Mind off of classes

Let's play catch-up.

Last week I had my spring break, and the wonderful gift of having my parents meet me in al-Quds (Jerusalem) to spend the next six days together.  For three days we traveled on the Israel side of the Jordan River, visiting Tel Aviv, Masada, the Dead Sea and Eilat, before crossing by the Red Sea into Jordan to snorkel in Aqaba, hike around Petra, blitzkrieg through Amman and meet my host family, and then finally squeeze in a trip to the Roman ruins of Jerash and Umm Qais, nestled in the rolling green hills of northern Jordan.

Since that lovely visit, I have been very unmotivated to labor on with the studies. I'd much rather spend my last month and a half here enjoying the network of friends that I have established in Amman and in the CIEE program.  Oh well, I dream.

I have been teaching English at an ESL center.  I have five students - four men and one woman - all but one older are older than me.  I love the job.  The two hours I spend with them three times a week is just good fun.  We laugh a lot at my efforts to define a word, as I resort to most anything: charades, pictionary, singing, you name it.  If the students are having half as much fun as I am, I'll be happy. :-)

Last Friday, I went downtown with my good friend Ahmad, to do a little market wandering.  We took a service (shared) taxi, and the twenty minute ride with two other passengers was a beautiful display of politics of the people.  The debate started between Ahmad, the driver and the first passenger.  Then another man was picked up, I was squished in the back corner (men around the world insist on sitting with their legs wide apart despite the apparent lack of space), and hid my smiles as all four men talked over each other, flailing their arms about as they argued their opinion on the politics of the region.  It was beautiful.  When one man was able to demand the others' attention by shouting "Isma'aee! Isma'aee!" (listen to me, listen to me), the three men would oblige for no more than a minute or two before pushing him off his soapbox.

Amanda the bunny,
photo courtesy of my dear friend Samer

After the taxi ride, our first stop downtown was a pet shop where my friend quickly picked out a fish, placed a tiny, fist-sized white bunny in my hands, handed the shop owner some money, and then guided me back up the street.  This bunny was precious! She buried herself in the crook of my arm, and I just cradled her for three hours as we navigated through the crowds and lingered by some cheap second-hand clothes sold in the bustling suq.  I did pay attention enough to buy a t-shirt, but the bunny really stole my attention and my heart.

After the suq and coffee with a friend in the mall (for which I had to hide Amanda in my pocket from the security guards), we went to the Modern American School to play ultimate frisbee with a group of young graduates from the States teaching at the school.  It's pretty amusing being introduced to more Americans through my Jordanian friends.  Being able to play frisbee is so nice, even if it is mostly with Americans on a turfed field within the high walls of the school.

I know this is long, and I really try to keep posts short.  But there is a lot going on, and I haven't even mentioned politics today.  In conclusion, I am ready for the semester to be over for the sake of ending classes, but am not ready to leave this community indefinitely.