When at the Dead Seashore....

Dead Sea: SO that was pretty painful! So Thursday night I shaved my legs in preparation of a swimsuit.  HORRIBLE IDEA. That salty water stung so bad!!! Other than that the sea was so cool! You could stay vertical with your shoulders completely out of the water without having to tread water or touch the bottom.  Even if you propelled yourself upword your face wouldn’t go under water.  You can sit in Indian style and basically levitate. It was basically how I imagine a cloud to feel like. 

I did have one instance where I was messing around and accidently flipped backwords submerging my entire head.  I panicked and wouldn’t open my eyes.  I had to have my friend James lead me to the outdoor shower to rinse off so I could see.  The salt water burned my nose so bad. 

We also found a pile of mud at the shore line to rub on our skin.  The mud was so soft and unlike any texture I have ever felt.  We even rubbed it on our faces.  After rinsing the mud off our skin was like a baby's, so soft.

The Dead Sea lies on the border between Jordan and Palestine so from our hotel (and the sea) we could easily see Palestine, it was like just looking across the street at your neighbor's house.

After our exploration of the Dead Sea we went to the hotel and checked in.  We stayed at the Winter Valley Warwick Resort on the Dead Sea.  (It had a private beach and a shuttle that took us to and from the beach.) My friend Evan's host brother works for some party organizing company and got us the rooms and tickets to this pool party at the hotel.  I have no way of describing this party.  It was hilarious.

If any of you are familiar with the show Jersey Shore or have ever seen pictures of people on that show they you will know exactly what this party looked like.  I felt like I was in a PittBull music video. This was not what I expected to see when I came to Jordan.  The music all had the same beat for 9 hours and the dancing that occurred as well was something that I cannot describe. 

One of the boys brought an American football with him to throw in the water.  At first it was really embarrassing because it just made us stand out as the silly Americans but later EVERYONE in the pool wanted to play with the football.  One girl got pegged right in the head with it.  It was kind of funny but she was in a lot of pain. All in all it was a fun trip.

Sho fi ma fi

I haven’t updated this much since I have been here but in light of recent events in this part of the country I feel like it is time to reach out.  Instead of focusing on the negative things that happen here, all of which are done by a small minority and does not represent the entire people, I want to discuss all the exciting things that are happening with this adventure.

First- if you haven’t seen my pictures on facebook of some of my travels I suggest you look.  They are pretty cool if I do say so myself!!!

Second- I have started classes!!!! I have MSA (Modern Standard Arabic) every day, Jordanian Arabic Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday (yes our weekends are Friday and Saturday), and Modern History of the Middle East on Mondays and Wednesdays.

Third- I have secured an internship while here in Amman.  I am working mostly with the Eisenhower Fellowship creating videos to introduce each of the fellows that are in Jordan. My other duty is to basically act as a consultant for the Development and Free Zone Commission (a governmental department that creates strategic business and conservation parks to encourage economic and environmental success in the country) on a promotional video they are having made by a local advertising company.

So now I want to list a few things that I  have observed that are worth sharing:

- as I already said our weekends are Friday and Saturday

- when you enter a multistory building you enter on the "ground floor", to go to the first floor you have to go up

- McDonalds is right across the street from my school and yes I have eaten there three times already….sorry

- You can only enter a mosque if you are Muslim (except for one certain mosque which is allowed for visitors to view) trust me, we tried….it didn’t work

- you also have to have your head covered in the mosque to enter

- speaking of covering a lot of the women cover their head and some even cover their face but it is completely okay for us to not cover our head

- clothing is shoulders and knees covered- that is the basic rule of thumb

- I don’t know if this is a common thing but in both the hotel and in my house there is only a fitted sheet on the bed, no top sheet

- when you pay for a taxi you basically just round up to the nearest dinar. So technically a 2.30 JD ride actually costs 3.00

- most of the people speak English. A lot have even been to and/or studied in the US

Im sure I will think of more in time but that is all I can think of at the moment.

Now to probably what most people are curious about: When I arrived in Amman and we went through orientation we were told our biggest enemy in Jordan is a "Jordanian behind a steering wheel" the traffic is crazy and hectic and I never want to have to drive in it. Since then quite a few things have happened in neighboring countries.  I want to say that there is no need to be concerned. The program that I am with has briefed us on the procedure in the event of a problem or an evacuation.  They are keeping close contact with the Embassy here and will do what is necessary to keep us all safe. 

In my final thought for this post I would like to end by saying that the actions in the area are not indicative of the people here.  I live with a Muslim family who has welcomed me and my roommate into their house.  They have all been to the United States and all speak English.  PLEASE do not use the blanket term "terrorists" to describe the people in this region of the world.  No matter what happens they are good people and have unfortunately been given this stereotype.  As I said even before I left home is no more safe than where I am and I think that was proven in the unfortunate events in Aurora, Colorado at the end of this summer. Basically what I want to say is to not group the peaceful majority in with the radical minority.

Okay, off to bed.  I have to be at the Dead Sea tomorrow….

