Howdy,
Today was a very busy and somewhat stressful day today. I began the day by checking out of the hotel and going to SIT. When I reached SIT, I listened to a lecture about basic health care in Amman. This lecture was useful, but not exciting to go into detail about, except for the fact the gonnorea is becoming extinct. Good News! (sarcasm).
Next, I took my language placement test. Honestly, I was so nervous for this exam but in the end it worked out. I am placed in the highest level, Level 4. Two boys and I were tested and found to be in between 3-4. We had to redo the speaking test and talk with the professor of level four. Knowing that this conversation and that my Arabic skills in those five minutes would determine my class was terrifying. The professor is from the University of Jordan and will only speak in Arabic. After our discussion, he told me that I was a good writer, speaker and listener but that the grammar section on the test held me back to a level 3 not a four. Honestly, I agreed with him. I did not understand the directions on all the questions in the grammar section and just winged it. We agreed that I should be in level 4, he just wanted to talk to me about it and make sure that I was not going to try to slack off. I assured him that I am a hard worker and that I will do my best to succeed. The professor, whose name I wasn't able to catch, seems like a tough cookie. That's okay. I want someone to push me to learn more Arabic and I feel like he will definitely challenge me. He seems nice.
Today I also met my home stay family. My family consists of a mother, father, son and daughter. The daughter is 16 and speaks beautiful English. She wore a cute bow headband in here hair.The mother, a Jordanian woman, also speaks English well. Both the daughter and mother are beautiful and wear nice clothes. They are Muslim, but they do not wear hijab. The mother has highlighter blonde hair and asked me if my hair was natural. She seemed disappointed when I said it was because I think she was looking for some tips. The son, 17, is a bit shy and does not talk much, but I know that he is a good person. The father is a Syrian man and is also very nice. At first, I was wondering why he was not talking to me when he came home from work. Later on, I found out that he does not speak English and that he assumed I didn't know much Arabic. After the mother told us both what was going on, we had pleasant conversations.
The family and I watched many movies. We watched Inception, Kingdom of Heaven and even flipped past the Real Housewives of New Jersey with Arabic subtitles. The apartment itself is gorgeous and has warm tones of browns. My only complaint is that the mother keeps giving me food and offering me drinks. The food is so so so so good, but I am so so so so full. It is impolite to refuse the food and I do not want her to think that I do not appreciate her cooking. I have got to think of a way to say no, especially when I am still adjusting to the diet here.
At the house, I have my own room and bath room, which is surprising. I was expecting to share a room when I was preparing for the program.
Here are some cultural rules I have learned this week. Oddly, my host family does not seem to adhere to many of these. I am sure other home-stay families follow them so I will share them.
1)When you enter the house, take off your shoes (do not follow)
2) When you go to the bathroom, put on the bathroom flip flops. Do not wear your street shoes or bathroom shoes in the house. This is because a Muslim can pray everywhere except the bathroom. If a person wears shows all over the house, the bathroom becomes all over the house. (do not follow)
3) When entering a room (especially if your male), make your presence known before you enter. Culturally you make a clearing of the throat sound slightly louder than normal. This gives Muslim women a heads up to either put on their hijab or to sit more appropriately before a man enters the room. While this rule is primarily for men because of the hijab situation, it is still good to announce yourself before entering a room. (do not follow)
4) Do not flush the toilette paper! The sewage system in Amman is so different than the US and thus it can not handle toilette paper. Instead, you can throw it in the trash.
5) While it is always good to head out into the town with a man, it is not necessary, except after dark. After dark, you need a male to at least hail a cab for you. This rule can be hard. Last night the SIT group was going to go to a cafe to watch a game at night. The men of the group decided to leave first without telling us (I think they wanted a boys night). As a result, we could not go because we did not have a man to hail the cab. This was a bit frustrating to many of the women.
6) Women in the Middle East are "protected" and do not suffer from a "lack of freedom". This is the statement that SIT uses.
7) If you are in a restaurant when the call to prayer is being sung, they will turn off the music or stop playing music until the prayer is over. After the call to prayer, the songs resume.
8) When getting in a taxi, men sit in the front seat and women always sit in the back unless there are four women. If a man sits in the back he is being disrespectful. If a women sits in the front when there are seats in the back she is opening herself up to possible harassment.
9) Jordanians do not know street names, they know landmarks. That is not viewed as important. Cabs cannot take you somewhere without knowing a landmark.
10) Personal space is different here. In one cab, the driver touched my male friend's leg. He was not being gay, but friendly. I think my friend was a little weirded out. This also proves why women do not sit in the front.
11) They have Zumba here!
