People I've Met

Well, I have one week left in Jordan-it seems like I've been here forever, but at the same time like just a couple of weeks. I've been finishing papers and taking exams, hanging out with friends and my host family. Tomorrow I will be going to Jerusalem for a last hurrah with my friend Sabreen from AU and then I come back on Friday, pack, pack, pack, and leave early Monday morning (I should be back in Rochester around 9pm on Monday).

I did two cool things over the weekend: first, I traveled with my Arabic Peer Tutor, Hanan, to her city Salt. Salt is a small, beautiful city outside of Amman (it was supposed to be the capital of Jordan, but you know...politics) and spent Thursday and Friday there with her and her family. It was a great experience, a truly hospitable Arab experience (meaning lots and lots of food, coffee, tea, hot chocolate, sweets....if I said no I would be scolded and handed more). Second, I went to a Turkish bath! Such a cool experience...my skin feels great and getting a massage was a nice treat for myself.

But, what I really want this post to be about is some of the people I've met here, who really made my experience great. I'll focus on Jordanians, since I will most likely see many of my American friends here again (most of them go to schools in DC haha).

Peer Tutor: Hanan

You might remember Hanan from one of my earliest posts about Scavenger Hunting around Amman...that was our 'ice breaker' organized by CIEE. So, Hanan is a senior at the University of Jordan and studies English Literature, so her English is very good, a plus to help communicate with me.

She and I would meet 3 times a week for an hour, just to talk...I would tell her about my week, weekend, friends, anything and she would help me with the vocabulary, grammar, and idioms. She answered any questions I had about Jordan or the Middle East, and listened to me vent about harassment. I told Hanan this many times, but without her, my Jordanian dialect skills would have been much worse....just by talking to her and listening to her talk to me, I learned so much about the Jordanian language! She is such a sweet, funny person and I owe so much of my experience to her patience.

This past weekend, visiting her city was so fun, I also got to know her friend Maha better, and the three of us had a great time hanging out, eating, smoking shisha, and visiting her family:

Hanan, her sister, and me at St. Georges Church

Eating, always eating ;)

Maha, Hanan, me, Shetha, and Rasha

My Host Family:
I know I wrote about them before, but I can definitely say that living with the Elwan's really made my time here in Jordan. My Arabic improved when I talked to Nahil and Sobheh (mother and father), since they don't speak English. I got to know Arabic pop culture better by watching tv with them and listening to them talk about politics.
They are a very dynamic, loving family, with an interesting back story: originally from Palestine, the parents moved  to Beirut, but left in 1985 during the Lebanese Civil War, relocating to Amman, Jordan. The father owns a spices shop in our neighborhood, as well as  printing shop. The mom stays at home and takes care of the kids and the house. All of the kids, Hanin, Talal, and Amer are in school (Hanin goes to UJ, and Talal just started university) and speak amazing English. The grandmother is also very sweet and although I can't understand her very well, we always end up laughing together when someone in the family does something stupid or funny. Those nonverbal bonds are the best :)

I hope to see them all again and if I ever come back to Jordan, I know I will be welcomed here...I hope they  are able to make their way to America at some point too, but our government needs to work on the paranoia first (they are Muslim).

Host mom and dad at the Host Family Dinner

Hanin's (middle) Birthday

Time to keep packing and make sure I've got everything for Jerusalem! If I have time, I'll write one more post before I get on the plane to America!

Fundraising in Jordan!

Hello Everyone!

So as some of you know, I have been volunteering with a small NGO here in Amman, Jordan. It is called "Reclaim Childhood" (http://reclaimchildhood.org/ or http://www.facebook.com/pages/Reclaim-Childhood/301396818254) and the organization focuses on sports camps/clinics for Iraqi/Palestinian/Syrian refugee girls. Every summer Reclaim Childhood puts on several summer Basketball and Soccer camps. In order for this to succeed, we depend on outside donations for supplies, such as equipment and uniforms. As the girls are refugees and only have what they brought with them to Jordan, the play outside in the summer heat in jeans and flats. 

So how can you help? We are running a Mother's Day Card Drive!

