A Movie about my Jordanian Experiences!

So I am in a competition for an iPad at my university and I need as many people as possible to watch this video and comment about it on youtube.com as possible.  If you could talk about how it makes you want to travel or study abroad that would be great!  I hope the link works for you and that you enjoy the video!  Thanks everyone.

All Good Things Come to and End...

Well, it is over.  My wonderful Journey to Jordan has finally finished and I am writing this at one o'clock in the morning from the bottom floor of a coffee shop/hookah bar with a live band partying the night away upstairs.  During ramadan the party doesn't end until late since they can only eat from about 7:30 to 3:30 they have to make the most of it!  It's amazing, and a wonderful end to my time here in Jordan.

  Also, on a side note, just because I won't be in Jordan anymore doesn't mean I won't be posting things on this blog!  I have a lot of stories and experiences that I have yet to put up here, and I will continue to post about my experiences while at school and my interpretations or thoughts on the news and my research on the Middle East.  This summer has really changed me, it has opened my eyes to some of the inequalities of the world and especially the arrogance and the ignorance that we as Americas exhibit on a daily basis.  Hopefully this blog has helped you question some of your ideals, and what you think about the Middle East and Arabs in general.  Hopefully my experiences and the things that I have learned have helped you learn as well.

  What was my favorite part of Jordan?  That is a hard question I must say.  I would probably have to say on a general note I enjoyed the foreigness (Do you like me making up words?) of the entire experience coupled with the amazing hospitality of the Arab people that I was confronted with every day.  On a smaller note, my absolutely favorite THING in Jordan was the Ahdan or call to prayer.  I had several chances to hear it from on top of one of the 7 hills of Jordan and it is spectacular.  As I sit there listening to  it I feel like I am transported back to a time before computers, electricity and modern conveniences.  Especially during Ramadan when I know that so many people are breathing a sigh of relief, eating some dates and drinking their first drink of the day it is almost ethereal.  There is also something amazingly beautiful for me to see an entire culture that embraces religion so intimately and so homogeneously.  As an American, it is completely different for me to be in a society that embraces religion openly, is homogenous in race and background and so many other aspects.  Back to the ahdan, however, I honestly do not know if I have ever heard anything as beautiful as the simple chant calling people to prayer and in praise of their God.  The closest thing that you might recognize is Gregorian Chant, it's basically Gregorian Chant with an Islamic twist, and you get to hear it 5 times a day.  Wonderful.

  I have a lot to write, a lot of thinking to do, and a lot to tell people about.  This experience has helped me to take a step back and appreciate the idiosyncrasies of culture, and the differences that make the world such a beautiful place.  We as Americans are too insulated and too comfortable in our world view.  We are so different from the rest of the world, and it really shows in our foreign relations and our personal relations with foreigners.  I have realized, this summer, just how much I do not understand simply because I grew up in a culture that is so completely different.  I will probably write again about this later, but just think about it.  How many things about another individual's culture is it hard for you to understand?

  On a closing note, I love Jordan.  I love the country, the people, the language and the religion.  I love the foreigness (there's that word again) and awkward situation it places me in.  I love the hospitality, the beauty and the many amazing places to see.  I love that these people have definitely been handed lemons and they are making lemonade.  I appreciate my comforts in America and I appreciate my country for the wonderful institution it is.   Before I close this I would like to do a few thank yous.  First of all, thank you to the BYU International Studies Program and Ralph Brown for making this internship a reality, thanks to the Kennedy Center and Phi Kappa Phi for providing me grants so that I could afford this trip to the Middle East.  A special thanks to the Ministry of Social Development and my boss Ms. Rasha for her patience and help.  Thanks to all of my awesome Arab friends and co-workers who put up with a constant stream of atrocious Arabic.  Thanks to everyone who came on the program for putting up with my craziness and my constant desire to go exploring, especially Annie, thanks for dealing with me so many times.  Finally thank you to my Grandparents who gave me savings bonds for every birthday and Christmas growing up which I thought was stupid but paid for my trip here, my parents for being supportive, living vicariously through me and also helping me pay for this trip and finally my wonderful fiance Jade who although I left her only a week after getting engaged has supported me the entire time and understand why I was here although it was hard to be so far away I think I love her more now than when I left.  Thanks everyone, it has been amazing! I can not wait to go home, but at the same time I can not wait to return to this amazing place next year.  Ma Salaam, Insha Allah.

Observations of Ramadan

This is how shwarma meet is cooked, it is shaved off in small
chunks and then put in a pita with french fries, sauces,
 tomatoes, and all sorts of other delicious things.

Ramadan, the holy month in Islam where every devout muslim will refrain from water, food, cigarettes and getting angry at people from the first prayer call in the morning (about 3:30 AM) until the last prayer call at night (about 7:30 PM).  In a country composed almost entirely of Muslims this means that there are some huge changes.  First of all, work hours change or cease all-together.  All of the restuarants and coffee shops are closed for most if not all of the day and only open after the evening prayer call and iftar (it literally means breakfast and is the meal that is eaten right after the last prayer call of the day).  Secondly anyone who eats, drinks or smokes in public can be fined according to law by the Police so there's no use in using the excuse that you were a dumb foreigner.    Work hours are shortened and there are way more people in town as all the people come home for the Holy Month.  So in addition to everyone being hungry and thirsty in intense heat, there are more people, things are closed and traffic is horrible.  Overall it is quite different to be in a country where EVERYTHING changes because of a religious observance.  Coming from the secular western culture into a country of mostly homogenous religion is quite a wonderful experience.  Overall, I have spent a lot of time indoors because I don't want to travel around, get thirsty and not be able to drink anything, working on last reports and preparing for my weekend in Aqaba Scuba Diving.  However, last night I did have an interesting experience that I will tell you about here:

This is a lamb or lahma shwarma and is one of my favorite foods

  Yesterday at about 7:00 PM I decided that I was extremely hungry (I'm only eating about one meal a day now so that was about time to eat) and wanted to have a shwarma from my favorite place just a kilometer away. So I got dressed, walked up there, and bought two large shwarmas, a mountain dew and a donut for desert (not as good as American Donuts but still adequate).  Of course since the final prayer call hadn't sounded yet I couldn't eat in public so I had to walk back to my house with my food and my growling stomach.  Interestingly enough, people were headed everywhere and every food place I saw was packed with people trying to get food for their iftar or the first meal they eat after their fast.  Anyway, on my walk back home I passed a Pizza Hut/Popeye's restaurant conglomeration that had outside dining that was packed.  As I walked by I noticed that everyone was sitting there with piles of food from the buffets and drinks poised with straws up and caps off, simply waiting.  Can you picture over a hundred people and an eating establishment poised and ready to eat and simply waiting for the go-ahead?  It was quite surreal.  So, since I didn't have anywhere pressing to go I decided that I would stick around and see what happened when it was time to eat as I would only have to wait about 15 minutes.  I was really excited and wondered if they would play the Ahdan (Call to prayer) over the intercom or if someone would come out and tell them and also what would happen after it was ok to eat, would they devour their food in a hungry binge or calmly begin eating like nothing had happend.  Well at 7:42 and employee of the restaurant came out and kindly informed everyone that the prayer call had gone on and that it was now okay to begin eating.  It was a little anti-climatic but it was a cool experience and one that I will definitely not forget.  I have to say though, if you ever come to the Middle East I would not recommend visiting during Ramadan, it makes things a lot more difficult for foreigners traveling!

