Things to Get Used to

So I know I said that my next post would include a tour of my beautiful home, but, well, I lied. Giving you a tour would mean that I would need to be fully unpacked, organized, and that things would need to look presentable, and I grossly underestimated how long that would take. Whoops! Instead, I will placate you with five of the things that are incredibly difficult for me to get used to:

1. No Wet Hair!
In the States, if you go out in public with wet hair, people will think you're lazy. Here, people will think you're a slut. Seriously. I'm not supposed to go out with wet hair because apparently, it is "sexy" and makes you seem "easy." SERIOUSLY! In college, at least during the warm months, I went out with wet hair EVERY DAY simply because I was just too lazy to blow dry it. This now means I need to get up early enough every morning to have time to dry my hair, and it means that my poor hair is taking a beating from all of the extra heat.

2. No Sweatpants in Public!
I have not seen a single man, woman, or child wearing sweatpants in public. Now, I don't know if there is some cultural norm that dictates this... or if it's just too hot to wear them right now. BUT I have decided to err on the side of caution and not wear them at all unless I'm sleeping. The way you present yourself (your dress, having your hair done, the shoes you wear, etc.) seems to be very important here, and so I am trying (wayyyyyyy) harder than usual to look presentable. I went the entire month of January last year basically only wearing sweat pants (ok, or yoga pants, but they're basically the same thing, right?). I would say that I just like to be comfortable, but I guess it also goes back to the whole lazy thing.

3. No American Top 40/Pop Culture!
I am absolutely oblivious to all the cool new music/movies/fashion trends! While it is definitely a little strange to be missing all of the new cultural jokes and quotes, it is also a bit freeing. Actually, a lot freeing. Maybe this isn't a difficult thing at all. Although I am a little worried that I'll go home and be completely stunted because I won't be able to pick up on any cultural references whatsoever! But I may be slightly over exaggerating.

4. No Target!
Here, everything seems to be sold in specialty stores. There doesnt seem to be any big "one stop shop," like Target, where I can buy anything my heart desires. So if I needed a cooking pot, a fan, olive oil, and Motrin, I would need to go to the housewares store, the electronics store, the grocery store, and the pharmacy. This wouldnt be a big deal if I had a car, but when you have to take a bus or a taxi everywhere, carrying around multiple bags in and out of multiple stores is a painnnnn. Speaking of that...

5. Relying on Public Transportation!
I have NEVER realized the level of my transportation related spoiledness until now. I have had a car for as long as I've had a driver's license, so I've never had to rely on public transportation or had to bum rides off people. And let me tell you, it is a HUGE transition. When I want to go somewhere, it needs to be planned well in advance. I need to be sure that the bus is still running, or that I am near somewhere that I can find a taxi, or that I can carpool with someone. It has definitely been a switch in my thinking, and sometimes a really frustrating one. It also means that I need to be more conscious of my purchases. If I want to go grocery shopping, I need to make sure not to buy more than I can carry. If I want to make a big purchase, I need to have a plan for how to get it home. No more impulse buys for this girl!

Despite all of these changes (some more major than others), I am finding that I have been adapting to Palestinian culture rather well (if I do say so myself). Some of it has been counterintuitive, but I find that the changes in thinking are easier each day. I haven't had a big bout of homesickness yet, but I know that it is coming, and I'm trying to prepare for it as best I can (by stocking up on Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Harry Potter movies). Anyways, I promise that in the near future, you'll get that tour of my home. Better late than never, right?

I hope that each of you are safe and well. As always, don't hesitate to leave a comment or send me an email if you have any questions or if you just want to chat. Thank you so much to each person who has emailed me over the last week. Your words of encouragement are always the highlight of my day!

All my love to each of you!

A FEW RANDOM FUN FACTS ABOUT JORDAN

--The super cool/posh/refined thing to drink with my family here is Turkish Coffee. You make it by boiling ground coffee beans in a pot, and then pouring it into a mini size teacup. The grounds settle to the bottom, and you drink until you get to them. The first time I had it, it did not look at all appealing, but it is definitely growing on me!

Turkish Coffee

--The light switches in my house are the opposite from home! In order to turn the light on, you push the switch down, and to turn it off, you push the switch up. I'm always accidentally plunging the room into darkness when I just meant to turn on a second light. Confuuuusing!