 Each Mother's Day Reclaim Childhood gives people the chance to give the gift of opportunity by making a donation to Reclaim Childhood in the name of someone who shares a belief in the power of sport.  Donations can be made in honor of aunts, grandmothers, sisters, godmothers, friends - you name it. 

$15: Buys three soccer balls.

$30: Buys shoes for 15 girls.

$50: Buys uniforms for one soccer team.

$100: Allows one Iraqi refugee girl to play soccer in the RC soccer league.

Reclaim Childhood will send the recipient a Mother's Day card designed by one of our young athletes-in-training. The card will tell her more about Reclaim Childhood's mission and specifically where the donation is going.

ALL DONATIONS MUST BE MADE BY MAY 7TH, TO ENSURE CARDS ARE SENT ON TIME.

 It’s super easy to make a donation, just click on the link here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDQ0a2J3TUllSGlUbXExZlE3RmpqeFE6MQ , fill it out with the correct information, and then make the donation using a credit card through justgive or by mailing us a check. The whole process takes less than 3 minutes!

Sincerely,

Abby

All about Spring Break: Beirut, Cairo, Alexandria!

 Well my semester really is winding down now....in less than two weeks I'll begin my final exams, and about just a couple days after those are finished I'll be khaless (finished...I realized maybe I should start to show off some of my Arabic skills ;D).

But before I can focus on all that, I figured I should take advantage in my one day lull in homework to tell everyone about my AWESOME SPRING BREAK!

So on March 29th, the time had come to Jordan and I to have some time apart. I do love this country, but sometimes I get restless and there are so many things to see outside of it as well! The first stop on my trip was to Beirut, Lebanon!

Landing in Beirut was quite the experience....the airport is literally right next to the Mediterranean Sea! As you descend you almost wonder if the plane will land in the water instead (obviously not, but it's pretty cool to see!).
My friends and I made our way to our hostel, which was very conveniently located to some of the main attractions in the city. That night we walked around and explored the nearby Mohammad Amin Mosque:

Later, I met up with some other friends from CIEE staying at the same hostel and we explored the bars in the neighborhood we were in (it is Beirut after all....the party/club capital of the Middle East. To all the adults in my life, don't worry, I ALWAYS made Good Choices!) 

The next morning I woke up early and we explored as much of the city as we could! We went to the American University of Beirut, got food on Bliss St. (a cute street near the university with lots of food venues), and walked along the Corniche (like the boardwalk along the Sea). 

So Beirut has beaches, but where we were, it was mostly moss covered rocks. That was not going to stop us though, so we climbed down onto them. And since I wore my swim suit that day, I had to take the opportunity:

And although Beirut is pretty Western, a white girl swimming at the beginning of April in her bikini is still enough to gather a crowd:

Not kidding, all of these men (and more later) were just standing there, watching me. 

So after my dip in the Sea, we wandered around the city more, finally stopping to rest at the Pigeon Rocks:

Now, Beirut still shows many signs of the Civil War, which only ended in 1990, and the political strife that is rampant outside of the city. We saw many buildings with bullet holes or still bombed out, as well as interesting war/peace/violence themed graffiti.

That night we went to Hamra St. which has alot of bars and clubs, but it was super crowded and the people kind of stuck up, so we went to Buddha Bar instead, which still gave us a taste of the Beirut clubbing scene.

The next day, it was museum day! We went to the Beirut Museum, which holds many Phoenician artifacts, and a jewelry museum. We also went to Martyr's Square, a memorial to those who died fighting against the Ottoman's, but now is riddled with bullet holes from the Civil War. 

The third and final day we took a cab up to the Jeitta Grotto, a beautiful cave outside of the city. The Grotto is one of the most beautiful natural wonders I have ever seen (we weren't allowed to take pictures, so here is a link instead):

http://www.google.jo/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/52/Jeitag2.jpg/256px-Jeitag2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeita_Grotto&h=190&w=256&sz=22&tbnid=I5MG9UlAVPA51M:&tbnh=94&tbnw=127&zoom=1&docid=Txou8vveI524qM&sa=X&ei=YOaOT9LRA8imhAf7n_ycCw&ved=0CD4Q9QEwAQ&dur=460

The next leg of my trip was to a city that would fulfill of a dream of mine since I was 7 or 8 and first saw the movie "Prince of Egypt:" CAIRO! Mere word's can't describe what I did and saw, so here are some of my favorite pictures:

The Nile!

