9/23/2022 0 Comments dead SeaA vacation desperately needed! On Friday, Brittany and the boys and I went to the Dead Sea, which was only 45 minutes away from us. Dr. Bayan was amazing and reserved hotel rooms for us to stay the night at this really fancy hotel. We got there around noon, checked in, and headed straight out to the pool. The four of us hopped in the pool and swam up to the pool bar which was something I feel like you only see on those fancy Beach commercials. It was great having the opportunity to hang out with everyone outside of the school context. It was also amazing to be back in the water, I missed pools and the ocean. We hung out at the bar/in the pool for a good while and became good friends with our bartender- Odai. He was really nice and took care of us the whole weekend! After awhile in the pool we headed down to the beach access, through two sketchy elevators :(, and made it to the Dead Sea. We ran down the sand like children and hopped into the water. Only when we got in the water, we began to float effortlessly, it was the strangest feeling!! Unfortunately you're not supposed to stay in the water for a long time, so we headed out after about 10 minutes, and went to this big bowl that had the Dead Sea mud harvested by the hotel. We let it sit for a bit, then headed back into the water to let it wash away. Your skin feels so soft afterwards!! We relaxed for awhile, then headed up to the shower and made sure to wash it off as best we could. Then we headed back up to the hotel room and got ready for dinner. The hotel was very Westernized so we were able to wear strappy dresses. Brittany and I had a lot of fun getting ready, playing music and doing our makeup. Once we were ready the sunset looked so beautiful outside on our balcony so we took some pictures. We met up with Jona and Joseph afterwards and headed up to their rooftop bar for happy hour! We chilled here for awhile until it got dark, then headed down to the outdoor Lebanese restaurant for dinner. They had incredible food, a great singer/band, fireworks, and a fire show guy! It felt very special and a great way to blow off some steam after weeks of classes. We all had a blast and just relaxed. The next day, we realized none of us took photos in the Dead Sea the day before, so we headed down early in the morning and rotated going into the water. It was very relaxing starting the day just relaxing in the sea doing a mud bath. After we headed back up to the hotel rooms to shower off all the Dead Sea-ness. Brittany and I checked out early and left our bags at the desk so we could just hang out at the pool as long as we wanted. The boys wanted to head back early... I don't know why you would want to leave PARADISE early!!... so they left without us and we headed back in the afternoon with the group of undergrads that had gone just for the day. Brittany and I hung out by the pool with our bartender Odai, laid out on the pool chairs, did a noodle exercise class, and just enjoyed the calm. It was such a great weekend and helped us all take a nice break from work and school.
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9/16/2022 0 Comments Camp Fire NightTonight was a major night to remember. Every weekend, and many nights during the week, the homestay family's kids will come over with their kids. The house is almost always noisy, which is fun to experience coming from a small family. Even though Brittany and I don't speak Arabic, we sit with them outside often and its really nice to just observe a very loving family. They're really nice too and their daughter Jasmine speaks in English with us often, giving great advice on places to visit nearby and shopping tips.
Back to tonight. The family is over like usual, with both the two children of the homestay parents, and all their many kids playing. Brittany and I are hanging out with the women on one side of the patio relaxing on the, slightly, chilly evening. When we start to smell smoke! Well on the other patio, our homestay dad and one of the husbands had started a fire in their firepit. Anyone who knows me, knows I LOVE a good fire! So of course we run over and sit on the couch and watch the fire for awhile. Then dad brings out a big wok, and starts to cook chicken over the fire, then potatoes, and soon there fresh chicken masala! Soon after the meal is done, everyone gathers around (the much tinier) patio to eat. We all help pull chairs around the small table with food, filling and passing plates around. There was about 11 of us all crowded around in this small area, eating, laughing, and having such a fun time. It was such a foundational moment for my time here that I hope to remember for a long time, just really feeling a part of the life of this family and enjoying each others' company. We each ate a ton! Homestay dad kept telling us to eat and eat, and we did!! Ugh it was so good! He promised he would cook over the fire more if I helped with building the fire and Brittany helped prepare the food. We said you got a deal!! The whole moment just felt so special. I really appreciate the care and love our homestay family has shown us in the mere 3 weeks we have been here. It will be very difficult leaving in December. 9/15/2022 0 Comments Girls Shopping DayOn our day off we planned a girls shopping trip to some of the malls and downtown with the women in the SIT office. Unfortunately everyone couldn't come, but Brittany and I had so much fun with Farah (in the blue jacket), one of the office workers and our Arabic teacher! She is so warm and a joy to talk to everyday! We started with her taking us to downtown Amman, which was crazy busy!! There were so many stores and different places to duck in to find even more stores. We first stopped in this beauty store, where Brittany and I bought head scarves and hijabs so that we can be covered when visiting with refugees (to improve their comfortability with us). Farah was so excited to see us in the hijabs and took many photos (that I don't have yet). It felt special for her to share this part of her culture with us and hype us up to get the right colors to "make our eyes pop". Then we walked down the never-ending street and popped into a bunch of clothing places, though we didn't really find anything that quite suited us. While we forgot to stop for knafa, we did get some juice drinks from a street vendor to help with the heat.
