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February 24, 2005
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March 8, 2005
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April 17, 2005
Its been a really really long time and I am SOOOOO sorry. Its just that at a certain point life becomes normal and it gets hard to write about new things that I think that you all will want to here. I do have a couple of stories that will either horrify or excite you :) Hope its the latter but even if its the former, just know that I am in Jordan (you'll get it later).
OK. First story was in the works for months. One of my friends and I came up with the idea of accidentally going to Saudi Arabia. I thought it was ingenious for a number of reasons. One, it would be added to the list of countries that I've been too... getting me to a pathetic 4 (US, Germany, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia), and two, it would help me attain the PERFECT book title for my post-Peace Corps book (more on that later). So we planned to go down to Aquaba for this very anticipated adventure. The idea was to hop on a bus that was headed to Saudi Arabia as I had seen on my last trip down there and since our Arabic is not so good, we couldn't take full responsibilty if we didn't know what bus we were getting on. Friday morning we woke up early and energized and headed to where we heard the buses depart from. A woman that we spoke with briefly (from Britian but living and working in Aqaba for the past 8 years) told us that there were no buses to the Saudi Arabian border that day.... A HUGE disappointment! But she did tell us that the servicees (cheaper form of a taxi) would be able to take us. So we hiked the 10 steps and negotiated 3 JD for the 10 km trip. We arrived at a gate with a picture of the King and a waving Saudi Arabian flag in the distance. We tried to get a little closer to the actual border but after explaining that No, we didn't have visa's or passports and no we didn't actually want to go TO Saudi Arabia but rather just to get close enough to the border to smell it, we were refused. So instead we accepted our defeat and took pictures at the gate which forever I will call ... the Saudi Arabian border. The idea was great because I always wanted to write a book about my experience once I was done but the book title, as everyone knows is the most important part of the book, just never seemed right until one night when I couldn't sleep it came to me "Administratively Separated" was perfect! I faded Jordanian village in the background with a large red rubber stamp diagnonally across the cover with the words "Administratively Separated" was ingenious and perfect and the only problem was I needed to get kicked out the Peace Corps in order for it to work.... slightly difficult since I live by the rules and Saudi Arabia was both rebellious and sufficient to get me my book. I have a feeling that this adventure was a result of a light psychological disorder I was temporarily experiencing but I was happy and it sounded right :) Enought said there, I can't wait to read your email asking if I need therapy LOL
Next story. I think I've written about the women in my village that I don't know crossing the street to avoid me or whom ignore me when I speak...with that said, On thursday I was walking home from work at the same time that the girls from school were walking. They on one side of the street, me on the other. I thought they may look at me and laugh like the girls in the country do on occassion, but this time, much to my shock, they ran to my side of the street and said hello. Their entire side of the conversation was in English, mine in Arabic. Hello, whats your name, where do you work?, etc. I was so excited and happy that when I left them to continue home I got tears in my eyes. These girls accepted me without knowing me and it made my day, if not entire month worth being here. Its the little things in life that really make my reasons for being here valid, real, and worth it. Thank you girls!
April 22, 2005
Hey Ya'll! The weather is beautiful! I looked at the weather on my website and its 85 today...without humidity! I can't complain. It does remind me of the luxuary of short sleeve shorts and even capri pants not to mention shorts. I forgot how hot it gets but I do love it more than winter and I'll be buying 1 or 2 fans next month when I get paid again :)
Today I had a tutoring session in Amman with my friend J who was my Language teacher during training in Madaba. Originally I wasn't permitted to study with her because of the distance between my village and her's but recently PC staff permitted the sessions. She is a great teacher and pushes me hard which is exactly what I need right now. Every week we'll study for 1-2 hours and hopefully within a month I'll be fluent in Arabic :)
Not too much is going on right now. I'm still working on my Internet Cafe Proposal for my Center. Last week I concluded the analysis of the Needs Assessment that we did for the past 2 months and unfortuntely based on community input there is no need for an Internet Cafe. According to PC policy it isn't the project so much as the process so I'll keep working on it. I have to discuss with my Director the possibility of altering her original plans to include some creative elements that would be attractive to the community but it will take time to do that. The Survey did show 3 things; 1) The women DO want a cafe they can go to drink coffee and chat with friends; however, 2) They would not use the computer or Internet 3) And they would not take classes if they were offered. I briefly shared the results with my Director but she only talked about how I would be managing the Center and she would allow a girl who is volunteering at the Center to help. Its difficult because I want to work WITH the staff on projects like these because it does them no good when I leave if I'm the one who knows how things go. But she wants to give me something to do so I can't complain either so it looks like I'm ungrateful and inflexible. This is a great learning process I'm sure LOL
Last weekend I did have an opportunity for a weekend away with two of my friends. The break was really necessary but incredibly relaxing. At the begining of the trip I found out that one of my friends here will be leaving Peace Corps Jordan for a variety of reasons. Knowing her situation I think its best for her. She did a fabulous job as a volunteer while she was here but Jordan is a tough place to be psychologically and she was in one of the toughest (culturally speaking) neighborhoods in the country. I hope that where ever she goes next that she will be happy... I will definately miss her. So we started with 25 volunteers and 9 months/7 months into this adventure, we are down to 23. In July, 30 more volunteers come! WOO HOO! We can't wait for them :)
I wish I had some funny stories to tell. I am updating my website to include a section on the main page where you can post questions that you want me to write about. They can be anything you were wondering about but things that I don't even think about anymore. I'd love to have some input because I really do want to write about what you want to read about :)