Arabic Lesson

I guess it's time for another round of learning Arabic with Erica. :) How would you like to learn some greetings? If you don't, you might as well stop reading this post now.

            *One note: I will be writing the words the way they sound, not necessarily in their correct spelling.

Okay, when I walk into a store, or get into a taxi, the first thing I usually say is "A Salaam Al Lei Kum" or just "A Salaam". This literally means "peace be upon you" or at least I'm pretty sure it does. :) The response is "Wa A-Lei Kum Salaam", which means "and upon you too" (not literally though). "Wa" is "and" in Arabic.

Another greeting that means "hello" is "Mar-ha-ba". When I greet Christians this is what I use, since the first phrase is a Muslim greeting. The little shop across the street that I go to get pop sometimes is one of the places where I use "marhaba" since Christians own the shop.

In the mornings at school, the greeting "Sa-bakh al Hare" which means "good morning". The response to this is "Sa-bakh al Noor". "Sabakh" is the word for morning, and so in the evening another word (that I can't remember at the moment and I don't want to get up to find it in my notes) is substituted within the same two greetings.

When I walk into a store I am often greeted with "A-ha-lan Wa Sa-ha-lan" which is basically "welcome" although I don't know the exact translation.

Well, that should be enough for now. :) I am still contemplating doing a short video so that you can actually hear how it sounds, but at the moment, I'm feeling a bit grubby and so I'm not about to videotape myself now. Insh-allah I will do it this week sometime. :)

Thanksgiving

Although yesterday was a holiday in the U.S.,  here it was life as usual for me. We even had an exam in class, to add to the feeling of a non-holiday. :) Apparently none of us in the class did very well on our mid-term exam, so they made us take another one. And to be perfectly honest, this one was easier. :)
Last night I did get to talk to the entire family...the first time since Tony and Kerri left for college. They are in Hesson for Thanksgiving, along with Ross (my cousin) and Kerri's friend Meredith, so it was a good end to the day, and was worth it to stay up later. :)
This evening I played Cities and Knights (a version of Settlers of Catan) with some other ex-pat women here, which was fun. It is nice to sometimes have hang out times with other single women and be able to have fun.
And now, since Thanksgiving is over, I can officially listen to Christmas music! Which is what I am doing right now. :) The Christmas and Advent season is definitely one of my favorite times of the years; from the music to the new snow to the anticipation of the season...all of it adds to the holiday atmosphere, and I love it. Even far from home, I think that this Christmas season will be special. :)
Anyway, I apologize if posts are becoming fewer and farther between...I think the new-ness is starting to wear off of my life and I'm left without much to share. :) If you have specific questions or want me to share about something specific, please leave a comment or email me and I can write a post just for you. :)
Happy Thanksgiving Weekend!!

Jackpot!

I feel like I hit the jackpot today! :) I went to check for mail and found 5, that's right, 5 letters waiting for me! I was so excited, and it was so much fun to open them and hear what is going on back home. :) There was even pictures in a couple of them.
In all actuality I shouldn't have received these letters all at once. One of them appeared to have been sitting for about a month before it got to the university. :( But they might have been sitting for a lot longer except yesterday I went and finally asked how often the mail comes and the international student advisor said someone was just being lazy and not going to the post office to pick up the mail, so it was all collecting at the post office and not finding it's way to the students. He promised that the mail would be picked up, and today when I went and checked, there it was! I guess the best thing will be to keep asking and making sure they are picking the mail up regularly. I am waiting for a package from my family (early Christmas presents!) so I will definitely be checking regularly. :)
Anyway, thanks to those of you who sent cards...I loved them!

Back to the Routine

After a wonderful 8 day break today I started back to classes. I must admit it was not very easy to get up this morning after being able to sleep in all last week. :)
It definitely doesn't seem like the season of Thanksgiving and Christmas, but I guess that is to be expected since they don't celebrate either holiday here, or at least the vast majority of them don't. There is one or two shops in my neighborhood that are owned by Christians, and they have completely decorated for Christmas.
Anyway, maybe tonight or tomorrow I can put another "lesson" of Arabic on here. :)

Trip to the North

Yesterday my roommate and I, along with her friend who's visiting, went up to Ajloun and Jerash, in the northern part of the country to see some of the sights. 