Prayers

  I have had the wonderful opportunity to pray in my local mosque not once, but twice this summer!  We have a mosque about two blocks from my home that apparently has one of the best imams in Amman.  About a month ago I was speaking with our neighbors who had their cousin over who spoke really good English and whom I could ask a lot of questions about Islam and how it works because that is the topic that he wanted most to talk about.  They went insane when they found out that I had a Quran in English and Arabic so we went from there and they showed me a lot of interesting surah's they said that proved the Quran was true scientifically.  Additionally, as we discussed my beliefs they said that I was almost a muslim and they seemed so happy about that it was awesome.  They then invited me to go pray with them the next morning at 4:00 AM and I said that of course I would love to go.

  The next morning at about 3:45 I woke up bright and early and jumped into the shower so that I would be clean before going to the mosque (something that is absolutely necessary).  I went over and woke up my neighbors and then took a trek over to the mosque.  Let me just say that is was surreal to be out in a Middle Eastern City at 4:00 AM listening to a prayer call of a mosque that I was going to.  It was awesome.  When we got to the mosque we sat in the main prayer hall and saw a number of older gentlemen who obviously did this everyday at 4:00 AM because they were all extremely comfortable and knew everyone that was there.  I got a couple odd looks, but everyone just accepted my presence with a nod.  Because it was a morning prayer it only lasted about an hour with a short 'reading' of the Quran (it is really an Islamic version of Gregorian Chant which is seriously one of the most beautiful things that I have ever heard in my short little life), a short sermon by the Imam and of course the prayer themselves.  It was amazing to go through the motions of billions of people the whole world over and feel united to them for a small moment as I showed my devotion to the God of each one of us, no matter what you call him.  After the prayers I was greeted by a few of the gentlemen who loved the fact that I was there and then I walked home marveling at my life as I collapsed into bed.

  Since then I have gotten to pray one more time in the mosque, and this time it was this past Friday which is the main prayer service for all Muslims, basically like a Christians Sunday worship service.  This time my experience was quite a bit different at the sermon was much longer (about 45 minutes)  we were in the basement of the mosque which was absolutely packed and I was with my friend Austin.  Still it was no less cool, and it was best of all to see how devoted these people are to their religion.  Many of the people had to sit outside in the intense heat and sun because there was no room in the mosque for them.  It is very different to be in a mosque and be with this misunderstood religion face to face.  I felt their peace and their devotion, and knew of their love and kindness to others.  I'm extremely grateful I have had this wonderful experience and hope to return someday when I know more arabic and can better understand the sermon.  Everyone should try going to another faith's worship service, especially a faith you don't understand, and seeing what it's life.  After all, ignorance is really boring... we just don't know it.

A Jordanian Wedding

Woot, Fireworks and men dancing while holding hands,
it must be an Arab wedding!

Ever Since I have arrived in Jordan I have wanted to see a Jordanian wedding. When a month or two ago, my facilitator stated that this was wedding season and we would hear a lot of fireworks, I had no idea how true that statement would be. Up until this past week, all I knew about weddings in Jordan could be summed up in a few words, loud, long, and expensive. Every night we hear fireworks going off late into the night and processions of cars with people hanging out of them, yelling, and honking their horns non-stop. It seems like that’s simply what you do at a wedding, and I thought I wouldn’t know anything more about it until a friend at work invited us to his nephew’s wedding party.

Arab Wedding Cake, not sweet at all!

First of all, calling it a wedding is misleading and any Arab will correct you when you say that. There is no religious ceremony for an Arab wedding, at least from what I understand, and the day before the festivities start the families and the groom (I’m not completely sure if the bride goes) go to the local courthouse and sign the wedding license making the couple officially married. After that, the partying ensues. Traditional weddings, the only one that I’ve seen, used to last a week but with dwindling money most families shorten it to two or three days. The first day is a party in a huge tent on a rented piece of clear property for only the groom’s family. The men and women are separated and for the first 3 hours or so the groom meets all of his guests (many of whom he may barely know) and loud music plays incessantly. This is the time of the party where shabab are dancing constantly, old men are talking about how things have changed with the years, drinks and snacks are sold, and basically the groom doesn’t get to have much fun. The party we went to was called very small because it only had 200 male guests and was only two full days long. Anyway, there are a lot of traditions to be involved in and the normal antics of the groom’s friends, lifting him on their shoulders, dancing with him, and generally having a lot of fun being completely sober. A few interesting traditions I saw involved the music. Specific songs require you to do certain actions. For instance, when the older/traditional music began we were told we had to stand up in the front of the the gathering with all the men, shoulder to shoulder, and sway side to side while clapping.

Henna and that wonderful Parasol!

This was where we all had to stand next to each other and clap.
The old my next to me is wearing a shamech traditionally denoting
someone of palestinian descent (It's white & black not red).

 When another song started, it signaled that henna had been delivered from the women of the groom’s family. A few elaborately dressed little girls brought over two heaping plates of henna which was then applied in designs and letters on the groom’s hands so, “They will look beautiful to the bride,” as a few arab men told me. The whole time the music is playing loudly and the men are joking around and playing with a garishly decorated parasol that the little girls brought with them. Apparently, by having the parasol placed over you, or dancing with the person holding it, it signals that you will be married soon (much like the throwing of flowers at American weddings). Also at this time, the mother of the groom came to the party to see the henna placed on the groom’s hands. I was told it is how she shows her approval of the wedding and if she doesn’t show up, the shabab at the wedding will start to chant trying to get her to arrive. Anyway, it was quite an adventure, and like always, I got to hold hands with lots of random Arab men and dance the night away, it seems to be a theme in my life.
After this aspect of the wedding was over, we were taken with the close family friends and family up to the house at about 11 o’clock (at this point we had been here for about two and a half hours). With the smaller group of about forty men we went to the grooms new home and ate mansaf which was amazing. It is probably the only time that man cook in this country but it was fantastic. There were probably a dozen seperate plates of mansaf with about 5 kilos of lamb meet on each. The men from the groom's family were the servers as all of the men devoured the mansaf and enjoyed themselves. After a very short time, less than 15 minutes, all of the non-family members were miraculously done (except for us) which we thought was extremely interesting. We found out, after everyone else left, that the family had not eaten and that everyone left so that they could eat. One the men had had their fill, the food would be delivered to the women in the family and finally to the bride's family. Nothing is put to waste here ever!

