photos of my new place

Welcome to my new apartment, it is in a very nice neighborhood near the University.

This is my new bedroom! Yay!

Roomies: (left to right) Me, David, Andrew

How do you like our other living room?



The following image pretty much describes the difference in culture between what I'm used to and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan:

So the other day I saw a music video, 4 chicks wearing tight clothes and singing, kinda like the Pussycat Dolls, but more covered up. Each of them singing individually with a guy there. The guy is not paying attention in any of the scenes, but in each scene the girl is either with a vacuum, mop, iron, or kitchen utensils. Basically, the song was about how the husbands don't pay attention to them, and the women were complaining.

Compare that to any given American group--half naked women dancing up on guys whose names they don't even know, let alone that they are married to. I feel that here, young people who are married see their wives sort of as how we would see a girlfriend at the same age, except for the whole permanence thing. The dust-graffiti is a perfect example, and I discussed this with the people that I was out with, we thought maybe in the States it would have said "I wish my girl was this dirty" or even better "I wish my ho was this dirty."

So here I am, in the Gloria Jean's Cafe across Madina Street, just near our apartment. We're in a really convenient part of town, and it's easy to get the wifi here--although it's slow, but for some reason does not lag on Skype. I'm doing my best to stay in touch, and now I have a more stable source of doing that. We're pretty close to the University, 3 minutes taxi and 30 minutes walking. Side note, this city was not made for walking in, especially with the erratic driving and lack of sidewalks/crosswalks. You kind of have to improvise. But either way, everything I need is closeby, and if I want to get somewhere else, there is an abundance of taxis on Madina Street or Garden's Street, which is just another minute's walk. Dwar Waha, my new neighborhood. Enjoy the rest of the pictures of my apartment!

--Ibrahim

hami

Well today was really hot, and I think you say that hami. That's also sexy, I believe, very taboo for a nice girl to be saying that to a boy here. The gender norms are definitely something to get used to here. A lot less for me to remember than for the ladies here. Some places are more Western, and you can tell just by looking around, but there are plenty of places that you can tell the local expectations apply.

The university is interesting because there are all kinds of cultural expressions--political t-shirts, ladies with hijabs, ladies in tank tops, men in traditional clothes, men in tight jeans. It's pretty cool, and a really nice campus. Helwe.

We had a scavenger hunt today, and I really liked my group. One girl was a rower, which was really fun. We found one of the only ergs in Jordan--it was crap, but it was an erg! It was a long, hot, and tiring day, as we walked forever in the wrong direction to find this random gym that anybody who makes less than a shitload of money would ever hear of. Well, between the heat and the walking and the hunger--we didn't eat lunch until later, as we wandered aimlessly--I became a bit blue.

It's not easy to feel Jewish here. I can talk to some of the participants about it. There are a few others as well--in fact, when I cut my hair a few people working with the program thought we were twins..you know..cause we all look the same. ;-) Well, there are so many things I am listening to that make a lot of things I have heard so much more human and understandable in a personal context. I have met dozens of Palestinians who live here, and some of them I am a bit close with but I still do not discuss my being Jewish. I discuss my travels to Israel with them, but I never speak too much about it. It's exactly what I've been looking for, this challenge to be a minority, against whom many prejudices exist here. It's not easy, it's sometimes really uncomfortable. Sometimes I think it would be easier to just cross the border and feel more comfortable, but that's a small voice which is completely drowned out by the desire and thirst to really endure and learn.

Learn what? Why am I here? I want to learn about this region from a truly different perspective, that is true. I want to see the looks on people's faces as they discuss these issues, hear the words that they use to retell history, and feel emotions with them as we go through it all. I want to learn Arabic. You know, I love learning languages, and this is a beautiful one with ancient roots. Speaking of roots, some of them are a bit easier to remember, thanks to my previously studying Greek... That's what we call it, you know, Greece, when we're discussing something in public. Some people get so confused, it's great.

Well, here's to a good night's sleep and finally learning tomorrow about where I'll be living for the next few months! L'chaim!

--Ibrahim

qa'ah!!

For those of you who do not know, qa'ah means classroom, and that is the word of the day. Study it:

قاعة

It is nice, and will be quite useful during my stay here in the great city of Amman, Jordan.

I want to backtrack a second to discuss something very important. King Hussein was a classy man. The Royal Automobile Museum? Very classy cars, Your Majesty! And motorcycles, for nice trips down to Aqaba. And desert rally cars. And rare sport cars, and classic Caddies, and Aston Martins that were rediscovered in shabby condition in Iraq years after they were lost, and so on. But not only was this a cool museum for the cars. It was also a sort of history of Jordan and its ruling family. Each car or automobile has a history or anecdote associated with it, which really adds value to the museum. I surely was not expecting that when we first entered.

A bit about the program, I like a lot of the participants. Great variety of people, from all over the US, one from Canada, with many reasons for being here and many backgrounds with Arabic--hamdulilah I'm not the only one who has no history. Though I'm picking up some colloquial phrases that are quite useful, I'm still such a beginner and cannot wait for our classes to start. For more than one reason. Yes, I want to learn Arabic, but for real, this orientation is killing me.

