On Taking My First Bus Tour

Yesterday, everyone in my program went on a "Biblical" bus tour of Jordan. Bear with me, because not only is my knowledge of the Bible negligible, I tend to shut down the minute a tour guide starts explaining things. We went to three places - Mukawir (don't know how to spell this in English), Madaba, and Mt. Nebo. Mukawir was definitely one of the most gorgeous places I've ever been. (Pictured left) It's some ruins on top of a big hill/tiny mountain where I think John the Baptist was held prisoner and eventually beheaded. I think. I don't even know who John the Baptist was so . . . sorry. Epic fail on my part. I just know that it was pretty. The water you can see in the picture is the Dead Sea, and beyond that Palestine. I wish a camera could capture how amazing it was to have this all around you. It was so peaceful, and it would have been great to be out there all alone. We were the only people there, but still that's 30 of us, and some people have really shrill, annoying voices . . .

Oh btw, being the showoff I am, I insisted on racing some guys up the steep side of the mountain, but immediately regretted it. The change in altitude messed with me, and I felt sick and irritable the rest of the day. This is what happens when you don't act ladylike. And this is what you look like. I think a good 50% of the people in my program came up to me and commented on how much I looked like a hippie because of my headscarf. Have these people seen hippies before? I was wearing jeans, tennis shoes, and a black t-shirt. I don't even have my ears pierced. I was about to slap someone upside the face. Whatever.

So anyway, going on an organized tour is tiring. You're always following, and listening, and being told where to stand, and what to look at. I do not like it. It does not mesh well with my wandering mind. I felt like a cow in a herd of cattle. Everyone acted like cows in a herd of cattle. I have a picture to prove it.


No one apparently realizes that the path down is actually directly beyond me; they all chose to walk to the other side of the hill where the tour guide was standing, and therefore walk in a complete circle before heading down. I do not understand this mentality. I would hope these people don't just follow anyone so willingly . . .


After Mukawir, we headed on to Madaba, which is a town famous for this Christian church, with a lot of mosaics. And then we went to Jebel Nebo where Moses is apparently buried? But they don't know where? I didn't get any exceptionally great photos at either of these locations, but I do enjoy this one.

Not only is it an inn, it's ALSO a hotel. And it says "goodpye". I have many things to say about this. 1.) Why does a billboard say goodbye on it? And not hello or welcome? The arabic next to the goodpye says ma-ssalaama which is goodbye in arabic - so it wasn't lost in translation. 2) Why is it spelled with a "p"? There is no "p" in the Arabic alphabet. They often don't use it when speaking English, as in Bobe John Baul . . . so why all of a sudden throw it out for a word that doesn't even have a 'p' in it? Sigh. Arab culture.

So our first week here, we had lunch with our assigned peer tutors - except mine was out of the country so I've yet to meet her. She called me today, and it was probably the most awkward conversation I've ever had in my life. Phone service kind of sucks here, so it's hard enough to understand native English speakers over the static, let alone people speaking with a thick accent. The first time we try to talk, the call gets disconnected. She calls again, and it quickly becomes obvious that her English is not great. Which surprised me because all the peer tutors I've met so far for other students have had excellent English. (Sidebar - this is actually good, because it will force me to speak in Arabic with her. But it did not make for a simple or easy first conversation.) I can't even go over it, it was so bad. We're meeting tomorrow, and inshallah it will go smoothly.

It's hard to make a connection with many of the females here, because their lives are so drastically different from ours. It's doubtful that I will be able to be myself with my tutor, which makes these interactions tiring. It's not that there aren't women in Jordan that I could be friends with; I just think it's harder to find them. Although, I do love my Ahmia teacher, Ghadeer. She's great. She has a sense of humor, is super cool, and told us all the best places to go dancing. Today in class we talked about flirting. However, in Jordan there is no flirting, only harassment. But she wanted to know how people flirted in America. It was super funny. Ahmia is a lot of fun. We have fus-ha every morning for two and a half hours, and it's all grammar and seriousness, so it's great to be able to just have a fun, laid back class in the afternoon. I feel like that was just a really poorly written paragraph. Which means it's time for me to go to bed. Wish me luck, I have my first test in fusha tomorrow!