--In my host family's house, the TV is almost always on, and it seems that the only things that are ever playing are 90s American action movies. I've seen more random movies in the last two weeks than ever before in my life (Goodfellas anyone?). Even worse, sometimes people don't realize how old they are, and they ask me if "Americans really dress like that?!" And I have to explain that indeed we did... 20 years ago.

--About 40% of the population in Jordan is actually made up of Palestinians, and apparently the percentage in Amman is more around 80%. After the mass-exodus in 1948, many Palestinians came to Jordan, as it was a close and relatively welcoming country. In fact, about 2 million Palestinian refugees live in Jordan, with only about 340,000 still living in refugee camps.

--Amman was originally built on seven different hills, or "Jabals," but now spans 19. Instead of having a "West Side" or a "Tower District," they have "Jabals." You give directions based on these areas, and everyone knows them. For example, I live in Jabal Amman, and the MCC office is in Jebel Weibdeh, two of the oldest areas of Amman. I can tell any taxi driver in the city (whether they speak English or not) which Jabal I want to go to, and I'll get there. 

View from Jebel Weibdeh

--Almost all of the buildings here are made out of concrete or stone, covered with thin slabs of white limestone. This makes it incredibly difficult for me to navigate, since I'm used to having obvious landmarks like: the house with the pink door, or the little log cabin, or the steel office building. I'm getting a little better at this, but it's slow going.

--Some of you may remember the 2005 suicide bombings of the the Grand Hyatt Hotel, the Radisson SAS Hotel, and the Days Inn here in Amman that killed 60 and injured 115. Well, I happen to live right across from the Radisson (which has since reopened under the name "Landmark Hotel"), and we have a gorgeous view of it from our kitchen window. I knew that this building looked familiar, but it took me two weeks to place where I knew it from.

Landmark Hotel, Amman

Overall, things in Jordan are wonderful. Language classes are increasingly difficult, and at this point I'm basically just trying to get a firm groundwork of the language that I can build on over the next year, instead of trying to remember every single word, phrase, and concept that we are being taught. I'm definitely a bit overwhelmed, but I just keep telling myself that I only have seven classes left, and so I need to make the most of them.  Because the summer vacation just ended for school-aged children, our language classes have been moved to the afternoon. This is making it a lot easier for me to be awake and functioning in class! I can't believe that I only have another week and a half here in Amman. Soon, I'll be off to Palestine!

Adhan

Definitely the biggest cultural change for me so far is simply living in a nation that is 97% Muslim. In the US, we talk about separation of church and state, and a lot of times we whine that they aren't separate enough (a la "In God We Trust" on our dollar bill or having the 10 Commandments in a courthouse). Next time someone complains that we as a nation are "too religious," I recommend they come visit a Muslim country. Here, religion is intertwined into every aspect of life; from the phrases you use in every single conversation, to the way you can or cannot dress, to how much you're allowed work during holidays, to the amount of time you can spend with someone of the opposite gender, to when and where you can eat and drink, and the list goes on and on.

The most obvious way that Islam is visible for me is the Adhan, or "call to prayer." Five times a day, Adhan is called out by the holy leader from the mosques over loud speakers. This signals to everyone that it is time for the Muslim's prayers. Its essentially a chant that lasts for about 3 minutes, and there is no place in Amman that this cannot be heard. The reason that it is projected from the mosques so that everyone in the city can hear it (according to wikipedia) is: "to make available to everyone an easily intelligible summary of Islamic belief. It is intended to bring to the mind of every believer and non-believer the substance of Islamic beliefs, or its spiritual ideology." It is essentially a three minute summary of Islamic doctrine, five times a day; and while in the States we might think that this is invasive, offensive, or annoying, I have developed a deep appreciation for this incredibly beautiful chant.

Every time the chant begins, I stop and listen (with the exception of the one that happens every day at 4:15am... then I just wake up really grumpy and wait for it to end). It is so moving, and even though I don't agree with the theology, it is a great reminder of how I should be spending my time and who I should be serving. Five times every day, I use these three minutes to reflect, be still, release my frustrations, and re-set my attitude. I've found that repurposing the Adhan and taking some quiet time has been one of the most helpful things I've done to help cope with the constant stress of living in a radically different culture.

Here is a recording of the Adhan (the first 10 seconds are silent, but it comes on after that). Now imagine this call echoing over the seven hills that make up Amman. It truly is beautiful.