UPDATE!

First of all, big apology for the unexpected hiatus from posting on the blog. Turns out (wonder of wonders) that going to school, having internships, work, and personal lives takes up a lot of your time. It surprised me too.

So here's a quick little update on life in the Big Falafel (get it?):

School:

The University of Jordan Language Center breaks students into 6 Levels for ASOL (Arabic for Students of Other Languages). Robert and I are in Level 4, and Leah and our roommate Michael are in Level 3. We have class Sunday through Thursday starting at 9 a.m. and lasting until 1 p.m., (except for two days of the week when we get out of class at 11 a.m. instead). So class is intense, and a little draining. Robert and I have three different teachers, Dr. Nadia, Dr. Hala, and Dr. Awni. Each teacher focuses on a different area, and we have classes for Listening, Reading, Grammar, Conversation, and News/Culture. This coming week we will be having our midterm written exams in Level 4 (we had our oral exam two weeks ago) as well as is a listening exam. Naturally, this means nose to the book for the next week.

Internship:

After class we usually head to the University Restaurant (where food is bland but exceptionally cheap--welcome to the world of yogurt and rice. Every. Day.) before heading up to the Center for Strategic Studies, where Leah, Rob, and I are all interns. Working at the CSS sometimes means having no work for a week, and othertimes means working all day and taking the work home to finish. Each of us has been assigned to a different professor/research director and we all have our own projects. The CSS focuses on political and security analysis, and a lot of the projects revolve around major issues in the Middle East, such as the refugee crisis, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the wars in Yemen, Syria, and Iraq, and political happenings within Jordan as well. My professor is writing a book on the oft-overlooked part that Jordan played in the Arab Spring, which was wildly different than the protests and events in Tunisia, Egypt, and Syria, but important in the political development of Jordan nonetheless.

Work:

Here I have significantly less to say. Being my slippery and worrisome self I opted not to teach this semester, worrying that I'd be stretching myself too thin. While my workload at the CSS means I often have the time to teach, I don't complain about having a little extra time on my hands to get things done (or, as is more likely, to nap). Robert and Leah both put in a good number of hours three days a week at the American ESL center where they teach, and come home at 9 or 10 at night ready to pass out face first onto the nearest available surface.

Personal Lives:

Well that's personal. Kidding--this is the juicy stuff, right? Well, nothing too juicy here. We've made friends from the LC, CSS, and through language partners, acquaintances and friends from our trip last year, and just being out and about on the town. Luckily for us, a few of them are sticklers for practicing Arabic, so even our personal lives are a little like school. Outings range from dancing, driving around, hanging out on the side of the road, bowling, to studying, hanging out, and cooking for friends--aka normal friend activities.

All in all, despite the little novelties and not having toilet paper in public restrooms, life in the Middle East is...just like home. We laugh, we cry, we love, we study, we work, we still find fart jokes funny (even if no one else does). I talk to my parents several times a week, although now my mom sometimes calls me at 1 in the morning and my dad has taken to putting the cats on the phone so I can say hi. Ok, so that last one isn't really new.

Still, while there is a lot of familiar routine, home is always on my mind, and I've already gotten a little Christmas obsessed (don't tell my dad, but I broke the family rule and started listening to Christmas tunes in October. I know. It's shameful.) But in the exciting news, I'll be arriving home in time for Christmas! And while I'll be missing out on a lot of my favorite traditions back home, I plan on experiencing the Christmas season the Jordanian way: by eating lots of falafel and mutubal and wearing short sleeves (just kidding, it's freezing). We do have a lot of Christian friends, and some American acquaintances, who will help us celebrate Thanksgiving and help us to get into the Spirit of the Season.

So if you're feeling jolly and joyful send me some pictures of whatever Christmas-y things you're doing and I'll be equal parts jealous and super excited. 'TIs the season!

-AM

Have any questions about our life in the Not-So-Hot-Or-Dry Desert? Leave a comment or let us know on FB or email!