The Pyramids of Giza!!!

Success!!!!

Sphinxing it up!

Outside of the Cairo Museum, where I saw so many Ancient Egyptian artifacts!

The Hanging Church of Coptic Cairo

Graffiti wall dedicated to some who died during the Revolution last Spring.

View of the Nile from a felucca (boat)!

In Cairo, I stayed with my friend Macarena who had come to visit me just a couple weeks before in Amman. Once again, I loved being with her in a foreign country! But what made it even better was that our other friend from college, Maura (who is studying abroad in London) came to Cairo too! The day after she got there, she, Macarena, and I went to Alexandria.

Fort Qaitbey; built on the ruins of the Lighthouse of Alexandria.

Reunited! Yay!

Alexandria is a very beautiful city, and full of many interesting things to see! But, it is also very conservative and not cosmopolitan like Cairo....so the we got to experience the legendary harassment of Alexandria. While we visited the Fort, we literally could not stand in one place for too long or a crowd would form around us, taking pictures on their cell phones, asking to be in pictures with us, or cat-calling. As we walked along the Corniche, we were constantly followed and called after...I know I should maybe be used to the attention and harassment after living in Amman, but it was much more aggressive and honestly, I can't get off my pedestal that NO WOMAN (or man, but let's face it, it's mostly women) should be harassed or made to feel uncomfortable.

I won't let my feminist rant go any further than that, but all in all, I hope if I go back to Alexandria I can find some trick to ward off  the attention. Because it does detract from the experience.

Still, it is beautiful:

Now that this post is finally up, I should get back to my finals! I will have another post up soon though....this time for an opportunity to give back to a special community to me. Stay tuned....

Falling behind (due to lack of internet and lack of time)

So my many apologies for not updating for awhile....but the week of my birthday, the first week of March, a truly unfortunate and eye opening event occurred: my host family did not have internet. Unfortunate and eye opening why? Because I learned I really have became dependent on the internet, both for keeping in touch with friends, the news, and just general nonsense things. It's kinda embarrassing to admit, but it really was a difficult week for me, to come home and not have internet. On the bright side, I spent lots of time watching tv with my host family, so we got some good quality time in.

Anyway, enough with about my vices.....now about my time here! So last time I posted it was about going to see the Biblical sights of Jordan. Well, the weekend after that, my friends and I decided it was about time for us to go to the beach.....Aqaba! And the time could not have been better.....our plan was to leave Thursday and come back Saturday (remember the week is Sun-Thurs). Well that Wednesday Amman got the beginning of a significant snowstorm (relatively speaking....it was still typical Rochester weather for me). Classes were canceled on Thursday, so we decided to take advantage of that and get on an earlier bus out of Amman before the snow kept us here (we did end up on I think the only bus that left Amman).

So, we left Amman looking like this:

And got to Aqaba looking like this:

So even though Aqaba was a little cooler and cloudier than normal, we welcomed the sun and lack of snow. So Aqaba is Jordan's port city, and sits directly on the Red Sea, across from Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt (on clear days you can see all three countries....because of the clouds, we could only ever see Israel, just a brisk swim away).

Going to Aqaba was a welcome change from the routine....first, we were getting out of Amman, and second, we were going it by ourselves...no CIEE staff or tour groups to herd us around. Our hotel was a couple minutes walk from the public beach (where we stayed fully clothed....public beaches in Jordan, and especially Aqaba-which is actually more conservative than Amman-attract the locals, so things can get awkward when you have a bunch of Americans wandering around in bikinis.)


That night we went out and had a girls night out in Aqaba. We slept in the next day and got a tasty lunch nearby and headed out to the beach. After getting stared at and taking in the sights (as well as being proposed to by our taxi driver) we found a Lonely Planet approved cafe, and sat, ate, and smoked hookah for a couple of hours.