Mansaf partay ...woot!

Overall, the wedding was amazing and quite an experience. It was loud and long like most Jordanian parties but at the same time wonderful and eye-opening. It is awesome to see cultures who put such a high price on weddings and feel that they are so important, but I hope that they put that same type of emphasis on the marriage which is what actually matters.

A little bit on Culture

So this is actual an excerpt from an email that I sent my fiance' but still I feel like it accurately conveys my feeling.

I feel like sometimes, even though I am here
in Jordan, that I am living a pretty normal life. Alright, every day
is actually a really cool experience but I have grown used to it. It
is going to be really weird to come back to the US just because it
will probably be reverse culture shock with everyone going so quickly,
speaking so much English, and being able to understand all that I say as well! Also, to have everyone understand my culture will be another
interesting thing. Today a new man showed up at work who will be
apparently teaching english to the kids after we leave, he majored in
English Translation in college and I must say that his English is
quite......... simple. Haha, what's more is that he doesn't really
understand out culture at all. Today, we barely met him, and he
admitted to us that the main reason he wanted to be friends was so
that we could get him to the United States to get his Masters Degree
in 6 months haha. He also then said that he wanted my phone number to
talk to him in English, my email so that when I go home he can email
me, and my facebook so we could chat in English. He sat in my classes
and second guessed my teaching style, which was a little annoying, and
then invited himself to our house so that he could see what we do.
All of those things are ridiculously forward in America but here it's
all normal. However, I too know how to work the system. In Jordan,
no one wants to say 'No' it is considered sort of a dishonor. So
instead, Jordanians will simply talk around the subject and not give
you a straight answer. That is exactly what I did with this
gentleman, he asked me when he come to see our house and I simply said
Mumkin and Inshallah which means 'maybe' and 'If God wills it'.
Basically I didn't give a straight answer because that would be
extremely rude so it all worked out. The culture here is definitely
something interesting to adjust to and just like all cultures there
are things that I like and don't like but that doesn't make it right
or wrong. I think that is something that each one of us needs to
learn, especially us westerners who travel and see societies that we
think are backward and illogical. By looking at their society and
trying to see the good in it and where they come from, we are able to
gain a new outlook on the work and expand our horizons. Really,
there's no such thing as a 'bad' or 'wrong' culture right? One isn't
better than the other, they are all just different!

Arab Neighbors

We have the nicest neighbors in the entire world.  They are called the Atmehs and have 4 sons living at home and two daughters who are off and married.  Being a neighbor in Jordan is much different than being a neighbor in the United States.  In the United States you likely know your neighbors name and maybe where they work.  Sometimes you have a good relationship with them, but rarely do you consider them your good friends and you usually only speak with them when you need them.  In America we prefer to pick our friends and stick to them, rather than being forced into relationships involved the location where we live.  Also, if you don’t see or have a meaningful conversation with your neighbor for a week, a month, or even longer it is no problem and we think nothing of it.  This relationship is completely different in Jordan.
In Jordan, relationships are everything.  With the Atmehs it started the day we all first moved into the apartment and immediately invited us over for food, shia (tea), and watching movies.  For the first few weeks we would go to their home 2-4 times a week and spend hours there.  I learned a lot about the culture, the Arabic language and just having fun.  Unfortunately this utopia could not last and soon their 16 year-old son Mahmoud was coming to our home every day.  He would barely be in the door and he would whisper in our ear, “Laptop” and “Internet.”  While on the internet he would watch videos on YouTube (very expensive when you’re paying for all data) and other things, and if we went out he would beg the person incessantly to buy him food and other things.  He was like any other 16 year-old slightly annoying and full of himself, but was also unaware of how many social lines he was crossing by constantly touching things that weren’t his.  He was a good kid, it was just ridiculous to have him come over everyday right when we would return from work and were very tired.  Eventually things came to a head and one of the interns kicked Mahmoud out of the apartment because he wasn’t listening and then we didn’t see the Atmehs very much after that even though they have helped us with everything including food, water problems, and good company.
  This week, however, I determined to go over to their home and ensure they knew I didn’t hate their family.  Austin came with me and we had a wonderful time talking to them.  They of course asked where we had been for so long and why we hadn’t seen them and then immediately asked us to have lunch with them the next day of chicken and potatoes.  Of course we agreed and the next day we had an amazing meal with them and a great conversation.  Like always, they told us that we were their sons and that we were welcome anytime.  On Friday, the holy day and all that, I was laying in my room when I heard the doorbell ring twice.  Usually this meant that Mahmoud was at the door and so I ignored it for a second but thought better of it and went to go check.  It was the Atmehs, but it wasn’t Ahmed.  It was their 24 year-old daughter, Ameera, from the United Arab Emirates.  She asked if she could use my computer and Internet to check her plane ticket, which I said ok too, and then they invited me in the home.
  Of course, once I was in the home I was there for a few hours and I really knew that I was accepted into the family for a number of reasons.  First of all, they allowed me to sit in the kitchen and talk to the mother and Ameera.   Secondly Ameera was in her pajamas and the mother was not in a hijab.  Thirdly I talked to them about personal subjects such as why they do or do not wear the hijab, marriage, tensions between religions and other things such as that.  It was amazing to be in such a familiar atmosphere and to once again experience a new cultural experience, this time what it is like to be part of an Arab family and experience the familiarity that is there.  Of course, they had to invite me for dinner so I hate an amazing meal (with both women, again something that is not allowed unless you are a member of the family) of meat and rice rolled up and cooked in grape leaves.  It was amazing and I joked with the mother that when I return next year she would have to teach my wife how to make some wonderful Jordanian dishes.
  Overall, it is an amazingly different experience to have Arab neighbors.  It is completely different than in America and at times can be extremely tiring.  However, it is also amazingly enjoyable at the same time because of the new experiences I have, the glorious home-cooked meals, and nice people who although we speak very little of the same language, I know care about me and would help me in any circumstance.

Last week in the Internship....

Some of my amazing and awesomely cute little girls from my class on our walk down the hill to the bus.