Today we learned everything that we cannot do. Shoot me! Travel restrictions... The program will not approve me to travel to Israel during the semester. The Jewish Brandeis student is forbidden by his program to travel to Israel, but permitted to go to Syria. I don't know if anyone else sees the irony in this, but... (Being Jewish in Amman talk to come later, not now, please)

Let's stay on a positive note, though. Once orientation is over and a certain person does not have this leash pulled so tight anymore, I will be relaxed and feel free enough to live in this city. We move into apartments on Friday, and I think I'll be staying with David--speculation based on the document that tells us of our housing appointments. He's a great guy, really easy going. We're in this hotel room together and neither of us can wait to get out because it's hard to feel like we can make a home for ourselves here while still staying in a hotel room!

Tonight, David and I went to Hani's hotel and he made a barbeque, it was really good food but he definitely made enough for about 10 more people than there were of us! He's such a nice guy, really takes care of us.

Well, tomorrow we have some scavenger hunt through the city, which should be nice hangout time with the people I'll be grouped with. That's all I'm going into now, and I'll be choosing classes soon so expect to hear some of that. Goodbye for now!

--Ibrahim

some recent highlights, HELWE!

Marhaban, my friends! I'm still enjoying myself very much, of course. This is a great city, I mean, after all, its ancient name was Philadelphia, right? Well, here I present some visual aids. Enjoy!


With Kathy and Hani on a night out in Amman, helwe katir!












Check out the path at the University, wowww!











One of the many enjoyable taxi rides in Amman, Jordan. Never a dull moment.











Me and Rasha, my new friend who works for the program, on the Mudaraj al-Roumani, the Roman Amphitheatre!








YAY PHILADELPHIA. Story: she suggested we run to the top of the steps, and I could not resist it. I felt like the ancient Roman Rocky! I explained this deeper significance to her, and we both agreed it was a rather momentous occasion.

More to come, people, as I have a massive surprise for everyone. Stay tuned!

--Ibrahim


UPDATE:

Check out some more photos. These include my visit to the Royal Automobile Museum as well as my FIRST HAIRCUT IN ONE YEAR TO THE DAY. 366 days since Shahar shaved my head, and well, it was time. Too much attention? A few interesting comments of what my hair might look like to most people? I don't know what tipped me over, but I do know that a lot of people really liked my hair and well, too bad for them! I told them they can buy it off me, hehe...

Enjoy the photos, and comments are great! Emails too!

SHUKRAN

My Arabic is progressing, shway shway!! Not really, but hey, I use whatever I know at any opportunity.

My apologies and correction: LISA TOLD ME THIS PLACE WAS AMAZING. I've been here now for 3 days and have fallen in love with a few areas.

The program is commencing. Everyone's been showing up today, and it's pretty nice. I met the directors and a bunch of other participants. Kathy and I went back to the University (which is beautiful, ahhhhh) and got some info at the Language Center for her--SHE'S STAYING. I'm so excited for us to spend time together this semester. And in Amman, no less!

Comment about having had one year of Hebrew classes. WELL, so I've already made a great friend from Nablus who LOVES to speak in Hebrew, loves it. My accent is slowly becoming more and more like his as we talk more. We talk about life, and thinking, and living.. it's great. For using very basic language, we got pretty deep.

I really look forward to the program getting started. I'm a bit concerned with feeling restricted by the organization, but I know that every policy they have is for a reason--and I'm going to be here after the program and can do whatever I want then, mwahaha.

I'm off, ciao to all. Stay in touch!

--Ibrahim

ahlan wa-sahlan

Amman, Jordan. Day 2. DUDE why didn't anyone tell me this place was so awesome? I'm here with Kathy, say hi Kathy "Hiii" and we're in a cafe on a balcony overlooking downtown Amman. It's a beautiful cafe, really nice place, we just ate here for lunch. Ordered too much though.

Anyway, I've been really enjoying my stay here so far. I know NO Arabic, but I'm shway shway learning. It's pretty hilarious. I introduce myself to just about everyone we know. "Ibrahim? This is Arabi name." The city is definitely more liberal than I anticipated, but surely more conservative in appearance than any city I've lived in before.

Taxis are definitely an experience, as we have had to exit a number of them because they either didn't understand where we wanted to go or because they refused to put on the meter. We had a ridiculous argument last night with a driver who insisted to charge us twice as much, so we told him with a laugh that we would pay him what we paid to get there. The three of us, Ali, Kathy, and myself, smiling and going back and forth about how much the cab would cost... Changing the subject to talk about Jordan and the cheap food, by the way the taxis are cheap too! It was pretty funny.

Another silly thing, you know those aluminum water bottles? Mine's dark grey and causes everyone to STARE because it looks like a bomb. Pretty much can't walk around with it unless I cover it or something...

I'm going to get going, program starts tomorrow, and I just wanted to get this blog started. I'm so happy to be here, and well, it's probably going to be a really difficult year.

Ma as-salameh (sp??)

-Ibrahim