Now the reason we picked this weekend to go, was because there was another big thing happening: Dead2Red: an uber marathon where crazy people, in teams of ten, run from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea....something crazy like 200km. They had 24 hours to complete the race.....4 groups of CIEE students signed up to do the race (we later told them how slow they were, we made it to Aqaba in just 5 hours....they took around 20. slow pokes). So they got in on Friday. We decided to crash the Movenpick hotel, where they had a banquet and we splurged on a snazzy meal, in order to see some of our friends.

We went to bed early that night to get up early the next day and go to the south beach of Aqaba...another public beach, but one more 'tourist friendly' aka bathing suits fine. It was such a beautiful day, no one wanted to leave for snowy Amman. Everything about the beach was perfect (except for the fact that it was jelly-fish infested, which totally freaked me out when all of a sudden my friend and I were surrounded by them....it was only after I had screamed and sprinted out of the water that my friends told me that they didn't sting. Thank's guys).

See that purple thing in my reflection? Jellyfish.


But alas, back to cold Amman we went. But, then it was the week of my birthday! On Wednesday, my host family got me a delicious chocolate cake and I went to a club close to where I live for 'ladies night' with some friends. Tamer than turning 21, but nonetheless fun :)

Last weekend, was  CIEE trip to Jerash and Um Qais...two well preserved Roman cities. Just like walking around the ampitheatre in Amman, it was great to walk, touch, and pose with the old columns and stone foundations that used  to be major cities of the Roman Empire. Also, the weather: absolutely perfect! Blue blue skies, moderate temperatures, and lots of sun! It made walking through the cities that much more exciting, where all of the greenery (Jordan is much greener than I ever imagined it to be) and flowers shone brightly from the sun. What was also amazing was the contrast of old and new; both cities have modern, urban cities now....built around the remains of the ruins. We could stand on some pillars or in the ampitheatre and look out onto the grey pillars, but behind them were white new houses, apartments, and stores. America has alot.....but it truly does lack in it's historical preservation.

My last update for this blog is my visitor: Macarena!!! Macarena is one of my best friends from college, even though we haven't been at the same college since Fall 2010. Yes, this girl decided to study abroad in Egypt Spring 2011....but when the Revolution erupted, she was evacuated out and finished her study abroad in Morocco. In love and devoted to Egypt, she went back in the Fall to study at American University of Cairo...but then after those American students were arrested, AU shut down their abroad program there. So now she is studying in Cairo through AMIDEAST. This past week was her spring break, so she came to visit Jerusalem, Ramallah, Hebron, and Bethlehem. Afterwards, she came to Amman and stayed with me and my host family. Seeing her for three days was great....even though the weather switched back to horrible. We didn't get to do much sight seeing because of the constant downpour (and more tourist things in Amman are outside), but we did the best we could and caught up on our times abroad.

. But, I'll be seeing her again soon! For my spring break I am going to Beirut and then Cairo! Less than two weeks until that adventure!

















  

Religion as a Lifestyle and a Tourist

This past week was pretty typical in terms of classes and home life. Once again, the weekend is where my blog entry will focus. But first, some background on me and my education.

Most of you know this, but I attended Catholic school for most of my education; I started at St. Helen's in the 3rd grade and finished at Nazareth Academy, graduating in 2008. I even went to a Catholic school while I studied abroad in Germany (St. Ursula!). So, growing up there was a running joke among my friends and family that I was most Catholic than Methodist.

But how could I not be? I had theology class most days of the week for 9 years, 10 if you count Germany. I knew the 10 Commandments, 8 Beatitudes, the Stations of the Cross, all of the holidays, their significance and how long each lasted. I even had the Liturgical Calender memorized (for any non-Catholics/Christians it's this lovely wheel that haunted my 5th grade nightmares:


Why am recounting all of this? Because even though I'm not really practicing anymore, the Christian religion has made an impact on my life, more than just being raised in a Christian household. Now I know some of my friends and colleagues, especially in college, tend to view religion (and religious schools) with a wary eye, as something that encourages prejudice and narrow mindedness. And to some extent it may be true, but I can't say I fall into that camp. For the most part, I loved my Catholic education...my teachers were accessible, encouraged us  to challenge them (which, oh man did we ever in Morality class), and I still feel lucky to have had them growing up.

