Keep off the grass

One of the things being abroad does, is makes you really appreciate your own country. Right now I am spacing out to American music enjoying the weather. We just got done with class, and people are taking naps. I am in the courtyard of our hotel where I can see down onto the main road. There are some things that get to me after awhile about Jordan. The biggest is the amount of litter. It is everywhere. I just saw a guy who works at the hotel, finish a bottle of water. Then he walked tot he door of the hotel, and just launched the empty bottle out into the street and vacant lot below. Someone once said all monarchies are like this. People do not feel as if they own their country, and therefore they can litter all over it. However, once you get inside their homes, they are perfectly spotless, because it is one of the few things they do own. I am thankful, that our country, is fairly clean. (Also for those little details, like actually taking a part in the ownership of the country via voting-yanno?)

These are a few of my Favorite things

I miss a lot of my friends, family, and other important people.  in terms of materialistic things though, heres the list:

Good Chocolate Shakes-For whatever reason, the McDonalds and Burger king machines are perpetually broken.  The ones made in blenders at coffee shops, are not up to par.

Root Beer-I finally found there is some in the country but it is way too expensive, and every wisconsinite knows A&W does not even come close to Sprecher’s

Cheese Curds-There is something close here called a Sambousa.  It suffices and I have found a good restaurant close by.

Driving-survived my first accident in a taxi the other day.  It is nearly guaranteed to get in at least one accident if you spend amount of time here.  The driving is insane.

Free Refills

Tap Water

Jokes in English-when translating, not that funny, go figure.

Good Internet Connection-sorry for the weird times this comes up

Cheap phone calls, texting is cheaper but less personal

A good cell phone

Laundromat-not the bath tub

Bon Fires

Floating and Mika

Had a really good weekend.  On wednesday I went out to dinner with my favorite Jordanian family.  then on Thursday we went, in luxury, to the Dead Sea, courtesy of His Majesty King Abdullah 2nd’s Fund for Economic Development.  Floating in the Dead Sea is an amazing experience, and is one everyone should try before they die.  (The picture will come soon)  On our way back we were given tickets to Mika, who is a pop star for Friday.  This was a  pretty cool concert, even though I knew very few songs.  The concert took place at the Dead Sea.  It was organized as part of the same festival that I saw Diana Krall at, although in a different venue.  The next morning, we met with students who had just sent a year in the US.  This helped ease their reverse culture shock.  We also went and saw Batman The Dark Knight.  This was a really intense movie, and Heath Ledger gave an amazing performance.  One more normal week of classes, then heading south for the tourism places.  Only 6 more classes left.  I got my room mate, who seems pretty chill.  I also got my student advisor, so Drake is seeming very close.  I am very excited.

It is always in the back of my mind.  Did I make the right decision?  The answer is an obvious yes, if only because there is no way to change it.  I am having a decent time.  Bumming around here beats bumming around Wisconsin.  I  have been listening to The Graduation Song by Vitamin C.  “As our lives change, come whatever, we will still be friends forever.   Will that be the case? Time will tell.

I finally had a really good day.  It started a good Fusa class, followed by the cancellation of my dreaded amia class.  We went to cheer on the Iranians for 3rd place, and they won.  They are so thankful, and we hang out with them at night at the hotel.  I don’t know how much impact we had, but I think it was a ton.  They ended up playing Bahrain again, who managed to muster a cheering section complete with drums.  We had 20 screaming american teenagers, and once again prevailed.  Then I went out to dinner, taking special time to read a letter I received from one of my most favorite girls in the world.  Earlier that day, I received a video message from other friends.  It is really nice to know I am missed. I was prepping, and tomorrow will deliver a briefing to Jordanian high school studnets, and more importantly, their parents about life as a an american high school student.  They will be exchange students in American high schools for the upcoming school year.  Then on Thursday, the Dead Sea, whooot whoot!  If you couldn't tell things are starting to swing for the better.