My classroom, it ate much by American standards but it's adequate

Well, last week seemed like the official beginning of our internship because we finally began teaching English.  Last week we were told we would teach between 15 and 30 kids and were a little afraid but willing to go through and do what was necessary.  When we arrived at the Marqez in the morning we found that the number had blossomed to well over a hundred and our classrooms were just not large enough to take care of all of the children.  I taught a class of between 40 and 60 girls in a tiny room where there were so many of them that I couldn't even fit in the door.  Fatimah and Ali soon decided that we wouldn't be able to make this work and so decided to split up based on gender and age-group.  We will be teaching boys on Sunday and Tuesday.  Each one of us will have two classes a day and then on Monday and Wednesday we will teach the girls again in two seperate classes each for a total of eight classes total.  Every day we teach the class, more students show up and by the end of the week we were at probably 150 students or more with some classes exceeding 20 students even now!  Now that you know about the semantics, let me tell you about the actual teaching because it's insane.
  The boys are pretty terrifying.  I really do not look forward to teaching them because they never pay attention, yell your name out randomly and never do what you ask.  What is more, as a whole they know much less English than the girls do.  My first day of class our boss brought a broom stick into my room and told me to hit any of the kids that didn't pay attention with it.  Austin and I have found a much less, abrasive  approach and now simply kick out any kids who are exceedingly loud and disruptive.  Today we actually kicked out brothers, he kicked out the older one from his class and I the younger from mine.  Well, the older brother didn't leave and kept coming into my class and goading on the kids.  I kept telling him to leave and he wouldn't so I tried to simply ignore him which of course didn't work.  Then, the next time I saw him I told him every way I could think of in English that I wanted him to leave at which he called me "dumb-ass" in Arabic and then spit at me.  I took one step towards him, I don't feel like letting little kids talk like that to me, and he ran away and I didn't see him or his brother again.  Finally, I got so sick of them not doing anything that I simply let them go about 40 minutes early after I saw that Austin had done the same thing.

One of two giant spiders I slaughtered today
in class.  I think this spider can get as large as 6
inches across but we are having trouble
identifying it from the mass of guts on the floor

  The girls... let me just take a breathe of fresh air thinking about how awesome they are in comparison.  We teach girls that range in ages from 4 to 17 split into four classes.  I get to teach the two older classes and they are so well behaved.  When I ask them to talk with each other in English to practice what we just learned they love to do it and do quite well at it.  What's  more, they beg me for homework (even the little ones) and love it when I check their homework and they do well.  I think part of it might be that I look a lot like the famous Turkish actor Mohanned who is apparently very attractive in this culture, and if I smile at any of the older girls they immediately hide their face and forget what they were saying.  As a whole, however, they do a great job at practicing and learning what I try to teach them and from my experience so far it is no wonder that the women go to college in at a much larger rate than the men do if this segment of society is indicative of the rest.  I love teaching the girls, and I think we might start making little videos of them speaking in English so I can let you see them.  They are awesome and I honestly look forward to teaching them tomorrow.
  Besides the teaching English, we will hopefully be doing the survey for the Iraq Al-Ameer area every Thursday although I doubt it will actually get off the ground.  It is extremely likely that everyone will be very busy and then when Ramadan comes in August and Austin leaves, they'll probably just drop it for awhile.  I do hope it actually happens, however, because I think it would really help the Marqez know what they must do to help the people in this area.  Also, we have been progressing on the 3 million dollar proposal to the worldbank.  The work on it is progressing, although slowly because translation is a lengthy process.  At the end of July we will travel to the Angwhar area, which consists of all the regions along the border with Israel, and will set up workshops for them on project management as well as conduct secondary surveys to help us understand the other work we are proposing to do in those regions.  It also is going well and adds a bit of professionalism to our internship here.

The "Sanitary Amenities" this toilet as a diameter
of about 3 to 4 inches and is probably 11 inches tall
I imagine watching me try to use this would probably
be one of the funniest things an Arab could see

  Things are going well, and for the first time in two months I actually feel like I'm making some sort of small difference.  Actually, as I write this blog post, Austin is in the other room with our boss who wants him to write down all the words to a song sung by Celine Dion.  They do love her here!

Dinner with the Sheikhs

The Whole gang with a TON of food

Today was the infamous dinner with the Sheikhs and other wonderful adventures that filled the day and made it spectacular.

Outside of the Mosque

 This morning we headed back to work and because of our bus sitting for 20 minutes waiting for more passengers we didn't get there until almost 10:00 o'clock and our boss was a little bit angry.  The funny part was that the only thing they had for us to do was to rip out some carpet that literally took 15 minutes to do.  After that, we swept and organized the room and did some extra work in the bathroom cleaning off some of the grout that had been left behind.  When we asked our boss what else we could do he led us outside and talked to us for an hour about nonsense and then told me that I should take a nap which was extremely wonderful.  Finally a little before 12:00 we told them we were leaving and would return the next day.  We decided that since the day was still young we would go on some adventures and headed off on the bus to Wisit-il Balad or the old down-town where all of the cool little shops and things are.  Also, we decided we would visit one of the larger mosques in Jordan and one of the only ones that allowed non-muslims into the prayer hall itself, the King Abdullah Mosque.

The person in Orange is Austin and
that is right where I took my little cat-nap

  The King Abdullah Mosque is monstrous and very new.  It was built in honor of King Abdullah "The Martyr" (For more information go to this website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullah_I_of_Jordan).  Anyway, it has HUGE minarets that can be seen from most spots in the city and a ginormious blue dome.  We were really excited to go in and found the prayer hall generally empty so we walked around and took a number of pictures.  Well, after our experience with our naps last week we were both thoroughly encouraged to take naps here as well.  I ventured out to the middle of the mosque with the intention of taking a few pictures of what I thought was a very cool roof.  Next thing I know, I woke myself up with my snoring in the middle of the mosque.  Luckily there were no worshippers close by that I could have offended but we did beat a hasty retreat.  We then went to the Museum which was pretty interesting and the Charity Bazaar which was very nice and reasonably priced.  As soon as we entered the bazaar both myself and Aussie were gifted with female companions who literally followed us around the whole time and anytime we decided to look at an item they would pick it up and tell us all about it.  It was very annoying, but they did succeed in guilting both of us into purchasing something (btw, stamps here are ridiculously expensive so I hope everyone wasn't expecting a lot of letters from me).  Anyway it was quite a nice little adventure and as we were walking out we met some Americans from Oregon who talked to us for a little while because I was wearing and OSU t-shirt GO BEAVERS!

