So I just realized today that it's been over a week since my last post and I should probably update everyone on how I am. I'm now in my second week of school and have started to settle into the rhythm of life here. As someone who tends toward routines, I've quickly figured out just how long it takes me to get up and get to school, who has free time when I do, and where I can go to have access to the internet on a regular basis. On the subject of internet, not having constant access to the internet has been frustrating at times, but has definitely made me appreciate it when I do get it. I've also been able to focus on where I am, instead of being distracted by the usual array of internet-based diversions.
Despite a cloudy and momentarily rainy day last wednesday, the rest of the week and through this weekend was really hot. Even my host family has been complaining that it's been unseasonably warm. In addition, the other day I came outside to walk home and was shocked to find everything outside shrouded in mist. Unfortunately, as I discovered after taking a breath of rather rocky-tasting air, it wasn't mist at all, but a cloud of fine dust that had settled over the city. It wasn't like the dust storms you see in movies with high winds and biting sand, it was just like a fog, which ended up drifting through open windows and leaving a fine layer over everything in my host family's living room. The hot, dry air has been leaving many of us Americans exhausted and dehydrated, to the point that a girl passed out momentarily in my Arabic class sunday afternoon. I've been downing around 4 or 5 liters of water a day and still feel a little dried out at times.
Saturday evening I was able to join a group of other CIEE students and visit a local church called the Amman International Church. The service was in English and the congregation was full of both Americans and Jordanians. The church is nondenominational and I was pleasantly surprised by the number of students in my program that showed up. Afterwards, some of us got together and decided to figure out a time when we can all get together during the week for a Bible study or fellowship of some kind. It's been really nice to find some unexpected Christian community here where I was expecting a rather isolated semester.
In terms of my classes, this semester could end up being just as challenging as a semester at Georgetown. Though I didn't think it possible, I have about twice as many contact hours in Arabic classes as I have in a regular semester of intensive Arabic at Georgetown. In addition, it seems that the two area studies courses that I've chosen are the two most reading- and research-intense classes offered by my program. While my Conflicts in the Middle East class has a lot of reading, the rest of the workload won't be too bad and I'm really looking forward to the discussions we'll be having. My other class, International Relations and Diplomacy in the Middle East, has even more reading and the professor has spent significant time teaching at American universities, so he has high standards and expects a lot from us. In both classes, I'll have to write a significant research paper in addition to presentations on topics of my choosing.
I'm also really excited about this weekend. All CIEE students get thursday off from class so we can leave for a weekend of touring and camping in the desert of southern Jordan. We'll get to see Wadi Rum where Lawrence of Arabia was filmed; Petra, the city carved into solid rock and immortalized in movies such as Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Transformers 2; and Aqaba, Jordan's beach resort city and only port on the Red Sea. I promise I will bring my camera and get some good pictures to post here.
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