Travels in Syria, featuring The Perfect Day

Two weeks ago, I went to Damascus, Syria with a bunch of people from our program. I'll start from the very beginning with our issues at the border, transitioning into the lame night, into The Perfect Day, and to our last great day.

THE BORDER

Basically, they made us wait 6 hours. We didn't have any sort of problems, they just made us wait. Because you know, we were Americans trying to cross into Syria. Our cab driver was furious and nearly abandoned us once or twice, despite us warning him that none of us had visas. We ended up paying him like 20JD extra for being such a trooper. And the visa only cost US$16, when it cost about $130 from the Syrian Embassy in the US. So that was a nice bonus.

FIRST NIGHT

The first night was actually kind of lame. We did get to the hotel though which was really pretty, especially considering how little we were paying for it.

Here is what it looked like:



After that we went to this club called Dominoes, filled with extremely lame and gross 30-40 year olds. Me and a few people decided to leave and went to a liquor store and had a relaxing night in the hotel instead.

THE PERFECT DAY

The Perfect Day (yes, it must be capitalized) began when the group of 11 of us headed to Syria's National Museum. For the most part, the theme with these museums is once you've seen one Middle Eastern museum, you've kind of seen them all. Looking at a bunch of similar rocks does get boring after a while, although there was a pretty neat synagogue from way back in the day that featured paintings from many biblical stories. Other than that though, it was kind of boring, which led me and my friend Peter to decide to depart from the group to go wander around Damascus. He wanted to get our friend (and fellow UNCer!) Stephen since they had agreed to be "wingin' it buddies" (guys are so weird) and he was with our friend Chris, so the four of us rolled out.

This would not have been a مشكلة, (pronounced mushkila, meaning "problem") if we had not left one guy back with 6 girls. And if the text I sent to one of the girls in the group had arrived on time rather than 45 minutes later. And if I had known she couldn't text back. This led to a little bit of drama that doesn't really need to be discussed here, but I really don't think it's that big of a deal anymore.

Anyway.

From the museum we went and sat in a beautiful park for a while. Peter and Chris figured out which way to go with their manly directional skills, using the sun and time of day to figure out how to get to the main area of town. This led us to a fruit juice/slushie stand, which was some of the most delicious juice I've ever had. I think mine was rasberry. Just a really nice way to start off the perfect day.

From there we continued walking and exploring, and ended up in a souk (small market) that was definitely all stolen goods. We continued wandering until we found the real legit souk, although most places in there were closed. However, we did find an ice cream place, which served large cones of vanilla ice cream covered in pistachios for what is less than an American dollar. This experience also led to the perfect picture:



We also got approached by a Syrian girl, probably around 15 years old, that asked to take pictures with each of us individually. Believe it or not, this isn't the first time this has happened to me.

From there we went to a tomb of Saladin, who was a great war hero in Syria back in the day, sometimes referred to as "The Conqueror of Jerusalem." That was pretty neat.

From there we went to the Citadel, which was closed because a concert was to be taking place that night. There we randomly ran into two other guys from our group, Paul and Darren, and invited them to join us for dinner. We went somewhere that claimed to have food, but actually just grabbed a menu of a nearby restaurant and acted as some sort of middleman. It was all very entertaining, actually. We ate, hung out, smoked some sheesha, just chilled.

From there we split off with Darren and Paul and went to explore the big mosque in the middle of the city. I was given a large robe to wear and we started walking around the beautiful main courtyard area. It was here when our day would really pick up the intensity.

We got called over my some شباب (pronounced shabaab, meaning youth) all wearing blue and orange. They asked us if we were going to "the game" to which we replied "which game?" They leaped onto this opportunity to teach us all about the team they cheer for, pronounced Karrama, and gave us a free flag (after taking a bunch of pictures of us holding it of course) and advised us to go to the game that night.

We continued to walk around, Peter with the flag around his neck, and continuously got stopped for pictures, cheers, etc. It was quite amusing.

We went to the stadium and it was PACKED! We bought a ticket outside for the equivalent of about US$2, bought some more cheap flags, and headed inside. We sat right at the midfield line in one of the front rows, where things were a little less crazy but our view of the field was awesome. We noticed a large banner that seemed to signify that this was indeed a championship game, most likely between two Syrian teams, although Karrama had a much bigger following there.

