First full day with my host family:
I woke up so damn late and it was awesome and I’ll tell you one thing, underarmour is the absolute best invention ever! I slept so well and warm! Anyway, the snow FINALLY started melting today so I decided to walk around the “Gardens” (the area where I live) and it was so cool to explore around. I found an awesome gym, I’ve never belonged to a gym before and literally, I feel so spoiled. For basically $1/day I get a personal trainer, sauna, jacuzzi, showers (hard to come by in Jordan), etc! I found some great coffee shops to do work in as well as meeting some great new friends that took me to Rainbow Street (downtown Amman, ‘hippest’ street in Amman) and we had crepes and tea and looked at one of the best views of the city (I forgot my camera of course and only had my iPhone).
sorry for the bad picture quality, damn iPhone
It was also great because they speak English but they only spoke Arabic with me and I was able to learn so many new words and phrases that I wrote down in my little notebook of course! I carry that thing everywhere! I also spent a large chunk of my day hanging out with my little host niece, whom I think is the cutest child ever and we played so many games, drew some great pictures, and she taught me some Arabic and I taught her English!
The night life here is completely different from back home! Obviously, with 97% of the country being Muslim, there is not a big influx of alcohol, however there is a small night life here. It’s different also because people do not stay out as late here as they do in America, they tend to be home by midnight at the latest, maybe later if it is a ‘big’ party or something. I kinda like it because it allows me to wake up early to go to the gym and get my day going, although I do love sleeping in.
“Lying”
I lied today. I lied about my religion. I said that I was Christian. I was hanging out with some friends tonight when the topic of religion came up. I was not previously aware of the bitterness between Christians and Muslims in Jordan, but it became very clear that there was a difference during my talk with my new Christian friends. Specifically in regards to women, the Christians view the Muslims as being irresponsible because they separate boys and girls all throughout school and then when Muslim men go to college and see women for the first time in classes and such, it is perceived that they cannot control themselves. Furthermore, I was also told that many of the catcalls and inappropriate comments that women receive on the streets in Jordan are from Muslim men. I was very taken aback by this conversation because while I knew that there was a distinct hatred for Jews in Jordan, I didn’t realize that there was such a conflict between the two ‘respected’ religions of Jordan. While many of my friends said that they do have some Muslim friends, they said that it was much harder to find a ‘good’ Muslim friend than it was to find a Christian one, especially for women. Regardless, it was something for me to think about and I’m sure it will be a continued theme throughout my time here. Subsequently, it was after this conversation that I was quickly asked if I was Christian, to which I replied, yes, and there was a big sigh of relief around the entire table.
ThisSpaceBetweenUs 