After about 2 hours of walking around downtown, we left and went to Mecca mall, the land of many deals!! Mecca mall is 5 stories, that twist and turn with so many stores! Farah took us around to all of her favorite stores. We had a blast shopping around, about every store had 70% off sales because they're switching everything over to winter. After shopping another two hours we were all insanely hungry and went to the 4th level with all of the food. I can confirm they have Popeyes, KFC, Hardees, and McDonalds (it's pronounced mAcdonalds here). I went to a place called "Crispy Chicken" and got a chicken shawarma wrap. We chitchatted and ate for awhile, Farah is becoming a very good and close friend! Afterwards Farah had to leave, and Brittany and I stayed for awhile and kept shopping. Below are photos of the outfits we bought and then wore on Sunday back at school. I am in love with these bootcut pants that flare, they're stretchy and soooo comfortable!! In total we shopped for 6 hours! It felt like the early 2000's where we walked around malls, chit chatting and shopping for hours. 9/14/2022 0 Comments Pancake"Ladies, gentlemen and those who have yet to make up your minds" (Kinky Boots), let me introduce you to our new homestay kitty... PANCAKE!! Pancake is an adorable little lady who is very playful, but she knows not to scratch or bite too hard. At first the other mama cat wasn't very accepting of Pancake, but we think because she is still a kitten the mama cat is fine with her being in the homes' garden as well. Pancake loves to try to play with the other kittens but they're still much smaller than her and get afraid of her. I seem to be one of her main caretakers, though Noor (a lovely woman who lives and works in the home) loves cats and feeds them. Every morning now I go outside and she wakes up from the little heart pillow cushion our homestay dad put out, and she sleeps in my arms for a bit. She follows Brittany and I outside as we wait for our Uber and makes sure we get to school safe. Coming back in the afternoon she runs and greets us most days when she hears us, then she and I lay on the rocking chair and do homework or read for a bit. It's become a wonderful routine and something that has really grounded me. We talk with the homestay about how she really came into all of our lives at a time we needed it, because they had just lost one of their favorite cats who looked and acted just like Pancake. She is a gift! 9/9/2022 0 Comments Night on the townTonight the guys invited us to their area of Amman where we went bar-hopping a bit and just hung out. Their area is right near Rainbow Street, with all of the best bars and restaurants. We started the night at La Calle, where they do 50% off Happy Hour until 8pm. We headed up to the third level which was outside and had an incredible view of the city. They had sooo many drinks, even a Blue Hawaiin with blue curacao (which anyone who knows me knows I'm a slave for malibu and blue curacao!!). Brittany got a long island electric, it was blue and we're not really sure what it was haha. Joseph got a bourbon and Jona had a vodka cranberry. We each had second drinks because...happy hour! Price of one for two drinks! It was a lot of fun just hanging out with them and having a drink, it felt very American and natural to just chill outside with a drink. Brittany and I also split a round of mac-and-cheese balls which were soooooooooo tasty! Had a bit of an Elon moment with them (shoutout to my Elon besties).