The thought of college life is always present.  Yesterday we were supposed to find out our room mates, but internet has been really crappy at the hotel.  Oh well it keeps me from being too homesick.  Hope you all are well, and thanks again for the well wishes.  

Vacation

I was in much need of a vacation.  The alums, Opal, and I headed down to Aqaba, Jordan’s only port and beach town.  There we beach bummed at the beach camp patrick and I came to know from last years weekend from hell.  I gave a personal salute of disrespect to the town where last year, a knife wielding little punk came after us after we suffered major car trouble.  The whole reason for going down was because I wanted to snorkel.  Sean and I hopped on with a scuba dive boat, and stayed around the coral reefs off shore while they went below.  The entire boat was Jews from Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.  this made for some rather enlightening conversations, as we only get the Palestinian perspective from any arab we meet in Jordan.  It was some of the best snorkeling I have ever seen.  If it weren't for the waves and the wind, it would have topped Hawaii.  The fish and coral were spectacular, and we could get very close.  There is an issue that has developed, in terms of personal appearance.  Living in a conservative society means polo shirts, if not full sleeves and long pants-no shorts.  This has done absolute wonders for the rainbow of colors my body has become due to tan lines.  All of this has manage to be undone by the wonderful sun of Aqaba, which when combined with the insane amounts of humidity there, leads to the worse sunburn I have had.  Mother, I assure you next time I will wear sunscreen.  The internet is down at the hotel, which is a major pain. The embassy has decided to not advice americans to go to the downtown part of the city due to the recent shooting.  This really sucks, as it is the best shopping area in town, and the only way to see what real Jordanians do in their daily life.  As of now we are only allowed to go to the places where americans hangout, namely huge malls and craft areas.  (I wonder what the thinking was for that one, only allow americans to congregate in areas known as hangouts for westerners?)  Oh well, we will find more creative ways to talk to the other side of Jordanians.  Hope everyone is well.  

Security Update

I am alive, along with the rest of my team.  None of us were at the shooting, as everyone is living snugly with their families.  The embassy today said it was a tourist shooting because apparently there were a few lebanese killed, and the event took place at a symphony concert.  This is the second time shots have been fired in the amphitheater area.  The previous time a German tourist was killed.  We are all safe.  The city air is not even tense.

I will be incommunicado as I am doing some traveling for the next few days.  Hope everyone has a good weekend.  

http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=9386 

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2008/07/200871620575598198.html

Cheerleading Diplomacy...Bring it on Again

Before I expand upon this tale, I want to state that we are completely safe here.  The worse thing that could happen is something nasty with traffic.  In terms of terrorism, Jordan, and especially our team are very safe....

Turns out there was a reporter in the stands at the Iranian handball game.  He did his duty and gave what would have been a very boring sports recap a personal twist.  He managed to send his report back that included the highlights of the game as well as our presence.  Screaming cheering american kids supporting the arch enemy of their government to a win in handball.  Apparently we managed to make not just the print media, but radio, and television as well.  The commentary that came with it went something along the lines of this...

“The Iranian Handball team beat Bahrain in the Asia cup for youth with no small help from their cheering fans.  These fans consisted entirely of American students.  As George Bush prepares to make war on Iran, his children (Hey, that’s us!) cheer on the team.”

Normally making the news is something I prefer to never happen if we are abroad, but this is a diplomatic exception.  I honestly do not know what military, if any, action will be taken against Iran.  The fact is though, there is now a small portion of Iranians who know that not all Americans are bad.  This is real grass roots diplomacy.  We now spend our evenings talking to the coaches at night.  Zainab translates, which is also quite a sight to behold.  She picked up her farsi skills, which from what I could tell are damn near fluent, after living there for just one year.  This once again backs up my plan of if I ever find myself dictator of a country; I am forcing every student upon completion of the 11th grade to go live abroad in areas where America might not be the best anymore.  Get out of town, and head to the Middle East, or South America.  By the time that generation attains power, all foreign policy issues would be taken care of.  Imagine the influence spending a few hours cheering on Iran has had on their team, their families and their compatriots.  The possibilities are endless.