slowly but surely

• New favorite thing to do after I get home after a long day: wash my feet.
• I am beginning to like coffee.
• Tonight I looked at the bowl of fruit on the kitchen table and noticed something different. The bananas where big! That is, they were the same size as in the U.S., but it was different because I have gotten use to the "mini" size of most of the bananas in Amman.
• Earlier today I played some soccer, the national sport of Jordan, with some Jordanian friends. Actually, as far as I could tell, one of my friends from the exchange program and I were the only Americans present in the entire facility.
• As of tonight, I have used the bus system three times in the past week. Statistics: 2 out of 3 successful—only one of them was on a route to a different city. Don’t fret though, I am 100% successful getting home at night.

I guess all this goes to show that I am really "experiencing" the culture. I am a tourist and will continue to be one for the duration of the semester, but learning the "local" way of life really contributes to learning like nothing else can.

Since it has been such a long time since my last post, I obviously have a lot to comment on.
Here is a quick synopsis:

Sept 30-Oct 2: Golden Triangle Tour
Everyone on the program took a three day trip through Southern Jordan.
Day 1 we spent at Wadi Dana Nature Reserve. This land begins over 3000ft above sea level and goes down to 200ft below sea level. The view was awesome and camping in a tent topped it off.
Day 2 we took the bus to Shobak Castle which was one of the first Crusader castles in the region. It was really cool to see the history.
We then continued our trip south to Wadi Rum. This is a vast desert, so the only way 120 of us could see it was by a two hour 4X4 truck tour followed by a two hour camel ride. We then spent the night in a Bedouin camp where we learned a traditional Jordanian dance around a campfire and watched a mock wedding.
Day 3 we made our way to Petra. First thing that comes to mind when many people think of Petra is Indiana Jones. Now I suppose this is cool, but there is so much more to it. It is an ancient city that served as a strategic and important location for both the Silk Road and the Spice Road. The architecture and ingenuity of these ancient people is astounding.
After Petra we drove back home to Amman.

Oct 3-Oct 7: Amman
Yep, I was in Amman. Big surprise. My classes continued but it was an extra long week after our long trip.

Oct 8: Ajloun and Jerash
Two of my friends and I traveled to the north to see what we could find. First we had to navigate our way to the bus station in Amman where we found a bus that costs 90 piasters (cents) to ride the 45minutes/1hour to Ajloun.
Ajloun has another Crusader Castle which we got to tour. Actually, a tour guide gave us a tour which was well worth the negotiated 1.5JD.
We then walked down the hill the castle sits upon. Along the way we ran into a friendly man who just so happens to be from Bend, OR. Small World.
Had lunch in Ajloun then bargained for the cheapest taxi ride to neighboring Jerash.
Jerash is a modern city build around and on an Ancient Roman City. Jerash is said to have the biggest and best preserved Roman ruins outside of Italy. And I got to say, it was impressive.
Warning for those who may wish to visit: don't accept seemingly private tours from kind people who seem to just be hanging out. They will show you some really cool and interesting stuff, but they will ask for money when you try to leave. This seems obvious, but sometimes you just get pulled into it.

Oct 9-Oct 12: Amman
Back at school. Studying some Arabic and practicing it on the street. Some people in my Arabic class are frustrated that we are moving so fast. Personally, I like the pace. I will leave it at that.
For my other classes, I'm learning about Islam in the Modern Context and America and the Arabs. Actually, for my America and the Arabs, Jordanian students came to our class this week so we could discuss different topics. Next week is a debate.

Oct 13: Today!
Alarm went off; I lay in bed not wanting to get up; finally got up; ate breakfast; went to class.
*Quick note: I have a peer tutor whom I meet with three hours a week and practice Arabic.
Anyways, I met my peer tutor, his brother and friend then we went to play some soccer. We started off kicking the ball around then of course a real team with real uniforms showed up and kicked everyone off so they could practice. I didn’t want to complain too much because I’m sure they could beat me any day even though the majority of them were maybe in eighth grade and quite a few even younger. But after the practice we were challenged to a game (not from the "official" team, but a random group). From there we played about 4 hours of soccer “king of the court” (winner stays, loser goes).

And that leads me to here. It is night and I am tired. Goodnight.