Hubz and Dreams: A terrible pun, but it basically sums up my first two weeks here

Hi!

So it's been about two weeks since I first arrived in Amman, but it definitely feels like I've been here for longer than that. To sum up my life for the past two weeks, here's a listicle (listiblog?) of the top 7 adventures so far.

7. Classes started

Not so much of an adventure as it is just a reality. Classes here run Sunday through Thursday, which is definitely hard to get used to. This quarter (semester?) I'm taking Advanced 1 Arabic - both formal and colloquial. Our Formal class meets five days a week, our colloquial for three (Sun/Tues/Thurs). I'm also taking a history class called "Modern History of Jordan and the Middle East" and religious studies class called "Islam in the Modern Context." It's so different to not live near campus. Our villa is about a 1.5 JD cab ride away, so it's not really worth it to go home between classes. So what have I been doing with all that free time between classes? I've been on the hunt for the best shawerma sandwich near campus, or I've been bumming around cafes. All of my professors have been fantastic so far, especially my formal Arabic teacher. It's going to be a tough class, but it'll be a great experience.

6. The Villa

Also not really as much a one-time adventure. But really, it's been great. We got another roommate this week (hey, Steph!) so now all our rooms are filled. It's pretty nice. So far, we've all been cooking for each other, a random assortment of fried rice with chicken nuggets as the meat source and pita pizzas. We've been pretty inseparable, which is both impressive and gross. But most importantly, it's been a blast. On top of it all, though, we have a wonderful landlady who randomly brings us snacks and told us that she's throwing us all birthday dinners. She lives on the top floor -- the five of us have the other two floors. Essentially, we've got a host grandmother but our own place as well. 

Noms. Bread= life

5. Sports on sports on sports

I thought that by leaving the country, I'd be missing football season in its entirety. Turns out, that's not the case. There's a place called Wings and Rings (so BDubs) located on one of the main streets, so Sunday Night Football can still be a thing. Something about being in a foreign place with a seriously different culture makes an American restaurant and sports so much more appealing. But let's not forget about real football.

4. That time we tried to get into a world cup qualifier even though the tickets were sold out.

An experience, to be sure. Last Friday, Jordan played its first of two qualifying games against Uzbekistan in an attempt to make it to the world cup for the first time in forever. Naturally, we figured it would be a great idea to go. So we dressed as conservatively as we could, headed over to the stadium only to realize that we needed to find scalpers to sell us the tickets. Too bad all the regular tickets were sold out. So some guards escorted a group of probably 15 Americans to the media gate, hoping to get us in that way. No such luck. We tried to find a way in (by paying or just by getting let in) but all to no avail. But a learning experience, for sure. It was insane to see the crowds of fans —mostly men— who were there to support their country and wanted so bad to get in that eventually the guards had to chase them off. Bummed, we went to watch the game in a cafe. They tied that game anyway. The next game though, they won off double overtime and are on their way to play Uruguay!

3. Books @ Cafe 

Last week, CIEE hosted a guest lecturer to speak with us about LGBT issues in Amman. The owner of Books @ Cafe, a great cafe located off Rainbow Street that has a book store on the first floor and a great cafe/bar on the second floor and roof, came and told us about his role with activism in Jordan and the region. It was interesting to hear about the much different LGBT environment in a region that has more pressing issues (hey, Syria and Egypt) keeping the conversation off the table. Thursday, we went to the cafe to hang out for a friend's birthday and we had a great time hanging out, making friends with some of the people who frequent the cafe and running into the owner who gave the birthday girl a round of free drinks. Seriously a great night. 

2. BBQ-ing at an olive farm overlooking the Dead Sea

OK so these next two are more like a tie, but this one chronologically came first, so it makes more sense to put it first here. So last Saturday, a group of us kids went with some Jordanians to an olive farm up in the mountains outside Amman. We got some food, had dinner there and just hung out, climbed up some boulders and got the most fantastic view of the Dead Sea, Palestine and Israel. All from one place. Surreal. At night, you could see the lights that made up the borders — first a line of lights dictating the Palestinian-Jordan border, then another one a little ways out dictating the Israeli-Palestinian border. Beyond that, you could see a clump of lights that was Jerusalem. It's insane to think about an area that is so heavily contested can be viewed from one hill. I thought about times in the states when I've gone hiking in the Rockies and seen larger expanses of just land. But here, in this view, so much was happening. 

To top it all off, the Jordanians we met there were seriously great — one even lives in the same neighborhood as us! Another one is in a local band that's performing in a few weeks for a 3-day music festival in Amman. Lolla in the Middle East I guess? I didn't think anything could top that. 

1. Rock climbing -- on actual rocks. In northern Jordan.

But then this weekend happened. Yesterday, five of us went out to Ajloun, a town in northern Jordan to go rock climbing with a few of the guys we had met last week. To give you a sense of where I was, I took a screen shot. 

We were near the red dot.

We spent the day climbing rocks. On the way over, our friend explained that the people we were climbing with were some of the only expert rock climbers in the country. He said there were only about six total. Of course, he said, there are about 200 or so beginners. Jordan has amazing natural terrain that is great for climbing, but the sport is still catching on. 

Climbing on real rocks is not the same as on the Lutherdale climbing wall. Somehow, the rock seemed like it had nowhere to hold on to. But getting up higher and seeing that view was just perfect. If I could do that every weekend I would. 

That's me. Strugglin' up the rock. 

What's up next? Well, next weekend we're going as a big group to Wadi Rum and Petra, so be on the lookout for that quintessential study abroad camel pic!