My friend the calligraphy artist

  Well, from the Mosque we walked a little ways and got some amazing Lamb Kebab in a sandwich and then proceeded to the barbers where I got my weekly shave and Austin decided to have one too.  I love those shaves, they hurt so good!  We had a suitably interesting religious conversation with Omar the owner (I mainly listened and nodded but I cold understand some of it) before leaving and heading down the street towards Wisit il-Balad.  On the way to Wisit il-Ballad we stopped in to see my calligraphy friend who was glad to see us but very busy.  We stayed for a while and had a great time talking to him about many things and giving him our opinion on his art-work, which stuff would sell best where and what colors he should use in his calligraphy/paintings.  He also did a sweet sketch where he wrote Austin's name in calligraphy which was really awesome.  I'm gonna see him a number of more times as I try to figure out what calligraphy stuff I want from him and plus he's just fun to be with and talk to.  From there we headed into Wisit il-Balad where I was able to buy a Quran that is in both English and Arabic and which I have been dying to get my hands on.  I can't wait to read it and understand a lot more about Islam and the people that are all around me.  We then jumped on a service taxi and headed home to change before going to the Sheikhs home for dinner.

Sheikh Yusef serenading us

  Dinner with the Sheikhs.... I'm not going to lie, we were a bit nervous.  The entire time we were joking about all the bad things that could happen but we took all the necessary precautions by telling people where we were going, using public transportation and having contact numbers in case of emergency.  It turns out that all of our fears were unfounded and we had yet another amazing cultural experience.  When we arrived we found that it was not only us and Sheikh Yusef but the other Sheikh from the parade, Sheikh Hussin and another Sheikh who both had traveled over 100 kilometers to meet us for dinner!  To start off we all sat around and talked for about an hour about all sorts of different subjects.  They spoke almost no English so Austin spoke a lot as did our friend and translator "Luai" who was friends with their son and our go between for the night.  They had a bunch of pictures of Sheikh Yusef up on the wall so I asked if he could explain them to me.  They were really cool and showed him with all sorts of important people like meeting the King, the Prime Minister, big time generals and him as a young soldier.  In addition to idle small talk we asked them about what it means to be a Sheikh.  Apparently Sheikh Yusef is a member of parliament and many other organizations.  He became Sheikh both by blood but also by democratic consent of his "family" or tribe over which he is the head.  It is a full time job and he apparently has quite a bit of power as there are only 24 Sheikhs in Amman.  Sheikh Hussin is from a small village called Jordan Valley and his main duty is to act as a judge.  They all said that being a sheikh was very important and surprisingly informed us that there were even female sheikhs from time to time.  I thought that was pretty cool.  Other interesting parts of our conversation were that when they found out I was engaged they told me they were going to come to my wedding!  I told them that it was really far away and would be really expensive but they said it was no problem and that they had a friend at the airport who would get them a flight for free.  How cool will it be if some Sheikhs actually come to my wedding?  After talking and taking pictures for awhile Sheikh Yusef pulled out the Arabic version of a guitar and began serenading us for the next hour.  A number of the songs were quite interesting, especially since we didn't understand anything except for when he said our names.  It was an awesome time, and he even sang a song about my fiancee missing me in America which was hilariously awesome to say the least.  After he finished singing and before we ate dinner I asked if I could sing them a song from my homeland in gratitude and I sang them the song "Shenandoah", which I think they enjoyed.

Eating it in the traditional way!

     After I sang we all sat done to an amazing platter of the Jordanian National Dish, mansef, with lamb's meat.  The traditional way to eat the mansef is to roll the rice into a ball along with the meat and the bread and eat it all in one big bite.  Apparently the bigger the ball you make the cooler you are and the Sheikhs thoroughly enjoyed watching us try to make the balls.  I actually made an instructional video for everyone to see but since my internet is so slow I don't know when I'll be able to upload it along with my pictures.  The mansef was absolutely amazing and just as wonderful as it sounds.  I was completely full by the end of the evening and had such an awesome experience it is hard for me to realize it actually happened.
  Let me just say, in case you can't tell already, that Jordanians are some of the nicest and most hospitable people that I have ever met.  They are so willing to be friends and if you show any interest in them or their lives they are more than willing to go out of there way to help you and make you comfortable.  Sometimes it can seem a bit excessive but it most definitely wonderful and once you settle into the role of guest it makes it all worth it.  I love being here and hope to continue to meet and see many wonderful people!
  

Aeed Istiklal " عيد الاستقلال"

  Today was Jordan's Independence Day (May 25th) from Britain and it was most definitely fantastic.  We had originally told our friend Ahmed that we wanted to go visit him in Aqaba but then we found out that there were a ton of celebrations in the city including a military parade where the king and queen might appear.  So Ahmed decided he would meet us in Amman and we would have a little party with him and then we would go to see the parade.  We hoped it would be a fun day and knew that spending some time with Ahmed was always fun.

Ahmed and I in the ampitheater

  We met Ahmed downtown and he promptly whisked us off to see the Roman Amphitheater and museums that are downtown.  He told us that we were supposed to be charged a dollar for entrance fee, the locals are only charged 15 cents, but that he told the guards we were working with the ministry and they let us in for free.  He then told us that he could get us into Petra for free also which is pretty sweet considering it's a 70 dollar entrance fee (unless you entered Jordan that day, then it's a 140 dollars.  They do that so that Israelis can't simply cross the border and go to Petra.  Pretty sneaky eh?).  Anyway, the Roman Amphitheater is huge and absolutely gorgeous.  I'm constantly amazed at the public works they created and the workmanship that has allowed such structures to stand for 2000 years or so.  Also, as I have mentioned before, I find it interesting that the largest theater in Jordan is the one that was built 200o years ago but that is still used today for artistic performances.  Being the person that I am, I of course had to explore every nook and crevice of the amphitheater and take lots of pictures because it was really cool.
  As we left the amphitheater, Ahmed told us we needed to stop at a mosque so he could do his afternoon prayers but on the way I saw a 'dagger' workshop and I just had to stop in.  There we met an older gentleman and his brother who hand made traditional bedouin and arab daggers.  He said the business had been in his family for over 5 generations and that they had even made a dagger for the king (he had an official picture right there).  I got to watch him engrave a dagger and talked with him for quite awhile.  I told him I would come back soon, when I have a better idea of what I want engraved on a knife or what type of knife that I want.  He said alright and probably didn't believe me one bit.  However, I love little shops where they make the craft by hand and would rather pay double for a product I saw made or had commissioned than to pay for a crappy product that was supposedly made by hand by a factory worker in China.  Anyway, he was a really nice man and I look forward to going back and speaking with him in the future.

