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.