So with all of this knowledge drilled into my head for about a decade, you can bet it was a no brainer for me to sign up for the Biblical Jordan day trip!

In one day, we visited the Jordan River, where Jesus was baptized (and look 25 feet across the water on the West Bank)

Where Jesus was Baptized

Look! The West Bank!

Touching the really cold Jordan River

Mount Nebo where Moses gazed onto the Promised Land (he knew he would never set foot there) and gazed upon it myself:

Distances from Mt. Nebo including Jericho, Jerusalem, Ramallah, and Bethlehem 

 and the mountain where Herod has built his castle, arrested and beheaded John the Baptist.

Some of the blue is the Dead Sea!

My friend from AU, Sabreen and I at the top of the mountain!

We also went to a city called Madaba, which has one of the largest Christian populations in Jordan. There, we went into an old church, which has the oldest mosaic map of the Holy Land:

It was all very cool and interesting! We saw many pilgrims on our trip, including some amish-Americans (ok I don't know if they were amish, but they had on amish looking clothes) on the Israeli bank of the Jordan River. I felt like all of my years at Catholic school were put to good use, as I could fully grasp the significance of many of the sights we visited.


Okay, Abby, so you have clearly talked about religion as a tourist....what is this whole lifestyle thing you mention?

Well for starts, how about the call to Prayer, 5 times a day? Walking around the city, hearing singing and knowing that everyone else hears it as well, and many of those people will soon be praying. I will admit, sometimes waking up at 5am to the call to prayer is irritating, but overall it's a touching display of devotion to God, the same God I spent all those years learning about.

How about going to school on Sunday, but not Friday? I know it's normal on this side of the world, but to me it's a reminder everyday that 'Holy Day' is not universal to every religion. I realize when I sleep in on Friday and wake up on Sunday that my religion and culture's definition of Holy Day is a day of rest and relaxation, but here it is a day of prayer and devotion (and shopping at the market).

Finally, how about when I went to the Culture Club activity on Thursday at CIEE and we did Henna and wore Hijabs?

I felt so covered. It is such an apt description. At first, because of how it was wrapped, the cloth pressed against my ears, so my voice sounded different and the sound reverberated in my ears. I also was mindful of if my hair was showing or not, and because of this I tended to turn my whole body to talk to people, instead of just my neck and head.
But the most interesting part of it all was when I went outside with the Hijab on. Now every day, I am stared at and cat called, mostly by young men. Harmless, yes, but really annoying. For me, though, it's annoying mostly because I can't say something back to them to stop it. In America (and if you've ever gone out with me, you know this) if men start cat calling me, I will yell back and tell them to stop it, it's disrespectful, there is nothing about my appearance that gives them the right to think they can say anything they want to me.

Here, that would insult the guys and then I would be in a tough situation. So I have to bite my tongue. But on Thursday, I was covered. Only my face and hands were visible. And those guys who normally say something to me, well.....they were silent. Nothing. In fact, some even averted their eyes, to not offend the honor of this covered woman.

To say the least, it was an impromptu social experiment I've wanted to try out for so long, even before coming to Jordan. I was surprised by how free I actually felt in it...I could walk without fear of being called out after and the taxi driver didn't talk to me at all (normally they will talk to me, nothing rude, but sometimes it feels awkward). But, I was dis-concerned at the idea of hiding such an obvious part of my appearance to feel free.

I'm glad I have the opportunities to try things like this out though, it helps me understand where I'm living the people who surround me all day that much more. So, so far, no regrets on my study abroad decision :)

Trippin in the Desert

Look! I'm in the desert! 

So last weekend, CIEE took students who signed up, on a trip to the south of Jordan: Wadi Rum and Petra. Wadi Rum is a famous, large desert in Jordan, full of dunes, mountains, and Bedouin tribes. The Bedouin are the nomadic peoples of Jordan, who still live in camel skin tents, ride camels, shepherd sheep and goats etc..