The mosque where I took a nap "groofwa"

  After we left the dagger place we went to find Ahmed and found him chilling under the front veranda of the mosque talking to his new Egyptian friend.  We talked to him for a while and then because we had some time to spare we all took a short little cat nap under the front awning.  It was one of the most peaceful and relaxing naps that I feel I have ever had and how many westerners can say they took a nap on a mosque's porch in the middle of Amman, I bet not too many.  From there we headed up to the Parade route and this is where the true fun begins.

Myself, Ahmed, Austin and the Bedouin Dancers

  When we got to the circle where we were going to watch the parade we were immediately greeted by a few huge pictures of the king and his father.  A lot of heavily armed military men, an F-350 with at least two 60 cal. machine guns and gigantic masses of chanting and dancing shabab (young men and boys) waving Jordanian Flags and chanting, "Aesh jallal Maleek Abdullah" or long live King Abudallah.  To tell you the truth, it was exactly like the scenes we see replayed on CNN all the time except that this one was an extremely joyous and happy occasion for all involved.  On one side of the road there were a series of Imams and other traditionally clothed individuals lined up shoulder to shoulder while on our side there were people dancing, a stage set up, and bedouin dancing troupe dressed in traditional white that Ahmed said he wanted us to dance with.  Well, Ahmed introduced us to the dancers and we got some pictures taken with them and then went behind the barrier to where their stage was set up.  Here was where the real fun began.  As the crowd grew larger more and more shabab congregated around the stage and they began to play some really loud Arabic music.  I listened at first and then as I was introduced to many new people my age by Ahmed, I began to be dragged into the dancing and taught how to do it.  For the next hour and a half I was constantly jumping, clapping, being pulled into a circle, shimmying or holding a random Arab man's hand as he grabbed me to go off to dance.  I'm pretty sure that if you were to search, "stupid american dancing at Jordan's Independence Day", you would find at least 2 dozen movies and hundreds of pictures.  The arabs were all amazingly enthralled that a huge blonde, blue-eyed American was dancing and having tons of fun with them in the middle of the parade.  They were so enthralled that every time I would leave one group I would get sucked into another and the process of holding hands, dancing, clapping and smiling for tons of pictures would begin again.  It was very interesting, although tiring, and I loved it completely.
  On a side note, I realize a lot better now why Arab boys are so touchy feely.  During the party, there were absolutely no women involved.  The only women I saw were on the periphery and they were not having any fun.  That meant that the Shabab had to dance with each other and have fun in that manner rather that doing the unthinkable in their culture and have physical contact with a woman (btw, that's an exaggeration).  Anyway, it just taught me a lot more about the people I am around every day.

One of my many chances to dance with the Shabab

  When I finally got out of the Shabab, my new friend Luai asked me if I wanted to dance with the Sheikhs out in front of the parade.  The Sheikhs were two arab men dressed in traditional clothing with black overcoats dancing in front of the parade waving flags and dancing with a sword.  At first I thought that I would be nervous being in front of so many people, but my desire to have fun, experience something new, and have a cool story quickly overwhelmed that opinion.  So, like a true Herrick at hitched it out in front of the entire parade, put on one of their black see-through robes and proceeded to be paraded up and down the line of people and meet all types of other Sheikhs, Army Officers and other people.  It was pretty funny, and fun because of how many people took pictures and just how amazing it was.  Also, every time Skeikh Yusef would lead me to one end of the people a lady would give me horrible Arabic Coffee to drink.  I didn't have time to explain that I don't drink coffee for religious reasons and I didn't want to offend them so I just drank it, 4 times!  It was, interesting to say the least.  Anyway, tons of people took pictures and I met a number of important people although I don't really know who.  I was also on T.V. and in the newspaper dancing with the Sheikhs!  It was an awesome experience and Sheikh Yusef invited me over to his house to eat dinner sometime soon. Also, I got to see the King and Queen drive by because I was in the front row and they had to wave at all the Sheikhs around me so they rolled down the window.  It was really cool.

With the Sheikhs again, just a sweet picture

Living it up with Sheikh Yusef and Sheikh Hussin

  After the King went by the parade was over and so everyone split very quickly, including us.  We didn't really know where we were going but Ahmed put us on the bus with all the dancers and we rode with them to the next event where we though Ahmed was going to meet us but it turns out that he went back to Aqaba.  Well, the next event we went to was a huge celebration that was much more modern.  It was hosted by Zain, one of the big internet/phone companies here, and was pretty crazy.  There were HUGE bouncers everywhere and 'big black men' (what every Arab tells us they are afraid of) barring our way through.  It took some convincing by the dancers but finally we were allowed to go back stage with them and watched their performance from the shelter of the VIP tent with all sorts of interesting and powerful people (also free drinks!).  It was awesome and when we finally got home we collapsed into bed!
  Seriously, can you believe the experiences I am having here in Jordan?  I think the key is simply to try lots of things and never be afraid to make a fool of yourself.  It happens to me enough anyway so why should I be afraid right?  Anyway, I have definitely found the Arabic people to be amazingly hospitable and nice in every way and although I miss many things in America I am thoroughly enjoying my time here.  Till next time!

The Arab form of Work...

This is how I center looked
when we got to work this morning

Sunday was pretty uneventful with us going to work for only a couple hours and mainly just watching other people do work.  On Sunday, however, I ate one of the most humble and delicious meals I have ever had with the Egyptian workers at the center.  They bought some pita bread, a can of tuna fish and a box of soft cheese.  The tuna and cheese they poured out onto plastic bags and then you would rip off a piece of the bread and grab some of the cheese or tuna and then drink some tea with it.  Honestly, the entire thing fed five people and it was amazing, and it made me so grateful for the many things I have back in America.  However, after one of our Jordanian co-workers saw us he said that that was a horrible meal and that he would show us a great meal tomorrow and then we would explore the caves that are nearby.  So, the rest of this post is going to be about Monday which was absolutely amazing!
  First of all, we showed up to work late because our boss from the previous day told us there wouldn't be much to do and it was alright if we showed up at 10:30 or later if we wanted.  So, we got to the center a little after 10:30 and then did the obligatory sit around for awhile and make small talk that we can't really do because we (or at least I) don't know enough Arabic.  By the time we started moving furniture and doing a bit of cleaning it was almost 11 and we were told that the painters would not be coming that day to finish it and so there wasn't much that we could do anyway.  So, we moved a little bit of furniture around and swept out the corridor and the front area with horribly inadequate tools.  Once that was finished we decided we would go clean up the play area which was covered in discarded building supplies.  So, we asked Mahmud if he had some gloves and he said, "No".  So then we asked if they had a rake, and he said, "No".  We then decided that we could work with a shovel so we asked him and he said, "No".  Finally we decided all we needed was a wheelbarrow but once again he said, "No".  So finally we said, well then what do you have?  Mahmud then proceeded to hand us a broken old plastic bucket and were able to find a dustpan to use as a shovel.  It was epic.  So, we simply did the best that we could cleaning up the area and after our hour of work was done and there was nothing else to do Mahmud took us on an adventure!