Afterwards we headed down Rainbow Street in search for our second spot, and stopped to take a few photos throughout (seen below). We didn't find a bar that was open/busy that we wanted to go to (it was only 7pm on a Wednesday) so we headed down a few streets and found this cool place called Copas Central, which was also doing a happy hour special. Here I got a strawberry margarita which was okay, not the best I've had, and Brittany and Joseph each got red Sangrias that they enjoyed! Throughout the night we just hung out, talked about ourselves more and continue to get to know each other. Brittany and I are very extroverted, and both the boys are very introverted. But Joseph and Jona have both been opening up more with us. They're really great guys and I feel so lucky to be on this program with them, they make us feel very safe and comfortable with them. It feels special each time they ask us to hang out, because Brittany and I are always worried we're the ones pushing to hang out. But they really do like hanging out with us too. This group is definitely much better than my study abroad group, with all of us having the same interests in human rights and wanting to explore Jordan. When we were done at Copas Central, the boys headed home and Brittany and I went back to Rainbow Street to grab some sweets. We stopped at Rawan Cake. I got the basic cheesecake with cherry, and Brittany got an oreo mouse cheesecake. Both were so freaking delicious, especially after a few drinks haha. All in all, it was a really great night, and has made me so excited for more nights on the town with this incredible group of people that I feel so lucky to be a part of! 9/4/2022 0 Comments Jerash BeautyToday we traveled one hour through Amman to Jerash, one of the best preserved Roman cities in the world! Upon arrival, Brittany and I bought head-scarves to cover our heads and show respect to the ancient city and culture (I got blue, of course!). Walking into the city was like walking backwards in time, trying to imagine all of the people that once lived and worked here. We kept joking that one of the large main areas looked like the market place out of the Hercules movie! Throughout we walked through aged stones that showed old paths marked in them where heavy cart-wheels would have been pushed in 7500 – 5500 BC. Much of the architecture had been covered underground for thousands of years, later excavated and restored starting in the 1920's, thus allowing for many of the streets and buildings to be in the shape it is. Our tour-guide told us that much of the structure damage to fallen pillars occurred during a major earthquake in late 790 AD. We walked into the Senate amphitheater and I just tried to imagine all of the people and politics that were discussed there thousands of years ago. It felt incredibly special to be able to walk the streets and take in this beautiful site of history in Jordan. A definite must-see if you come!!
9/3/2022 0 Comments WEek 1 wrap-upWhat a first week in Jordan, median temperature of the week was 100 degrees!!! It was a whirlwind of activities, but it finally feels like things are calming down as school starts. Tuesday 8/30: Today included our first field-visit. We had a presentation by Dr. Aghadeer Jweihan at the Princess Taghrid Institute. The Princess Taghrid program assists orphans whose mother or father were unknown, or were abandoned, thus leaving them without a family name once they are 18 leaving the orphanage system. Dr. Jweihan, along with a staff of volunteers, assist these women in 4 main categories: after care/psychological care, those with learning disabilities (the Center for special needs in Amman), the women empowerment hub, and sustainability in running their lives. They are an incredible NGO that is self-sustaining with their restaurant/cafe House of Blessings, which employs the women in their program in Amman and those in 9 out of the 12 provinces in Jordan to supply their foods to the restaurant. PTI provides training programs for the women in handicraft trainings, cooking classes, etc. by bringing in expertise from the region. They specialize these trainings and job opportunities to the resources accessible in the province the women live. It was inspirational to see the work that PTI achieves and is a standard for how all NGO's should hope to operate sustainably instead of relying on international aid (a main point by Dr. Jweihan). Over the semester we will get the opportunity to do internship like work with PTI on our days off based off our sets of skills, I was told I would likely assist with grant writing (yay!!). It was an inspirational day and I can't wait to work for them!! Wednesday 8/31: Today we had a lesson on the Background to Humanitarian & Refugee “Crisis” in Jordan from speaker: Dr Yarub Ajlouni-President and founder of Jordan Health Aid Society JHASi. We discussed the crises faced by refugees, as well as responsibilities of refugees in the context of Jordan. It was a very interesting lecture/discussion on human rights in the refugee context, what we owe to refugees, and what they own to their host nations (such as keeping up-to-date paperwork). We discussed his NGO JHASi and how they have provided medical care and women's healthcare to refugees across borders and within refugee camps in Jordan. It is inspirational seeing the work that people achieve and their courageousness and bravery to assist those dangerous situations. We will also have the opportunity to complete internship work with JHASI this semester in some writing capacities, but mainly to observe and learn about