Marhaba!
Today I went to school again. It was a fun day and a good time talking to people. After school I went to a Safeway because I wanted to buy a blowdryer and some Listerine. I'm living fast and loose, I know.Yesterday I tried to use my hairdryer from home with a converter and I started to smell smoke. As a result I decided to stop and just get a new hairdryer. In Amman, there are no Walmarts or Targets that I know of. I almost bought a hairdryer off a street vender yesterday, but I wanted to make sure I bought one that worked, so I held off. Safeway sells items that you could find at a Walmart. Safeway in Amman is very similar to a Safeway in America. There are fruits and vegetables there, a deli counter and aisles where someone can buy toothpaste, makeup and other healthcare products. One section of the store was dedicated to Head and Shoulder's shampoo. I found that unusual. I saw a huge display of Hershey kisses in the middle of the store as well. I found this delightful.
The Safeway in Amman is two levels. The bottom level is for food items and health items. The top level sells electronics, blankets and even Valentine's Day gifts. I smiled when I saw a large pink bear holding a heart. So adorable and something that I did not expect to see. I bought the cheapest hair dryer there, which was 30JD on sale. Some of the Conair hair dryers were 60JD. I spend essentially $45 on a hairdryer, which was not terrible, but I could not imagine spending $84 on a Conair hairdryer. Maybe it puts diamonds in your hair. I don't know. All I know is that I have been wearing my hair in a pony tail for over a week now and I want to blow it out very badly. I think I would feel slightly more dressed up with nicer hair. When I leave Amman after the semester, I think I will ask my host mom if I can leave the hairdryer here. My host family takes SIT female students frequently and maybe they can use it. I have a huge closet in my room, so I know it could be kept here.
After Safeway, a group of students decided to go to a cafe. I headed home because I was tired and wanted to spend time with my host mom and sister. We watched an Arabic soap opera, which was funny and we also watched "An Embassy is in the Building" with my favorite Arabic actor, Adel Iman. I hope my host mom enjoys his films because she always stops whenever on is on. She know I like him a lot and enjoy his movies. My host mom also gave me some different types of chocolate to taste today. She gave me some chocolate cookies, which were awesome. Then she gave me some dark chocolate with hazlenut, which was also good in addition to some dark chocolate. I enjoyed the dark chocolate with ginger. It was a different taste and had a type of burn to it, but I think it was good. I do not know at the moment because it was so different.
While watching the Adel Iman movie, my host sister, Mia, asked me to help her with her English homework. I said yes and looked forward to seeing how English was taught in her school. She was learning passive voice, the bain of the English language. I helped her figure it out and gave her a few tips for noticing patterns and identifying different parts of speech in a passive sentence. I also told her that passive voice is rarely used and in fact most of our professors in America will dock points if we use it. I think that made her feel a bit better because she seemed a bit confused at first about this construction. It is confusing and not direct at all. After the homework, she is a pro at passive voice in English.
I also learned some interesting cultural facts lately
1) Most Jordanians convert there savings into US Dollars. They feel more comfortable having their money in USD because its value does not shift as much as the JD. They also convert some money to Euros sometime.
2) There is not a lot of dating in Amman. I asked my host sister while we were watching an MTV show (Plain Jane) in which people prepare to go on a date. She said that people usually look down on young ladies seen dating.
3) Showing the bottom of your foot to someone is an insult. So is throwing a shoe. There seem to be a lot of rules regarding feet in Jordan and the Middle East. I always watch my feet :).
4) Some Jordanian College students finished their exams last night. As a result, many SIT students told us they heard gunshots outside their homes. Our teachers told us that this was celebratory because of the end of the exam week. We will hear the shots again when grades are released. Hopefully they will be celebratory again (I'm joking, but we will hear the shots again).
5) You can literally eat at a restaurant for 1.5JD= $3US here.
6) Even if I ask to be dropped off at the British Embassy because it is near to my school, I will always be dropped off at the American Embassy across the neighborhood. The taxi drivers keep insisting I'm confused because I am obviously American and my accent is American. This is both funny and annoying. I keep telling them British embassy both in Arabic and English. Then the driver always drives me to the British Embassy but seems confused.
7) My host mom says Syria has the best fruit in the world and the kindest people. That is really saying something coming from such a sweet Jordanian.
8) My host mom is the first person in years to successfully get me to eat broccoli.
10) My host mom asked me about my house today in Maryland. She asked if my family lived in a large white house. I said no, but that I know from all the Arab Films that I have watched that that is a a stereotype of American homes. The movie "Hello America" with Adel Imam shows this stereotype. Man I love me some Adel.
11) My host sister told me that she was told in school by her teachers that Americans are kicked out of their homes at the age of 18. I laughed and said I plan to be with my family for a very long time. Apparently a lot of people believe this. Apparently we never call our parents either.
12) My host mom said I am a very quiet person. From her experience, Americans are very loud. She says that Jordanians feel that we yell a lot. I was shocked to be called quiet, but I have been a tad more quiet here because I notice my home is a quiet, calm place. As a result, I try to be quiet and calm. Apparently I am the quietest student they have hosted. They like this.
13) Apparently "American Restaurants" are fast-food, like burger king. I wish we were known for classier restaurants and food.
