Still Here....

So, I haven't updated in a while. It has been a busy couple of weeks. People keep having birthdays; so I have been Salsa dancing, out at fancy restaurants, 'movie night' at friend's apartments, and multiple Argila (sheehsa) bars. I have come down with a bad cold so I am not too fun right now, but they FINALLY split my giant class into 2, so things are looking up. Stuff in the apartment is going well. If anyone has good 1 pot-stove top recipes, feel free to share them. I don't know how much longer I can eat pita pizza and vegetable+cheese sandwiches....
The October water conference is now being held in Turkey. And today (insha allah) I will be getting a Syrian visa, so I will come home with all kinds of interesting stamps.
Hope all of you in Boston are surviving convention-mania. I have been watching CNN world and Al-Jazeera to find out what's going on.
That's all for now. Will try to write more soon...
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Another posting from the other side of the world. I don't know if these posts are coming up or not, so if you read something from after June 29, please let me know. Otherwise this whole thing was a big waste. Today I had my first little Imteehan (aka test). A dictation, which I didn't really spend too much time preparing for. So to make up for it, I will interject some Arabic words here and there.
We have the apartment- and it's pretty wonderful. 2 Choorfat noum (bedrooms), a Hamam (bathroom), Matbach (a kitchen), and a sitting porch area. It is totally furnished with dishes and pots and pans and a fan and ironing board. Now all we need is an Argilah (Hubble bubble) so we can have a big Hafla (party).
Tonight we are going back to the hotel we stayed at to hang out with the manager. He was really great about having us in his office for Ahwa (coffee) and Shay (tea) and making us speak in Arabic. He was also super helpful in getting us oriented and lent us a cell phone, but I finally bought my own so we need to return it.
Tomorrow morning we go to school at 7 am for a trip: Wadi Rum tomorrow, with an overnight in a Bedouin tent, then Saturday in Petra. One of my teachers is also the chaperone for all the trips, so he didn't give us any homework- good deal.
Ok- I am off to a cafe to do some work, then the grocery store.
Ma'salaama.

Salaam from jordan

I am attributing my lack of updating to a huge lack of Internet in this region of the world. And when it exists it’s VERY slow. Plus I am here to take classes and speak in Arabic, so I really have not done much reading or writing in Arabic. I’ve been here less than 2 weeks, but it kind of feels like forever. I am in level 2 at school, for people who can read and write, but not do much else. The program at the University of Jordan is about 100 people strong, and my class holds ¼ of it. Today, in shaalah, my sister and I will be moving into an apartment, in an area of Amman where there are a bunch of embassies, pharmacies, doctors, and plastic surgeons. So if you need anything done, you should come visit. It is still part of the city, but it’s a lot quieter. You can actually see stars, and walking around in the evening the air smells like night blowing Jasmine, instead of the dumpster/human excrement scent of downtown.
I will write more soon. Ori and I are sharing a cell phone, if you feel like calling. I am not sure of the country code (maybe 96?) but it is 079-667-6781
The best thing to do to be in touch is email me, but keep in mind that don’t check too often. Hope all is well. And vote Kerry/Edwards!!