, and I'm figuring it out.

Immersion

From the window of the Emirates flight, I saw that we were descending into a sea of sand.  I knew that the Middle East was immersed within the desert, but I was still shocked by the utter lack of blue or green around the city and how that boded for our living environments.  Even before fully entering Jordan, I had a sense that the Jordanian people were welcoming and friendly - in line to check in our bags the man in front of me talked me through how to pick up my baggage and go through the visa.  On arrival, we sat for an hour in the cool air conditioned van, which contrasted with the blaring heat from outside. 

The scenery as we traveled to the hotel revealed a city that was both rustic and buzzing with life.  Street vendors littered the streets, as did small dirt-covered shops with Arabic signs that offered groceries and books of all kinds, and the people walking across the city varied from conservative old ladies wearing full-body covers to teenagers with fashionable attire.  It was not the world that I was used to living in and even discrepant from the city that I expected to see.  Something about the city was familiar and reminded me of the town my grandparents live in at China, which immediately instilled in me a sense of nostalgia and joy.

SIT training brought me back down to earth and connected me with my old American college student self.  Most of it was re-iteration of old principals: appreciate and respect your new country and don't let your views and attitudes stand in the way of appreciating the new culture.  Yet it was different to hear the words coming from Jordanian locals, as they added an element of culture that was very three dimensional and real. Not just what they said, but their expressions and their attitudes towards certain things painted a detailed picture. It was especially hard to get used to the cultural differences in acceptance of homosexuality and the role of women.  Will probably explore this more later.

But the best part of my trip so far has been connecting with my host family. My host mama is a warm lady who immediately kissed and hugged me on arrival. My host papa is more reserved but also very friendly - he tries to make me feel right at home. I adore my sisters - Leen and Dalia. They are sweet girls who really try to make me feel at home and are both generous and caring. They have made this experience much less tedious and made me feel like I am living at a home away from home.