The game was getting ready to start and the crowd started getting rowdy. People started throwing firecrackers onto the field (seriously) until kickoff. Karrama ended up winning 3-1, with crazy celebrations including fireworks, flares, and fires being set from the middle of the bleachers and stands.

Upon winning, all the Karrama fans stormed the field. We figured "when in Syria..." so we joined them all on the field for the celebration. One guy that had been sitting near us for most of the game asked where we were from and when we told him, he continuously yelled "WELCOME!" in English for the next half hour or so. He also handed me his phone and made me talk to a bunch of his Syrian friends, which wasn't even slightly awkward.

Anyway, as we were all on the field, throwing our flags around, waving at the players that were being carried off the field by other fans, and trying to get on television, all of a sudden COMPLETELY out of nowhere, everyone starts sprinting and shoving hardcore back toward the gate we had come out of. As it turns out, the Syrian (riot?) police had begun chasing the mob off the field with their nightsticks or whatever you want to call them. Luckily through the chaos the 4 of us were somehow able to stay together and managed to get off the field without too big of a problem.

Afterwards, we ate dinner at a very fancy Italian restaurant but because we were in Syria, the price came out to less than eating at an Applebees or something. From there, to complete the full circle of the perfect day, we got delicious juice again, and stayed up talking and hanging out at our hotel until the wee hours of the morning.

LAST DAY

We shopped. That's pretty much it, I believe. Had no trouble coming back through the border.

I realize I am well behind on my blog posts (I have to write one about Beirut, where I was for the past 5 days) but I'll try to keep up if I can. Next weekend is looking like an Israel/Palestine trip, so I'll try to get my Beirut stuff up before then.

Apologies, Wadi Rum, and a Jordanian friend

Sorry blogosphere, it's been a while.

Classes continue to be difficult but our courseload seems to be reducing (or maybe we've just gotten used to it) so that's nice.

Last weekend we went to Wadi Rum, which is a desert in Jordan. I can't really put into words how beautiful and just different it was. The bright red sand, gigantic rock formations shaped by the wind, it was just incredibly cool. The Bedouins, a desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group, made us food and invited us to hookah and music. We saw many places where Lawrence of Arabia (wikipedia it or something if you don't know what I'm talking about) visited, lived, was inspired, etc. I also rode a camel!!!!

Another thing I want to talk about is my language buddy! We get assigned a Jordanian student that is studying English here. My buddy's name is Sahar and she is super awesome. She is a big American Idol fan and, especially because she is half Indian (and half Palestinian) and said that "he is a typical Indian guy." She's also super into the Jonas Brothers and Hannah Montana, but I'll forgive her for that. She really likes Shakespeare and wants to take me shopping.

This weekend we're going to Petra and Aqaba which should be awesome. Apparently Petra is one of the "new" 7 Wonders of the World and Aqaba is awesome, so we'll see.

My laptop is dying and I'm running out of thoughts, but I'll try to post on this more I swear!

Video tour of my apartment in Jordan

Pictures take forever so just check facebook

Had our first test and it was pretty damn difficult, but not impossible I guess. My time is nearly entirely consumed by homework but this weekend we visited some ancient sites like Um Qais, the Aljoun Castle, and Jerash. Lots of Roman ruins which were fun to climb around on and explore.

Some other interesting things about Jordan: people are absurdly, borderline uncomfortably friendly. Me and two of my friends were eating dinner tonight, came up to us, asked if we spoke English, then promptly invited the guy in our group to visit his village and asked to be his friend. All before asking his name! Our friend Mohammad routinely gets asked for his number and invited to dinner by other guys. People will offer you free rides and invite you to coffee because you're American. At the ruins yesterday a girl asked us if we would take a picture with her...just because.

In my free time, I've been hanging out with people in the program and watching TV either in Arabic or with Arabic subtitles. I've gotten super into CSI NY and ER, let me tell ya.

Classes and Amman

Fun fact: Arabic is really hard to learn in such a short and condensed amount of time.

Our classes are very difficult and it's kind of rough because there are definitely people in our class that are ahead of us in regard to how much we learned. For example, my friend Kevin from Princeton knows a lot more than I do, yet he is in my class. At the same time, I think I'm in better shape than a few other people in my class, so I guess it works out.