Today was a very busy and somewhat stressful day today. I began the day by checking out of the hotel and going to SIT. When I reached SIT, I listened to a lecture about basic health care in Amman. This lecture was useful, but not exciting to go into detail about, except for the fact the gonnorea is becoming extinct. Good News! (sarcasm).
Next, I took my language placement test. Honestly, I was so nervous for this exam but in the end it worked out. I am placed in the highest level, Level 4. Two boys and I were tested and found to be in between 3-4. We had to redo the speaking test and talk with the professor of level four. Knowing that this conversation and that my Arabic skills in those five minutes would determine my class was terrifying. The professor is from the University of Jordan and will only speak in Arabic. After our discussion, he told me that I was a good writer, speaker and listener but that the grammar section on the test held me back to a level 3 not a four. Honestly, I agreed with him. I did not understand the directions on all the questions in the grammar section and just winged it. We agreed that I should be in level 4, he just wanted to talk to me about it and make sure that I was not going to try to slack off. I assured him that I am a hard worker and that I will do my best to succeed. The professor, whose name I wasn't able to catch, seems like a tough cookie. That's okay. I want someone to push me to learn more Arabic and I feel like he will definitely challenge me. He seems nice.
Today I also met my home stay family. My family consists of a mother, father, son and daughter. The daughter is 16 and speaks beautiful English. She wore a cute bow headband in here hair.The mother, a Jordanian woman, also speaks English well. Both the daughter and mother are beautiful and wear nice clothes. They are Muslim, but they do not wear hijab. The mother has highlighter blonde hair and asked me if my hair was natural. She seemed disappointed when I said it was because I think she was looking for some tips. The son, 17, is a bit shy and does not talk much, but I know that he is a good person. The father is a Syrian man and is also very nice. At first, I was wondering why he was not talking to me when he came home from work. Later on, I found out that he does not speak English and that he assumed I didn't know much Arabic. After the mother told us both what was going on, we had pleasant conversations.
The family and I watched many movies. We watched Inception, Kingdom of Heaven and even flipped past the Real Housewives of New Jersey with Arabic subtitles. The apartment itself is gorgeous and has warm tones of browns. My only complaint is that the mother keeps giving me food and offering me drinks. The food is so so so so good, but I am so so so so full. It is impolite to refuse the food and I do not want her to think that I do not appreciate her cooking. I have got to think of a way to say no, especially when I am still adjusting to the diet here.
At the house, I have my own room and bath room, which is surprising. I was expecting to share a room when I was preparing for the program.
Here are some cultural rules I have learned this week. Oddly, my host family does not seem to adhere to many of these. I am sure other home-stay families follow them so I will share them.
1)When you enter the house, take off your shoes (do not follow)
2) When you go to the bathroom, put on the bathroom flip flops. Do not wear your street shoes or bathroom shoes in the house. This is because a Muslim can pray everywhere except the bathroom. If a person wears shows all over the house, the bathroom becomes all over the house. (do not follow)
3) When entering a room (especially if your male), make your presence known before you enter. Culturally you make a clearing of the throat sound slightly louder than normal. This gives Muslim women a heads up to either put on their hijab or to sit more appropriately before a man enters the room. While this rule is primarily for men because of the hijab situation, it is still good to announce yourself before entering a room. (do not follow)
4) Do not flush the toilette paper! The sewage system in Amman is so different than the US and thus it can not handle toilette paper. Instead, you can throw it in the trash.
5) While it is always good to head out into the town with a man, it is not necessary, except after dark. After dark, you need a male to at least hail a cab for you. This rule can be hard. Last night the SIT group was going to go to a cafe to watch a game at night. The men of the group decided to leave first without telling us (I think they wanted a boys night). As a result, we could not go because we did not have a man to hail the cab. This was a bit frustrating to many of the women.
6) Women in the Middle East are "protected" and do not suffer from a "lack of freedom". This is the statement that SIT uses.
7) If you are in a restaurant when the call to prayer is being sung, they will turn off the music or stop playing music until the prayer is over. After the call to prayer, the songs resume.
8) When getting in a taxi, men sit in the front seat and women always sit in the back unless there are four women. If a man sits in the back he is being disrespectful. If a women sits in the front when there are seats in the back she is opening herself up to possible harassment.
9) Jordanians do not know street names, they know landmarks. That is not viewed as important. Cabs cannot take you somewhere without knowing a landmark.
10) Personal space is different here. In one cab, the driver touched my male friend's leg. He was not being gay, but friendly. I think my friend was a little weirded out. This also proves why women do not sit in the front.
11) They have Zumba here!