Ma'salama

I am sitting in the International Terminal of the Chicago O'Hare Airport.  On my left is the plane that will take me to Amman it has something written in Arabic on the side…not surprising though. An update on my past week:

                I went up to Jewell for a brief two night visit.  After the fourth night I decided it was time to head home.  While it was very difficult to leave my friends and my comfort zone on the hill I left ready to embark on my own adventure.

                The past two nights have been filled with goodbyes.  First with my mom's side of the family as well as my best friend Brandon, then last night with my dad's side of the family.

                Today was the hardest.  First with Ommy and Papa and then with my parents.  I almost missed my plane in Kansas City because of all the goodbyes.

                While on that flight I was 1. Very emotional and 2. The turbulence was horrible, I assume because of Isaac.  The entire flight I was thinking "what have I gotten myself into?"

                Landing in Chicago was also interesting.  I had to leave the secured area, travel to the international airline terminal and check in at the Royal Jordanian desk.  I think that was my first taste of culture shock.  When I got to the desk there was not a soul working, just about 50 people lined up waiting, most of which were sitting on the ground.  After about 15 minutes employees started pouring out of a door behind the desk. While checking in I had to check one of my carry on bags…that’s three checked bags, all for free at this point (fingers crossed).

                My last meal was at McDonalds.  I asked for a cheeseburger plain and got a plain hamburger (first world problems).  I saw with this adorable young Muslim family.  The kids were very friendly and by the time I finished my meal the little girl had struck up a conversation with me over her chocolate milk.

                I decided to venture through security.  It was a piece of cake.  No problems at all.  After that the nervous shivers set in.  From there I basically sat down and started writing this.  I cant post it right now but I will post it later. So by the time you are reading this I will be in Jordan.  That’s so scary but I'm excited.

Just what I needed

So here I am about two weeks out and I cant quite remember what all I have to say about stuff...also you might not care about point four as much because it is just me recapping my very eventful weekend that brought me out of my study abroad depression. 

First- since my last post I have had a skype type meeting with some of the residence staff in Amman.  This helped me to get in contact with some of the other CIEE people that are going to be my classmates this fall.  It seems like this is a very diverse and very intelligent group of people with lots of money.  They keep talking about all the countries they want to visit while we are abroad and how many passports they will need to go to these countries. Some countries wont let you in if you have a stamp from Israel or other rivalry countries so it is apparently quite the balancing act.

Second- I have been stocking up on my Jordanian clothing.  New long pants, long tops and shoes in fabrics such as linen and cotton make up my wardrobe.  I have some scarves but from what I am told I wont have to wear them.

Third- I have applied for two internships, both of which request a back ground in media relations and camera work and whatnot.  So hopefully that will work.

Fourth- (this is Lydia gets real time) as some of you may know I have been FREAKING out.  All of my friends are back on campus at Jewell and Im not and it is bad.  Even going to the grocery store makes me sad because I see other college students moving in and getting ready for school to start and I am not.  I had the opportunity to talk to my friend Charlotte the other day, she is my sorority sister and we will be living together when we return in the spring.  Charlotte is spending her fall in Latin America in like three different countries and she has the same sentiments regarding everyone moving back in that I do, we are both sad and questioning our decision. Well Char leaves tomorrow....so that is really scary for her. 

Thursday night I was feeling really down in the dumps about not being on campus when everyone else has moved in.  Then Friday was way better!!!! Let me tell you about this weekend.  My dad had tickets to the Cardinals game yesterday.  The seats were in FoxSports Midwest Luxury Suite so we had good seats, air conditioning (even though it was a beautiful day) and free food. That was all that was on the plan for the weekend.  Luckily because of the cooler weather we got to camp together.  I had been wanting to camp all summer but it was so hot I didnt think I would get the chance.  Well I did and it was great.  I froze at night and a raccoon attacked out cooler, it was all very exciting. 

We woke up Saturday, packed up and headed to downtown STL.  The game started at like 3:00 and we got there around 1:00.  It was photo day so we got to go on the field and take pictures of all the Cardinals and I shook hands with Frucal and Beltran.

The Chiefs were in town playing the Rams and a sign flashed on the screen at Busch that said if you take your Cardinal tickets to the ticket window at the Edward Jones Dome you would get discounted tickets.  After the Cardinals won their game my dad headed to the EJ Dome to buy us tickets. 

The Chiefs were creamed which made it less fun but it was still pretty cool to get to see a football game especially because I thought I wouldnt get to see any this year! Then one of the guys my dad works with had an extra room in the Millennium Hotel that he let us use along with three breakfast vouchers for the morning!

After our breakfast we went back to Busch Stadium to visit the team store.  They were replaying game six of the world series.  I vaguely remember what happened in that game so it was so amazing to watch the 9th inning surrounded by Cardinals fans.  From there we took a look at Stan "the man" in front of the third base entrance.

My mom had purchased tickets to the top of the arch while we were at breakfast so we had to hurry from Busch to the Arch so we could make the trip.  I guess I had been to the top once before but I had little memory of it.  That was a fun trip.  Kind of scary though.

Once back on the ground, on our way to the car to head out of town, we stopped by the old courthouse in St. Louis.  It was still decorated for the Fourth of July.  It was absolutely beautiful inside! I got a little misty eyed seeing all that red white and blue and thinking that I will soon be under red white black and green. 