This weekend we went to Amman, the capital of Jordan. It is more Westernized than most of Jordan and it shows. It sort of reminded me of a Chinatown of New York only with Middle Eastern people. We saw the Citadel which were some ancient ruins and whatnot. Saw a mosque or two as well. I finally bought my kuffiyeh which I'm pretty happy about, especially because I lied and haggled in Arabic and got it for a dinar ($1.4) less than what it was originally. Noice.

We also went out and experienced the Amman nightlife, but if you want to hear those stories, you're going to have to ask me personally via skype/AIM/facebook/email/whatever. I will say that the night did end with my friend Peter and I making some Jordanian fruit selling guys that gave us free oranges and bananas. It was fun.

Now it's back to the grind. Oh well.

First FULL day of classes

Ohhhh man.

Our first full day of classes were today, meaning approx. 5 hours worth of classes. They divide our classes up so it's not just straight Arabic. I have ammiyah (our dialect class) every day for a little over 2 weeks, then we don't have to take that and it's only 4 hours a day. I also have conversation, grammar, reading, listening, and writing classes, although we don't have writing until tomorrow.

Ammiyah was really fun, reading is pretty decent, grammar was GREAT (I know right), conversation was awesome (although I'm sure I'll be terrified of it in the future), and listening was THE DEVIL. Seriously we watched this video over and over again and I still could not understand a word. But we all struggled with it so I guess it's okay. Other than that, classes were awesome. All in Arabic but I was able to understand most of it. They're challenging but in a great way. The professors are extremely enthusiastic and very helpful. It's great so far.

Not so great would be the homework...I spent 5 hours on it and am still not fully done. Grrrr.

We're trying to plan our Amman trip for this weekend. I'm pretty pumped to go to a club in Jordan haha

Nothing too interesting

Just hanging out in the Language Center's computer lab. We just had our oral interviews, but a few more people still have to go so we're just killing time. Mine was pretty comical, considering my Arabic is really rusty and I accidentally said I ate the city of Irbid this morning. But we all laughed and the professors are super friendly, energetic, and helpful. Tomorrow we have our written placement test which will probably be much less embarrassing.

We're all starting to get to know the city better which is great. A few of us went to a hookah bar last night and man, I have to improve my smoking skills. One of my goals (yes, there's a list) is to learn how to make smoke rings. Other goals include buying a keffiyeh, getting invited to a Jordanian wedding, making a legit Jordanian friend, and traveling to at least one or more of the following places: Syria, Israel, the West Bank, and/or Lebanon. It'll happen.

In case any of you read this, I'll be on skype at around 2pm EST, so chat with me. :) heather.giuffre

Okay? Okay.

Traveling and the first day

I wrote this last night obviously:

6/11/09 11:53pm Jordan time; 4:52pm EST

WARNING SUPER LONG ENTRY AHEAD

The past 24 (or 26, really) hours have been completely absurd, unlike anything I have ever experienced before. I don’t have internet access in my room, but I’m typing this up now to add to my blog later. Yeah.

We all met at the Ramada Hotel right near JFK Airport for our orientation. I got to meet a few people before orientation started and off the bat everyone was really nice. Some are nerdier than others but everyone is obviously very intelligent, motivated and, so far at least, pleasant to be around. I connected to some more than others, but again, there’s no one that stands out in a negative way.

Orientation was relatively pointless and way too long, especially because we had been mailed a giant 115pg orientation manual that all of us read beforehand. We got a pretty good Indian dinner from the hotel, though.

After orientating for a while we headed to JFK, where we were stuck waiting for WAY too long for our luggage to get checked. Eventually we got through that, then waited on the chaotic line that was security. Lots of Arabic was thrown around already; we were the only people of non-Middle Eastern descent (other than the few Arabs in our group) in the terminal.

Finally we boarded the plane and headed off. We got in flight meals which I’ve never experienced before. I also got to bond with the girl, Lilly, that was sitting next to me, and watched Paul Blart: Mall Cop with Arabic subtitles. Sort of slept, sort of didn’t. There were TONS and I mean TONS of young children on our flight, many of whom obviously did not enjoy the trip and cried at various points. At about 4am EST one child even began SCREAMING non-stop for at least 15 minutes. I don’t know if this is an Arab stereotype or not, but I noticed that a lot of children ran somewhat wild and were not really tended to like you’d see an American parent when a child was crying. Like an American parent will get embarrassed when their child acts up in public, while many Arab parents I noticed chose to ignore it. Just an observation.

