First Days of School

So, I seem to have covered the "abroad" part pretty well, now for the "study."  Yesterday (sunday) was the first day of classes, and even though I only had one, it turned out to be quite a day.  I'm lucky enough to live within walking distance of the University of Jordan, though some of you might dispute that if you saw the 30-minute hike that's involved.  Amman is a very hilly city, filling the valleys (or wadis) between the mountains on the east side of the Great Rift Valley (through which the Jordan River flows) as they peter off into the desert.  The city was not built to be very walker-friendly.  The spread of the city and the plentiful supply of taxis make sidewalks a pretty low priority, so I try to stick to quiet, residential streets as much as possible to make my way to the closest gate into the university.  Once inside the gate, the atmosphere changes completely.  Built on one of the few patches of forested land in the area of Amman, the University of Jordan campus is covered in pine trees (pretty pitiful ones by NorCal standards) and has very little vehicle traffic.  On campus, there are many girls who wear the hijab, or scarf covering the hair and neck, that most people associate with Islam and some even wear a niqab, or veil covering the whole face except for the eyes.  However, there are also many girls who wear no head covering and dress in western styles, though certainly not in the more revealing ones you'd find on an American college campus.

Yesterday, I only had one class, but it was a marathon session of Modern Standard Arabic, or fus'haa, that lasted just under 3 hours.  I have just this one 3-hour class on sundays, tuesdays, and thursdays.  This morning, I had my first Jordanian Colloquial, or 'ammiyya, class, which will be a big help in understanding and being able to communicate with my host family.  This afternoon, I have two classes: Conflicts in the Middle East, and Diplomacy and International Relations in the Middle East.  Both of these are taught in English by local professors specifically hired by CIEE (the company organizing my program) for their expertise and experience teaching Americans.  Because of this structure, all of my classes will be with other American students only, but held on the university campus in the same facilities used by local students.  Between classes, I can use a phenomenal study center located just across the street from the main gate of the university.  There is free internet access and plenty of quiet, comfortable study space, all provided by a local businessman as a service to University of Jordan students.  In a pretty cool example of leapfrogging technology, access to the study center, called TAGKS (we just call it "tags") is by fingerprint recognition.  Registration is free, so it's a popular spot for CIEE students, as most people don't have internet in their homestays.

Classes so far have been pretty relaxed, being in the first week, and schedules are potentially still up in the air.  For now, it's just nice to have something to do and somewhere to be as opposed to playing tourist or just hanging around the house.