Mahmud and I at lunch

  Our adventure consisted of visiting the local Women's Co-op where they hand-made paper, ceramics, wove and made soap.  It was awesome and they gave us brochures talking about how we could get them to teach us how to make these things for not that much money at all.  It was an amazing place, but it only got better when we sat down to eat lunch. which was also epic!  We had for lunch a traditional bedouin breakfast where everything was in communal dishes that you ate by taking a chunk of pita bread, ripping it off and dipping or grabbing whatever it was that you wanted to eat.  The food included awesome jelly, scrambled eggs, olive oil, yoghurt sauce, cucumbers, tomatoes (which I didn't touch) and the most amazing potatoes ever.  It was amazingly good because of the simplicity, versatility and vitality of the food.  It was so fresh and raw that it was amazing to have.  Quite a change from the processed food that I must normally eat.  Once we were stuffed fool and wanted to go into a food coma from the delicious meal Mahmud led us across the street to explore the caves that had been carved from the solid rock walls.

Some of the caves I got to explore today

  The caves were really cool, and that is an amazing understatement.  Something I love and find sort of disturbing at the same time is that no sights are really protected in Jordan that I have seen so far.  You can pretty much crawl over any ruin you see and touch anything you want unless the government makes it physically impossible for you to do so.  This means that while seeing the caves we got to explore and climb through every nook and cranny looking for fun things to see and talk about.  It reminded me a lot of when we would explore the cave dwellings of the Native Americans in New Mexico all the time as a family.  I was constantly seeing new things and analyzing the things that I saw.  It was amazing, however, because these caves were so much older than the ones I had seen in the United States and they were so much more sophisticated as well.  A number of the caves had carved rectangular doorways and were multiple stories tall.  There was also a sophistacted system of writing that was extremely interesting to analyze and think about what it said.  We spent a solid two-hours there so all together we worked for an hour and then spent the next three chillaxing and enjoying ourselves exploring our region.  It was so much fun and I am definitely going to go back to learn how to weave and make paper, not to mention have another delicious meal!
  Anyway, the rest of the day wasn't really anything to highlight but tomorrow is Aid Istiklal or independence day for Jordan and there are supposed to be some pretty sweet celebrations and a parade by the army that the King might even be in!  I'll tell you how it went tomorrow!

Fun Fact:  It is the arab way to just make do with what you have or fix it as many times as possible until it breaks into a million pieces.  For instance, when I asked for a screwdriver at work I was given a Knife and when a bed broke in our house we nailed it back together and coated it with what smelled like Elmer's glue.  It's very cool.

Saturday... the day for Adventures!!!

The inside of the rebuilt Umayyad dome on the citadel

Saturdays, they have always been quite wonderful to me and in the Middle East it is no different.  I am completely free of all other distractions and have an entire day to do nothing productive except have a TON of fun and cool experiences!  Are you ready for this amazing day?  Read on and enjoy...

The outside, it was my favorite building

  Today I decided that I would explore the city of Amman on my own and have a wonderful day doing tons of different things.  I had a whole lists of things that I wanted to do but I should have known, as I have learned many times, that the best way to be unproductive in Jordan is to make a plan.  The first thing I want to do was to go see "The Citadel" in the middle of Amman.  The Citadel is a giant flat hill in downtown Amman that is full of ruins and apparently has a great view of the city.  All I knew was that it had some Roman ruins up there and that sounded like fun so I got in a taxi and after a bit of trying was able to finally communicate to the taxi driver where I wanted to go (quite a feat when you don't know a ton of Arabic).  The Citadel was amazing, especially for the small price of only 2 JDs (about 3 bucks).  The Roman ruins were probably the least cool part of the entire citadel with caves being used back to the Stone Age, Byzantines, Abassids, Umayyads and everything in between.  Also, in Jordan they aren't very much about actually preserving the ruins... instead you get to climb over everything and look into every little nook and cranny you want.  My favorite part was the Umayyad palace with a rebuilt dome and colonnaded streets.  Also there was an awesome Archaeological Museum with artifacts from all over Jordan.  I saw the first example of sculpture and a ton of other really cool objects before walking outside and hearing the prayer calls echoing through the city.

  Can I just say that this is my most favorite part of being in the Middle East?  It is odd, because in Arabic culture they don't really support the arts of dance, instrumental or voice music (at least from what I have been able to gather).  In fact, the largest theatre in the country was built two thousand years ago by the Romans!  However, the caller to prayer is literally one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard.  I have heard some of the best instrumentalists and vocalists in the world in amazing venues like Philadelphia, Chicago and New York but the simple and humble prayer car is greater than them all.  Perhaps it is because I am a religious man and there is something about the praises of God ringing and echoing through a modern city that is poetic but I think it is more than that.  I think it is a combination of the exotic sound, the simplicity, and beauty with which it echoes and resounds from hill to hill in Amman.  Truly, it is amazing and I don't believe I will ever get sick of it. I think everyone should hear it at least once in their life!

What's left of the Temple of Hercules

  After looking around the citadel for awhile I sat down at a viewing area overlooking down town Amman and just pondered for awhile.  I highly recommend some good pondering time for everyone in the world, it really calms the mind and just gives you some time to be with yourself.  Anyway, I was thoroughly enjoying myself just sitting watching and thinking and then this nice Jordanian fellow came by and sat next to me.  We started talking and I had a great time learning some more Arabic and practicing mine with him.  I couldn't believe it, but I actually carried on a reasonable conversation with him for about an hour!  Who would have thunk it?  It was sad, though, when he asked about my work in America and realized that I make more as a student working part time in a week than he does working 14 hour days 6 days a week.  The inequality of the world order has been starkly placed in front of my face here in Jordan, another thing that I think each of us should do in order to remember the wonderful blessings we have.  Anyway, that was really fun and then as the park was closing I got a taxi to head over to my favorite barbershop in town and get my second wonderful Jordanian shave.