When we finally reached the car, which was parked in a garage overlooking Busch Stadium, the 1:15pm start game was in the fourth inning and we overheard the Cardinals score two runs to put them ahead.

Our goal was to be out of St. Louis by the time the game was over.  The Pirates tied the game and sent it into extra innings.  We had the game to listen to the whole way home and even saw some of the game on tv once we got home.  The 19 inning game ended in a loss for the Cardinals.

This was one of the best weekends I can remember and I loved being able to spend such good quality time with my parents before I leave in two weeks.  It was just what I needed to distract myself these last two weeks before I leave.

Well thats it for now.  I might have more to say before I leave.  Sorry for such a long post and congrats on making it through all of that!

Update

I havent posted in a loooooong time but that is because I have had nothing to update.  Also I have been focusing my attention on my summer school class (I took Microeconomics at Missouri State and right now it looks like I will have an A in the class.)  So yesterday I took my final and it was eh and today I checked my email and had something from my study abroad program (CIEE) saying that I have missed the due date on applying for an internship this fall.  I panicked and, with the help of my mother, cranked out the resume and cover letter for the application as well as submitted that paperwork.

I also took care of a few other things such as applying for housing (I applied to do a home stay), some medical information, as well as taking care of the preliminary scheduling for my classes. I am required to take a standard Arabic course, a colloquial Arabic course and two electives (one of which can be the internship). I hope to take a history course as my other elective because of some things regarding my (hopefully) two majors and two minors. 

Other exciting news is I filled out the visa application!!!  Its still sitting on the counter because I can only pay for it with a money order from the bank and I have yet to get that.  Also I believe I have three pairs of pants for the trip.  So that is good.  Oh yeah! My plane ticket is bought. So that is also good.

I have been putting a lot of stuff off because I am still kind of freaking out about it.  I head up to Jewell for a week on Monday to do some work for the school and I am sure that I will be freaking out even more when I get back home and realize that aside from cheer camp I probably wont be back until January. By putting it off I am able to pretend like its not going to happen but I have crossed the two-months -till-departure threshold so I probably ought to get it together.

Hopefully I will have more to say soon. 

Fear and No Regrets

Once again I apologize for my lack of flow in this post.  It is kind of two parts.  The first is business and the second is more emotional.

So this past week was finals week which means life was crazy but I did manage to get a few things for my study abroad done.  I submitted my paperwork regrading classes I would like to take while I am there. Two of my required classes are language classes (standard Arabic and colloquial Arabic) which I will take a placement test for.  I have also decided to aim for a second major which will be in Economics.  One of my courses abroad will hopefully be an economics class regarding the middle east.  I have also looked into a class on political Islam which looks at the impact that Islam has in the politics of today and I have also looked at an archeology course. Another option I am looking into is an internship.  I wont know what classes I will get until I actually arrive in Jordan.

Another bit of exciting news is that my mom bought my plane ticket.  I leave on September 1 and arrive in Amman on September 2.  My flight is from KC to Chicago and then onto Amman.

Last Sunday I was feeling an enormous amount of anxiety.  I'm sure it was a combination of a lack of sleep along with the emotional aspect of what the following week represented (my final week on the hill).   Everything I did seemed to make me emotional and very fearful.  It was really the first time I have felt fear towards the trip.  I am in no way scared of where I am going but rather of the distance, the time and what I will miss out on while I am away. I was also feeling quite home sick last weekend and that certainly didnt help. 

Right now I am sitting in the social lounge of my sorority's wing.  Most of my sisters have gone home and that was another thing that got me upset. Goodbyes arent fun for anyone but these were more difficult than others for a few reasons. One is that I was very close to a lot of the graduating class so it was difficult to see them go but two because of those who will return in the fall, I probably wont see again for about 7 months.  A lot of my sorority sisters have been joking with me saying that I should just not go.  Every time this happens it is a bit encouraging.  I know that doesnt make sense so let me explain.  When they say this I always try to find a good response to their request.  I have finally found one that neither they nor I can argue with and that is that I will regret it for the rest of my life if I do not go.  I base a lot of my decisions on whether or not I will regret doing or not doing something, right or wrong, thats what I do. 

Arabic Sample

So some of you might know I posted a picture on  my facebook of an Arabic writing sample.  We had to do a presentation in my class where we wrote and then read our own little speech.  I figured I would translate it so that you can know what I wrote wasnt actually all that impressive haha

 

So this basically says "My name is Lydia.  I am from Springfield, Missouri.  I live in a house with my dad and my mom.  I do not have a brother or sister.  I am a student at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri. I study political science. I want to work in the United Nations one day. I speak three languages English, Spanish and Arabic. (I got my past and future mixed up in the next part) I studied in Jordan in the fall. I lived with a family in Amman. I visit different countries including Costa Rica, Honduras, France and Spain. I like to travel and learn about different cultures and languages"  Pretty basic stuff.  

In other news my mom bought my plane ticket to Amman the other day.  It kind of became a lot more real after she said that.  

Thats all I have to say about that.