So Friday morning we went off to Wadi Rum. On our way, though, I witnessed a goat crossing: 

We got to the Visitor's Center around lunchtime, so we ate and watched a quick film on Wadi Rum. After we went outside and  took pictures of our first glimpse of the desert! We were able to see the "7 Pillars of Wisdom," which if you've seen Lawrence of Arabia (I have not, so I'm taking peoples word for this), I guess it was featured prominently:

We were then taken to some Toyota 4 by 4's, with benches installed on the back, so that 6 people could sit there, while our drivers took us around the desert. We first stopped at this large dune and climbed up to get our first view of the desert from above:

 

After this, we went to another dune/mountain and climbed around for awhile. Yes, there was lots of climbing and hiking on this trip (I was sore for days after). The view was really beautiful, and it was so fun to just climb around in the desert! 

Well, after this is when the trip starting getting interesting (and colder). We drove a little while longer to a spot where Bedouins were waiting for us, with camels. Now, this is my first time riding a camel. I didn't realize how  enormous these animals are! Standing next to my camel, which was crouched on the ground, it's back was as high as my chest. I had no idea how I was supposed to get on this animal, and my Bedouin leader (the camels were strung together in groups of two or three, with a Bedouin on the ground leading it) was helping my friends. So I swung my leg over, awkwardly....

I grabbed onto the hold on the saddle (I guess you could call if it a saddle?), and tried to hoist myself all the way over. In the meantime, my friends behind me were already on their camels. So the leader got their camels to stand up. My camel decided that this was also the time she should stand up. Me? I was still halfway off, with one foot on the ground. So please picture this scenario:

Camel standing six feet tall in the air. Me halfway on the animal, screaming/laughing for dear life, as I'm dangling sideways. Our Bedouin leader rushed over, and I desperately pulled myself the rest of the way up, but still feeling extremely off balance.So the next hour and half or so, I clung onto my camel, praying she wouldn't buck me off. After awhile, I was handed the reigns, so I clung to those also, while adding an extra prayer that she wouldn't run off now that her handler was out of sight. Thankfully, nothing more traumatizing happened. I would definitely try out camels again, but maybe this time, without the rocky beginning. 

But we had arrived safe and sound to the Bedouin camp where we were to stay the night. Of course 'Bedouin' here means 'Egyptians running a tourist Bedouin camp in the middle of the desert.' Same thing right? Anyway, we all put our stuff in our tents, which were equipped with beds, matresses, and blankets. Afterwards, we hiked up the mountain next to the camp to witness a desert sunset:

The rest of the night was spent drinking tea, hanging out with friends, complaining about how cold it was getting, and smoking hookah. My friends and I started to wander outside of the camp a little bit, but they turned the lights off, and woooow does the desert all look the same, especially at night! So we turned around and got changed into our layers and layers of clothes for the night. I had on two pairs of socks, leggings, flannel pajama pants, underarmor, a tank top, a long sleeved shirt, and a sweater. Then I snuggled underneath 3 thick blankets. The result?

No sleep. It was still extremely cold, and my body just could not relax in those conditions. So, minimal sleep was had and we all awoke bright and early, at 6:30 am the next morning to head off to Petra, the ancient city carved  into mountains!

Petra was pretty much alot of walking and examining both man made wonders, and natural wonders in the mountains:

En Route to the city

The famous Treasury! 

Oh god, another camel

I had an extreme obsession with how blue the sky was! 

Some of the natural beauty 

Halfway up the 900 steps, to see the monastery 

Monastery! 

Like I said, there was soo much walking involved, I was sore for days after. But it was totally worth it. Easily the best weekend I've had here. Even though I was a tourist for all of it, the experience I had in the desert was so much fun and I got to see so much, so many wonders that America can't even try to offer (or Europe for that matter).

Now it's back to school. I also have an internship with an organization called 'Reclaim Childhood' which runs sports programs for Iraqi and Palestinian (and now Syrian) refugee girls. I'm excited to work with them and contribute as much as I can!