See you soon! I'm going to rock out to some Nicki Minaj :p
Natalie
Today I went to school again. It was a fun day and a good time talking to people. After school I went to a Safeway because I wanted to buy a blowdryer and some Listerine. I'm living fast and loose, I know.Yesterday I tried to use my hairdryer from home with a converter and I started to smell smoke. As a result I decided to stop and just get a new hairdryer. In Amman, there are no Walmarts or Targets that I know of. I almost bought a hairdryer off a street vender yesterday, but I wanted to make sure I bought one that worked, so I held off. Safeway sells items that you could find at a Walmart. Safeway in Amman is very similar to a Safeway in America. There are fruits and vegetables there, a deli counter and aisles where someone can buy toothpaste, makeup and other healthcare products. One section of the store was dedicated to Head and Shoulder's shampoo. I found that unusual. I saw a huge display of Hershey kisses in the middle of the store as well. I found this delightful.
The Safeway in Amman is two levels. The bottom level is for food items and health items. The top level sells electronics, blankets and even Valentine's Day gifts. I smiled when I saw a large pink bear holding a heart. So adorable and something that I did not expect to see. I bought the cheapest hair dryer there, which was 30JD on sale. Some of the Conair hair dryers were 60JD. I spend essentially $45 on a hairdryer, which was not terrible, but I could not imagine spending $84 on a Conair hairdryer. Maybe it puts diamonds in your hair. I don't know. All I know is that I have been wearing my hair in a pony tail for over a week now and I want to blow it out very badly. I think I would feel slightly more dressed up with nicer hair. When I leave Amman after the semester, I think I will ask my host mom if I can leave the hairdryer here. My host family takes SIT female students frequently and maybe they can use it. I have a huge closet in my room, so I know it could be kept here.
 |
| a different type of plug |
After Safeway, a group of students decided to go to a cafe. I headed home because I was tired and wanted to spend time with my host mom and sister. We watched an Arabic soap opera, which was funny and we also watched "An Embassy is in the Building" with my favorite Arabic actor, Adel Iman. I hope my host mom enjoys his films because she always stops whenever on is on. She know I like him a lot and enjoy his movies. My host mom also gave me some different types of chocolate to taste today. She gave me some chocolate cookies, which were awesome. Then she gave me some dark chocolate with hazlenut, which was also good in addition to some dark chocolate. I enjoyed the dark chocolate with ginger. It was a different taste and had a type of burn to it, but I think it was good. I do not know at the moment because it was so different.
While watching the Adel Iman movie, my host sister, Mia, asked me to help her with her English homework. I said yes and looked forward to seeing how English was taught in her school. She was learning passive voice, the bain of the English language. I helped her figure it out and gave her a few tips for noticing patterns and identifying different parts of speech in a passive sentence. I also told her that passive voice is rarely used and in fact most of our professors in America will dock points if we use it. I think that made her feel a bit better because she seemed a bit confused at first about this construction. It is confusing and not direct at all. After the homework, she is a pro at passive voice in English.
I also learned some interesting cultural facts lately
1) Most Jordanians convert there savings into US Dollars. They feel more comfortable having their money in USD because its value does not shift as much as the JD. They also convert some money to Euros sometime.
2) There is not a lot of dating in Amman. I asked my host sister while we were watching an MTV show (Plain Jane) in which people prepare to go on a date. She said that people usually look down on young ladies seen dating.
3) Showing the bottom of your foot to someone is an insult. So is throwing a shoe. There seem to be a lot of rules regarding feet in Jordan and the Middle East. I always watch my feet :).
4) Some Jordanian College students finished their exams last night. As a result, many SIT students told us they heard gunshots outside their homes. Our teachers told us that this was celebratory because of the end of the exam week. We will hear the shots again when grades are released. Hopefully they will be celebratory again (I'm joking, but we will hear the shots again).
5) You can literally eat at a restaurant for 1.5JD= $3US here.
6) Even if I ask to be dropped off at the British Embassy because it is near to my school, I will always be dropped off at the American Embassy across the neighborhood. The taxi drivers keep insisting I'm confused because I am obviously American and my accent is American. This is both funny and annoying. I keep telling them British embassy both in Arabic and English. Then the driver always drives me to the British Embassy but seems confused.
7) My host mom says Syria has the best fruit in the world and the kindest people. That is really saying something coming from such a sweet Jordanian.
8) My host mom is the first person in years to successfully get me to eat broccoli.
10) My host mom asked me about my house today in Maryland. She asked if my family lived in a large white house. I said no, but that I know from all the Arab Films that I have watched that that is a a stereotype of American homes. The movie "Hello America" with Adel Imam shows this stereotype. Man I love me some Adel.
11) My host sister told me that she was told in school by her teachers that Americans are kicked out of their homes at the age of 18. I laughed and said I plan to be with my family for a very long time. Apparently a lot of people believe this. Apparently we never call our parents either.
12) My host mom said I am a very quiet person. From her experience, Americans are very loud. She says that Jordanians feel that we yell a lot. I was shocked to be called quiet, but I have been a tad more quiet here because I notice my home is a quiet, calm place. As a result, I try to be quiet and calm. Apparently I am the quietest student they have hosted. They like this.
13) Apparently "American Restaurants" are fast-food, like burger king. I wish we were known for classier restaurants and food.
See you soon! I'm going to rock out to some Nicki Minaj :p
Natalie
You need to tell your host family that we have some really, nice restaurant - like the ones in Little Italy and our own Papa Joe's, Paradiso's, Maggie's.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious to know how your host mom got you to eat broccoli. How did she prepare it?
I love reading your blogs and seeing your pictures.
Love,
Aunt Deb