Powered by Blogger.

A Day in the Life [Cliche Title for the Win]

by - 1:54 PM

I thought i'd take this moment to walk you through a day in the life in Amman, because contrary to popular belief, I don't ride a camel to school nor do I live in a dirt cave. My day begins by pressing the snooze button 10 times, waking up 30 minutes late, having my host mom try to feed me either a) Cake b) Betengan (pickled eggplant with various spices that should not be digested before 11 am) or c) pita with cheese, zatar, and olive oil. I usually go with option C, but option A is rather tempting. I then get a ride to school with either Ziad, or Ahmed, both my host brothers, but one thinks he's on The Fast and the Furious [and by that, I mean he will drive on the wrong size of the road instead of waiting to turn left, while simultaneously cutting between cars with one inch on either side]. I wish I were exaggerating. Once I get dropped off at the UJ campus, the staring begins. We have devised a walking system to avoid "the tunnel of doom" and other crowded spots on campus, because the amount of cat calls and stares one receives on a daily basis is comparable to how I imagine Shamu feels on Kids-go-to-Sea-World-for-free-day. The fact that i'm empathizing with a whale is probably a sign that I should be in bed right now. I then have 2 and a half hours of Modern Standard Arabic in a room that makes you feel like you're getting interrogated yet has some character to it, and is in good location for listening to Jordanian girls gossip outside. Depending on the day I have 1-2 more classes, none of which are interesting enough for me to talk about right now. After class, I'll usually go to an internet cafe run by a guy from LA, where they make the best $5 milkshake and $3 cup of plain black coffee you've ever had...but hey, the internet's fast, and you can find really interesting people there [aka, people holding hands, kissing, and doing other haram things that is way too amusing not to watch]...you know you're in the Middle East when seeing people hold hands turns into a rare and exciting experience. After being less-than-productive in the cafe, I usually venture back home and share a taxi with the American who lives next door. Taxi riding in Amman is an experience that deserves it's own blog post, but to say the least, there is never a dull moment...ever. I get dropped off at the bottom of a steep hill everyday and walk up to my house, burning off half a falafel ball. Greetings are a huge part of Arab culture, so as soon as I walk in the house I go through the routine, Marhaba! Keefik, al hamdulilah...and wait for my host mom to tell me to eat [go figure]. My 13 year old host sister will come out, and we'll usually lip-sync Taylor Swift or random Arabic songs in which she'll laugh at my accent, or we'll watch an episode of Spongebob in Arabic [listening to Spongebob say inshallah (god willing) is one of the greatest things ever]. Once all of my host brothers get home from work, there will be endless games of Fifa, talking on the phone to the family in Syria, and drinking mint tea on the patio. Life in Jordan is good, الحمد الله

You May Also Like

1 comments

  1. Catching up on your blog :)
    This is unbelievable!! You are amazing to go through this experience!! Much respect to you! I never had an opportunity like this when I was younger so take advantage of amazing opportunities when you can!!
    <3Angela

    ReplyDelete