techniques in crisis work. Thursday 9/1: Homestay move in day!! Today was very exciting, stressful, overwhelming, and joyous. After a few morning classes, one of our program assistants drove with us to our homestay. It is in a very safe part of Amman, and the house makes you feel at home. Brittany and I each have our own rooms and bathrooms that we can use, as well as a living room and balcony to ourselves. On the bottom floor is our mom and dad's room (what they've asked us to call them), the main living room, and kitchen/dining room. Outside is a large porch with table seating on one side, and a beautiful garden and gazebo on the other. Upon our arrival, Brittany and I were given a sizeable lunch and weren't sure of the customs yet on when/how to say no to food. This unknowing led to us consistently being fed cupcakes, apples, teas, grapes, and cookies for the rest of the night. Once it cooled down we sat in the gazebo with mom and ate grapes, when their neighbor Isha came by. I would love to read an auto-biography from this woman!! She speaks perfect english and has traveled all over the world!! She gave Brittany and I so much advice on life, some of my favorites being to never plan out life because this leads to stress and to just take things as they come, and that sharing is one of the most important aspects of life, specifically that we should all share our lives with another because that leads to greater joy and happiness to get to share all that life has to offer. Anyway, loved her!! We chatted with her for about 4 hours, with the homestay family's son coming over with his family and all sitting around eating snacks. This then led us to dinner at 10pm where we snacked on pita, hummus, and falafel. Safe to say by the end of the night I had a massive food baby and was very worried if my stomach could handle this. However, as we watched the family/neighbor interactions, we saw that it was alright to refuse food/snacks. The mother also made it clear over the next few days that this is our home, and that we can/not snack and eat whenever we like. I think I'm going to like it here! :) Friday 9/2: Yay the weekend has arrived!! In Jordan, the weekends are Friday and Saturday, with the beginning of the work week on Sunday. It feels strange! This is our first full-day in the homestay, unfortunately jet-lag is still kicking me as I was up until 4am and slept until 1pm on accident, whoops! The grandkids came over again, and Brittany and I made macaroni trees with them, one of the girls speaks English and has fun playing games with us. We then went out seeking coffee, and found this great place called Deja Brew!! We chatted there for awhile, appreciating being out of the sun on an enclosed patio, only to find when we were leaving there's an upstairs that's air conditioned! Afterwards we returned and took naps, a daily necessity with this heat, and then got ready for Souk Jara!! Souk Jara is an outdoor market with tons of crafts, clothes, and goods that only happens on Friday's in the summertime. Today was actually the last day it would be open for the year. We met the boys there around 5pm, the sun cooling off by this point, and explored the markets. When it comes to these situations I can get very introverted and reserved as I don't enjoy people yelling out at me to come to their booth, however this market was pretty tame! Brittany and I bought beautiful matching amethyst crystal bracelets and each got fans to help with the heat. It was a great way to take in a lot of the culture of Jordan and experience the youth of the city. When we finished walking around, we went to a fancy restaurant nearby called Sahara where there were tons of expats, which meant Brittany and I could drink openly! I tried a Jordanian Pinot Grigio which was delicious! We filled our stomachs with mezze and chatted for a long time with the boys. Then we stopped for ice cream, and checked out the boys apartment which is close to downtown and got a great view of the city at night!! All in all, a very good day. Saturday 9/3: Today started with a study session at Deja Brew, a great coffee place with AIR CONDITIONING!!!!!! Ugh it's still so hot here, reaching 102 today! Brittany and I took our laptops for coffee and worked on our papers for class, then headed back for lunch at 4pm. You heard it, lunch is between 3-4pm!! It's the biggest meal of the day, followed by constant snacks and then a small meal of pita and falafel for 'dinner' around 9/10pm. Today was great because I got to facetime with the whole family!! It was really nice seeing everyone, with occasional visits from the cats, and just catching up. I have been feeling a little homesick these first few days with the culture shock, but talking with everyone today made me feel so much better. In Thibodeau fashion, we talked for 2 hours and couldn't get anyone to hang up. It was weird ending the call with me at the end of my day, and theirs just starting. Afterwards, Brittany and I sat outside where it had cooled down sooooo much!! Our homestay mom brought out tons of snacks for us to eat while studying, then went to have dinner at their parents. They came back around 9:30pm with shawarma for us!! The cats then decided to come out and try to steal our shawarma, naughty babies!! But we got them fed and then pet them for awhile. There's one mama cat with 3 of her kittens, all very cute and friendly. The busy day ended with a cold shower, never appreciated more than when there's no AC and it's been 102 all day!! I'm very excited to get officially into classes this week and get the semester in full swing. |