I just thought this was a cool picture

  I got the shave, and it was glorious like always (I've decided to get a shave there every week and that's the only time I'm gonna shave in Jordan!  Heck yeah), and then started walking to the downtown to catch a service taxi home to go grocery shopping and do some of the things that I needed to get down today.  Well, that was the plan until I was walking along and I saw this shop that had beautiful Arabic calligraphy hanging up and the guys were making a frame right in front of me.  I vacillated back and forth about whether I should go in and finally I asked one of the guys how much the calligraphy cost.  He looked at me for a second and invited me in to the shop and asked me to sit down.  This then precipitated them purchasing me soft drinks and talking to me for the next almost 3 hours!  Two of the guys had amazing English, one of them lived in America for a while and the other studied accounting in the American University in Cairo.  We talked about all types of things, they told me about their homes in Jerusalem and what it was like to live here in Jordan.  One of them was a photographer and told me I have to look up his pictures on the internet. We had a great talk and they were amazed that I had any prior knowledge of Islam, I only had a rough knowledge, and said I was a smart foreigner.  I also got to ask them some of their feelings about Palestine and Israel and when I did their entire demeener changed, but I was able to pass it off on being just a stupid American.  It wasn't until after we were finished and they were all getting ready to go home that I was finally able to ask them what the calligraphy cost.  It took five minutes and I got a straight answer, and then I was on the road heading home.

The amazing view from where I sat and pondered

  Now, the reason I loved this experience (in case it isn't obvious) is because of how different it makes me feel.  As a visitor or a western tourist I do not expect be treated like a guest when entering a business, nor do I expect the people in that business to buy me drinks and introduce me to random friends of theirs who live close to me.  In the west, good business includes being cordial but getting me in and out of your store without actually making a connection.  This was amazingly different, and so wonderful.  Also, it shows how we as westerners need to interact with the Arab people.  I am not saying that I am a paragon of cultural awareness, I say and do amazingly stupid things everyday, but we must be patient and enjoy the culture simply for the culture, not seek to be in a country just to take pictures and bring our country with it.  I think in a later blog post I am going to write about the difference between a tourist, and what I have so far called a culturalist (I'm seeking for a better term).  Anyway, it was simply a spectacular experience that left me so grateful for a wonderful day full of adventures on my own, new friends and some great conversations in Arabic.  In the end, I feel like this is what life is really about (excuse my soapbox) but we need to build relationships, gain knowledge, and seek to know that which we find strange or scary.  Life is too short for me to build a box and spend my whole life within it, it is up to us to break our comfortable little boxes and seek to understand others better so that all of us can have better, more vivid existences.

I think this picture turned out alright

  I hope you are enjoying reading about My Journey to Jordan!  If you have any questions or things you have wondered about, please post them here or email me and I would be glad to give my opinion on them or the opinions of the Arab friends I have here!  Ma'sallama!

   

Friday... a day of Rest?

I just think it's cool to see the name in Arabic Script

Again, I'm a bit behind but that is simply because my life is so dang cool/awesome here that it's hard to write about all of it.

Friday.  The day of the mosque or the day when most Muslims go to mosque at Noon for Friday Prayer.  It is also the day when most political demonstrations occur in Amman but unfortunately I haven't seen any of these yet.  For me, as an American Christian, it is odd to think of going to church on any other day than Sunday but when in Rome we must do as the Romans do.  Going to church is very interesting in Jordan since the Church I attend, the LDS or Mormon church, is not officially recognized in Jordan.  Since we are not officially recognized as a church, any Jordanian Members must be especially careful or they be followed by the Jordanian Secret Police.  However, the church group here is quite small and I enjoy it greatly.  We have services in both English and Arabic and although I don't understand much of what is being said, I always attend the Arabic classes and will begin attending the Arabic Sacrament Meetings soon.  This week in Sunday School I was able to differentiate between the words the Arabs were speaking and got the general picture that we were talking about modern day prophets.  You may laugh, but anyone who has studied a language and then spoken with a native speaker knows just how dang hard it is.  Anyway, church was fun and I got to talk to some of the Ex-patriot members who are currently working at the Embassy.  They said we can get a tour of the embassy and maybe even meet some of the personel.  SO AWESOME!

Ahmed and Aussie strolling down Sharia Medina

  After Church we headed back home where I promptly took a Sunday nap and ate some food in preparation for meeting up with Mr. Ahmed from the previous day.  Because of a miscommunication in time we ended up meeting Ahmed about 45 minutes late but like the typical Arab he wasn't angry at all. We walked around the Roman Ruins downtown for a few minutes and he then informed us that he had to leave to go see a friend, handed us 5 Dinars and told us to go get a drink and wait for him to return in an hour.  It being my Sunday, and eating Pizza on Sunday being a tradition in my home, we found a little restaurant that we like to frequent and I ordered a pizza that looked oh so delicious.  I then, however, found out how Jordanians make their pizza; WITHOUT SAUCE!  Instead they gave me a ketchup packet (I personally think it is somewhat of an abomination to eat pizza with ketchup) so what I ended up eating was basically a glorified grilled cheese sandwich.  By the time we finished eating it was close to 7 so we headed back to our meeting spot with Ahmed and waited.  Then we waited, and waited and waited some more until about 9:00 o'clock we finally decided that the "Insha a'allah period" had ended and we were gonna head home (I'll right about Insha a'allah later).  Of course, right as we were getting Ahmed calls and asks us where we are and what we want to do for the rest of the evening.   We told him that it was late and so we went home and he asked if he could visit us at our apartment.  Being concerned with safety we told him no and then told him we would see him next week.

Desert with Ahmed

  However, as I began to think about it I realized that we may have offended him greatly and I didn't want to burn any bridges with a potential wonderful Arab friend.  We figured that we could see him again tonight and we asked him to meet us at the Kentucky Fried Chicken that is close to our apartment.  There he insisted on buying us a second dinner and we had a great time talking and joking with him a lot.  He then told us that he wanted to go on a walk to get some desert so we proceeded to walk to the local desert store.  On the way Ahmed would stop every few meters and tell us a different story or ask us a different question such that the walk that should have taken about 15 minutes ended up taking about an hour.  Also as we were walking he told us that he wanted to take us to get a massage in Aqaba so we can feel how nice Arabic massages are and then demonstrated to us an Arabic massage on the side of the busy road.  Something you have to know about Arab men is they are extremely touchy with their friends.  It is quite routine to see two grown men walking down the road hand in hand or arm in arm.  It is casual and there is nothing to it, just like how they love to touch your head or side a lot.  Or how you must kiss each other on the cheeks when greeting one another and how many times you kiss is how important the other person is to you.  Well, Ahmed did that with us and I got photographic evidence for which I am so happy!
  Overall, today was amazing and filled with adventure as well as a lot of speaking in Arabic with Ahmed.  It was so much fun and just another wonderful day in my journey to Jordan.

Fun Fact:  If you ever want to find an Egyptian in Jordan, look at the ones doing the dirty work like construction, cleaning, or garbage pick up.  Many times they are in orange jump suits with "sanitation" written on the back.  Egyptians do the menial jobs that Jordanians feel are below them and are treated much like the Hispanic population in America.  Very interesting!