There is a castle in Ajloun that was built by Saladin's nephew (Saladin was the Muslim general who took Jerusalem back from the Crusaders) and it is pretty well preserved. According to my guidebook, this castle was one of a network of posts that could pass a message by passenger pigeons from Damascus to Cairo in one day. It is built on the top of the tallest hill in the area, and we could see for miles in every direction from the top of the castle. Here are some pictures I took.

Looking down towards Ajloun...most of this area was actually heavily wooded, but it was cleared because of the need of wood. They are trying to replant trees to some extent, and the majority of the trees that you see on the hill right below are olive trees.

The old castle...we had a beautiful, albeit windy, day to visit.

Standing on the western wall of the castle. Right below me was the two story dry moat and from this perch we thought we caught a glimpse of the Jordan River and Palestine beyond it. 

We walked down the hill to the bus, and this is from the road looking back up at the castle. 

Along the road we found this really random cab, and we couldn't pass up the opportunity for a picture. :)

From Ajloun we traveled back the way we came to Jerash, or Gerasa as it was known in Roman times. It was one of the cities of the Decapolis during the time of the Herods. The ruins go on for acres and since they have spent time restoring some of them, we got a pretty good idea of what the buildings would have looked like back in it's glory. 

While we were eating lunch right outside, they were doing a re-inactment in the hippodrome, and we caught glimpses of men dressed as Roman soldiers. :)

This gate was built to commemorate the Emperor Hadrian's visit to the city. 

It seemed like this was the main hub of the ancient city. Behind me was the temple of Zeus, and there was at least one other temple to Artemis further into the site. The pictures don't do justice to how massive everything was...the stones in the pavement, the stones used for the columns, the stones used for everything. :)

The setting sun behind one of the buildings

We wondered what had happened to push the paving stones up like they are on the right of the picture, but didn't get any definite answers. You can see the modern city behind the ruins...we guessed that under all of it there were probably ruins exactly like what we were walking around in, but they hadn't been excavated before the city was built up. 

All in all it was a great day, and I enjoyed getting out of the city for the first time. It is much greener up there, and so it was nice to see trees and vegetation beyond a few trees encased in cement. :) 

I also loved visiting places that held so much history. Some of you know that I love history, and it was incredible to walk through those ruins and try to imagine what kind of people walked where I was walking, and what life was like back then. Not all of the history connected with these places is pleasant of course, but it still has a lot to teach us and effects us even today. If history doesn't effect our lives I wouldn't be where I am today, but I am, all because of a single man from Nazareth. :)

University Pictures

The other day I was at the university early and since I had my camera along with me I decided to take a few pictures as stealthily as I could. I hate pulling out my camera and becoming a tourist, but there are so many sights I wish I could capture to share with you all, so with the help of my zoom, this day I tried. :) I wanted to capture the wide range of dress that I see at the university every day, and to give you a glimpse of what kind of people around me.

This is right inside the main gate, looking towards the clock tower, which is a landmark, if you will, at least for me. On the right is the library and I usually go to the left to get to the language center, which is nearby.

Here you see some of the women, wearing the hijab along with the long coats. Also, I managed to catch this man wearing the long robe thing and scarf head covering. This is not such a typical sight, but there are a few men in the university who wear this type of clothing. I'm not sure exactly where this style comes from...although if you are familiar with the red and white checked scarves, those are specifically Palestinian, and I'll see men wearing those but not the robe-type outfit.

As you can see some of these girls are not wearing the long coats...some girls just wear the hijab and a longer shirt to cover their hips. But the vast majority of girls on campus that I see are covered, and I've heard that the university is much more conservative than some. 

And then there are some like the girl on the right who also wear the veil. I don't see that as often, but there are some women who do wear it at the university. In the background you see can see the other extreme...a girl not covered and dressed in the latest fashion. Also, a sidenote, you might notice the cat...well, there are stray cats all over the city. I was in a mall one evening and I even saw one inside roaming up in the rafters. :) They are kinda like the stray dogs of India...not many people own them as pets but they sure are everywhere. :)

I took some other pictures tonight on the way to visit a family who is close to my roommate (I went with my roommate) but they haven't been uploaded to my computer yet, so you'll have to wait to see those. :)

Maybe this week because I don't have classes I'll have time to put another "lesson" in Arabic on here. Someone also suggested that I put a video of myself speaking in Arabic on here, but I'm still thinking about that one. :) Let me know if you really want that to happen and I'll do my best.

Another Achievement to Mark

I don't have any pictures from Petra, since I didn't end up going to Petra. :) I will get there, I promise, but this past weekend just was not the best time...

