What is normal?

I have not been on any exciting trips or done anything monumental since I last posted, but this was the first week I was able to Skype my parents and not cry through the whole hour because of frustrations and homesickness. And that, is pretty exciting and monumental.

I’m finally feeling adjusted to the fact that this is my life and this is my home. When I leave the apartment in the morning and try to catch a taxi, it feels normal. When I do get a taxi, I don’t struggle to say, “University of Jordan, please” (in Arabic of course). When I go to Falafel Man for lunch, I know how to order my falafel sandwich, with the spicy sauce. When I want to go to a coffee shop and do homework, I know how to get to four different ones. When I’m thirsty and want to chug my bottle of water, I know to think about when the next time I’ll be around a bathroom with toilet paper is. When I want to use the internet, I know I have to wait until I go home or to a coffee shop. Looking back, I’m not sure what I expected Jordan to be like, but I think I overlooked how much these little things would affect me. It’s taken me much longer to adjust than I expected and the thought, “Why aren’t you comfortable yet?!,” has only added to the frustration.

I’ve found myself comparing this experience to my experience in Zambezi, Zambia last summer. Despite the fact that the population of Amman is close to three million and the population of Zambezi was a couple thousand, at most, I’ve found myself comparing the cities often. When I left for Zambia, I knew that internet access would be limited, toilets would be sparse and not very nice, the showers would be cold and I would not be able to just drive to the store if I needed to pick something up. When I left for Amman, I was aware of the fact that it would not necessarily be as easy as being in Spokane, but I think the fact that I would be in a huge city somehow made it hard for me to believe that these amenities wouldn’t exist. This city is huge, they have to be somewhere right? And the truth is, they are, you just have to look a lot harder for them. Simply stated, when I went to Zambia, I was ready to go without internet, bathrooms and hot water but I was not ready when I came to Jordan.

Another aspect that affected my Zambia experience that I did not have when I arrived in Jordan was a support system. The group that I travelled to Africa with was and still are some of my best friends. I arrived in Amman completely alone. Alone, alone, alone. I have gone on trips or to camps alone before; I arrived at Gonzaga without knowing a soul. But somehow this was different. The culture shock my past experiences lacked was out in full force here and I did not have people to turn to. The relationships I needed obviously aren’t formed overnight and now, a month into my time in Jordan, I finally feel as if I’ve created some of those meaningful relationships. This adds a lot to feeling established here.

I can’t say what the next few months will hold and how I will feel when I leave this place, but I can say with confidence that for now, I’m enjoying where I’m at.

I was able to visit the King Hussein mosque in Amman. A small group of about 15 went and we needed to get royal permission to do so. The place is beautiful and they don't want it to become a tourist attraction which is why we needed special permission. 

The imam sang a call to prayer just for us. It was beautiful.

All the girls in the special room where women pray.
We weren't allowed on the premises without covering our heads. 

I made cookies with my host mom one day. It was definitely not like cooking at home but they were possibly some of the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever had, probably because I haven't had anything like it in so long. 

Finally, some of the crew who helped me celebrate my birthday. I thought I was just going out to dinner with 4 or 5 people but they surprised me and had almost 20 people come out. It was really nice and made me miss my family and friends a little bit less. 

Wadi Rum and Petra

I had the most incredible weekend and got to see a couple of the amazing landmarks Jordan is famous for. Pictures will do more than my words ever could yet they will never be able to completely convey the feel of the wind on my face and sand in my toes or the smell of the air and the panoramic beauty of rocks and sand that surrounded me. 

But! I will do my best to give a rundown of our weekend. We left from the University early Friday morning and headed to Wadi Rum. Wadi Rum is a desert area and a great place to camp or go rock climbing. Historically, it’s significant because it is the area T.E. Lawrence was based in during the Arab Revolt in 1916 and 1917. A rock formation was named “The Seven Pillars of Wisdom," which is also the name of a book he wrote, in his honor. We had lunch then went for a ride in the back of a truck for a couple hours. They stopped a few times for us to run (or trudge) through the sand and climb to the top of a few lookout points. Suddenly, we came around a corner and there were at least 50 camels waiting for us. It was so cool. As soon as we clambered out of the trucks the men who owned the camels came running over to us and pulled us to their individual camels. Each man had between two and four camels that he appeared to be in charge of. We rode the camels for about an hour to our campsite for the night. The ride was really fun but camels are not very comfortable so it was the perfect amount of time.

They advertise the camp we stayed at as a typical Bedouin camp. The Bedouin are native herders that live in the desert and are always on the move. Before the urbanization of Jordan, the majority of people were traditional Bedouins and lived in the desert. Today, the number of true Bedouins is much smaller but many people consider themselves Bedouin. This is a fact they are all very proud of, but they are not living the typical Bedouin lifestyle today. It is because that is what their grandparents or great-grandparents did. Anyway, this Bedouin camp was a five-star Bedouin camp. They had bathrooms with flush toilets, warm water and tiled showers. Nevertheless, it was a great experience and the sunset that night was incredible.

Beautiful Wadi Rum.
This is the "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" rock.

Hannah, myself, Anna Mae

Climbing...it's harder than it looks.

Really, really, really old carvings in the rock. If you look closely you can see camels.

Our 4x4 crew:
Alex, our driver whose name was Camel, Becca, Hannah, myself, Hannah and Anna Mae

Me and Anna Mae with our Jordanian scarves. The scarves used to just be used for protection from the weather. Today the different colors serve as a marker as to what country you're from. Jordanians typically wear the red and white with a few wearing beige and white. The other prominent one in Jordan is black and white which is for Palestinians. 

The view from my camel.

I equated the camels in Jordan with the elephants in Zambia...you can never have too many pictures. 

My camel. We named him Aladin...his real name was Allaheen. Ironically similar. 

The sunset was incredible. 

Sunrise. Equally impressive.

In the morning we woke up early and began the drive to Petra. Many people have seen pictures of the treasury at Petra but the actual extent of the city that is still there is amazing! There is so much to explore you could spend three days there and not see it all. Another cool fact is that they (scientists, archaeologists, etc.) think that more than half of Petra has been destroyed or is underground. Both of these are the result of a few large earthquakes. It's nearly impossible to wrap your mind around what Petra was like in its prime because it is just so incredible. We were able to hike up to a lookout above the monastery. It was awesome. You could see for what seemed like forever. The weather was incredible that day too; we could not have asked for anything better. I wanted to spend hours and hours up on that spot but we had to get back to the bus to return to Amman.

Our first view of the Treasury. You can hardly see it, then you come around a corner...

And this is your view. It's amazing.

Alex, Nick, Hannah, Hannah, Anna Mae, myself, Alex

The expanse of Petra is almost hard to wrap your mind around. It used to be the center of the trading world and the developments they had for their time are mind blowing.

Not quite to the top but the view was too good to pass up. 

This is my new friend Emily. She goes to Santa Clara which is in the same conference as Gonzaga.
When we met her first response was, "Ooo, you're our rival!" My response, "We're everyone's rival."

Made it!

The monastery. See that little dot in the black rectangle? That's me.

It all added up to an incredible weekend that I will never forget. Jordan has some amazing sights to see; if you ever get the opportunity to visit, don’t pass it up!