For as long as the flight was though, it could’ve been worse. Getting through customs and getting our baggage was DEFINITELY worse. Clusterfuck is the only word I could use to describe it, and that doesn’t even describe how bad it was. People blatantly cut lines and luckily the New York in me kicked in and I was able to get myself and a friend through before another family cut us off. But yeah. It blew. And two people, including my roommate (her name is Stephanie, she’s from UVA and is cool and the only other girl in Lower Intermediate) got some of their bags lost. I think they’ll be returned tomorrow though.

From there we took a bus to a supermarket, where Steph and I bought some food/water for tomorrow. Paying in Jordanian currency was an adventure, but even with a shitty exchange rate, I got a 6 pack of HUGE water bottles, pita bread, 2 green apples (they were the most expensive thing, go figure), a tub of hummus, and a coke for about $6.

Back on the bus to Irbid. Made it to our apartments. Me and Steph’s is on the 3^rd floor which was a huge pain with luggage but isn’t that big of a deal. I’ll post pictures of it soon.

That’s all for now! Just letting you all know I’m safe and very excited for my future in Jordan.

Right now:

Just ate. So full. Kinda tired. Probably because I didn't sleep last night. Thursday nights are big here and the city was loud and the birds were REALLY LOUD but no worries. Internet costs money wtf.

Less than 2 weeks

With less than 2 weeks to go, I have begun researching further and thinking more about my trip. I bought some super long dresses to wear (with cardigans to wear over, of course) and have already started packing.

I had a weird experience yesterday that I wanted to update about for some reason. I went to the eye doctor (optometrist? right?) to get some prescription sunglasses because well, they seem like they'd be pretty useful in Jordan. Anyway, my grandma (aka Nanny) mentioned to the woman working there that I'll be going to Jordan. The woman was replied, "Why would you want to do THAT?!" in a condescending voice implying that Jordan is a huge shithole (hey, it's not.) I told her that I was going to study Arabic and she sounded even more disgusted and replied with a snarky "Good luck" and told me I should go to Israel instead. I understand there's a lot of animosity but jeez, have a little bit of respect you know?

On another note, I am trying to decide what to do with my semester break. I'm going to be staying in Irbid, which is right here:

As you can see, I will be close to Syria, and apparently people in the past have visited Syria and hey, I would like to visit Syria. Unfortunately upon informing my parents of this, they are not exactly keen on the idea. Israel isn't too far away so that's looking like a good option, although my parents are convinced that still isn't safe. Flights to Egypt aren't TOO expensive also. So I guess we'll see.

Feel free to put in your input, blogosphere!

The beginning

I am about 23 days away from my departure to Jordan and since I just received and read my orientation packet (all 119 pages of it) today, I thought now would be a good time to start this blog, which is called "Heather fii al-Urdoon" or in English, "Heather in Jordan."

For those of you who don't know, I will be traveling to Jordan for 2 months this summer. I'm going to be studying Arabic at Yarmouk University in the city of Irbid with the University of Virginia-Yarmouk University Summer Arabic Program. Considering I've never been out of the country nor west of Tennessee, this is going to be a very interesting and undoubtedly a life-altering experience for me. I plan on updating this blog when I can with pictures, stories, etc. to publish my memories and share them all with you.

I am slowly coming to terms with the fact that as a woman, my experience in Jordan is going to be somewhat different than that of my male counterparts. I'm going to have to dress much more conservatively than I'm used to for starters. Not like I dress like a whore by any means, but tank tops and shorts are pretty much forbidden, as well as anything form fitting whatsoever. Shirts should be down to near elbows, etc. And apparently, it is relatively common for American women to fall victim to catcalling and harassment and the like. All the accounts from past female participants say you get used to it, but I'm a little worried about how I'm initially going to react.

My orientation packet has also told me that there are inexpensive internet cafes as well as a university computer lab. I think this implies that my dorm will not have internet access, meaning I will not be available for chatting just whenever. That's going to be difficult for me considering my obvious addiction to Facebook, but that'll be part of the adjustments I guess.

And so ends my first Jordan blog post.