Anyway, today I took my mid-term exam, which was not as easy as my teacher was making it out to be. :( I didn't fail (at least I don't think I did) but I had trouble with not knowing some of the words. However, if the rumbling in the class could be trusted, I think everyone had trouble with some of the vocabulary. So, at least I'm not at the bottom. :)

And now more about that achievement...yesterday and today I successfully hosted Arab girls here in the apartment. :) Some might say that this is not an accomplishment, but for a single woman in an Arab culture,  like me, it is. Hospitality here is very important, and there are certain customs to be observed so that I don't offend the guests. Thankfully, while Arabs value hospitality they also are very forgiving of foreigners. :) Yesterday Haneen came home with me from the university and we ate lunch and then I taught her Dutch Blitz. (a vonderful gut and easy game to teach) Since I was at the university I couldn't exactly cook a meal, so instead we stopped and picked up a roasted chicken on the way home. There is this place in the neighborhood that makes rotisserie-type chicken that is delicious. And then today after my exam Roa'a met me at the university and came back with me. We talked for awhile and then went and got lunch (chicken again) and then I taught her Dutch Blitz as well. I tend to have deeper conversations with Roa'a since her English is a bit better than Haneen's (not that Haneen's English isn't good, I think she just doesn't have all the vocab that Roa'a does), but I know Haneen enjoyed the game more. :) All in all, I think I was a successful hostess. :) I guess we'll see if they come back or not...that will be the true test.

Tomorrow is a holiday because of the elections. I'm assuming everything will be closed at least for part of the day, so I'm planning to stay at home and study and rest. :)

What To Write...

I am realizing that as the weeks pass by I am finding less to write about. So if any of you want me to write anything specific let me know.

This week has been a very nice contrast to the previous weeks in terms of weather. I even pulled out the down comforter that was in my closet, although it really isn't quite cold enough for that. But I am sitting here in short-sleeves thinking about going to get my fleece and some socks since I'm getting chilly. :)
Because of the time change it is actually light out when I get up (although yesterday....well, I'll tell that story in a bit), however, before 5 it is pretty much dark, which makes me tired.

So, yesterday....well, for some unknown reason my alarm clock got set ahead an hour (I must have bumped the right combination of buttons or something) and so at what I thought was 6:30 I was out of bed getting ready for the day. I even thought I was running a tad late so I rushed out the door at what I thought was 7:30, and had made it halfway up our little alley before it occurred to me that there were no children out and about, and normally at 7:30 the streets are crawling with children on their way to school. I glanced at my watch and here it said 6:30! Not quite believing it, I checked my ipod, since I knew that it had the right time. And yes, it was definitely just 6:30, not 7:30. So I went back inside, checked my email and actually straightened my hair before leaving again, this time at 7:30. :) You may ask why I didn't realize it earlier, but even when I did look at my other time-keeping devices I really only noticed the minutes, not the hours because that was all I really cared about, since of course, I had gotten up at 6:30. So, anyway, I was tired last night and tried to get to bed a bit earlier than normal.

Today my one roommate came out to the university and met Roa'a my friend I had made. We had a good time hanging out together, and apparently my enjoyment of shwerma is getting to be quite humorous to them.

Anyway, I'm finding that I'm falling more and more towards the middle/bottom-middle of my class as far as proficiency goes. This is somewhat of a new thing for me, since normally it isn't that hard for me to keep at the front of the pack. I'm finding that while I can read and write fairly well (as in understanding what I'm doing), I am still horrible at speaking. When I am asked a question my mind goes blank and all those words I thought I knew fly out of my head and I'm left like a fish out of water, struggling to produce even the basic sentences. :P Let me just be honest and say that this isn't a pleasant feeling for me to not have schoolwork come easily and has definitely caused some soul searching in what I place my identity in. But I am trying to use more and more of the language as I'm out, in taxis and with my Arab friends, so inshallah I will continue to get better. I also have to keep reminding myself that I've only started learning this language 6 weeks ago, and that I should have more grace for myself.

Anyway, things I'm looking forward to...going to visit Petra on Saturday, a vacation day because of the elections next Tuesday, and then the Eid (I think it's where they celebrate the sacrifice of Abraham's son, but don't quote me on that) the following week, which means a full week off of school!

Well, that was a nice long update...I wasn't expecting that much when I sat down to write tonight. :)

Salaam!